Amy Dacyczyn, author The Tightwad Gazette invented the price book, and It can be a notebook or an excel file -even an Iphone app- where you record the lowest prices you find for a grocery item. Later, when you find something at a low, low price, you can stock up! You may find you've been paying way too much for things once you begin using a price book.
Amy wrote her book before the internet really took off, and before excel spreadsheets and iphone apps, so what she did was use a notebook, each page dedicated to a particular product (i.e. "Salad Dressing"). She wrote down the store name, the brand, size, price and unit price.
1. Start collecting prices! Get out your sales fliers, or look them up online. Grab those 3,000 receipts out of your purse or wallet (I know you have them in there! I "collect" mine, too!). Start recording prices using this data you already have.
2. When you go shopping, take your Price Book with you! Check the prices at the store against the price in your book and see if you should stock up.3. Make sure you keep updating your price list!
I downloaded the deluxe excel version of The Best Grocery Price Book here
If you would like to just write the prices down, here's a free printout here
Hi there - dropping by from Monroe on a Budget. I posted a comment there, but thought I'd stop over here as well since this is really the original post!
ReplyDeleteI’m curious how many shoppers really use a price book like this? While it’s an interesting concept, for me, keeping an actual written list (or spreadsheet) would be a waste of time. Great deals are memorable to me, and I don’t seem to have a hard time remembering my “rock-bottom” prices without actually having to make a written note of them. I just know a deal when I see it!
How long and comprehensive is your list? I have a hard enough time just finding the time to keep my coupons organized!
Hi, Deb! Thanks for stopping by. I'm actually a lot like you - for the most part, I can be at a store and know what a good price is for things that I buy a lot of. This just fine tunes that.
ReplyDeleteMy list is actually pretty short - I buy the same things over and over again - I don't use it for everything I buy, this just helps me to know when to stock up on everyday items.
P.s. I'm terrible at getting my coupons organized as well!