I keep telling myself I am going to get a price book going, but I never do. (I have a 2 yr old, so it never gets to be a priority!!) Anyway, I don't really know how to get it organized. Could you guys share with me how you have yours set up and how you use it? TIA

-- Amy (amya@cstone.net), November 12, 2001

Answers

I'm going to admit that, to the best of my knowledge, I don't use one. I say "to the best of my knowledge" because I have no idea what you mean by a price book.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), November 12, 2001.

Gary, you are funny! I should have made my question a little more clear I guess. When I say pricebook, I'm talking about a notebook (or whatever) that you list grocery items in, leaving room to compare prices for the same item at different stores.

-- Amy (amya@cstone.net), November 12, 2001.

Amy~ I have printed the pricebook pages off of the Frugal Moms website and kept all my receipts from the grocery. So far, I have listed milk prices, eggs, flour, sugar and butter. But, I really only have one store to pick from without driving about 15 minutes extra one way. So, my pricebook has been more for me to know when things are on sale and a good buy, than for price comparison. Like you, I can't seem to find (or make) the time to get it all put together. I read that you can shave 20% off of your bill by using it regularly.

-- Ivy in NW AR (balch84@cox-internet.com), November 12, 2001.

I don't use one, although I have been reading about it for YEARS! To tell the truth I just have an instinct for what price I will pay for certain items. Like: never over $2 a pound for meat, and preferrably MUCH cheaper, I like to get bananas for 25 cents a pound, canned goods 3 or 4 for a $1, after a while you get the general idea of what is a "good" price for your area. With things like milk, butter, and eggs, it seems like around here the price changes weekly. I rarely buy eggs, but sometimes see them for 49 cents a dozen and then a few weeks later they will be 99 cents a dozen. Same with butter, and milk.. I know if I see butter for less than $1.69 a pound, I should stock up. If you pay attention to the prices (not like my Mom who hasn't looked at a price for 10 years!! Which just stuns my kids, as I will pass up items that are pennies more than I want to pay...) you will develop a sense of the common prices. I must say it helps to spend time in several different stores. There are 3 grocery stores I rotate among, and I also read the advertisemants regularly.

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 13, 2001.

I guess I have always just used the one in my head, after some 30 plus years of shopping, the ol' computer in the head still works just fine!

Now if I only could remember exactly what it was I was supposed to get at the store, I'd be happy! Having a list doesn't mean I'll remember to look at it!

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), November 13, 2001.

I am in the process of making one now. Since I shop several places and buy a lot of bulk and can never remember for sure the price of powdered milk by the # or different kinds of beans, I decided to make one. I found a spiral notebook that would fit in my purse and I divided it into categories such as dairy, grains and beans, meat, frozen items, paper products, herbs & spices, laundry supplies, baking supples, etc. I tried to put them in alphebetical order and across the top of each page I wrote the stores I shop at. Then I made columns down the page to put different items and went across each column to put the price of each particular store. I'm trying to keep them in the same measurements so I'm going by ounces mostly. A calculator is handy there! I am still working on it and I plan to take it with me shopping. Oh yes, I made tabs on each category so I could easily find them and left several pages in between. Hope you understand this and if any body has any better ideas, I'd love to hear them.

-- Barb in Ky. (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), November 13, 2001.

I made one years ago much like the one Barb described-I could never find a tiny ring binder that didn't cost too much. By now, I have most of the prices pretty much fixed in my head, but I still refer to it and try to keep it updated. The big surprise for me was that food at a "discount" store was sometimes more expensive than at the regular grocery! Grocery stores here are spread out so I have to take in consideration the cost of gas-its not econimical to save pennies on groceries if I spend dollars on gas!

I saved reciepts for things I buy most often and compared those against sale papers. It does take a bit of time, but once it you get it going you save time by knowing what rows you need to shop or skip at a particular grocery store. It really does save you money!

-- Kelly in Ky (ksaderholm@yahoo.com), November 13, 2001.

Amy, your question was probably fine for most people. I am, however, a man. I go to either the nearest store or the one on the way home from wherever I happen to be when I decide I need to stop at the store. It's in the genetic coding.

To be fair I will admit that even I can see the advantage of having something like your price book. Toiletry items especially seem to have a huge range from store to store. Actually having and using a price book would be challenge for most guys, I think. Fortunately I can make it a "guy thing" by instead of using a book using my Palm Pilot. That way it involves a gadget so any guy will be interested.

A pad and pencil to save 20%? No way! A gadget we can play with and and rationalize because we might save a nickel? Count us in!

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), November 13, 2001.