Yep, I’m all about the food, BUT I’m also all about the savings! Which means I’m constantly researching, comparing…and always surprised when I find big savings in an unexpected place. Today’s example was finding hidden savings in paper products at my local Costco.
A few years back, I took almost every item I buy one by one researching where to buy it at the best price per unit. But I had no idea how hard this would be with toilet paper! I figured I do nothing but throw it away…so I should save every penny I can on it without sacrificing quality.
Comparing toilet paper is HARD!
I found out pretty quickly it was very difficult to compare “apples to apples” as each store offered different size packages for the same brands. One store had Charmin 6 packs and 12 and 24 packs while another had 9 packs and 15 packs and 30 packs. And, of course, there were “double” and “triple” rolls. How would I compare?
Finding the key point for comparison
The one thing I could find that was worthy of comparison was length. If you look hard enough on any package of toilet paper, there is a square foot (or square meters) measurement for the entire package. If you know that measurement, you can break any cost down per foot (or meter) and then compare any size package to any other size package. I also decided I would compare only 2-ply (hopefully I don’t have to explain this one!).
The best cost per square foot
The winner at that time was Costco’s Kirkland brand toilet paper. I have long since lost my calculations, but it was the same with their paper towels. And the packages were large enough I didn’t have to worry about running out of these in just a few days (something I prize as in my childhood home we ran out constantly). Knowing they were the best cost AND I liked the quality of the product, it meant that was always the brand I was going to get and I knew where to get it.
You won’t believe the savings!
Fast forward to current COVID times, and stores often running low on such items. Recently I saw we would soon need more of toilet paper and paper towels, so I included Costco on my errands.
But when I got to that part of the store, they only had name brands available, specifically Charmin and Bounty. I went ahead and bought both despite seeing the cost was more than I would pay for that Kirkland brand I love. Running out was NOT an option!
But as of this morning, we had not opened either package, and when I went to Costco, they had both Kirkland products. I decided I would buy the ones I like and return the others (now that they’re taking those returns again).
The surprise I got when I actually put things side by side to once again compare (only because I could and I like that kind of thing) was simply mindboggling! The brands don’t show in the pictures only because I really wanted you to be able to see that key measurement of length (and it’s fairly small). I’ve put the brands in the captions instead.
First, here’s the two receipts side by side. Yep, that’s correct…there’s a $6.50 difference in the toilet paper and a $4 price difference in the paper towels. But that’s not even the astounding part.
Yes, both Charmin and Kirkland are 2-ply, but check out the length difference…840 square feet for Charmin, but a whopping 1593.7 square feet for Kirkland (almost DOUBLE!!!). That plus you save $6.50!!! YES, I’ll save that money every time, thank you, cause I got other things I want to spend it on!
What about the paper towels?
The Bounty paper towel package contains a total length of 715 square feet where the Kirkland brand has 1026 square feet in its package. Yes, Bounty is 2-ply, but the Kirkland brand meets my needs. If I need more absorbency than that, I’ll be using a bath towel! For me, this Kirkland package is 1/3 MORE length AND is $4 cheaper. SOLD!
Always watch for savings!
Manufacturers are banking on you not paying this much attention. And most folks don’t necessarily have the time. Honestly, I won’t probably do the entire comparison thing ever again. But it was nice to see that I’m still getting a great deal every time I buy paper products!
Have you found an incredible deal others might not have seen? Please share in the comments below…we can all help each other save a little bit here and there. Every penny (or in this case dollar) counts!
Wanna know about saving in bagged produce (check that out here!)
