The situation: 

It always happens this way — just when I’m ready to throw in the towel and cancel my membership to Costco, they go and add something to their inventory that makes me change my mind.  This time it was Kashi cereal.  Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal to be exact.  I love this stuff.  And I’m not allergic to any of the ingredients.  The only thing better than a delicious shredded wheat cereal with just the right amount of sweetness and a yummy dose of cinnamon is finding that cereal for a reasonable price at Costco.

Local Pricing:

The best, non-sale price I’ve found so far for this cereal is at Vitamin Cottage for $3.69.  Super Target’s latest non-sale price was $3.74.  The best sale price I’ve found so far was at Kroger for $3.00/box.  While that’s an excellent price, now that grain prices are going through the roof I don’t expect to see that price again any time soon.

Price Calculations:

Naturally, Costco’s packaging was different from the regular grocery store packaging so some basic math is required to calculate exactly how good the Costco price is.

The Costco box includes two 17.7 oz bags or a total product weight of 34.14 oz.  At a cost of $6.49 per box, that comes to $0.19 per ounce.

The Kroger box includes one 17.5 oz bag at a (best sale) price of $3.00.  That works out to $0.17 per ounce — or $0.02 per ounce lower than the Costco price.  That means that if Kroger should ever run their $3.00/box sale again, I’ll know that I should stockpile boxes of cereal.

But to be fair, we need to compare apples to apples — or everyday non-sale to non-sale prices.  In all honesty, Kashi cereal is a staple in my diet and I’m simply not willing (I could even argue not able) to wait for another good sale before purchasing more boxes once my stockpile is depleted.

So, using Vitamin Cottage’s lowest non-sale price of $3.69 for a 17.5 oz box, that works out to $0.21 per ounce, or in other words, $0.03 more per ounce than at Costco.

Savings Analysis:

But now the question begs, how much of a savings is $0.03 per ounce?

My best estimate is that I go through a maximum of 3 boxes of cereal a week.  Or more precisely, I go through three 17.5-oz boxes per week (I’m used to the slightly smaller retail-sized boxes rather than Costco’s two 17.7 oz bags per box).  That’s a total of 52.5 ounces of cereal per week.  The $0.03 per ounce savings then translates into a $1.575 weekly savings.  Over the course of a year that’s a maximum savings of $81.90.

I have absolutely no intention of calculating this example any further — I’ll leave the savings estimate over the course of 10 years with compounded interest to someone with more time on their hands and more interest in completely hypothetical savings calculations.

Conclusion:

All I need to know is that as long as 1) Costco continues to carry this particular flavor of cereal and 2) I continue to enjoy it and, heaven forbid, I don’t develop an allergy to any of the ingredients, the annual savings on my cereal alone will justify the cost of our Costco membership.

What this analysis also tells me is that the annual savings, though nothing to sneeze at, isn’t large enough to make frequent or special trips to Costco for cereal.  It’s easy to pick up a box or two of Kashi cereal at my regular grocery store and it doesn’t cost me anything extra in time or gasoline.

Therefore, if I happen to be near a Costco when it’s about time to replenish my stock, then Costco is the best pricing option.  Otherwise, I’ll know to only pick up a box or two at the grocery store to tide me over until the next Costco run.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid-per-post blog entry. I am NOT a paid-per-post blogger. This product opinion, and all opinions expressed on this blog, is most certainly biased (based on my own experiences) but is not influenced by the manufacturer or supplier of the product nor is it purchased by any third party.

Whether it’s due to the fact that I’m a Leo or just simply the way I am, I tend to be a very loyal person. But my loyalty is neither easily won nor blindly maintained. I’m not a girly-girl and I’m not a brand-hound so bling and labels have no intrinsic value. My criteria has to do with a product’s practicality, value, durability, quality, ingenuity, and maintenance requirements.

For my first Product Review post, I’m sharing one of our favorite clothing products: SmartWool socks. I love SmartWool socks and the only family member not fully outfitted in SmartWool is The Husband.

SmartWool offers a huge variety of styles with sock heights ranging from knee-highs to footies and sock cushioning ranging from super thin to extra heavy cushy.

My preferred style is the mini crew with medium cushioning. I like the short length as it allows me to wear wool socks 8 or 9 months out of the year without the added warmth on my calves. Also, I like my socks to have a fairly substantial inner cushion because I spend a great deal of time walking around shoeless on our wooden floors at home. The medium cushion and gentle compression of the socks help ease the chronic foot and leg pain I experience as a symptom of Fibromyalgia. SmartWool’s medium cushion socks provide just enough cushioning without adding unpleasant or annoying bulk in my everyday shoes.

The Son prefers SmartWool’s hiking socks. These are crew-length socks with medium cushioning. In the early years of buying SmartWools, before I figured out the differences in the styles of socks, we purchased several pair of Light Hiking socks, not to be confused with Hiking socks. The Hiking socks that The Son prefers have cushioning loops all the way up the calf whereas the Light Hikers have cushioning in the footbed only and standard ribknit uppers.

Like me, The Son wears his SmartWool socks nearly year-round. The wool absorbs moisture and allows for very natural, healthy breathing of the skin.

The Daughter, odd ball that she is, prefers an ultra lightweight footie style. They provide just the perfect balance of warmth and breathability for her without adding any bulk — these socks are as thin as any ultra-lightweight cotton footie she owns. The Daughter has a much shorter SmartWool wearing season than do her brother and I but she does really value her few pair during the winter months.

