To think that most people shop like this?

[MojacaSunset]

I was with my cousin and we were chatting about the cost of living and the price of washing powder, she has always bought the same brand her mother used but is now looking for something cheaper. I usually buy own brand or branded if it works out better, I said that I compare brands and decide what to buy by working out the cost per wash and she asked me how? I had to explain that I divide the total cost of the product by the number of washes (usually on the packageing) to see which worked out cheapest.
She was really surprised and said she never bothers to do that. I asked her if she looked at the price per kilo / 100g when comparing food and she doesn't do that either.

YANBU I always compare prices by looking at price per kilo / number of uses

YABU I don't compare prices per kilo / number of uses.

Absolutely - and I'm not on a tight budget either.

What's better value - the 60 pack of dishwasher tablets for £7.99, or one with 75 for £9.99? Yes it's only £2 difference, But I want to know the price per tablet. Or what's better - a larger pack, or two smaller packs on a special offer?

Why give the shops more money than you have to? Some shops (looking at you, Asda) make this difficult by pricing for example their loose bananas at Xp per kilo, and the bagged bananas at Xp per banana.

I don’t do this, I just buy what I’m looking for. I mostly shop online and from my list of favourites, then manually search for what else I need that week.
And @Healthworrierextraordinaire I don’t weigh out pasta, does anyone actually weigh out pasta 😳

@luckylavender I buy fragrance free laundry stuff and washing up stuff and well, everything, I check the 'sensitive' and no added fragrance' typs stuff for ingredients because some of the natural ones do contain stuff which is natural and still smells or is an irritant, like geraniol, limonene and others. Limonene is added to pretty much all household products and come cosmetic creams and lotions, it almost takes my skin off.
I choose own brands of fragrance free rather than expensive 'Eco' ones.

YANBU

I'm always looking for good value.

I hate wasting money.

I do this for most things. Occasionally my maths fails me or other factors affecting what I have available to spend might influence me but I usually do it this way. Preferences for some items or treating myself not withstanding.

No not really to be honest, anything food related I tend to look at expiry dates rather then costs.

No. I can't be arsed. I buy Aldi own brand washing powder, as I assume it's as cheap as or cheaper than the alternatives and I think with products like washing powder and lots of other generic items, one is as good as anotherand brands are charging for their name, not their quality.

Even my kids do this without being reminded to!!! The labelling regs/advice even has the per kg price put on the shelf now so you don’t have to stand there for ages trying to divide £7.62 by 45 🤣🤣

Sainsburys does this calculation for you, and yes I do make a lot of use of it!

I was broke enough as a student that I lived off giant vats of vegetable soup I made myself and bought spaghetti because it was the cheapest kind of pasta by weight, so yep, I do this. I don't always buy the cheapest option, but the price per kg or whatever is an important data point.

In my experience, the stuff for sensitive skin can still cause a reaction. One of the worse recent reactions I had was from a bottle of Johnson's baby lotion that I bought because it was on offer & let my guard down.

Always! And things like tea bags where I always buy pg tips the smaller packs can be cheaper per bag than the ‘value’ pack. I also stock up on branded long life items when on offer eg squash or beans. Most other stuff is own brand but I always compare because sometimes branded eg fairy can be cheaper.
Things I don’t switch though are pg tips, Heinz beans and Robinson’s squash! Anything else cheapest per gram/item wins.

I do look at price at kilo/100g, yes. I always shop online and the information is always just there. No calculations required. Obviously it's not the only factor, but I'm definitely aware of it. Probably more than I need to be.

I don't but that kind of thing for exactly that reason. I rarely buy anything without checking ingredients, once you know what is in things it is easier to avoid the ones you can't be near. I discovered the perfume in Johnsons Baby Oil many years ago and changed to a cheaper own brand.

I also check food labels, the amount of added sugar to some of the 'healthy' labelled stuff is horrendous (Sainsburys stuff has various sugars disguised by different names, M&S has loads more salt than it needs), I have to avoid certain things, basil and cinnamon in particular and do my best not to buy palm oil laden food or fake butter that has oil added and still pretends to be the real thing, spreadable is the one to watch.

My mental list of undesirable purchases grows with every shop. It takes a while but is worth it.

buy not but

Not exactly on topic, but my husband and I both shop like this, but then my husband drives me bonkers by wasteful veg chopping.

I asked him to knock off the sprouts from some potatoes for dinner - and get presented with potatoes so chopped up that they've lost about a quarter of the volume.

He cuts up peppers - and there's a full massive ring of pepper around the top left on, that he moves to put in the bin.

Topping and tailing carrots? They lose a fucking inch!

I was just reading a book set in rationing years, and I wanted to make him fish the ends out of the compost bin. Drives me mental.

I always do this and have taught my children to do the same. I don’t always choose the cheapest but I’ll always buy the best value. Eg I prefer Yorkshire tea and know where to get the best deal. I also stock up when something I buy regularly is on offer. I used to buy about 10 bottles of persil non bio when it was reduced to £6 a bottle . I’ve recently switched to Lidl’s own brand and I haven’t noticed any difference.

I compare when I'm not bothered about the brand. When the brand matters to me, I compare prices between the 3 main supermarkets I go to, and get the brand at the supermarket which has the best deal. (I rotate between 3 supermarkets over a 2 week period, so I never have to wait too long and for things like washing powder, I make sure I get a new pack a couple of weeks before I run out, so have time to wait until I go to the supermarket who have it cheapest.)

I do but with washing detergent I now just use fairy as we were getting itchy skin. But yes I do this quite a bit with a lot of stuff

I don't, I know the bigger boxes/packets may be better value, but they're a bigger upfront cost and when you're trying to keep the weekly shop as low as possible you get the one which is cheapest at the time not necessarily the best value one

I worked in a factory making a similar product and it all comes down the same line, it changed my outlook completely.

I don't and never have shopped like that, it's one of the life is too short things for me.

I buy the brand I want, but look at price per unit to decide the size of the product. Even then I don't always buy the cheapest option, ie if I want a bit of coleslaw I won't buy the 500g pack just because it's cheaper per gram.

I visited a friend who made us dinner. She did exactly this - chopping onions and peppers, ended up throwing literally half of each vegetable away.

I do