Do you have a Dollartree, Jasdip? I think I've seen Colgate and other brands there. Large sizes.

LOL Rhizo! Duly chastised. I normally do check the pkg, but they were all in the same bin, so I just grabbed and moved on.

I didn't think of the Dollar stores having the full sizes, Alisande. We've bought soda crackers there, cheaper, but they're a smaller box, with smaller squares.

Lesson learned m'dear??? Occasionally I'll buy Pringles or the Lay's Stax chips. What irks me is the 2"-3" of air space in the top so when the cases are turned over, they can drop and break up the chips. (And Walmutt seems to go out of their way to shake them up and break them.) At least put a spacer in there. But nooooooo.

And I do hate it when I don't double check things. Grabbed the wrong acetaminophen at Dollar Tree. Was checking expiration dates and there were some of the caffeine mix in with the regular stuff. Gotta check each and every thing before it goes in the cart. Every time. But hey, Jas, blame it on getting old. Or worrying about giving the cat the pills, or, the sun got in your eyes, yeah, that's it, you didn't just grab and go, the sun got in your eyes.

Product manufacturers need to have more product margin because of their increasing costs (including wages and taxes) and other reasons. Consumers, you as many others, don't want to see a price increase. The only solution is to reduce the product amount in the package.

It's a vicious circle. If you think they are making too much money, buy shares in those companies and participate in these windfalls. Which you'll find aren't nearly as much as what you might imagine them to be.

Cynic, "Walmutt" love it!!

Snidely,

I've thought for years that somehow, businesses must be paying you. You seem to stand up for them, and employers, and insurance companies, etc.

When one sees what some of these CEOs are paid, millions of dollars a year and bonuses on top of that, it is easy to see where Snidely's 'other reasons' comes in. We wouldn't want them to have to make do with last year's yacht now would we?

I agree with Snidely. Consumers in general would rather get less product for the same price than pay more money for the same amount. Most people won't bother calculating and comparing the cost per measurement but they will notice and become angry if their regular product has doubled or tripled in cost.

I don't begrudge companies wanting as much profits as possible or paying their leadership a lot of money. Salaries are calculated off of profit margins, and the value that these individuals bring to the brand, with some exceptions. That's why non-profits and charities often have to pay their leaders a lot of money due to the competition for qualified executives who have the experience to guide the corporation. Not many people are willing to work for less than their market value.

That being said, there's a big difference between consumer goods like toothpaste where there are lots of alternatives, different brands, homemade options, etc. and the consumer can choose whether it's a good deal or a rip off, and things like prescription drugs where the consumer doesn't have much choice and is forced to pay the price changes or go without.

I just wish the packaging was smaller to reflect the smaller tube. Having the same sized box, is what ticked me off. I never buy small tubes of toothpaste, always the big ones.

Jasdip, is it really the same size box? Maybe it's just the photo but the 60 ml box looks significantly smaller to me. Same length but half the height and slightly narrower.

At first glance I thought the boxes to be the same size ... but on second look, it does look as though the box is not quite as high, and not quite as wide ... but the same length. Which would take less shelf space if they put them so that one saw only the end ... which they don't.

It's somewhat unlike with people, jazzy ... as time goes by they tend to get somewhat larger around the middle, if somewhat less so when not viewed in profile. Actually, in point of fact, I guess that we tend to shrink a bit in height, as well, unlike the length of the toothpaste box.

Here's an idea - get rid of all of the teeth: then don't worry about the tooth paste.

Last fall at an investment conference a presenter, who ten years ago wrote what became a best-selling book titled, "STOP WORKING: Here's how you can; I retired at 34", was making a report on his results after ten years. When he suggested that folks buy stocks in companies which produce consumer necessities, e.g. tooth paste, which they'll buy even when times are tough, he asked how many had brushed their teeth that morning, and many hands went up ... and when he asked how many hadn't, only a few, or even one, went up (including mine), so when he commented on that, I replied, "No teeth!".

I thought later that I should have gone to the front, faced him, and the audience, and asked, "How many people have you met who can touch their nose with their chin?" - and demonstrated.

ole joyfuelled

They didn't look much different when I took the pic, the original Colgate box is in the recycling bin.

Here's a 100ml Crest, beside the box of Total. The 100ml is easily seen/recognizable; the 60ml weight is not as prominent

Hmm yeah they definitely look closer in this picture.

Snidely,

I've thought for years that somehow, businesses must be paying you. You seem to stand up for them, and employers, and insurance companies, etc.

