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Like many of you, I thoroughly enjoy reading personal finance posts. Every opportunity I get I start checking my favourite blogs for updates, excited to read their take on things. I don’t get bored of it either. From a half-asleep look through emails first thing in the morning, to checking for updates last thing at night; I am a little bit obsessed.
What Keeps Personal Finance Fresh?
Will this is an interesting question. I am not going to name and shame anyone, but recently a lot of the blogs I have been reading have got extremely dull. As if authors have started writing for the sake of writing – to maintain their Alexa ranking or PR – instead of writing when they have something interesting to say. The blogs that inspire me the most are those that use real-life examples; the authorsput things in context.
The last thing I want when I have worked so hard on this blog, is for readers to become tired of following savvyscot. So today, I have tried to put together an interesting post – I hope you will agree 😀 ! Without further delay.. I present to you today’s hot question:
How Much is a Pint of Milk?
I am actually sad enough to know the price of 1 pint, 2 pints and 4 pint cartons, probably to within a few pence. As a staple part of almost everyone’s diet around the world, this is probably one of the best questions to ask someone to determine whether they are in touch with the cost of living and shop frugally. I wonder how many famous/rich people can answer this question correctly?! (In the UK the price of a pint of milk averages around 46p)
Warning: The following answers may make you laugh!
- Gary Barlow (Xfactor judge / Take That Member) – £1.19
- Tulisa (NDubz / Xfactor judge / solo artist) – £1.20
- Louis Walsh (Xfactor judge) – £0.20 (wow Gary and Tulisa could have had 6 pints if they shop with Louis)
- Ricky Gervais – ‘Something like £1000… don’t ask me I fly by private jet’
- Nick Frost / Simon Pegg – ‘About 46p’ – spot on!
- David Cameron – Openly admits he doesn’t know
- George Osbourne – Ditto!
- Jim Paice (UK farming minister) – ‘I don’t know.. My wife buys most of it!
George Bush was forced to admit he had no idea what the cost was during a debate with Bill Clinton back in 1992, where as Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of NYC underestimated the cost by half… which is probably even worse!
Unfortunately this ignorance is not just limited to celebrities. Over 1/3 of men who were questioned by the UK’s Daily Mail admitted they had no idea how much a pint of milk was.
Too Rich To Care?
Surely, if so many people don’t know the cost of a pint of milk, then there must be hundreds of other costs that are just ‘accepted’ in today’s society. You must all be a shopkeepers dream!
Consider a handful of the items in your fridge / cupboard. Do you know the cost of each to the nearest £/$? If not, then you probably need to take more care shopping.
What item do you consider to be the most overpriced? If it is Razorblades then you can enter by giveaway HERE. If it is something else, what is it and why?
Thanks for the laugh…I needed it! 🙂 I agree that posts which include real life examples tend to resonate with me more and are ones that I enjoy more (even if I don’t agree with them). Writing like that, for me, can be a challenge at times because I know that I can be a little on the dry side.
In regards to the stat you shared about 1/3 of British men not knowing the price of milk, it really does not surprise me as I am sure it’s the same in the States. My wife and I do the grocery shopping together, so I am very aware of what things cost for us. In regards to milk…we like to buy when it’s $.99/half gallon. We buy a bunch of it and freeze it. That way we save money and can just pull some out when it’s needed and thaw it. The normal price is about $1.60-$2.25 depending on the brand.
Great post and thanks for keepin’ it real! 🙂
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..You Left Your Job, Now Take Your 401k With You
I like the idea of freezing milk… this is something that I have never actually tried. My freezer is probably to full to fit in milk to be honest. Glad you have your bargain mindset! 😀
savvyscot recently posted..Too Rich to Care
When I moved to Canada from the UK back 5 years ago I had no idea about prices here. Now I’m pretty much good to go with pricing here in Canada since we’ve been saving like mad on groceries. It’ so important to know pricing, even milk. That’s why we started The Grocery Game Challenge.
When I was home I could go to Tesco,Sainburys,Wait Rose,Neto, Aldi,Lidl,Coop,Summerfield, and relatively know the prices of items I bought and could compare easily. Mum says she goes to a shop called Cool Traders I think, what used to be Iceland (freezer supermarket not the country) and she gets misshaped bacon but she routes around the packets with full 26 rashes for a quid. So that’s pretty darn good. If you have a good look you will find one’s that aren’t actually that misshapen. I’d be all over that.
Canadianbudgetbinder recently posted..September 2012 Net Worth Update Canadian Budget Binder
You sound just like me! I always forget that Iceland has some great bargains on fresh produce… i.e. it is not just fulled of frozen stuff!! I might have to try your recommendation on the Bacon 🙂
savvyscot recently posted..Too Rich to Care
I would like to volunteer to bring Ricky Gervais a pint of fresh milk every morning!
