Location is everything in a grocery store

Which items at a grocery store are marked up a little higher than the rest?  Here is an easy way to tell.  if the item is on an end-cap.  that is the space at the end of each aisle, those items are marked up.  That is prime real estate in the grocery world since there are no other products distracting your attention from them. Sure, on occasion these items may be on sale.  Most likely not.  The manufacture of these items are paying more for that prime real estate.  Who actually pays for that real estate?  You do.

Here is another no-mans-land in the grocery store.  Any item place between knee and shoulder height are marked up.  These shelves are easy to see and reach.  Look for items above your shoulders and below your knees for the best prices.

Before You Add Additional Expenses

Some friends of ours came to a really good decision today.  Often they would tell us about their financial difficulties.  We listen compassionately, but also we know in the back of our minds that their financial decisions , and no one else's, is the cause of their financial stress.  Today they made a very wise decision.

For the last few weeks, they have been telling us about the new dog they were going to get.  Everybody who knows me know that I am an animal lover with a weakness for dogs.  There is one sitting on my lap right now.  We generally encourage all homes with love to give to go to their local shelter.  There is no love in the world like that given by a rescued dog or cat.  With our friends though, this would not have been a good decision.

Just one of my dogs cost $400 a year in medical expenses.  That does not include food and treats.  Our dogs are part of our family and they give far more than they take, but they do take fiscal responsibility.  Far to often I read on the Facebook page of our local Human Society about animals whose owners could not afford to keep them.  Cats and dogs that have been with the family for 10 years having to be given up.  It is very sad and the animals do not know why they have been separated from their pack.  They do go through depression.

In short, before you do anything to add to your monthly expenses, get your financial house in order.  If you struggle to pay the bills, do not add to them.  This will only increase the stress on you and your family. As for our friends, they decided to focus on getting their financial house in order, then add to the family.

What is price per unit?

My wife and I were at a home improvement store to buy some stain for our fence.  We like to maintain the assets that we buy so we wanted to make sure our fence looked new when we sold our house.  I knew that the fence would take between 4 and 5 gallons of stain to complete.

At the store we found the color we liked and noticed that the stain came in 1 gallon and 5 gallon cans.  Which on was cheaper?  Most of us have a smart phone with a calculator on it.  I simply pulled out my calculator and figured out the price per unit.  In other words, was it cheaper to buy five separate one gallon cans or a single five gallon can?

I took the price of the 5 gallon can and divided it by 5.  This told me to cost of the price per gallon.  I then compared the price I just calculated to the price of the 1 gallon cans.  The 1 gallon cans were saving me $.10 a can.  Not much, but it does add up over time.

If you do not have a calculator or paper and pencil on hand, just ask a store attendant.  In the home improvement stores, they have calculators everywhere.