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Shopping Myths Busted


April 28, 2009 | Peggy Martin

Shopping Myths Busted

I recently went grocery shopping with my daughter. She needed shredded cheddar cheese and planned to buy the brick of cheddar cheese and shred it herself. As we looked at cheese prices, we discovered that the shredded cheese was not any more expensive than the brick cheese. Here are the cheese prices we found for a store brand cheese:

8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese = $1.78 = $.222 per ounce
16 ounces (1 pound)  of shredded cheddar = $3.94 = $.246 per ounce

16 ounce (1 pound) brick of cheddar = $4.18 = $.261 per ounce
32 ounce (2 pounds) brick of cheddar = $7.18 = $.224 per ounce

We were surprised to discover that the smallest package (8 ounces) of shredded cheese was actually the cheapest when you looked at the unit price. I guess you might say we “busted two shopping myths.”

Myth 1: Pre-shredded cheese is more expensive. You can save money by shredding it yourself.

BUSTED! My daughter saved time and money by buying the pre-shredded.

Myth 2: Buying in bulk is less expensive.

BUSTED! In this case, the larger quantity of the pre-shredded cheese was more expensive. The larger quantity of the brick cheese was less…but still not quite as cheap as the 8-ounce package of shredded (which was the quantity my daughter wanted).

Bottom line: Don’t make assumptions! Check the unit prices to really find the best deal!

Find more dairy shopping tips on the Spend Smart. Eat Smart. Web site.

-contributed by Renee Sweers


Peggy Martin

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