Follow me over to the blog for more homemade goodness . . .Want to learn how to set up your own money-making blog in 8 simple steps? Optimization WordPress Plugins & Solutions by W3 EDGEFor those of you unaware, I am a big fan of buying in bulk, even though I live in a relatively small space (hint: don’t look in my closet). If I buy in bulk, the cost per unit is often so much cheaper than buying “normal” packages that I end up saving a boatload. However, the makers of many consumer products have begun to use a number of tricks to make bulk buying more difficult, trying to trick you into spending more for less product even if you buy the mega-bulk size at your local warehouse club. No product is more vicious than the toilet paper manufacturers, who must be an army of clever capitalists. They do this by overloading you with options to the point that you’re dazed and confused and just grab something – anything – to get the confusion over with. So that we don’t go into complete overload here, let’s look at just one brand, Charmin.

I choose this brand because their products have served me well over the years, but they are terribly guilty of brand extension. If you look at the Charmin product page, you’ll see quickly that they sell a bunch of different varieties: Charmin, Charmin Basic, Charmin Plus, Charmin Scents, Charmin Mega Roll (which is in fact regular Charmin, just in a bigger roll), and Charmin Ultra. What are the differences here? Well, you can probably realize that Charmin Scents is a perfumed variety and a bit of package analysis tells you that Charmin Plus has a lotion in it, but Charmin and Charmin Mega Roll are the same product in different packaging, and the differences between Charmin, Charmin Basic, and Charmin Ultra are pretty hard to discern (Ultra is a slight bit softer It gets worse, far worse. Let’s say you decide on Charmin Ultra, because you want the softest experience possible. Not only are these rolls sold in packages with different roll counts, some of the rolls contain significantly different amounts of toilet paper.

A “big roll” equals two regular rolls, a “giant roll” equals two and a half regular rolls, and a “mega roll” equals four regular rolls. Outdoor Furniture Adelaide CheapConverting toilet paper amounts between a “big roll” and a “giant roll”? Seat Covers For SmokersFive rolls of “big” equals four rolls of “giant.” What Size Ac Unit For 2200 Square FeetYou can derive this in the grocery store, but Charmin is intelligent enough to realize that most people aren’t going to bother and are simply going to just grab a package that they “think” is a good deal. So how does a frugal consumer escape this trap? Here’s a quick procedure to break through all of the nonsense and quickly find which one you need.

Be sure to bring along a pocket calculator, though, or use the one on your cell phone. First, determine the brand you want. Before you even think about size, determine the brands you’re willing to buy. If you don’t care too much, that basically makes everything available, but if you’re picky, you can quickly eliminate most of the brands in the aisle. Next, take a particular package and figure out how many sheets are inside. This usually means multiplying the number of actual rolls in the package by the number of sheets per roll. Now, divide the price of the package (including any coupon deductions) by the number of sheets. This is your price per sheet, and this is the number you should use to compare packages. Do this a few times with various packages (it takes a few seconds on a cell phone calculator) and you’ll pretty quickly see that there are some surprising variations in the costs of toilet papers, even if the packaging indicates that some buys are better than others.

The Toilet Paper Principle: Stock-Up Price For TP Let's talk toilet paper for a moment. It's definitely a necessity, and I personally find it to be one of the most difficult items to stockpile. Deals have been somewhat scarce lately, and in addition, it's just darn hard to figure out whether you're really getting bargain on it. With double rolls and ultra packs, etc., how do you know if you're paying a reasonable price or not? Reader Beth left this tip on my recent Target and CVS Savings post that makes it super easy to tell if a sale price on toilet paper is worthy of stocking up or not. It shall forever be known as the "Toilet Paper Principle" here on Deal Seeking Mom! Look at the front bottom of the toilet paper package to determine the total square feet. Now insert a decimal point in this number two places to the left. If the cost of the package minus coupons is less than or equal to this figure, it's a decent deal -- basically $0.01 or less per square foot! TP #1 = 400 sq. ft.;

stock-up price $4, so not a fabulous deal. TP #2 = 650 sq. ft.; stock-up price $6.50, so definitely a bargain! Thanks so much, Beth, for sharing this simple concept! Do you have any similar tips and tricks that you use to determine whether a price on a product is a stockpile deal? Previous post: New $1/1 Tropicana Trop50 Printable Coupon + More Next post: Vistaprint: 140 FREE Custom Address Labels ReturnsHere’s the list of Bounty paper towel varieties that I found at my local Wal-Mart: Are you as confused as I am?  And that’s just Bounty!  You would be reading this article for days if I mentioned all of the other brands that are available. If you’re anything like me, you’ve most likely stood motionless in the paper product aisle with your mouth wide open, not quite sure what to do next. Do you go with the store-brand option? Do you choose the toilet paper package that’s bigger than your cart, assuming that it must be the best deal?

How do you pick between regular, big, giant, and super mega rolls?!! What if you have a coupon?  Does $1 off Bounty give you a better deal than just buying the similar store-brand package and leaving the coupon at home? The paper product companies are TRYING to confuse you.  They want you to get frustrated and just grab the first familiar name that you see.  That’s why Bounty, Brawny, and Cottonelle spend so much money keeping their name at the forefront of your mind.  The more confused you are, the more likely you are to resort to one of the most familiar brands. So, here’s what we need.  We need a way to compare and contrast the available options to determine which is the best buy once and for all.  We need a way to stop the madness.  That’s where I come in.  Charmin may be trying to make you dizzy with options, but they didn’t realize that I was going to create the Profoundly Popular Paper Product Pricing Prognosticator (PPPPPP for short).  The only thing that’s confusing any longer is the name.

Here’s a brief video on how to use it. 1.  Download the Profoundly Popular Paper Product Pricing Prognosticator. 2.  Gather some information from your local store. I grabbed my information from Wal-Mart because I’ve completed enough informal price comparisons to know that Wal-Mart’s prices on paper towels and toilet paper are the best in my area.  Also, my ability to price match means that I won’t miss the coupons or sales that other stores advertise. Grab a pad of paper and a pen and head to whichever store is your go-to destination to gather 3 pieces of information: By the way, if you’d like to gather information from a couple of different stores to make sure you get the best deal, go for it.  This would be especially helpful if you’re not quite sure which store would present the best deal.  If you routinely shop at a bulk store like Sam’s Club or Costco, it would be helpful to grab the prices of a couple items next time you’re out and compare them to similar items at the grocery store of choice.

3.  Input the numbers into the PPPPP.You finally know which is the best deal and can purchase accordingly.  Check out the video to see how it works. However, don’t stop here.  The #1 reason why having a spreadsheet like this is beneficial is because you can determine whether coupons or sales are truly helpful or not.  Just because a particular brand of toilet paper is $1 off this week doesn’t mean it’s a better deal than the generic brand you usually buy.  Now you can input the sale price, and the price per square foot figure will change accordingly.  You can finally make an educated purchase.Don’t “save” the spreadsheet once you’ve entered the sale price.  You want to keep the original form on hand for next time.The best deal on paper products that I found was the No-Name brand at Wal-Mart.  The 2-ply, select-a-size paper towels are quite a bit cheaper than even the 1-ply variety of Bounty Basic.  As far as toilet paper is concerned, the No Name brand crushed the competition in 2-ply, but the best price overall was the Great Value 1-ply variety at just over a half a cent per square foot.