About Shelf Math

I built Shelf Math because I got tired of standing in the grocery aisle doing mental math on my phone's calculator — trying to figure out whether the big bottle of olive oil was actually cheaper than the two smaller ones. (It was. But not by as much as I expected.)

The tool started as a simple spreadsheet I'd pull up while shopping. Over time I added features, wrote down what I was learning about grocery pricing, and eventually turned it into this site.

The articles here are things I genuinely wish I'd known earlier: how to read a shelf tag correctly, when bulk buying actually saves money and when it doesn't, and which store brand switches are worth making. Nothing complicated. Just the math, clearly explained.

If you find a bug in the calculator, have a suggestion, or want to see an article on a specific topic, use the contact page. I read every message.

— Paul W.  •  Chicago, IL