Just realized I was buying groceries all wrong for 8 years

I had this moment last month at the checkout in a Kroger in Indianapolis where my total was $87 and I almost passed out. I always just grabbed whatever was on sale and clipped coupons like crazy thinking I was saving big. Then this older lady behind me saw me putting back some chicken because it was $6 a pound and she told me to check the unit price on the sticker. I had never even looked at that little number in my life. Turns out the big bulk bag of rice I was buying was actually more expensive per ounce than the smaller bags. I went back and checked like 10 items and nearly every one of them had a cheaper option if you just did the math on the unit price. How long has this been a thing and have I just been throwing money away this whole time?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oliver26d ago

How many other people just ignore those tiny numbers on the shelf tags? I swear they make them small on purpose so you won't notice them. The unit price is the real price and everything else is just a trick to get you to spend more. I work at a warehouse store and people grab the biggest boxes thinking they're getting a deal but half the time the medium size is cheaper per pound. You gotta check every single time because the store changes the pricing on different sizes to mess with you.

jordancoleman26d ago

@the_oliver nailed it with the medium size thing. I read this article from Consumer Reports last week that said stores actually change the unit price on different sizes every few weeks to catch people off guard.