Are you getting the best deal? Try this hack when grocery shopping
Think you're a savvy shopper? There's a simple tool you could be overlooking to make sure you're getting the most for your money when grocery shopping: unit pricing.
Taking a closer look at the unit price of an item can help you figure out if buying bigger or store brand is really the best bang for your buck, , a University of Pennsylvania marketing professor who is an expert in retail and consumer choice.
"If you care about price and you want to know how much you're paying just on price then, unit price will give you that information," Kahn explained.
Instead of total cost, unit price tells you how much you're paying for a specific amount, like per ounce or pound.
Take this example comparing a name brand and store brand ketchup. At first glance, the store brand looks cheaper based on the retail price. But when you do the math, the 18-ounce name brand is actually the better deal per ounce.
Just make sure you're comparing the same unit, like pound to pound or ounce to ounce, Kahn said.
Unit pricing can take some of the guesswork out of comparing different sizes, brands or packaging of the same item. Kahn said don't always assume bigger is better. Instead of buying a three-pack of paper towels, it could be cheaper to buy each roll of paper towels individually, for example.
But unit price is just one consideration, Kahn said, as brand or size might matter more to you in the end.
"You can decide when you can compare whether or not it's worth it," she said.
In our area, New Jersey is the only state that mandates unit pricing, and only in big box stores. So you might not always have the option to compare when you're shopping.
There are free apps that can help you, and the math to calculate unit price is pretty simple — just divide the total price by the total measurement. For example, if you have a 10-ounce can of beans that costs $2.50, you divide $2.50 by 10 to determine the unit price is $0.25 per ounce.
Do you have a money question, a consumer issue, or a scam story you want to share? Email InYourCorner@cbs.com
