General

Re: price books

Kayt75 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:18:24 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I'm BRAND NEW to keeping a price book, but I've stumbled upon a method that I, personally, find SUPER SIMPLE. I use a cheap little "accordian file" style coupn organizer (which I picked up at Kroger). It has an elastic band around it to keep it shut tight, and all the slots came with catagories already printed on them (there's even a slot in the back designated for "today's coupons" so I can seperate out what I know I'm going to use that day). Anyway, it's easy to use and fits nicely in my purse (and I always have all my coupons with me), so I decided to ADD a "price book" component to it (rather than carry around a seperate book), using index cards.

I have a card for each item I normally buy (item name written across the top ot the card), and on the first line of the card I put: DATE, STORE, BRAND, SIZE, PRICE, UNIT PRICE (except for meat, for which I have "Chicken", "Beef", "Pork", etc. cards which read only: DATE, STORE, TYPE/CUT and PRICE PER LB.) I bought index cards which have every other line in a "highlight color" (because I find it easier to keep on the right line that way). Then, I take a "Post-it" brand "durable filing tab", write the name of the item on it, and use it to "tab" the card (I liked them best because they are fairly sturdy, but repositionable if I need to change the tab placements).I then put my price cards into my coupon organizer's appropriate catagorized slot, alphabetically.

I now find it really easy to keep track of everything, and all In one little clutch-like file - so I just thought I'd share the idea in case it'll help anyone else :)

-Kayt

Re: price books

frugalmommytwins — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:52:24 GMT

I use a website that automates the grocery list and price book process. It helps me track grocery unit prices paid by item and also shows which items have increased in unit price and units purchased.

The grocery list shows the lowest unit price I paid to facilitate comparison between the current store unit price and previous unit prices paid. Very helpful at the store! I can edit the grocery list as needed and create different lists for different stores.

The site also provides me instant analysis on spending trends to provide a list of grocery items where unit prices have increased and total units purchased have increased, among other areas. That's very helpful at home for figuring out where to cut costs and why the bill is increasing.

The site is groceryhop.com.

Re: price books

Deborahmichelle — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:14:14 GMT

Dear All, As for produce, I can & do stock up, as I have the good fortune of having a Darling brother who gave me a deep freezer. I have found that grating carrots, mincing onions & celery, & scissoring off the leaves of herbs works best (I keep the peelings/stems for soup in the freezer ina separate bag). We use 1/2 c in sandwich bags for the carrots, oninns, & celery, & 1/4 c for cilantro, mint, etc. Bananas I put 3 in a bag & freeze. I freeze also 3 eggs in a fridge box. I cut & freeze on a cookie sheet fruits like strawberries or don't cut blueberries + freeze them whole. I keep garlic in a small canister in a fridge produce drawer. I keep the ginger in the fridge freezer f convenience, & break off what I need the night befoer so that it will be defrosted when needing to be cut. (It breaks easily.) I bake potatoes & freeze them. I know that I have not covered every type fo produce that I use -- can't think of more -- but there is probably plenty more. Yours in Him, Deb

Re: price books

sugahippeaux — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:51:45 GMT

Me? I'm trying to get a basic idea of what the prices are on the most commonly bought items are at the grocery store.

My categories are very basic: Produce, Dairy, Meat, Misc, Frozen, Canned. Under each category I have specific items that I buy at least once a month. My thinking is that if I know what the rock bottom price is, I'll know when to stock up and/or use coupons. Granted, the produce category is not something you can buy too much of when it is on sale, but I plan to buy what I can and think of more recipes to use it in. For example, carrots are on sale. I plan to get some and eat raw, cook as a side dish, and grate into a carrot and raisin salad.

I've just started, hopefully someone who has been using one for a while can weigh in with how they use theirs.

Re: price books

jingles — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:09:46 GMT

Can you tell me that what are you doing with the price book now?

Re: price books

sugahippeaux — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:26:51 GMT

I've collected prices on my most commonly bought items from two stores (Wal-Mart & Target). I'm still unsure which price book method will work for me, but this site: http://www.ncnblog.com/2007/03/27/rebuilding-my-grocery-store-price-book/ had the most promising spreadsheet. Which can be printed out and used old-school-style if needed. It also has a nifty columned-feature, so a full page contains two lists--which enables you to fold it in half and carry it in your purse. Handy!

Re: price books

Joyous — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:57:12 GMT

http://organizedhome.com/make-price-book-save-money

DLW,

This article (which I'm sure I found linked through Dollar Strecher somehow) was my original template and game plan when I first began building a price book (which I've only been doing since April 08!) The only thing I have different on the product page is I have a space for notes I can take if I want, and also for some items I figure the unit price by ounce or pound, and then also figue a "per item" price.

