“Please don’t squeeze the Charmin!” Mr. Whipple used to tell us in the company’s ad. Don’t buy it either, I say, unless it’s one of the small luxuries you allow yourself. There are better deals on toilet tissue.

I’m perfectly happy saving a few dollars by purchasing Angel Soft, especially this week when it’s on sale at the Harris Teeter where I shop (and incidentally, where all the other items I talk about today are located).

Toilet tissue comes in different sizes of rolls and different numbers of rolls per pack, which means you should examine the bar codes to determine an accurate price comparison.

For example, this week at Harris Teeter, a package of six-mega rolls of Charmin is 0.081 per SQFT (I assume that means square foot). The 8-mega roll of Angel Soft, without the sale price, is 0.039 per SF (square foot). Charmin costs 0.042 cents more per square foot than Angel Soft at its regular price. These are the numbers that count.

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You can use the same bar code comparison when buying paper towels. The first thing you want to do, though, is to be sure you’re picking out a paper towel that allows you to tear a half sheet at a time. Big savings since a lot of times, you don’t really need a whole paper towel.

Can you see where both Bounty and the Harris Teeter brand show you the “pick a size” option?

Now you’re ready to compare prices. Let’s look at the bar codes.

Bounty paper towels are 0.098 per SQFT (square foot). The Harris Teeter brand is less than half that price at 0.046. Bounty may be the “Quicker Picker Upper” but I’m buying Harris Teeter pick-a-size paper towels.

There’s really no need to look at bar codes when buying paper napkins. The number on the package tells the story. Why pay $4.99 for 200 Bounty napkins (even if they’re called “serviettes”) when you can buy the same number of Harris Teeter quilted napkins for $3.79?

I go even cheaper and purchase the Harris Teeter everyday napkins. Fifty more napkins and 80 cents less than the Harris Teeter quilted type.

One final paper product to analyze: facial tissue or–to call it what’s actually a brand name–Kleenex. As with napkins, what you need to look at is the number stated on the box.

Both Kleenex and the Harris Teeter brand contain 60 tissues in each box. Guess which one I’m buying?

As you can see, store brand paper products are less expensive than the name brands you’ve seen advertised. If you can give up your allegiance to Charmin and Bounty, most likely you can save money.

Remember I’m talking paper products. We all have certain items we can’t part with. I want French’s mustard and Heinz ketchup. No compromise here. I try to catch these condiments on sale.

But saving money on paper products is one way to ease the sticker shock we all experience these days at the grocery store.