Buy Price Series: Part 3

Household Products

If you haven’t already, be sure to read Part 1 (fresh food products) and Part 2 (pantry items, snacks, and drinks).

And don’t forget:

1.       These are my buy prices!

2.       Your buy prices will be different!

3.       Buy prices are constantly evolving.

Part 3 will examine my buy prices for household products.

::Cleaning

• Dish detergent: Honestly, I haven’t paid for dish soap in well over a year! I’m generally able to get the small bottles of Dawn or Gain for free with coupons. I will say I'm partial to Dawn, though... Update: I aim for $.50 or less for small (10 oz.) bottles of name-brand dish liquid. It just works better. :)
• Dishwasher detergent: I got 2 packages of Finish Powerball (40 ct.) for 3.50 in August. That’s about $0.09 per load. If you play the “drugstore game,” you can get deals pretty often on dishwasher detergent.
• All-purpose cleaner: I try not to pay more than $0.50 for about 40 oz. of Lysol or Mr. Clean.
• Air fresheners and candles: My personal rule is that I don’t buy air fresheners or candles unless they’re FREE! They are not something I must have, so I just wait for the deals when they’re free.

::Food Storage

• Trash bags: Most recently, I bought basic Hefty kitchen bags for 4.50 (70 ct.), which is $0.06 per bag. I think $0.06-$0.08 per bag is a good goal. We only go through one bag of trash each week, so I don’t buy trash bags very often.
• Storage bags: I usually buy Ziploc brand for 1.50 (17 ct, qt. size freezer; 13 ct., gal. size freezer). For sandwich bags, I use store brand and spend about 2.00 for around 100 bags. We got a Food Saver machine for Christmas, so I’ll be reworking my buy prices in this category!
• Plastic wrap, foil, etc.: We got tons of Cling Wrap from my grandma’s house, so I’ve never purchased that. I do buy Reynold’s foil and most recently got the 55 sq. ft. package for $0.99. We don’t go through foil or plastic wrap very quickly.

::Laundry

• Detergent: I absolutely refuse to pay more than 1.00 for a large bottle of detergent. I am definitely not brand loyal to any one kind, so I’ll use whatever I can get for free or cheap! I can usually get Xtra for less than 1.00. I also often get full size bottles of detergent through survey companies, which I get to keep and use after “testing” them.
• Other laundry products: I am brand loyal to Shout for stain removal. I’ll pay whatever it takes!

::Paper Products

• Tissues: I will pay whatever it takes for tissues! I have horrible allergies, so I usually don’t care what they cost. I usually buy store brand and try to get them for less than 1.00 for the regular size box (110 ct.).
• Toilet paper: I buy quality toilet paper when it’s less than 0.20 per single roll (and I try to stock up).
• Napkins: as cheap as possible – I buy mine at Aldi!
• Paper towels: 1.00 or less for a regular size roll. I have been trying to limit our use of paper towels. We probably only use 4 or 5 rolls per year now. I clean with microfiber cloths and just save paper towels for grease or cleaning up after the dog!
• Cups/plates/plastic silverware: I am against paper plates (just ask my husband!). I basically refuse to buy them – we have some on hand from my grandma’s house. In my opinion, it’s much less wasteful to use regular plates.

::Pet Products

• Food: Our dog eats Purina Little Bites. It’s 12.50 at Walmart and lasts him 3 or 4 months. If I can find a coupon, that’s great. If not, I don’t worry about it. I do request dog food samples when they’re available and we mix those in with his regular food, to make it stretch.
• Treats: Usually, 0.99 per box is my goal. Aldi carries treats for 1.19.

Stay tuned for Part 4: health and beauty products!