I’ve read or skimmed several low budget cooking books and the two books I liked the best discussed developing a price book. A price book is a small notebook you keep in your purse to help you find the best deals on the items you purchase the most. This has been really helpful to me in determining where I am going to do my grocery shopping.
How to get started:
1) Get a small spiral notebook. Something I wish I had done differently is found something with tabs so that the items would be in alphabetical order or by food category. I am thinking about rewriting everything in a new more organized notebook.
2) collect grocery recipets you have around the house and/or sales fliers.
3)Make the headers. On the top of the page write the food item (example: Strawberries). Then the headers for your columns: date of purchase, store, brand, total price, unit (the size), and finally unit price.
4) Determine price per unit. Take the total price you paid and divide by the size of the product. Most food items I buy are in ounces, but diapers I do by # of diapers in the box. Many products are sold in different sizes depending on the brand. Determining the price per unit allows you to see what the price really is.
Here is an excerpt from my page for strawberries:
Strawberrries
9/18 PNS $2.50 16 oz .16/0z
9/6 Aldis $2.29 16 oz .14/0z
9/30 Target $1.97 16oz .12/0z
9/24 Woodman’s $2.99 16 oz .19/oz
I was suprised to see Target had the lowest price. I had never bought groceries there before. Using sale fliers can help you track prices at stores you don’t usually shop at.
5) Dedicate time to update your book. One book I read suggested keeping one day a week as your “quiet day” to plan meals, cut coupons, and look through fliers. She’s a stay at home with a detailed weekly schedule to maintain her home. On this day she doesn’t do any cleaning beyond daily dishes, etc. Family Feasts on$75 suggests a goal of 15 minutes a day to updating the price book. That’s what I have been trying to do but 1 hour a week can provide you the information you need.
It may sound daunting or tedious, but this tip has helped me see in writing changes I have made and how they are adding up. Give it a try, it will only cost you the price of one small notebook.
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