patndoris Frugal $aving$

Not every sale is a sale.  If you are really going to work at couponing down to the lowest possible grocery bill, you have to know when is the best time to take advantage of a sale.  To do this, you need a grocery price book.  A grocery price book let’s you easily determine if a sale price is good enough that you should be stocking up…or leaving it on the shelf.

A grocery price book can literally be a notebook, but with today’s technology is really easier as a spreadsheet.  On it, you log your purchases and calculate the net cost per item (or lbs, oz, etc).  It’s kind of like the little labels at the grocery store – except you can take into account for the coupons you’ve used to really determine your actual cost paid for something.  (I do not include ECB, RR, or Catelinas on this because they generally are not product specific, just a way to reduce your overall bill.  If a Catelina is product specific then I would include it in calculations.)Knowing regular price is fine, but knowing the best SALE price is what you are after.   To learn more about what a price book is you can read this article and check out some of the references.

The first step is gathering your grocery receipts.  Log all of your purchases the dates, size of the item, and the prices you paid (after coupons is best).  A spreadsheet can automatically calculate your unit pricing for you.  I’d say that tracking this over a month or so, from all the places you shop, will be a good basis to start from.

Then using your matchups, you can see when and where the best prices really are.  I’ll give you an example.  There have been lots and lots of sport drinks on sale recently.  I know my teenager is happy to spend well over a dollar to buy them at the local convenience store.  So when I see a sale for $0.79 it’s really tempting to stock up.  But a quick look at my price book tells me that I was able to get them for $0.60 the last time I stocked up – so I’m going to hold out a little longer.  Granted if it’s been ages and the price is still higher, then maybe you need to consider prices have simply increased.  But in my case, it was just a month or so ago –so I’m holding out for better pricing.  When I find it, I’ll stock up with as many as I can to last me until the next sale.

It’s important to include things you may pay full price for like meats and fresh veggies/fruits.  These do go on sale from time to time, and knowing “regular price” will help you determine if you want to include them in your shopping this week or not. I keep track of my non-coupon purchases from Aldi’s just like I do everything else.  If I run into a sale or clearance at another store, I can quickly determine if it’s worth getting there, if I should hold out, or if Aldi’s is a better price overall.

 

Free price book spreadsheet from CheapCooking.com

 

I looked at several ways of tracking prices.  I finally settled on BestGroceryPriceBook.com.  There is a free version available on CNET but after careful consideration I wanted the full spreadsheet. Yes, it involved spending $9 for a spreadsheet, but I’m not about to create all those macros myself.  (Obviously, this is not any kind of paid endorsement of their product since I paid them to obtain it.)  I find it very easy to work with, and printing a fresh copy every 2 weeks or so is very simple and I carry it with me to each store.  In the first few weeks, I certainly saved more than I spent on the spreadsheet – an investment worth it’s weight in gold if you ask me.  If you’d like to see it in action, take a look at this video. BUT TO BE CLEAR – you do not need to use this particular price book, nor do you need to pay for one.  You can use any free one you like and/or you can create your own.  As long as you can see your lowest prices that’s what you are after.

 

 

It doesn’t matter how you decide to track your purchases, but the point is knowing when to buy is only as good as the best price.  You can’t possibly remember every price you’ve paid for every product, and a price book is the easiest method of helping you do this.  So if you are serious about saving money, take time to create the price book.  It can be food, toiletries, even clothes or gardening supplies.  Knowing the best price for anything and everything you buy will help you know when you’ve found a good deal any time you see it.

I know it seems like a lot of work, but it is worth it!  Let me know your successes with your price book!