The Incredible Shrinking Ice Cream, Detergent, Cookies, Etc.

Filed in archive Buying Stuff on June 13, 2008

I am not the most diligent comparison shopper. I am blessed with the desire to not really want very much, which allows me to pretty much buy what I want when I want it. (Within reason, of course; I wouldn't mind a Private island, but I'm not talking about that sort of thing.)

However, I have noticed many times (as this USA Today article points out) that things I buy at the grocery store suddenly get smaller while the price stays the same. Oftentimes they don't even change the packaging - what used to be 12 ounces becomes 10.5 ounces, and there's just a little more air inside than there used to be.

Because of this, I have really fallen in love with the tags on most supermarket shelves that tell you the price per ounce. I don't see a huge difference in saltine cracker quality out there, so when I buy, I look at the per-ounce price. Then I don't have to worry about who's got more ounces for what price. The calculations have been done for me.

I don't like to work that hard, so I'm not a coupon person, or a rebate person, or a go-here-for-fruit-go-there-for-shaving-cream-go-somewhere-else-for-garbage-bags type of guy. In most ways, I'm the dream customer of supermarkets, but using those per-ounce measures is one way I fight the incredible shrinking spaghetti sauce.