Never Assume.

I did not know that Frugal Fridays had moved. Biblical Womanhood had been carrying it and I felt a little bit self conscious posting there (although I did on an infrequent basis) Now it's at Life as Mom and I am no more Mom than I am woman. Or perhaps not. As the stay at home parent and school teacher my life right now is much more Momish than it was a year ago. I mean that was me getting my sink to shine earlier this year wasn't it?

It seems like a valid assumption that the bigger the size of the package the lower the cost per unit. That's generally why people buy in bulk. While this is generally true, my word to the frugal is never assume.

With three children under 10, and all budding artists, I go through a lot of colored construction paper. Walmart sells the Rose Art brand at 88 sheets for 2.00. They also sell the Rose Art 200 pack. If you did the math you would see that the cost for 200 sheets at the 88 for $2.00 price would be $4.55. You would then assume that the cost for the 200 sheet would be less than that maybe $4.25 maybe $4.50. You would be wrong. My Walmart sells the bigger package for $5.00.

This is not the only instance I have seen this. Michael's sells their craypas ( oil pastel crayons) at a greater cost per unit than their smaller sets. I don't think that this is purposely done to defraud the customers as this is the exception rather than the rule. However, it is not a bad idea to double check when you go for the larger size.

The same thing is true for places like Costco and Sam's club. The discounts, while significant to the same brands smaller packages sometimes cannot compare to off brand labels available at places like Aldi.

So bigger can be better but that doesn't always make it cheaper. For more Frugal Friday suggestions go to Life As Mom.

Next Time: A Message From Springfield.