A Price Book

Keeping a price books seems like an idea that could be a real chore; however, they are a great way to track inflation, store prices, and see exactly where your money is going. Most importantly, they allow you to save money and still buy the things your family enjoys. I have kept a price book for some time now, and it has been a very useful tool for our family.

The Basics of Keeping a Price Book

First, begin by saving all your grocery store receipts, and I do mean all of them. Even if it's just a quick trip to buy a couple of items, save that receipt. Keep them in a handy location, such as an old shoe box. Collect about a month's worth of receipts before starting your book.

Once your receipts are collected, you can begin your price book. You should use a small binder that will be easy to carry with you into the stores. Remember you may want to add or remove pages later on, so choose your binder wisely.

Start a page for each major category of the grocery store: Produce, Meat, Dairy, Staples, Snacks, etc. You can add headings as needed. Your sheets should have columns so that you can compare prices from different stores. Your titles might be something like this: Store, Brand, Size, Unit Price, Sale Price and other things which might be helpful to you.

Next, put your receipts in date order and use them to start filling in the columns on your sheets. You'll soon see patterns in your shopping as well as where the best prices on certain items are found.

Take your book with you every time you visit the store. That way, you can quickly see if an item is being offered at its best price or not.

In the future, continue saving your shopping receipts and be sure to update your book on a regular basis. If you are consistent, you will soon see which stores have the best prices on items you buy. No store can offer low prices all of the time, but keeping a price book will keep you ahead of the game and make saving money a little easier. We can get confused and sometimes taken in by offers that seem to be bargains, but are often anything but that. Your price book will help you avoid that trap. Keeping a price book takes a little time and effort, but it will be worth it when you see that you're saving your hard-earned money.

Written and submitted by Linda @ Penny-wise