AIBU to use my calculator in the supermarket

[GrassIsntGreener]

You'd think so by the looks I get! I think it's sensible as we can't afford to waste a penny or get a shock at the till.

So why do I get weird looks? Is it a supermarket faux par? Is it because I do it in 'budget' supermarkets?

Maybe it's seen as unreasonable. I remember my mother doing it, one shop even had a little calculator on the trolly handle once!

[InsertBoringName]

I do it every week! I used to have a special little shopping calculator but it broke so now I use my phone which pisses me off!

[Latara]

It's a good idea, I should use mine really then I wouldn't get a nasty shock when I get to the checkout (like I did the other day)!

[WowOoo]

Me too; it's for working out the offers and what actually is cheaper, like others on here do.

I can't do all this in my head.
The supermarkets are so clever with the way one item will be in kg and the other in grammes or per item.
This unclear labelling and attention grabbing red signage really pisses me off.
As does larger bulk items being more expensive than smaller packages sometimes. Or an 'offer' that works out more than the thing next to it.

If I get weird looks I've never noticed. (but I often go shopping late at night when it's dead in there) I'm with you GrassisGreener!

[Gerbilectomy]

I do it in my head. I am smug about it, because mental arithmetic is a skill worth having, in my view.

And being tired doesn't make any difference, in the same way that I can still spell when I'm tired.

[OutragedFromLeeds]

Well done you, Gerbil.

You may get Mumsnet's Star of the Week.

[starfishmummy]

Mixture of all. Usually do it in my head and jot the total on my list as I go round. Sometimes I do it on the phone

[randomAXEofkindness]

I'm just glad we all get out alive tbh. I would deffo do that though if I could. Maybe those are looks of envy? I'd just give them a big cheesy

[5Foot5]

Sounds very reasonable to me.

I remember my Mum wanting to do this when I got my first calculator back in the 70s. However, I think part of her motivation was that she didn't trust the people on the tills at our local supermarket to ring things through properly so she wanted me to double check.

I entered the prices as instructed but there was no way in the world that I was ever going to challenge them if we disagreed. Can you imagine the scene - my Mum with a trolley load of shopping put through and me saying "I think you must have made a mistake because I make it 4 1/2 pence less than that!"

[KhunZhoop]

Do your shopping online. The website does the maths for you.

[intangible]

I never used to and would always have a shock at the till. Now im trying not to be such an idiot with money. I meal plan ..work out how much of what we need. . then I take my calculator (phone) too!

yanbu. .but probably use your phone :p

[Topseyt]

Not unreasonable at all. I used to do this quite a lot in the past and I just took no notice of anyone else around me.

I used to have a small calculator which I kept in my bag to use only for shopping. It was my friend. I used to prop it on the child seat of the trolley, and I only stopped using it when our two local Tescos introduced hand-held barcode scanners for their new scan and pack systems, which I like. The scanners give me the running total of what I am spending as I go round the store, which is largely what I want to know. The rest I work out in my head as I decide which offers would be beneficial for us (or not, as the case may be).

Online shopping also gives the running total, though it pays to shop midweek, as I find the delivery charges are overall a little cheaper. I can als sit with my laptop in the kitchen and trot around checking whether I really need more of a particular item yet before buying it. I am also less likely to impulse buy if I do it online. So, I can still be quids in there sometimes.

I do like to pop into the store sometimes though.

[mrsjay]

I see a few people using calculators and their phones in the supermarket I look because i think it is a sensible idea and why didnt i think about doing that ,

[kmc1111]

I do it in my head but with rounded up figures so it's always slightly cheaper than I estimated and for some reason that cheers me up even though I purposefully overestimated.

I do this too! Even though I know I've overestimated somehow it always feels like a pleasant surprise at the till.

[StuntGirl]

I use the one on my phone, but only because I always have my phone on me.

[complexnumber]

You being vu, you should have used your fingers.

In my childhood days, mums had to add up £sd, now that was tricky! And there were no calculators available.

[allforoneandoneforall]

In the big tesoc's near me you can take a pricing maching thingy around with you so you can scan as you go and know how much you are spending - It's great - Maybe this will catch on in the larger supermarkets?

[OctopusWrangler]

I like the scan and shop widgets, but so do the children so I'm back to trying to keep track in my head:o

[GeeTeeEff]

I do it in my head but with rounded up figures so it's always slightly cheaper than I estimated and for some reason that cheers me up even though I purposefully overestimated.

I do this too!

Yanbu

[ummlilia]

I am unemployed and have no credit cards so it's vital the total is no more than the cash I carry. I have a small notebook-every week I make a meal plan and a shopping list. I keep a running total on my list as I go round (no calculator) and so far I have not been caught out. It's not unreasonable at all..(incidentally am so aged that I didn't get my first calculator until I did my O levels-and they weren't allowed in the exam- not sure they were available before that..lol..)

[DameDeepRedBetty]

Waitrose trolleys often have a built in clipboard. And scanners that work the price out for you as you go, and handily bleep if you scan a BOGOF that's lost its promotional label.

Clean, well-stocked, fantastic standards ethically, friendly helpful staff.

Just wish Morrisons wasn't half the price.

[utreas]

I wouldn't because it does make you look a bit dim

[SmiteYouWithThunderbolts]

Not odd or U at all. I use the calculator on my phone for big shopping trips and add it up in my head if it's a quick essentials shop. We put a lot of time and effort into minimising our grocery bill (family of 6) so it's vital for us to not accidentally overspend. On the odd occasion I've shopped with wild abandon, I've felt physically sick at the checkout watching the total go up and up beyond what I'd imagined. Couldn't do that every week!

[DarylDixonsDarlin]

YANBU, it is very sensible to add up as you go along. Do it on whatever works for you, fingers, write it on your list, phone, calculator, take the ipad if you like, it's no one else's business really! Although I can say from experience the calculator on a Sony Ericsson was shit, and routinely made me £10-ish out at the till, annoying, probably my errors but still...

Anyone giving me an odd look for adding up would get a very fierce glare, how rude of them!

[Trumpton]

I remember going round the supermarket with one of THESE ( scroll down to see it as it has been sold) in the early 1970s as a poor student. Frantically clicking away to stay within budget. Very sensible to keep a tally.

[AnnaRack]

Yanbu at all. I can never work out whether it's cheaper to buy 300g of cheddar for £2.99 or 350g for £3.50 and they dont always show the price per gramme on the shelf, which they're supposed tondo.