When helping people to save money, I usually start out by telling them how to save money on toilet paper, because it is a basic necessity. When looking at all the different options for purchasing toilet paper, it can be over whelming. Toilet paper has different plies, patterns, brands, scented/unscented, and eco-friendly options (bamboo). Ply refers to how many layers there are in a single sheet of toilet paper. Toilet paper can either have one, two, or three plies. While these preferences are all up to the individual buyer, I will share with you what you need to look for and how to compare each package of toilet paper, so you know when you are getting the best deal.
To figure out if you are getting a good deal for toilet paper, take the price divided by the square footage. When you are taking the price divided by the square footage, do not round. When comparing multiple brands at the same and/or at different stores, you always want to look to the thousandth place, or three decimal places to the right. This will insure you are getting the best bang for your buck.
The reason why you want to purchase toilet paper by the square footage is because toilet paper is not all created equal. The packaging can be deceiving if you don’t know what you are looking for. Toilet paper varies by how many sheets are on a roll, sizes of each sheet, and how many rolls are in the packaging. To make sure you are comparing apples to apples, you need to find how much you are paying per square foot.
The square footage can always be found on the packaging. However, if you are buying online, it might not always be visible to you. For example, at Target.com, you see the square footage of their Up and Up brand and Charmin, but not Cottonelle. Same with Amazon, you can easily find the square footage of some brands on their website, but not for others. You might be able to find the square footage in the Q&A section, or you could also ask it yourself in the same spot. In some cases, you can also zoom in on the pictures, to see if you can identify the square footage.
When you are purchasing the different plies, my rule of thumb is if you are purchasing 1-ply toilet paper, it should be less than 1 cent per square foot, 2-ply, it should be less than 2 cents per square foot, and 3-ply, should be less than 3 cents per square foot. However, this rule of thumb does not apply to shortages. Remember the 2020 toilet paper shortage? Who could forget! During the toilet paper shortage I don’t remember exactly what I paid, but I think it was almost double. Honestly, I was lucky to find toilet paper in stock! During the shortage, I purchased the “professional” or “commercial” grade 2-ply toilet paper in bulk. I personally do not recommend this for home use because it was thinner and less soft than the other 2-plies I typically buy. Again, this is just a personal preference.
Before you divide the price by the square footage, make sure you subtract any store coupons, manufacture coupons, coupon codes (if purchasing online), cashback/rebates, percentages off, gift card reimbursements, etc. If you have the Target red credit card or the Target Red Debit Card remember you get 5% off your purchases when you use it. So don’t forget to take off the 5% of your toilet paper price before you divide it by the square footage. To do this efficiently, multiple the price of the toilet paper by 0.95. This will give you the net price you are paying.
When purchasing toilet paper, I personally prefer to purchase 2-ply. For me, 1-ply is too thin and feels like tissue paper and I usually end up using more of it. 3-ply is too thick and honestly, it is hard to get a good deal purchasing 3-ply. I don’t care about patterns – whether it has stripes or flowers. I don’t take a hard look at toilet paper while using it and it all gets thrown down the drain anyway. I never heard of scented toilet paper until recently and I don’t know how putting a scent by your personal area could be good for you, so I would avoid that.
Here is a breakdown of some prices at popular stores: Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Target, Walmart, and Dollar Tree. As you know, there are many more stores and many brands of toilet paper. I wanted to focus on these stores because these stores have many locations throughout the country.
I calculated all the toilet papers at these stores to find you the best price per square footage for both the generic brand and name brand. While some of these stores do provide “professional” toilet paper, I chose not to provide that data here since I personally think it is a lesser quality. I encourage you to compare the brands by the square footage wherever you shop for the most accurate data. These prices are accurate at the time of posting (6/20/22).
COSTCO:
Kirkland Signature Bath Tissue, 2-Ply, 380 Sheets, 30 Rolls $22.99/1,425 = $0.016
Cottonelle Ultra Comfort Bath Tissue, 2-Ply, 268 Sheets, 36 Rolls $31.99/1,015.2 = $0.031
*Note: This information was found on Costco.com. The cheapest name brand was Cottonelle, even though Charmin had a Costco manufacture coupon.
SAM’S CLUB
Member’s Mark Ultra Premium Soft and Strong Toilet Paper, 45 Rolls $24.62/1,467.8 = $0.016
Quilted Northern Ultra Soft and Strong Toilet Paper, 32 Rolls $22.28/915.3 = $0.024
*Note: This information was found on samsclub.com.
BJ’S CLUB:
BJ Big Roll, Soft and Absorbent, 36 rolls $14.49/1,372.8 = $0.010
Charmin Ultra Strong Mega Roll Toilet Paper, 32 ct. ($29.99 – $3.00)/916 = $0.029
*Note: This information was found on bjs.com. Some toilet paper were not available online and were not counted towards this data.
TARGET:
Up and Up Soft & Strong Toilet Paper – up & up, 30 Mega Rolls ($19.99 x 0.95)/1,416.6 = $0.013
Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 32 Mega Rolls ($23.99 x 0.95)/1,080.9 = $0.021
*Note: This information was found at Target.com. I used the Target Red Card discount of 5% by multiplying the total cost by 0.95. The Target Red Card has two options: a debit card and a credit card. If you don’t feel comfortable with another credit card, I highly recommend the Target Debit Card. It works just like another debit card and you also get the 5% savings at check out.
WALMART:
Great Value Soft & Strong Premium, 24 Mega Rolls $15.88/1,120 = $0.014
Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 24 Mega Rolls $14.98/810.7 = $0.018
Angel Soft Toilet Paper, 18 Mega Rolls $11.48/608 = $0.018
*Note: This information was found at Walmart.com. I only included brands that were sold through walmart.com and also sold in stores. Third party sellers did not count towards this data.
So far, the cheapest price of toilet paper is at BJ’s, their Big Roll, Soft and Absorbent, 36 rolls at $0.010 per square foot. But I understand not everyone has a BJ’s membership. It has always been a known fact that the worst place to purchase toilet paper is at the Dollar Tree. I have never purchased toilet paper at the Dollar Tree until now!
In doing research for this specific article, I looked at the toilet paper at the Dollar Tree just to share how awful their price of toilet paper was per square foot. But to my surprise, it was a good deal! I also confirmed this information on their website. Here is the breakdown below:
DOLLAR TREE:
Strong and Soft 2-ply Bathroom Tissue, 4-Roll Packs $1.25/106.7 = $0.011
Overall BJ’s is the cheapest but 1/1000 of a cent. But Dollar Tree is very competitive, even with their price increase. This really surprised me because I always hear that Costco and Walmart are the cheapest, but for toilet paper this is not true.
From time to time, I do price out toilet paper at various stores as I am shopping. In my experience, office supply stores and drug stores do have higher prices on toilet paper. In some rare cases, it might be cheaper if you have a store coupon, manufacturer coupon, and a rebate. This is why I only did Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s, Target, Walmart, and Dollar Tree. But I would love to know where you shop for toilet paper. Where is the cheapest toilet paper you have found? When commenting, please include the ply, and city, and state of where you are located.
Dollar tree toilet paper was my go-to in college!
Sounds like you were ahead of the times.