Bigger is Not Always Better

Before I started using coupons, I always thought it was cheapest to buy in bulk. If you buy a 24 pack of toilet paper, you'll be paying less per roll than if you buy a 4 pack. If you buy a 25 oz. box of cereal, you'll be paying less per ounce than if you buy a 10 oz. box of cereal. Many times this is true, but I encourage you to always check, because even without coupons, you just never know.

When I first started using coupons, I still thought this was the case. I'd see a large bottle of Tide for $11.99, and use my $1.00 coupon and spend $10.99. I thought I was getting a good deal because a)I'd bought the bigger size, so of course it was cheaper, and b) I'd used a coupon, so I was getting even bigger savings.

After couponing for a while, I noticed that a lot of times buying in bulk is not cheaper. A coupon for $1.00 off a $10.00 product will not give you near the savings as a coupon off a $3.00 product. Many coupons will have a size exclusion on them, but you will find numerous coupons that will have no size exclusion at all. For those coupons with no size exclusions, I encourage you to start thinking outside the box. My goal as a coupon shopper is to get a stockpile of items at a fraction of the cost...how can I do this if I am buying the smallest product size that the coupon allows? Let me give you an example...These prices are from previous sales:

Contadina Tomato Sauce:
15 oz. $0.70
8 oz. $0.37
Coupon for $0.75 off 3...If you buy the 15 oz. can you will end up paying $1.35 (or $0.45 a can...$0.03 an ounce). If you buy the 8 oz. can you will end up paying $0.36 (or $0.13 a can...or less than $0.02 an ounce).
Yes you are buying smaller cans, but if you have multiple coupons you will be able to buy this deal several times, so you will still be stocking up.

Dove Ultimate Deodorant:
2.6 oz. $3.99
0.5 oz. $0.97
Coupon for $1.00 off 1...If you buy the 2.6 oz. you will end up paying $2.99 (or $1.15 an ounce). If you buy the 0.5 oz. you will end up paying NOTHING (or $0.00 an ounce)
Let me make a quick note about this...when I have coupons that I KNOW will get me travel size products FREE, I try to hold onto them until the day they expire, because sometimes Walgreens or CVS will run deals where you can make money on the full size product if you have a coupon.
Again, if you are buying multiple newspapers, or printing coupons from the internet (usually have a print limit of 2), you will have multiple coupons, so you will still be stocking up...only now for FREE.

Cottonelle Toilet Paper:
12 pack: on sale $4.99
4 pack: on sale for $1.99
Coupon for $1.00 off 1...If you buy the 12 pack you will end up paying $3.99 (or $0.33 a roll). If you buy the 4 pack you will end up paying $0.99 (or $0.25 a roll).

All of these prices and coupons are from previous weeks, so I'm not sure what they are priced at right now. I just wanted to give you guys examples.

Do you price match to see what size products will give you a better price? I encourage you to think outside the box...start price matching...take a calculator with you into the store and do some number crunching. I think you'll be surprised to find that bigger isn't always a better value.