The Cost Of Gum

Bamm! It hit me at Target when I was shopping for a pack of gum. Yes… I am aware… shopping for gum is not the most exciting task, but I had an enlightenment while analyzing its pricing structure.

Perhaps you never noticed, or perhaps you just don’t care about the unit cost of gum. I on the other hand do and my analysis led me to start thinking about all of the small things we buy that we can save money on.

Shop Prepared

I usually go into into the supermarket prepared. My shopping preparation usually involves buying the Sunday paper and browsing through the store’s ad for their best deals. I might save $2 on lunch meat or get a free laundry detergent from a BOGO sale. I usually don’t clip coupons, but it is a good idea.

Everything Has A Unit Cost

When in the store I actually check out the unit cost of the items on my list. Sometimes the deals in the Sunday add end up being a bunch of fluff because many of the sale items are over-priced to begin with. In the instance below I basically got an extra pack of gum for the cost of a dime.

Trident White 3 pack	$1.89 for 36 pieces	5.25 cents per piece
Regular Trident 3 pack	$1.99 for 54 pieces	3.69 cents per piece

As silly and time consuming as this seems, it can really make a difference on your grocery bill. This is true because it makes you pay attention to what you are actually putting in your shopping cart. There are also plenty of great products that cost less because their manufacturers do not spend as much money on advertising!

Try Store Brands

If you are a "brand name" person you should really consider trying some different products considering that "store brands" have come a long way since they were first introduced. This in itself can save you oodles of money and every store out there is cool with returning a store brand product that turns out to be crummy.

The most ridiculous instance that I have seen of brand name silliness was when I witnessed a woman refuse to purchase store brand Vasaline. To the sales clerk she arrogantly stated, "I’m a brand-name person." I can’t imagine why anyone would blow an extra $3 on petroleum jelly just because it says Vasaline on the label.

Remember… Pennies Make Dollars

When I was a young kid my grandfather would save all his loose change in an ash tray on his night stand and give it to me saying, "pennies make dollars." He did this every time that I payed him a visit to reinforce the point. When it comes to saving money and practically everything else we do in life, it all comes down to the little things we do every day.