Another way to ensure you are getting the best value for money when doing the grocery shopping is to become aware of the Unit Price of the items on our list. Nowadays we are faced with so much choice and special offers while at the supermarket. It’s easy to say that we should always buy the lowest price, but on products that we regularly use, that may not be the best value for money. In a similar fashion, buying in bulk might not work out to be the cheapest option.
By looking at the Unit Price of the items, you will be able to easily compare and assess which product is the best value. The Unit Price (in Ireland) will be the final selling price in Euro; displayed in the measurements of 1 kilogram, 1 litre or 1 (square) metre. Sometimes you will also see other measurements like price per roll or price per 100 grams. It will typically be displayed on the shelf label. Let’s take a few practical examples so that we all know what we are looking out for. I only started taking note of these a couple of years ago, and now it’s just second nature to quickly compare to ensure the best value is going in that trolley!
The actual prices or products in these examples are not important just now, we only want to review the unit prices. The examples show that you can pay very different amounts, for the exact same products.
Coke Cans:
1 can – 3.03 per litre
4 pack – 2.08 per litre
8 pack – 1.76 per litre ⭐
Coke Bottles:
Contour bottle – 3.10 per litre
1.25 litre – 1.27 per litre
2 litre – 1.25 per litre ⭐
Chocolate Bar:
53 grams – 25.47 per kg
110 grams – 18.18 per kg
200 grams – 15.00 per kg ⭐
Fresh Milk:
500 millilitres – 1.42 per litre
1 litre – 1.24 per litre
2 Litre – 0.95 per litre ⭐
Kit Kats:
4 Finger 4 Pack – 1.21 per 100g
4 Finger 8 Pack – 1.78 per 100g
2 Finger 9 Pack – 1.50 per 100g
2 Finger 16 Pack – 0.91 per 100g ⭐
So as you can see from the above examples, it really is worth checking the unit price to ensure that you’re getting the best value. Of course it goes without saying that we must also be conscious of ensuring that we aren’t buying a larger size at better value, if we feel we may waste the excess. Less Money is half the goal, with the other half being Less Waste!