Keep a price list in your purse

samyantha

I too look at the price for 100g as sometimes the supermarkets basic/economy pack of many products are cheaper as a pack but are more expensive per 100g than their own equivalent product.

Hope that makes sense

MrsBartolozzi

Have a look over on the Old Style board.
Many posters there use price books and similar ways to keep an eye on the rising food costs. I'm sure you'll find likeminded people there.

Sulevia

Don't rely on the shelf edge label for price per 100g - it can be even blatantly incorrect. I frequently find the price per 100g is shown as lower than it is in reality.

It really is worth doing the calculations yourself.

Example of how to do it:

Item 420g costs £1.47

100g costs 1.47x100/420 = £0.35

Just times by 100 and divide by the weight of the item.

camaj

I would have thought everyone did this but perhaps it's not as obvious as it seems. Don't forget it can be per 100ml for liquids or per portion for multipacks.

Mysupermarket is very good for this, every item has a per100g price and of course you can compare prices. If something is on offer it shows you the offer price per100g too something the supermarkets don't seem to do. Shame they don't have a feature where it'll break down everything for you. It's nice knowing that Tesco's is the cheapest trolley but not all items are the cheapest, it's just cheapest overall.

xcathx

I do this too, but I think I might take it a bit too far

Rather than using Mysupermarket to find out the cheapest supermarket for my full shop, I use it to check prices of each item on my shopping list, in each shop, and also to see if there are cheaper brands available. I compile a list and compare each store to work out where to buy each item. I then take my list with price/100g amounts to Morrisons (within walking distance) and other high street shops for toiletries etc and add their prices/100g onto my list. I then know where to buy each item to save the most money.

This only works if you're not making a special trip to each supermarket to buy one item at each. If I know when I'll be passing each supermarket on my way to/from doing other things, I can plan my shopping for the week.

(My partner thinks I'm silly going to these lengths, but he doesn't have to feed us both (and two cats) on a measly budget, and it doesn't take me that long to do it now that it's become a habit)

redglass_2

There are lots of tricks supermarkets can pull, like pricing one bag of apples per item, another per kilo and another per 100gr (even if the prices on the shelves are correct to start with!). And manufacturers aren't above a sly move or two. I found a big bottle of Zoflora concentrated disinfectant marked ECONOMY SIZE. It was actually much dearer per 100gr than the smaller bottles! :eek:- and this was the manufacturer's packaging, not the supermarket's. I took it to the Customer Service desk and pointed it out. Oh, dear, they said. They would ring the manufacturer and come back to me. That was years ago and I'm still waiting... I've tried ringing again, but strangely enough there was no record of my query.

And MSE Martin - if you should happen to be reading this email - I wonder if you could stop writing things like "Free nail varnish in £3.50 paper, worth £25". It may be priced at £25 but it sure as hell ain't worth it....

DCFC79

Isn't keeping a price list in your purse a bit daft since the price in say lidl or where ever could change and your away of the change.

aprildawn

Yes that does occur from time to time and using a price list can;t stop it, but I have found that my price list has prevented me from over spending FAR more often than being caught out.

best wishes
April