When I was in the UK I knew all the prices of my favorite items, now I travel a lot so with currencies, different stores… I only have a rough idea of what is normal for me, or a real bargain. In Norway, fresh tomatoes were almost the price of fresh salmon, so I had salmon and the forgot about tomato salad. Most overpriced item for me is bottled water.
Pauline recently posted..Are you kidding me??? Grandpa wants an Iphone 5!
Different currencies and exchange rates must make it very difficult to track prices! Norway is SO expensive.. That said it’s not as bad as Angola where you pay about £6 for a loaf of bread! Maybe the celebrities have been shopping there?!
Bottled water is a great catch. I love my re-fillable flasks!
savvyscot recently posted..Too Rich to Care
I’d imagine that some simply don’t know how much a pint of milk costs because they’re not the one that goes grocery shopping. The only reason I know is because I go shopping with my wife, but many husbands do not.
WorkSaveLive recently posted..Is Your Monthly Grocery Budget Too High? 6 Ways to Save Money on Groceries
Fair point, but it’s really a benchmark of how aware people are of the cost of groceries! Maybe couples should shop together to ensure that the best bargains are found! 2 sets of eyes are better than 1!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
I’m gonna be honest here, if I need milk, I buy milk. Don’t really look at the price. Supermarkets all work very hard to keep their prices of daily consumables competitive so why pay any attention to it?
Jay
Jay recently posted..Bank of England interest rates stay at 0.5%
Hey Jay.. I guess that is fair enough with Milk – when it comes to other groceries, cornershops / convenience stores make a KILLING!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Well I buy almond milk, so I’m not sure what the cost of regular milk is either. 🙂 Anyway, nothing comes as too much of a surprise of what it costs at the grocery store. I wish pesto was cheaper though, because I love the stuff!
Budget & the Beach recently posted..In Between Things
I have never actually tried Almond milk… must give that a try! I also love pesto.. the prices vary ridiculously here – from £1.50 a jar to about £4.50 a jar! Can’t say I notice the difference
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
I never used to pay attention, but since I’ve been tracking grocery expenses, I know just about what everything we normally buy costs. This way you know when a sale is a good deal.
I totally agree! Nothing better than having the last laugh when you realise that often the package ‘deals’ are actually worse value for money than buying items loose!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
I am one of those who does know the price (you would have guessed that wouldn’t you?? LOL) – right now the battle is to keep the tiny incremental raises in staples balanced through my budget so that I can keep to my goals.
Agree with you about some of the PF blogs right now BTW – same articles, same theories, no personality or personal touches.
I write about failing, falling over and Irn Bru cupcakes ………… but people know I am a real person in the real world not a production line of cookie cutter articles.
Off my Soap Box now LOL
[email protected] recently posted..Irn-Bru Cupcakes
When I first read this, I thought you said you didn’t know and I was shocked!! How is that amazing cupboard of yours getting on?! I definitely wasn’t branding your blog under that statement… especially when you give recipes out for Irn Bru cupcakes!!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
I cant tell you exactly how much it costs but I know what store will give me the lowest overall groery bill on my staples.
Even when I was dirt poor as a student I dont think I could tell you exactly how much everything cost but I could tell you the cheapest way to eat.
I definitely was not “too rich to care” I was “too time poor to care”. Knowing to the penny how much these items cost I dont believe will get me to my financial goals any faster. But I could be wrong!
Thanks for the post.
Jon
Jon recently posted..Perkins Student Loan Basics
Hey Jon! Thanks for stopping by. I guess the point of the whole Milk Test is to identify if people know the rough cost of milk or they are so clueless about the cost of groceries that they have no idea! I agree that it is flawed and by shopping at the store with the lowest overall grocery bill is definitely better than chasing around 10 stores for the lowest price! Time is just too valuable! The very fact that you know which the cheapest store is means that you passed 😀
When my wife handled most of the shopping I can honestly say I wouldn’t have known what the cost of milk was here… But now that I’ve taken over the cooking and shopping I know.
I’m hoping I’ll be too rich to care soon enough.
thestarvingartistcanada recently posted..Standing out from the crowd
So Do I 🙂
Well.. I don’t really know actually. That said, I can’t drink milk and almond or soy is just shy of $5, it’s usually about $4.90 a carton, I think. My spouse drinks milk, but I usually buy the organic stuff and it’s not representative at all! I think it’s $6.99 for two litres and I’ll take a stab that 4 litres of regular stuff is about $5.
Anne @ Unique Gifter recently posted..I’m Giving Away a Gift!
When I was a student, there was an Iceland around the corner from my house and I never really used to look at the prices. I merely filled my basket without looking and let the student load take care of it. All I know is that milk is usually under 50p.
I’m not like that anymore of course and now have a reputation as something of a penny pincher. My cupboards are not very exciting, the house is always cold and I whenever I talk about money I do that thing Mr Burns does with his hands/fingers without realising!
Darren @ ideasforcash.co.uk recently posted..Top Tips for Businesses Looking to Save Energy This Winter
I guess you can make some assumptions at Iceland. I think you and I would get on with our similar reputations 😉