For instance, I weighed about 10 bananas separately once, and found the average weight of those bananas to be about 6 oz. So I calculate two "unit prices" - one by weight, and one by banana. It really helps me because then I realized how much of a convenience cost I was paying at Sonic when I got the $2.99 kid's meal and got 3 things - hamburger/corn dog, banana, and a drink. Seriously, I was paying $1.00 for a banana at Sonic when it costs about $0.22 if I buy it at the cheapest store! That kinda sobered me on my "frugal" once-a-week fix. I wouldn't have known about how much my individual banana costs, however, if I didn't have a price book.

You don't have to weigh the bananas to get this. You could count how many bananas you bought in a bunch, and then divide that number by the price you paid. For instance, if there were 8 bananas in the bunch, and you paid $2.00 for that bunch, then on average those bananas cost about $0.25 each.

Re: price books

Pat — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:40:46 GMT

dlw:
Okay now I'm inspired to set up a price book. So where and how so I start. Are there sites that outline the process on the net?? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

DL

There's a list of good articles about it here:

Price Books

Re: price books

Joyous — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:29:15 GMT

jeweledsunshine:
It seems to me that using up gas going to several different stores negates the savings that you would get from buying lower priced items at the other store.

I guess it could if you weren't careful, but my trips are combined with my travelling in for work, and the stores are all only a few blocks apart. Also I figure that if I visit three stores in one shopping trip, but I only go shopping every three weeks, that's about the same gas-wise as going grocery shopping once a week.

Re: price books

Brandy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:03:10 GMT

Joyous,

Grocery giddiness seems to be quite common here, lol.

Re: price books

dlw — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:25:53 GMT

Okay now I'm inspired to set up a price book. So where and how so I start. Are there sites that outline the process on the net?? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: price books

Joyous — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 04:06:21 GMT

slk2042:
Joyous,

Come over and teach me?

Second-best, I could email you what I have and you can see how I got it set up. Email me if you'd like to! :D

I really started out pretty simple and kept adding to it until it was how I like it. What got me going really and truly was back in April when I sat down with a grocery list with ANY possible groceries I thought I might buy. I modified a list from the grocery list on Donna Young's website (I think it's donnayoung.org? maybe donnayoung.net? Search for it - it's a homeschool forms website, but she has household forms too.) I took lined paper from her site, too, that you can print off, and played with it until I made "forms" that Iiked. Then I punched holes in them, stuck them in a binder with a calculator and some envelopes for coupon-sorting.

What typing up my price book in the spreadsheet has done for me:

Shows me which vegetables we really do eat, not just which ones I wish we ate
Helps me make realistic estimations of how long my pantry/freezer will last. For instance, my price book tells me we haven't bought coffee since May, but we drink coffee almost daily. I wouldn't have known when I did that major stocking-up in coffee wihtout a price book.
Reminds me of where I got that great deal
Shows seasonal trends for some foods (maybe - will know better after I've had my price book longer!).
Helps me compare similar foods to see which might be cheapest (canned vs frozen veggies, for instances, or among different berries.)

This all might sound super-organized, but I am honestly and truly not an organized person (and I'm not just saying that). What happened is that I found a passion for this and ran with it. I get a high from seeing if I can keep whittling the grocery bill down. I experiemented with what worked for me, and I'm still tuning it, but it is a lot of fun (though a little labor-intensive to type up all at once).

Re: price books

missapril_piano — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:18:56 GMT

jeweledsunshine:
We started buying our groceries every 2 weeks instead of every week and we cut our grocery bill in half, which really surprised me.

This is what works for me too! Every two weeks & sticking to my list!

I would love to do price book. I already go to a couple of different grocery stores. One place has a better selection of Jewish food. Another has awesome meat, etc... I just can't seem to get one going!

Re: price books

Deborahmichelle — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:15:05 GMT

Dear JeweledSunshine, It's much, much easier to use a Price Book in a city or where you don't have to drive around to get from market to market. I can walk to botht he stores I go to regularly (Cala/Ralphs/Kroger & Whole FOods). It's a long walk to Safeway, & I don't find their prices to be very good on non-loss-leaders, so I don't go there often. There's a store called Foods Co that has wonderful prices for produce -- but, Boy!, is it ever inferior produce even to its sister Kroger stores, & SO MUCH worse than what I can get at Whole Foods (which is worth the much higher prices).

I can understand why the Price Book idea doesn't work for you.

Yours in Him, Deb

Re: price books

jeweledsunshine — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:04:02 GMT

I can't figure out how to make a price book work for me. I go to one store and get my groceries. It seems to me that using up gas going to several different stores negates the savings that you would get from buying lower priced items at the other store. This makes my head hurt. oh well. We started buying our groceries every 2 weeks instead of every week and we cut our grocery bill in half, which really surprised me.