In a way you're right, Lucille, I spent my career as an advisor and service provider to corporations, and that's how I got paid. But I make up my own mind, I form my own opinions. It's understandable and easy for people who haven't had inside experiences at a large company's decision-making level to be distrustful. In my career, I never saw or heard of nefarious or dishonest actions discussed concerning matters that affected a business's customers. Never. In this case, it is in part because of what i described, also as chi83 suggested too.

When one sees what some of these CEOs are paid, millions of dollars a year and bonuses on top of that, it is easy to see where Snidely's 'other reasons' comes in. We wouldn't want them to have to make do with last year's yacht now would we?

I agree with you that some corporate execs get unjustifiably high compensation. Surprise!

But I suggest in the greater scheme of things, other than producing a group of people who have a lot of wealth, it really doesn't matter. There are a few thousand people of this description in the world, what they get and how they live doesn't affect my life or yours. Many get bonuses and stock benefits based on the company's income performance, so for many of them, the more they get paid, the less their performance income ultimately is.

I agree with everyone and everything said. I also "Hate paying too much". I agree, you were over charged forty cents.

Edited to say: DH just reminded me, I've never paid for Colgate toothpaste. We have a dozen tubes in the cabinet.....the $.50 off coupon that Kroger doubles covers it.

I dislike those shrinking packages - it takes almost as large a box/tub, etc. to make the 3/4 size as the full size one, be it cookies, yogurt, ice cream or what-have-you ... and many of them go straight to garbage. I wrote one manufacturer of ice cream to thank them for continuing to use the earlier size ... and won't buy the others, even if the unit price is lower.

The city of Saskatoon, largest in Saskatchewan, built a ski hill, which they called "Blackstrap Mountain" on the flat prairie near their city. (Honesty compels me to admit that I don't know what percentage of the whole mass was garbage - or whether any of it was.)

Canada"s largest city has a "landfill", or "dump" (double, and single, four-letter words, they are) a couple of miles from my house. Building a mountain, they are - intermingled with dirt.

If some of the items can be recycled ... think of the hassle of sorting, cartage, re-processing, more cartage to the distribution site of the new product, etc. But it does provide employment for many who have been laid off from earlier locally held manufacturing jobs. What's that you say - that much of the sorting and reprocessing is being done overseas, these days? Hauling that takes a lot of fuel - to add to both increased pollution and global warming, not to mention unwise use of a precious resource called "petroleum".

Which is also feedstock for many plastics, which don't break down to provide nutrients to the soil, as organic stuff does.

End of rant ... well, for today, anyway.

ole joyful

Well, technically, petroleum is organic, but I know what you mean, OJ. And you're right about the materials.
You gave me a great giggle, however. There's a snooty-pooh golf course
development that's on a small mountain flat. It used to be a valley.
:) Or maybe just a gorge. When I pass by that way, and see the road up to it (though I've been
assured that it's actually a new road), I just remember going up there, as a small fry,
in the back of my daddy's truck, taking stuff to the dump!

"But I suggest in the greater scheme of things, other than producing a group of people who have a lot of wealth, it really doesn't matter. There are a few thousand people of this description in the world, what they get and how they live doesn't affect my life or yours"

On the contrary, and I suspect you knew better when you wrote this.

I've been reading lately about the wealthy and how their political contributions fund elections. They certainly do have an effect on our lives.

Campaign funding is another morass our society has created for itself, that's true. I saw a similar article, I didn't find it to be particularly interesting.

Do you think there are outstanding candidates who remain in the shadows because of an inability to access mega money? I don't. The problem with the candidates we get is that the pool they come from isn't very clever and success in US politics often comes for the wrong reasons. Political discourse here is sometimes little more than 30 second soundbites.

In many European countries, there's a tradition that the outstanding students go in to public service/governmental work for some part of their careers, to serve the common good. Here, it's often the opposite.

Nice try at taking my post off track from your post I was discussing, which is your statement the few thousand very wealthy don't affect my life or yours. Money can influence. Wealthy people can buy more influence.

And the funds to pay highly these people who influence us have to come from somewhere. Our pockets and purses. Less product at the same price. (Sure, there are other factors, but this is definitely one of them).

Now that we've settled the corporate issue, back to the toothpaste. They really wind up creating a problem for themselves. Making the box to match the tube size would save them money. However, the smaller size makes less room for the billboard advertising on the shelf. And the reason they don't put them on the shelf so the end only shows is the advertisement and eye catch ability of the package. I don't think I really agree that having the end show would save shelf space. The volume of space used is the same and the depth of the shelf allows for certain number depth in the stock. If they had it turned so the end shows, they'd need a certain, specialized shelf to stock it so they probably, in reality, couldn't stock as many items on the shelf, there'd be the dead space behind it.

