The Price of Bananas

Do you know the price of Bananas?

A simple question, but a keystone in the world of personal finances.

It has been a long standing discussion point here at the Millionaires Club, we have people at the monthly meetings shouting from the cheap seats [*] about the relevance of the cost of something as simple as a banana.

Today, I can tell you that they're forty nine cents a pound for "premium bananas" at Super Valu, fifty nine cents a pound at IGA Marketplace and once again, Canadian Tire, for some reason, are out of stock.

I hear from the unretired club members that it does not matter, that running around searching for the cheapest produce is counter productive, that "its not worth the gas" or "its not worth my time" to research and that at the end of the day, you get what you pay for, beans is beans.

Well, beans are not beans when the price of the same fourteen ounce tin varies between forty nine cents and a dollar twenty nine. Same brand, different store. Thats 163% more for the same item between what would be perceived as competing stores.

Sure, "its not worth the gas" if you're going to eat all those extra beans at the same time, but it is certainly "worth your time" because every extra nickel or dime you save on bananas or beans goes into the retirement bucket.

Once you get the time, you'll realise it's worth it.



[*] Actually they're all cheap seats in the club house.