Stocking up?

So you are wondering how all these coupon queens are buying 30 tubes of toothpaste for next to nothing, right? They are stockpiling. Once you begin to really keep a running tab on what your household consumes, and the best prices of those items and where, you can then begin to obtain your coupons in multiples.

Whether it is through coupon services, your Sunday coupons, through trading or wherever you will be on your way to stockpiling too. Stocking up should be when that item is on sale only. Remember that just because something is advertised it doesn’t mean that the item is on sale. Remember to get a rain check for out of stock sale items too.

Keep in mind that if you are lured into using your coupons for items that you normally don’t buy then the product manufacturers have you hooked. That’s what they are hoping to do when offering the manufacturers coupon. I wouldn’t suggest doing this unless it is truly a deal that couldn’t be passed up.
Keep in mind unit prices when making your purchases.

Sometimes foods packed in the largest size may appear to be the best buy. You may think that buying one large package will not cost as much as a couple of smaller sized packages. Larger packages don’t always cost less. It is important to look at the cost per unit and compare this cost. The unit price tells you the cost per pound, quart, or other unit of weight or volume of a package. It is usually posted on the shelf. The shelf tag shows the item price and the unit price of the item.

For example: If oranges sell for $.90 per pound, you know that 5 pounds will cost $4.50 (5 pounds X 90 cents).

Unit pricing is most beneficial when the price per unit isn't as obvious.

As an example:

Cereal is sold different sizes.

• The 14-ounce box is $2.60.
• The 20-ounce box is $3.50.
• The 2-pound (32-ounce) box is $5.00

Which one is the best buy? Unit pricing helps. (In this case, the unit price is the price per ounce)

To figure the unit price, divide the price by the number of units (in this example, it's the number of ounces).

• The unit price for the 14-ounce box is $.19 cents per ounce ($2.60/14).
• The unit price for the 20-ounce box is $.18 cents per ounce ($3.50/20).
• The unit price for the 2-pound box is $.16 cents per ounce (2 pounds = 32 ounces, $5.00/32).

Compare the unit price of each package. Which costs less per unit? In this example, the 20-ounce package is the best buy because it costs less per ounce. Foods that cost less per unit are not always the better buy. The biggest size is not a good buy if you cannot consume it before it goes bad, or if you can’t properly store it.