Who Rocks the Coupons?: Cost, Price, and Value

For me, there are three components to consider when purchasing groceries. I like to look at not just my OOP (Out Of Pocket cost at the register) but also the PPU (Price Per Unit of measure) and value. Value, of course, is subjective and depends on what you consider desirable characteristics of what you bring into your home.

OOP
Let me give you a current example. This week, Harris Teeter has Jolly Time microwave popcorn on sale for $1.49 per 3-pk box. If you look at the matchups this week, you may see there was a $0.50/1 coupon for this product in the 1/13 SmartSource. You know that the store would double that coupon, and that your OOP would be $0.49 plus tax. What a deal! You'd save $2.50 per box!

Pause for a moment. First, that matchup you see is for a regional coupon. The version we got in the paper here in central NC is actually for $0.75/2. So you do some quick math. The sale price would be $2.99 for two, the store would double that coupon to $1.50 off, so you'd pay $1.49 for two, or about $0.75 per box. Okay, so you're saving about $2.25 per box!

That's about 75% savings off the regular retail price of $2.99 per 3-pk of popcorn, and it passes the OOP test, but let's look at the other criteria.

PPU
The price per unit is usually listed on the price tag at the front of the shelf. However, one of the reasons I love Harris Teeter is their Online Shopping feature at their website. It's intended for folks to add items to a virtual shopping cart, schedule a time to pick up an order, and pay at the curb at a local store. The benefit is that you can select your closest store and browse the items available and compare prices.

If you search the Express Lane database for 'popcorn', you'll find about 120 varieties. First, switch over from the thumbnail view to the list view. Now, look for the sort menu in the top right of the list and switch it to 'Unit Price', and wait for the page to reload. Now, the first Jolly Time popcorn is about halfway down the page, and shows that the sale price makes it $0.14 per ounce. When you factor in our regional coupon, that makes it $0.035 per ounce.

Now you can legitimately compare per-unit pricing of the on-sale item with coupons to the other brands in the online database.

Value
Here is where you'll need to consider what you and your family use, how you use it, and what your preferences are. My kids love popcorn, so I try to keep it in the house to tide them over between meals. I love my kids and want them to be happy, but I also want them to be healthy, and I'm trying to teach them to respect the environment. Now, I'm not picking on any particular brand, here; the ingredient list and the amount of packaging involved in any brand of microwave popcorn goes against my preferences. It's not an earth-shattering, deal-breaking, do-or-die sort of thing, but the little decisions we make add up over time.

Look at the very top of that database list again. My store also offers a 4-lb bag of popcorn kernels (in a plain bag, without the cardboard box, without the cellophane wrappers) for $2.79, or $0.04 per ounce, without coupons. That bag will make about 25 servings of popcorn, and the only ingredient is... popcorn.

We started transitioning to plain popping kernels a couple of years ago. We tried it on the stovetop with oil, with water, or dry. We tried it in the dreaded air-popper (that thing was possessed and threw unpopped kernels and popped corn all over the kitchen). I finally found a solution that worked for us: homemade microwave popcorn.

I snagged a huge pack of plain, brown, paper lunch sacks from the dollar store. The kids put 1/4 cup of kernels in a bag, fold the top over twice, and stick it in the microwave for a few minutes. You don't need oil, you don't need water, you don't need anything to hold the bag shut. You just need one good ear to listen for when the popcorn gets close to being done -- just like you would for regular, prepackaged microwave popcorn.

The Bottom Line
You can take advantage of the sale on popcorn this week, and have six servings of popcorn for $1.49, or about $0.25 per bag.

Alternatively, you can stock up on two 4-lb bags of popcorn and a 50-ct pack of lunch sacks for $6.58, or about $0.13 per bag.

We also like making our own because we're not limited to the flavor choices available on the store shelf. Why not try some of these recipes? My favorite is plain popcorn with just a dash of good chili powder.