How to Find the Unit Price for Toilet Paper the Easy Way!

Most items are easy to compare the unit prices by calculating and comparing the price per unit or per ounce with the exception of toilet paper.

Sheet and roll size vary by brand and/or packaging. Not to mention all of the variations within the brand itself. Is the regular size roll of TP with Fluffy Butt Wiping Technology more or less expensive than the Mega Roll Pack Made From Fluffy Kitten Tears? Who knows?

You do!

What Grocery Stores Don’t Want You To Know: How to Save Money by Comparing Toilet Paper  Unit Prices  

 

The only way to compare the unit price of toilet paper is to calculate and compare the price of toilet paper per square foot inside of the package.

 Pin this tutorial for later!

This post has affiliate links for your convenience.

The most difficult part of this process is finding the number of square feet written on the toilet paper package. Some brands hide it in a teeny tiny font size and try to fool you by printing the  Number of Sheets per Roll! or Number Times Bigger! information in a huge font on the package because they want to fake you into thinking you are getting a deal.

There isn’t an industry standard on toilet paper sheet and roll size so you might not be getting a deal if you fall for the trick of BIG! MEANINGLESS! NUMBERS! instead of looking for the real information – the number of square feet per roll or per package.

Some stores already have the price per unit on the shelf price tag. That makes comparing unit prices very easy. Otherwise you need to do a little bit of simple math to find the unit price.

Simply take the toilet paper price and divide it by number of square feet of toilet paper in the package to calculate the toilet paper unit price

It’s. that. easy!

Once you have that number, you can use it to save even more money by applying the savings from printing a coupon from the Lazy Budget Chef coupon database!

Let’s see how comparing toilet paper unit prices from different brands and size packages from different stores  to save money works in the real world.

For this example we will be comparing several brands of 2 ply toilet paper from 4 stores:

• Meijer 100% Recycled Content Bathroom Tissues 4 pack from Meijer because everyone claims the store brand is the cheapest 

• Angel Soft from Amazon 12 Double roll package  because everyone claims Amazon has the best toilet paper prices 

• The Home Store Bathroom Tissue from Dollar Tree. because everyone says dollar stores are the cheapest option.

• Willow So Soft # of rolls from Aldi because, again, everyone says Aldi is the cheapest.

Meijer 100% Recycled Content Bathroom Tissues

Meijer 100% Recycled Content Bathroom Tissues 4 pack $5.99 divided by 122.2 square feet = $.029 price per square foot

I'm surprised the Meijer store brand is the most expensive toilet paper in this example.

PS: Recycled content toilet paper is made from the type of paper you toss in your recycling bin not from used toilet paper that is designed to break up when you flush it. I know you are smart enough to know that but you’d be surprised at the number of people who don’t. 

Angel Soft from Amazon 12 Double roll package

$21.94 divided by 1595.4 square feet = $.014 per square foot (plus shipping unless you have free shipping through Amazon Prime)

However Amazon can beat their own price if you buy the same order using Amazon Subscribe and Save where you also get free shipping. Let’s do the math.

$18.65 Subscribe and Save Price divided by 1598.4 square feet = $.012 per square foot
I’m using the suggested 2 month shipment window for this example.When you place a subscribe and save order you tell Amazon how often you want the item to ship (you can also skip a planned shipment without penalty too. I’ve had to do this when I forget to replace the water filter. which is one of the reasons why I have it on Subscribe and Save so I remember to change it every 6 months)

The Home Store Bathroom Tissue 4 Pack from Dollar Tree

 

$1.00 divided by 122.2 square feet = $.008 per square foot
 
As an FYI, you can order a case  from Dollar Tree on line and pick it up at a Dollar Tree store to get free shipping!

Most people say not to buy toilet paper from dollar stores but Home Store gets 5 star reviews on the Dollar Tree website for plushy, soft tushiness and the rolls are about the same size as the other brands in this example. It might be worth a shot.

 

Willow So Soft  from Aldi 

$6.99 divided by 600 square feet = $.012 per square foot

Huh. Interesting the price of the Aldi store brand matches the Amazon name brand Subscribe and Save price. I did not see that one coming.

Which toilet paper in our example one is the cheapest?

1. Dollar Tree $.008 per square foot 
2. Aldi Willow So Soft $.012 per square foot
3. Amazon Angel Soft Subscribe and Save $.012 per square foot
4. Amazon Angle Soft one time order $.014 per square foot
6. Meijer 100% Recycled Content Bathroom Tissues $.029 price per square foot

This is just one example. I know many many many people are ferociously loyal and particular about their brand of toilet paper and may not want to switch brands even if it is less expensive. That’s OK.

But what you can do is calculate the unit price of your favorite brand for sale in several stores (warehouse club, grocery, discounter, etc.) to find the best unit price for the brand of toilet paper you like.

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