I don't begrudge companies making money. That's why they're in business and without profit they can't hire people, they can't subcontract to other companies, therefore, fewer jobs, less money funding smaller companies. I just have problems with them insulting my intelligence. Problem is, as said, people have price limits on certain things so they don't want the price for the same size to go up, they accept the smaller amount of product, which winds up making more money for the companies. Plus the smaller size often means more waste of product so you have to buy more product sooner.

People are strange critters, especially with finances. I remember when P&G made the big push probably about 10 years ago to "compact" their laundry detergent. Essentially they took out a lot of the water in the liquid detergent and made "2x" so you get the same number of loads from a container but it was 1/2 the volume, nearly 1/2 the weight and smaller size and as I recall they dropped the price a bit too. A win in most any way you look at it. More product could go on the same shelf space. It weighed less so easier for employees to handle. Cheaper shipping meaning less fuel used to transport, and there's the water savings too. But at a big drug store chain one old lady was going nuts over it that the store was "cheating" her by making it smaller. She insisted she had to use her measuring cup and was upset. Nobody could get through to her. Some people won't allow themselves to learn.

I still use old original Pepsodent. Readily available on shelves with large tubes the size of the package for 98 cents to a dollar all the time. I don't want red or green stripes, whitening crystals - just the paste. Get suckered every once in a while with a brand on sale... like Aim, a thin, no substance blue gel that makes no mouth "suds".

This whole thread is a good reminder of why I carry my Price Book with me. I've been tracking the prices of food (and other household items) I purchase on a regular basis since the early 1990's. So when butter is on sale at my friendly grocery store this week, 2-pounds for $5, I can check to see it's regularly $1.98 at Aldi, so the sale wasn't a SALE - if you know what I mean..... I generally take a good look at UNIT PRICING, but occasionally I'm "taken" if I just grab and go.... New packaging is usually a sign I need to recalculate the unit price.

I think a lot of people don't realize that most grocery stores calculate the unit price for you right on the tag. I use it all the time to see if a sale is a good deal compared to other brands or sizes.

Chi83 I do too, but sometimes find one item listed with a per pound price, and different package of the same type of item listed with a per ounce price.

The stores use the data they gather from their "rewards cards" to determine the maximum price they can charge for a particular item.

Noticed recently that Frito-Lay has done the same thing. The "Family Size" bag of Ruffles is now the same size as the "Party Size" used to be (or the other way round) and that size is almost the size of those 99 cent bags of chips. They thnk we don't notice! HUGE Ripoffs. And at a time when corporate profits are higher than ever.

Guiltiest of this, IMO, are toilet paper companies. Rolls have shrunk in every way, and they puff them up with air to make them seem huge. I only buy my TP online and in bulk now from janitorial supply companies. I figured out I save @ $300/year on TP doing it that way.

You've got to read labels- check the weight before you buy anything- even toothpaste. I try not to buy stuff in dollar stores- you never know if you are getting the US-made "real thing" or a look-alike product made in China.

Several years ago, as any budget conscious homemaker would do, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the true cost of toilet paper.... I purchased a LOT of different brands, borrowed rolls from friends/neighbors/relatives who used brands I didn't purchase for the test, and what I learned during the test (other than it will give you a headache if you try to factor in all the different variables of the different brands):

---The only common denominator between brands to use to determine the actual cost is the weight of a roll of TP. Not all have the same number of plys, number of sheets - and even the sheets are different sizes, differing length of rolls.... I have brands that are anywhere from 1/4"-1/2" narrower. So in the end, I figured it's just like weighing produce to come up with the unit price - weigh it. This works if all you are concerned with is the actual cost.

---After the weight test and results, you will have your personal preferences to deal with. If you are only concerned with lowest cost and don't mind "John Wayne TP" (rough and tough and won't take crap off of anyone), then you will be choosing a 1000 sheet or 1,200 sheet (Dollar General) product for being cost effective.

-Grainlady

"John Wayne terlet paper" ... interesting concept ...

...(not worth the paper on which it's printed?).

(Is narrower paper especially designed for tight-a$$ed peeple?)

(Same for the stuff that was run through a roller to vary the depth of space that each sheet took, so that 50 layers, with fewer sheets, looked thicker than 50 layers of the un-embossed stuff?)

o j