When buying the smaller, more expensive per unit, version of a product is the better deal

One of the rules I try to remember when bargain shopping mania overtakes me -- don't buy more of a perishable food than I really need, even if the larger size is less expensive per unit. 

At Walmart this morning, I was buying whipping cream for making pumpkin eggnog and for topping pie later this month. I was going back and forth on whether to buy the larger quart size or the smaller pint size. 

The quart was less expensive per ounce than the pint. I remembered my rule. I ended up buying the pint. And here's why. When I buy something perishable in a larger size than I really need, I end up trying to find ways to use the excess before it goes bad. That sounds like a good thing, right, that I'm using every last bit up? The truth is, if I was only planning on using 8-10 ounces of whipping cream for a batch of eggnog and another 4-6 ounces to top Thanksgiving pie slices, then the foods I'd make with the excess would be more rich foods than we really needed. All because I wanted to use it all up while saving money on unit cost.

So while my family would have been happy to eat the extra goodies I would make with leftover whipping cream, and while I would be happy to not waste anything, we really wouldn't need that many special foods. And excess rich food seems a bit of a waste to me. 

So in this sense, paying more per ounce, but buying less (which is actually the amount I needed), is actually a better deal for my household.

Ordering Tulip and Crocus Bulbs Online

So I wanted to show you some bulbs that I ordered online from K.Van Bourgondien at dutchbulbs.com. I placed my order in early September and they were delivered in October. The company ships at the appropriate planting time for one's area.

When I ordered, I had the Home Depot website open in one tab and the dutchbulbs.com site in another. I compared prices on similar packages between the two sites. In the end I chose dutchbulbs because their prices were very slightly lower for my total order than Home Depot's, and their selection was better. The tulips were an especially good deal, while the crocus were slightly more for the quantity I was ordering. I did have to pay for shipping. Whereas if I'd ordered from Home Depot, I would have received free shipping. I still came out very slightly ahead. Despite just a small savings, I had also heard good things about this company from others.

Here's my experience:

The box arrived about 10 days ago. I couldn't plant right then, so I put the box into our cold storage room. The box itself had ventilation holes, something I'm not sure about with Home Depot boxes for bulb shipments.

I ordered 100 tulip bulbs and 100 crocus bulbs. This is how they were packaged inside the box.

The bulbs were packaged in ventilated bags.

Upon opening the bag of tulips, they mostly looked very good, and they were good sized.

There was 1 bulb, however, that was very moldy. The rest of the bulbs were in good condition.

The crocus bulbs all were in good condition and were good sized.

lunchtime -- halfway through

We got them all planted just in time before the rain returned. So, I'll see next spring how they all did.

My thoughts:

If I were to order only tulips, I would definitely choose dutchbulbs.com again, due to their great prices on tulips in particular. I'm not too disappointed with the one bulb that was moldy. I would expect that could happen with a Home Depot order as well. Like I said, we shall see how they perform next spring.

By the way, this is an unsolicited review -- simply my opinion as a full-paying customer.