Deb,

This looks like a good method.  I will guess GG is Green Giant?  Do you have a page for each item, like corn, tomatoes, etc.?

BTW, I recall you like Big Roll and I see the single rolls are 2/$1 this week at Walgreens.  There is also a $10 off $30 coupon for tomorrow only http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn545_getcoupon if anyone can use it.

I seem to recall another thread called Value of Price Books, lots of hints there.  Somewhere I read about an Excel spreadsheet downloadable for use as a personal price book.  I have the file, but haven't started filling it in yet, and don't recall where I got it.  (Sorry)  It prints landscape on lettersize paper, and there are two tables which can be filled in.  At the top of each it says Category, underneath that it says Product.  Below that is a 5 column table, with the columns labelled as follows:  Date/Store, Price, Amount, Price per, and Coupon.  At bottom there is an asterisk and note stating Circle When Product is Purchased.  (Maybe that refers to when the lowest cost is discovered?)  If I could find the place I got it, there might be an explanation. 

Ariana has a post of interest on this subject on the first page of Adjusting to higher food prices thread.  Her DB has been working on somethign quite wonderful.  :-)

Dear Lynnlea, Yes to 1st question (GG is Green Giant) & No to your second (I use one line of each page -- there is a lot of space between the lines -- on a type of product, such as bread flour or canola oil.  When there's no moe room on a line, I start a new page for that kind of item.  I have dairy as a category & a page, & when there's no more room for yoghurt entries, I'll start a new page.  I keep an index on the inside front cover.)  Yours in Him, Deb

my problem now is that prices have been fluctuating so much, that my info seems to be off week to week.

 I began two days ago to enter my price book into a spreadsheet. I'm beginning to condense categories, to see where I thought I would spend money had haven't (for instance, I haven't bought any maple syrup since Iearned to make my own pancake syrup). When I'm done, I'm going to print it out and keep handnotes on it again, but it was getting sloppy and unwieldy for me - it was a large 3-ring binder full of sheets.

Joyous:

for instance, I haven't bought any maple syrup since Iearned to make my own pancake syrup

Do you use a recipe that calls for maple flavoring?

dear All, Since I last wrote about my Price Book, I've changed it markedly.  It's now housed in an 11x14" expansion portfolio with clasps on the top right & top left on the inside (a lawyer's file folder). 

On the left, I keep those of my coupons (that go along with my shopping list) in an envelope (punched 2ce for the clasp)  I attach my shopping list on the side of the left-hand cover with a small binder clip.  Using a pipe cleaner, I attach a pen -- the BIC-type one that has a top with a clip under which the pipe cleaner is turned.  This is so I can check off items I've put in the cart, & noted their prices to check on my CRT.

On the right, I keep the Price List.  This is a work in progress.  I have completed only teh Fresh Produce pages, which are the most important for me as a vegetarian who also eats fish.  I plan my menus/meals around the major veggie in a dish.  I almost always shop for fresh produce at Whole Foods, & I buy whatever is cheapest (ie,in season & locally grown).  I carry a cookbook with me, & check out a good recipe for that kind of produce, & buy whatever I am lacking to make the recipe,if necessary.

I use a table in Word.  There aer 4 columns.  The first has the type of produce, preceded by F (fruit), Herb, or Veggie.  This keeps everything in good alphabetical order when I SORT the products.  The second column has the date of purchase.  The 3rd column hs the price.  (When the price changes on a subsequent trip, I add to the data in the 2nd, 3rd, & 4th columns, using the pen.)  The 4th column has the abbreviation for the store that I shopped in. 

I will precede in other categories of teh list, in the 1st column, with the type of food.  For example, in the canned & frozen produce section, I will precede the canned & frozen produce category with C or F for canned or frozen, followed by F or Veggie.  Again, this keeps everything in good alphabetical order

My list starts anew (different piece of paper to start) for each of 9 categories:  dairy, soy, dry goods/general groceries, canned & frozen produce, sweets & treats, fish, baking, fresh produce, & beverages.

I have a hand-written list for all of the rest of the Price List, & I also have a #10 envelope filled with perhaps 20 CRT's that I haven't entered @ all.  My work is cut out for me!  Once I finish, I'll have a formidable tool for wise shopping!

Yours in Him, Deb

Brandy:

Joyous:

for instance, I haven't bought any maple syrup since Iearned to make my own pancake syrup

Do you use a recipe that calls for maple flavoring?

Yes, the recipe is from the Hillbilly Housewife site, and the maple flavoring is from a woman who gave me all her flavorings except for her vanilla because she wasn't using them. I'm only just getting now to where I need to replace some of them, and the maple is one of those. Maple is delicious as a cookie frosting!

How it relates to my price book - when I was first setting up my price book, I made a space for every different food I thought I would be buying. I based my entries from an adapted grocery list from Donna Young's homeschool forms website, and so put down lots of things I *wished* we ate, like beets or cabbage, or that I *thought* I would be buying, like maple syrup. My recent project of typing up my price book has given me the opportunity to throw out lots of categories that have never been touched and to combine entries that I had initially separated, like farafel, rotini, penne, and macaroni. These pastas are similar enough that, if I discover one is consistently cheaper someplace than all the others, I'll gladly substitute, but the way I had it set up before made it hard to compare between pastas. I also combined frozen fruits and a few others that I realized would work better for me if I combined them.

 If anyone is interested in seeing what I'm doing with my price book, I'd be happy to email a copy of it. I find I work best from other people's samples,so I'm willing to show what I've been doing if that gives others ideas on how to manipulate or start up their own price book. It's in a spreadsheet in Open Office, which should be openable by MS Word. 

Joyous:

I made a space for every different food I thought I would be buying. I based my entries from an adapted grocery list from Donna Young's homeschool forms website

I love the Donna Young website. She has many great forms and they aren't all just for homeschoolers.

I must have the most low-tech, ancient type of price book there is. You all sound so tech-savvy with your spreadsheets!

I have a simple 4 by 6 inch spiral binder with about a hundred pages. Small enough to fit in my purse.

Every few pages I have put the letter A, B, C, etc. on the upper right hand page. If I buy something like apples, I write on the A page,

"Apples, .59/lb., W-M, 3/31/08" I don't get fancy with what variety of apple I bought, or what brand. I just put apples, their price per pound, my own grocery store code (W-M means Wal-mart to me), and the date I bought them.

Some types of food I will categorize, like Cereal. Cereal has sub-listings such as:

"Total Raisin Bran, 13 oz. box, $3.29, W-M, 3/31/08"

"Cheerios (store brand), 20 oz. bag, $2.99, W-M, 3/25/08"

I tried using spreadsheets, but couldn't get them to print at a size I could easily keep in my purse. They also took up too many pages, and I had to reprint them so much, I figured I was wasting paper.

For me, I guess the old, low-tech way is best.

 Stacie, I did just like you did the first time I tried to make a price book, and it just didn't work for me. I needed more space, wanted to write things out, make special notes like "price with card" or "manager's sale" or "93/7 fat" or "decided didn't like this brand."  So I ended up with a big full-size 3 ring binder which worked great until these past few months when the pages starting curling and it was getting difficult to handle. Now that I've typed up this spreadsheet, what I'll do is continue to update it with advertised sales from circulars when I'm not shopping and from observation/receipts when I do go grocery shopping.

Right before I go grocery shopping (my goal is to only go grocery shopping 15 times this year), I'll print out the single lowest prices for each section and make 1-2 page price list to refer to for the shopping trip.

 That's the plan anyhow! We'll see how it actually goes over.