Saving Money On Groceries - The Price Book, Part Iii, More Tips On Using It
I add items to my price book gradually. Say this week I'm thinking to buy canned pumpkin. Well I don't buy that often so it may not be in my book. If I don't need it right away, the next time I'm at a store I'll just enter the price into my book and pass it up, and check out other stores as I find myself at them. I only enter a new line for an item when there is a new price to beat, but I always want to know where I can get the lowest regular price, too, in case it's not on sale when I want it. One store might have the lowest everyday price, but another might have the lowest price when it's in season and on sale. But typically, I'll only have one or two entries for each item. When a regular price goes up, I erase the old price and correct it.
After I come home from a grocery shopping trip it's a good time to spend 5 minutes writing down any new items. For some items, like fresh green beans or canned peas or chicken, your grocery tape may not say the price per pound or list the weight at all, so these in particular you want to catch after your shopping trip and before you discard the information on your food package.
I know everyone thinks they know the cheapest place to get your food, but trust me -- you don't! If you keep a price book and go to all the places in your area, you'll start to see that you can save an awful lot! Like the white flour I used in the example that I usually purchase for $1; the two regular grocery stores in my town will occasionally have sales, usually before the holidays, but the regular price for white flour is about $2.79. That's a high price to pay for the convenience of one-stop shopping when I can go to the dollar store once a month and get many items more cheaply there. One trip to buy flour and I save $1.79. It probably costs me less than a quarter in gas to drive there.
Using a price book doesn't mean you have to always buy the cheapest generic item. Buy generic when it doesn't matter to you so that you can splurge where it does matter and still have a low grocery budget. I know I can get a pound of coffee for under $3, but I really like the $6-10 a pound coffee! I'll gladly eat generic pasta, tomato paste, beans, tuna fish, peanut butter, etc. to afford my better coffee, but luckily I can do all this, have my coffee, and still purchase all my groceries for about half the national average.
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