Branded to Own-Brand Swap Savings Calculator

Who this is for

Which swaps are worth making. Put each branded item next to its cheaper alternative, with your own prices and pack sizes, and the sheet works out the saving per pack, per 100 g or ml and over a month and a year of buying it.

Shoppers wondering whether the own-brand version is worth trying, households looking for savings without changing what they eat, and anyone running a taste test at home.

What this helps you track

• The branded and alternative price of each item at one shop
• The saving per pack and per 100 g or ml, so different sizes compare fairly
• How often you buy each item, and the monthly saving that gives
• Which swaps you kept after trying them
• The total saving per month and per year at this shop

How to use it

1. Write the household, the shop and the date you took the prices.
2. For each item write both product names, then enter the branded price and pack size and the alternative's price and pack size.
3. Enter how many of that item you buy in a typical month.
4. The saving per pack, per 100 g or ml and per month are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, subtract across and multiply by purchases.
5. Try the swaps, tick the ones you kept and write taste or quality notes below, so the sheet records what the household will actually eat.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why show the saving per 100 g or ml as well as per pack?

Because the alternative is often a different size. A cheaper pack that holds less can cost more per 100 g. When the two figures disagree, the per 100 g or ml saving is the fairer comparison.

Where does the yearly figure come from?

It is the monthly saving multiplied by twelve, using your own purchase counts. It shows what the swaps add up to if you keep buying at the same rate and the prices hold, which they may not.

What if the pack sizes are the same?

Then the per pack saving and the per 100 g or ml saving tell the same story. Enter the same size in both columns so the calculation still works.

Can I compare more than one shop?

Use one sheet per shop, with its name in the header, because the prices and the alternatives differ. The browser version saves in your own browser, so you can keep a copy for each.