$3 Grocery Store Items

Posted on April 11, 2009 | 1 Comment

If you pay cash at the grocery store like I do, there might be times when you want to estimate how much the items in the cart are going to cost at the checkout stand. So here’s a simple formula: Count the number of items in your cart and multiply it by $3. That should cover the total and, most of the time, leave enough left over for a latte. A few caveats:

  • A bunch of bananas is one item. So is a box of cookies. Two packages of chicken are two items. An “item” is determined by the way the clerk scans your purchases.
  • Use your loyalty card to take advantage of in-store sales.
  • If you clip coupons, be sure to use them. This will lower your average cost, but that’s a good thing.
  • Count nonfood items. Tax too. The idea is to estimate your total cost, not just food cost.
  • Meat and liquor hike the average. Produce tends to lower it.
  • You need to purchase a decent sample size (say 9 or 10 items on up) for the formula to work.
  • Fine print: Of course, your mileage may vary. I hope it is better than mine.

    • So when did grocery stores reach a point where the average item costs just under $3? I think the more relevant question is how long the $3 average will last. Every time I go to the QFC, just about everything, especially cookies, seems to have gone up.

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    One response to “$3 Grocery Store Items”

    1. Marian's avatar Marian | April 14, 2009 at 12:53 pm |

      I want to go on record for saying it didn’t work for me especially when buying wine at Trader Joe’s. Guess I need to go back to drinking Two Buck Chuck.

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