Application #1 – Grocery Store Option
Your goal is to find unit rates for items on a grocery list, and to compare prices at two different grocery stores. You should complete and submit #1-9 with this application. For #1-6, compute and organize your data in the tables provided for both stores. Please be sure all values are listed neatly and can be easily interpreted. Then complete #7-9 summarizing your results. Note: #9 is to be answered in paragraph form.
1. Write out a short grocery list for this week consisting of five items. You may list any food, drink, or household cleaning item of your choosing. If you are choosing processed foods – such as chips, crackers, etc. – please choose name brand products (ex., Nabisco, or Post cereal), not store brand products (ex: Cha-Ching brand in Food Lion, or Equate brand in Walmart, etc.)
2. Determine the size/unit of each item you will purchase. (ex.: 5lb. bag of White Lily Self-Rising flour)
3. Shop two different stores for the exact same items. (You may document the information about your listed items while you are in the grocery store doing your weekly shopping, or you may pull your information from weekly grocery ads online.) No special coupons will be used, except for in-store discounts (ex.: VIC price, MVP price, etc.). No price-matching is allowed.
4. Determine the unit price for each item. For an example, see below.
Item: Tropicana original orange juice
Unit: 52 fl oz
Price: $3.79
Unit Price:
𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕 =
𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕
$𝟑.𝟕𝟗
𝟓𝟐 𝒇𝒍 𝒐𝒛
≈ $𝟎.𝟎𝟕
𝟏 𝒐𝒛
5. Calculate the grocery tax amount (7% in NC). If you live outside of NC, research your grocery tax rate.
6. Determine your total grocery bill for each store.
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STORE NAME: |
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Item Name |
Unit |
Price |
Unit Price 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 (show steps) 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 |
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Total before food tax: |
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Grocery tax calculations: |
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Tax amount: |
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Total Bill: |
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STORE NAME: |
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Item Name |
Unit |
Price |
Unit Price 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 (show steps) 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 |
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Total before food tax: |
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Grocery tax calculations: |
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Tax amount: |
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Total Bill: |
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7. Which grocery store is a better deal for this week?
8. How much money was saved by shopping at the cheaper store? (Show your work/steps.)
9. Write a complete paragraph about your overall findings. Include your thoughts on the following points, and anything else that relates to your experience.
a) Did the cheaper store have lower prices on every item you purchased? Or was it a situation where only a couple of items were much cheaper in comparison?
b) Based on your findings in this application, as well as your personal shopping experiences from week to week, is it worth your time to hunt down the cheaper store each week?
c) Did anything about your results surprise you?
d) Are there other factors (excluding prices) that may lead you to shop at a more expensive store? (better service, smaller layout, better quality product, better atmosphere, etc.)
