How To Make Toilet Paper Math Simple For The Best Deal

I’ve got a simple trick to help you figure out that silly “toilet paper math” so that when you are standing in front of a gazillion packages of toilet paper and they just about SCREAM at you like a math word problem.

It’s like being in a bad dream that you have your kids with you for your college exam and the test is asking which package of toilet paper is the best deal?

Do you choose the package with double rolls? Jumbo rolls? Mega rolls? Or family mega rolls? (What the heck is a “Family Mega Roll”??)

Then choosing single ply or double ply…. ultra soft? or ultra strong?

C’mon… be honest… we just want the one that is gonna last the longest time on the roll so we don’t have to change it as often, without being scratchy.

Bonus points if it that package will save us money, right?!!

My accounting-trained math brain loves a good word problem so I want to help you determine how to get the best deals on toilet paper, with or without coupons.

The best part is that you can cut through all the package “noise” because it doesn’t even matter what “type” of roll it is… family mega size… regular roll…. jumbo roll…. or extreme mack daddy roll…

All that matters is what you should be paying because you care about the best prices on toilet paper, right?!

Because when you learn this toilet paper math, you’ll never be caught off guard with trying to figure out the best deal.

Plus, when you learn how to save on toilet paper, you can easily find the best deal out of any package there is on the shelf.

And, with these toilet paper saving tips, you’ll never pay full price ever again!

Here’s how you figure out the the best toilet paper deals this week and any week of the year!

The Quick Trick To Figure The Best Prices On Toilet Paper

When you are at the store looking for the best toilet paper deals this week, look at the bottom of the front of the toilet paper package to find the total square feet.

Now take that number and multiply it by 0.015 (a penny and a half).

This is the lowest price you will pay for quality toilet paper: 1.5¢ per square feet.

Your answer (the square feet of the package you’re looking at x 0.015) is how much you should spend on that package of toilet paper.

Now look at the shelf. How much does the shelf on the price say that package costs?

If the shelf price is more than what your answer on your calculator then you want to keep looking for another one to purchase.

The best price of toilet paper is between 1.5¢ to 2¢ per square feet.

So you could take the square feet and multiply it by 0.02 and see if the answer is the same as the price the store is charging.

This is how to save on toilet paper and it’s so easy!

Here’s a video of me explaining it on a Facebook Live Video: (and below the video is the step-by-step explanation with several examples)

How Easy It Is To Calculate:

My mom likes to buy her TP at Costco. She swears it’s the best price there, and she likes to get a giant package so she doesn’t have to stock up as often.

So we headed to Costco and I did a quick price comparison to see if she was really getting the best deal.

First, let’s look at the Kirkland Brand: It costs $16.99 and has 1593.7 square feet:

Using our Toilet Paper Trick, take the 1593.7 and multiply it by 0.015 (to see how much you’d pay for 1.5¢ per square feet)

That equals: 1593.7 x 0.015 = $23.90

And what’s the price on the shelf? $16.99

So that means it’s a fantastic price! ($16.99 is less than the $23.90 typical best price)

Now, let’s look at the name brand counterpart that my Mom was willing to use if it was cheaper, Charmin Ultra Strong:

At first glance it seems like the Charmin is about the same price as the Kirkland brand: $16.97 (or $16.99) vs $16.99 for 30 rolls.

NOTE: The Charmin was on sale!

Each brand has 30 rolls in the package and they are around $16.99 each. Seems comparable, right?

That’s exactly what they want you to think! Because it’s actually NOT the same price!! Not even CLOSE!

Now, let’s look at the square feet in each package:

Charmin Ultra Strong: 856 sf for $16.97 (sale price)
Charmin Ultra Soft: 870 sf for $16.99 (sale price)
Kirkland: 1593.7 sf for $16.99

I bet you can already tell where I’m going with this… despite having 30 rolls in each package. The Kirkland has almost DOUBLE the number of square feet!

When we do my Toilet Paper Trick we can adequately compare them:

Charmin Ultra Strong: 856 sf x 0.015 = $12.84 is what you should pay (sale price was $16.97) Not a good deal!
Charmin Ultra Soft: 870 sf x 0.015 = $13.05 is what you should pay (sale price was $16.99) Not a good deal!
Kirkland: 1593.7 sf x 0.015 = $23.90 is what you should pay (price was $16.99) VERY good deal!

NOW you can make an informed decision, right?

If you were going to buy the Charmin, this means you need to WAIT to stock up until the price is around $13 ($12.84 for Ultra Strong or $13.05 for the Ultra Soft). You could also check to see if the price is cheaper on Amazon.

Let me show you how to find the price per square foot on Amazon.

How To Find The Best Price Of Toilet Paper On Amazon:

Here are some more toilet paper saving tips.

You’ll have to do a little digging to find the best toilet paper deals this week on Amazon.

Amazon is sneaky in helping you determine the best deal.

They’d prefer you just “click buy” without thinking about it.

In fact, to find the one number you need on the package (the square feet), you have to dig a little bit because they don’t even have it listed AT ALL in any of the descriptions.

I’ve got a video below to show you where to find it, but here’s a list of places I look to find the square feet on Amazon:

• Click the product images to find an image of the package that has the square feet listed on the front.
• Click the product images to find an image of a box with the square feet listed on the front.
• Scroll down the Amazon product page and find the Q&A section and search for the words “square feet” to see if anyone asked (and answered) about the square feet on the package.
• Google the product description you see on Amazon such as “Charmin Ultra Soft 24 Family Mega Rolls” and look for a picture of the front of the package that has the square feet listed.

What the heck is a Family Mega Roll anyway?! It’s a marketing tactic… that’s what!

The Example From Amazon:

Taking the information we found on Amazon, we can quickly decide if that is a good deal or not:

Charmin Ultra Soft Family Mega Rolls priced at $29.97 with 948 square feet.

Do the quick math:

948 x 0.015 = $14.22 is the best price you’ll find for this product. This is what you SHOULD pay. (So you would NOT buy it at Amazon and continue finding a better product that’s less expensive).

or you could pay up to 2¢ per square foot, which makes the price: 948 x 0.02 = $18.96

As you can see, the $29.97 price Amazon is charging is horrible. You’ll be able to get that same package much cheaper at another store.

OR you could continue searching Amazon for a TP deal that does work for the best price like this one. (It’s a 4-Pack of 9 rolls of Angel Soft Bath Tissue 1630 square feet for $29.91 and when you do the math: 1630 x 0.015 = $24.45 lowest price you MIGHT see BUT 1630 x 0.02 = $32.60 and it is priced at $29.91!)

Let’s Wrap This Up:

If you’ve seen those fun toilet paper math memes before, it’s easy to think you can’t figure out the best price on toilet paper.

When in fact you can easily cut through the marketing tactics with this toilet paper money saving trick!

Teach it to your kids so they can make the decision for you when you go shopping 😉

You won’t be stumped next time you see toilet paper deals because you’ll know how to quickly figure out the best price for any package.

I hope you learned how easy this toilet paper math really is so you’ll never be caught off guard with trying to figure out the best deal.

Plus, when you learn how to save on toilet paper, you can easily find the best deal out of any package there is on the shelf.

And, with these toilet paper saving tips, you’ll never pay full price ever again!

Your Turn: Do you use this toilet paper math every time you buy? Share with us below!

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