Rising costs have everyone pinching pennies, and those of us who are retired feel the pinch at least as much as others do. In our thrifty retirement, we want the best value for our dollars. At the grocery store, years of experience have taught retirees to be aware of cost per ounce or cost per serving, as well as overall cost.
That has never been more important than it is in today’s marketplace. Boxes, cans, and containers are shrinking at faster rates than ever before. Package sizes are jumbled, with little uniformity left. Virtually nothing (except fresh milk and eggs) still comes in the same size package as it did a generation ago, when we were raising our families.
Canned fruits and vegetables used to weigh 16 ounces, and a can would provide a meal for a family of four. Now cans weigh perhaps 14 or 14.5 ounces, and often, a good deal of that is juice. The three peach halves in a can will not feed four people. A half gallon of ice cream? It’s a challenge to find that anywhere, yet the price has not dropped. Your best strategy might be to try a few different brands and compare contents. Surprisingly, a store brand turned out to be the best in our area. The cans of fruits and vegetables are filled with produce, not juice, and the cost is lower than national brands.
Laundry detergent used to be sold in standard sizes, regardless of the brand. Then manufacturers began a series of changes that now makes it nearly impossible to compare prices. They added softener or fragrance or bleach, then they concentrated it (2X? 3X?), and then they downsized from 100 uses or 50 uses to odd multiples like 40 or 70 uses. Again, prices stayed the same. If you are loyal to a brand, you probably continue to buy it. If you’re adventurous, you might try a different brand, or perhaps alternate use of a store brand and a national brand.
Paper products are worse. Even with the extra time we have in retirement, unless you carry a calculator, it is impossible to compare prices. You must consider how many rolls of toilet tissue or paper towels are in the package, and then whether rolls are single, double, “big,” “giant,” or some other size. Then you determine how many squares are on the roll and whether they are single ply or double ply. Maybe the tissue is extra soft or extra strong, or the towels are extra large, extra small, selectable, or just basic. It is a real chore to figure out the best value for our retirement dollars.
One of our favorite shampoos went through at least three different bottle designs in about two years. Now it is a different product, clear and colorless instead of pearly white. Without our glasses in the shower, we had a hard time determining how much we were pouring into our hand. Even worse, the new formula made our scalp and skin break out. But it still bears the same brand name, and, oh yes, a fancy new price. This is no longer a good value or a good way to spend our money. Toothpaste has also recently seen a price increase. Costs jumped from around $1.50 to over $3.00 in just a couple months. Those of us in retirement must watch for sales and not be lured by coupons used to cover up price increases.
Breakfast cereal is another challenge. Serving size: well, maybe ¾ cup, maybe 1 cup, or maybe 1½ cups. All calculations you try to do for price, or for calories or fiber or sugar, must first be adjusted for the same size serving. And the serving size should be reasonable. A breakfast with only ¾ cup of cereal is going to be a bit scrawny for the average person.
Solutions for the dilemma of the incredible shrinking package and the other techniques manufacturers use to confuse consumers are difficult to find. I have only suggestions that urge caution. As seniors interested in a thrifty retirement, we must remain vigilant and keep an eye on our pennies. Compare sizes, compare cost per serving, compare cost per unit, or use whatever basis you can find for comparison. Mostly, remain aware of what manufacturers do to products we all purchase, and spend your retirement dollars wisely.
