In this week's Dollar Stretcher.  I'm thinking of using the next to the last one, but it would take some work to switch over from my notebook (and a lot of pages to print).  Have you looked at them?  What do you think?

Grocery Pricebook Pages 

 I haven't looked at the new articles yet. Iclicked on your link though. Those are the best pages I have ever seen! I will send the url to my brother to be sure he sees these since he is still working on price comparisons and cutting his food budget.

printed out several of them adding them to my price book 

excellent pages .

I'm a bit of a geek, so I tend to do things electronically as much as possible. I've only recently started keeping track of pricing for things in a semi-organized fashion, and I've been doing it on a little spreadsheet. It's been easier for me to organize that way. If you have a PDA or smart phone, you can even work directly from your electronic copies as you shop. (Although right now, I'm mostly just jotting things down as I see them & putting them on my spreadsheet at home.)

The spreadsheet also lets you automate the price per unit calculations, which is nice :) (You just have to set up the formulas once and you're good to go!)

I am glad that the PDFs were posted tho. It gives me an idea of what others are doing. 

onepursuit:

If you have a PDA or smart phone, you can even work directly from your electronic copies as you shop.

I have enough trouble trying to use a cell phone. Why did they have to get rid of rotary phones? I could understand those.

Brandy:

Why did they have to get rid of rotary phones? I could understand those.

LOL!

I grew up with those, so I understand them... but a lot of the teens today have no idea what they are. Rotary phones are just as foreign to them as PDAs are to other folks!

Dear All, Gary's price book pages are a great improvement over the system I'd developed, where I put all baking goods on one 8-1/2x11" page, & had to scan the whole page to find an item to comparae with the same item in another place.  I printed out the 8-1/2x11" pages.  I have a binder that I can put them in, & I  haave a one-hole punch that I use behind a sheet of 3-hole noteboook paper.   After the sheets are reversed in the paper tray, I'd be charged for 2-sided copying, but that's not something that I can do onmy laser printer, AND it's more expesnive to use the laser toner to make multiple copies on the laser printer than to go into a print shop.  There's a new one that charges just 3cents/copy when you make 100 copies of the same page.  I am going to try to negotiate a price of 4 cents/copy when I make 50 copies of the same page.  (I'l make double-sided 50 copies of the right-hand page, + 50 copies of the left-hand page).

I do have the habit, when a price that does not change in a store, to make a check-maaark & write the date next to it, to save time -- & space.

Since I use very few coupons these days, I've been carrying them in a small envelope instead of in the shoe-box that I used to use when I was able to shop with double coupons, & thus bought for the msot part non-organic & processed foods.  I'm goign to get 5 photo sleeves for 8-1/2x11" use; that will be ample.

I am very happy to have this new method -- I love the calculation of unit price!  THANK YOU, GARY!

Yours in Him, Deb

Dear All, I ended up spending $10 for everything I needed to set up the Price Book.  I'm glad that that's all that it took; it didn't dig into my discretionary cash nearly as much as I feared it would, so I CAN still order from Newark Dressmaker Supplies.  I was not able to negotiate a lower price (it cost $10 for 50 3-hole-punched back-to-back sheets), but since I already had everything else (binder, separater pages with tabs, AND ENVELOPES WHICH I'M THREE-HOLE PUNCHING IN PLACE OF GETTING PLASTIC PHOTO SHEETS -- I'm cuttign down 9x13's (using packaging tape to create pouches & then cutting a hand-sized oval opening -- one envelope at the beginning of the book to place coupons as I collect the products that I am buying, & one envelope at the beginnign of each of the 5 sections of the book.  My sections are:  produce; dairy/analogues (ie, soy products, rice milk, etc -- this includes frozen, refrigerated, & regular groceries); general frozen; baking; & general groceries. It's an added pleasantry that my binder was a DISCOVER CARD freebie @ a Real Simple fair.  It says on the cover:  MANAGE YOUR MONEY, MANAGE YOUR LIFE.

Yours in Him, Deb

 Deb, you have inspired me. I'll make a proper booklet and I'll title it:

 "How can you save the planet if you can't save money?"

I cn scavenge paperboard for a cover, borrow a three hole punch, and use yarn to "bind" the booklet.

not sure if this will help anyone but I dont actually use a "price book" - mine is incorporated in my coupon box:

In my coupon box (a 3x5 index card box) I made "folders" for the coupons with the tab reading the category - cut down old file folders - card stock quality

on the front of the folder (you dont see it until you pull the folder up) I can write prices as well as notes (like DH doesnt like X brand of deoderant or X brand of veges is bad or dont buy X type of soup)

I have used the same box (the lid is duct taped on) and folders (a couple have been eliminated / added over the years based uopn family changes) since 1995 !!!  it is interesting to be able to see the price change over the years...  I also keep the box in a little tote bag (like size of a lunch box with small straps - a Longaberger one from pre-frugal days!!) so I dont worry about it opening and spilling as it moves around in the car!

my categories are in alphbethical order - i will try to remember them all for you

misc - has things like candy and batteries and weird coupons

baking, bread/cereal, cats/dogs, cleaning, deoderants, dairy, hair, face/skin, frozen, laundry, medicine, meat, personal, snacks, soda, pasta/pizza, paper, plastic, spices, teeth, ...

I must say I probably look funnny walking into the store - purse, tote bag of coupons, plus my large recyclable tote bags for grocerys... I carry a lot in (I used to get stopped ta walmart because they thought I had a return - I would have to explain that it was my coupon box!)