SmartWools socks are extremely well-made and durable. Although we’ve had to pass down many pair over the years because they’ve been out-grown, we have yet to retire a pair for being worn out. This is a significant acheivement in longevity if you consider that I’ve had some of these pair for at least 6 or 7 years and they get daily wear on our floors. The Son and I both have a few pair that are getting thin but none that have completely giving up the ghost.

Another great advantage to these socks is their low maintenance. Wool, unlike cotton, doesn’t need to be washed after each wear. I can usually get three days out of each of my pair of socks. I encourage The Son to change his every other day as he’s a stinky teenaged boy who frequently plays hard in his socks.

Washing is easy — I let the dirty socks collect in a special laundry basket and wash many pair at once. I put them in the machine and wash on the gentle/handwash cycle in cold water with a cold water rinse using wool soap from the local yarn shop. SmartWool says the socks can be machine dried (see more below) but I prefer to hang dry. They dry very easily overnight on a great little plastic drip-dry multi-clip hanger I found a few years ago.

Make no mistake, SmartWool socks aren’t cheap — typically $12.95 - $15.95. But in my experience, they’re worth every penny — especially since I never buy them full-priced (more on that in just a minute). Several years ago I let an REI employee talk me into trying REI’s cheaper SmartWool wannabe socks. I’m a huge fan of REI and their house-brand products but that one pair of REI socks was the first and last pair I ever bought. The REI socks are denser and less flexible. They are simply wool socks; they provide none of the “walking on a cloud” experience I get with the SmartWool socks.

My two favorite sources for SmartWools are REI and Sierra Trading Post* (affiliate link). I have found a few pair at Marshalls or T.J. Maxx (I can’t remember which) a year or two ago but haven’t see them since. Thanks to the excellent sales I’ve found over the years, I’ve gradually been able to go from having a few pair worn on extra cold or snowy days to having a full wardrobe of socks for both The Son and I.

Sizing Tip: The SmartWool sizing guide assumes that the socks will be dried in a clothes dryer. If you use a dryer, go by the sizing chart. If you hang dry, buy one size smaller.

According to the sizing chart, my size 10’s would require a size Large. But I prefer to hang dry my socks so I adjust my sizing accordingly and usually buy size Medium. But this sizing/shrinking issue gives me a little extra wiggle room when I’m bargain hunting — if size Large is the only size available or had a better selection of colors, just a single trip through the dryer shrinks the socks down to the right size. And this shrinking process does not felt or otherwise affect the feel of the socks.

Washing Tip: I picked this tip up several years ago from a very helpful REI employee. The best way to wash your SmartWool socks (and arguably all of your socks) is to wash them inside out. This allows the skin and oils to be released into the water and washed away instead of being trapped inside the socks and locked deep into the inner cushiony loops.

image credits: REI and Elizabeth

I’ve been making daily posts for just over two months but I’ve only been outlining detailed grocery pricing since October 18th.

After posting about yesterday’s Wild Oats stock-up shopping trip, I took a quick look through some of my other more recent grocery posts. I wasn’t surprised but was definitely a bit chagrined to find that even though I stuck to sale items yesterday and received an additional 10% off, I paid more for several items than I would have paid at my preferred grocery stores — Kroger’s and Vitamin Cottage.

I’ve decided to devote a page of my new pocket notebook to tracking grocery prices on our most commonly purchased items. Following is the data I’ve collected from a quick look back at the last two month’s worth of receipts. I’ll update during my next few grocery trips and fill in the blanks.

* indicates a store sale price but does not include the one-time 10% discount.

How do these prices compare to what you pay? Have you noticed big price differences between your local stores?

Wild Oats & Whole Foods shoppers! Wild Oats and Whole Foods are offering a 10% discount off all purchases made this weekend (Nov 3 & 4).

I stopped in quickly tonight to pick up just a few items and was thrilled when the cashier told me about the extra savings. I plan to go back tomorrow with a shopping list in-hand to take full advantage of the extra sale (extra, because a lot of their items on on sale right now — butter, for example — and then you save an extra 10% off your final total).

I received a package from Amazon yesterday — a belated birthday gift from my sister. Included in the package was a flyer for Amazon’s new on-line grocery service. It’s called “subscribe and save” and the concept is that you sign up for regular delivery of products and you save an additional 15 % off their grocery prices.

Always on the lookout for good deals, I checked the prices on a few products that we always have around the house. The first product I recognized on the Amazon site was Horizon chocolate milk. We always keep a supply of these individual serving containers in the bottom of the fridge — The Husband loves these on his cereal. The kids and I like them, too. I buy this milk from Costco for $12.69/case. Amazon’s price: $25.00/case! That means our Costco membership is paid for with our first three cases of chocolate milk.

Obviously not impressed with Amazon’s prices but willing to keep an open mind, I continued to look around the site for other products always kept on hand. The next product I checked was Tide because Tide is a problem product for me. Target is the only source I’ve found that carries the right product (Tide Free powder) in the right size (big). I use Tide Free because I’m allergic to scents and I use the powder because The Husband is allergic to the liquid form of the same detergent and I prefer the big boxes because they’re more economical. At first glance, Amazon’s price of $58.38 for a case (4 boxes) appeared to be close in price to Target’s price of $12.89/box ($51.56/case) but then I checked to make sure we were comparing apples to apples and we weren’t. Amazon’s boxes are 60 load boxes whereas my Target boxes are the 80-load size. Again, the Amazon prices are way less than impressive.