What is a Pricebook? I got this term from the esteemed Amy Dacyczyn. It is a little comparison price list of items that you regularly purchase and consume. You can keep a Pricebook in many ways. You can hand-write everything in a small notebook to keep track of prices or you can keep it up to date on your computer in a word document or excel format and print it out to take with you as you shop. It is sometimes difficult to keep track of the “true” price of items (so you can compare on an apples-to-apples basis) because they are sometimes sold in different quantities in different stores. Unless you are a math whiz the best way to get a handle on how you can get the most for your money is to sit down and calculate the best price per quantity. I will not lie, it is a bit time consuming to start a Pricebook, but like a lot of organizational money-saving tools, once you have it up and running it takes very little time and effort. I have not been keeping my Pricebook up to date lately but I have been saving my receipts so today I will be updating my Pricebook.
When I first made my Pricebook I got very excited about playing the “game.” It was empowering to know that I was no longer throwing money into the wind by purchasing the wrong items at the wrong store for the wrong price. It is an eye opener.
It is also scary to see how prices have been creeping up .10 or .60 cents at a time. We have all been complaining about this price creeping phenomena in our current economy. I try to remember that Americans and other Westerners spent a small fraction of their income on food in comparison to other countries where 80-100% of people’s income must often go toward feeding their family (see More with Less Cookbook).
Keeping a Pricebook opened up an underground grocery world. I quickly found that I was not the only one keeping up with the best prices. If you shop the grocery flyers you will see that it is filled with not-so-great bargains marketed to make you think that it is a great bargain. Before Pricebooking, I didn’t realize this. Many sales prices in a weekly grocery flyer can be beat at Aldi’s or Sam’s Club. When you identify a sale in a weekly flyer that can not be beat elsewhere and therefore is truly a good bargain it means that it’s time to stock up on that item if it is a pantry item, freezer friendly item or paper item. I found that there is a whole underground world that I didn’t know about of people like me who were keeping track of these truly good bargain stock up sales because when I went to the store to stock up the item was GONE! SOLD OUT! And it was ONLY those items. Sometimes it’s like getting an A+ on a report card because if you see that the item you have identified as a true bargain is missing from the shelves or nearly missing, then you got the answer on the test right. Our local store, Giant Eagle (equivalent to Super Stop and Shop, Piggly Wiggly, Krogers, etc) will give you a “rain check” on these items that are sold out which will allow you to purchase the item at the sale price when it comes in even if it is after the weekly sale flyer. You can get your rain check at the customer service counter.
Yes I know that this is a lot for some people and most people I know that love to tease me about these things will have a field day with this, but I will tell you that I am paying less for the same stuff that they are buying and that is worth it for me. I do have a couple friends and my mom who like to do the pricebook occasionally with me by checking prices with me so that is fun. I must admit that I haven’t figured out the coupon world just yet. I have tried a couple times but I never seem to pull out the right coupon with kids in tow and I never seem to come across the right coupon so the Pricebook is my replacement for that although I aspire to get the coupon thing down. I find the Pricebook more satisfying because a coupon you can usually only use on one item whereas hitting a Pricebook bargain you can really stock up at a great price. Here is a view at how I have kept my Pricebook in word format. I occasionally just delete the stores that do not have the best price and leave just the best price on my Pricebook so I know the number I am trying to beat.
When I first made my Pricebook I got very excited about playing the “game.” It was empowering to know that I was no longer throwing money into the wind by purchasing the wrong items at the wrong store for the wrong price. It is an eye opener.
It is also scary to see how prices have been creeping up .10 or .60 cents at a time. We have all been complaining about this price creeping phenomena in our current economy. I try to remember that Americans and other Westerners spent a small fraction of their income on food in comparison to other countries where 80-100% of people’s income must often go toward feeding their family (see More with Less Cookbook).
Keeping a Pricebook opened up an underground grocery world. I quickly found that I was not the only one keeping up with the best prices. If you shop the grocery flyers you will see that it is filled with not-so-great bargains marketed to make you think that it is a great bargain. Before Pricebooking, I didn’t realize this. Many sales prices in a weekly grocery flyer can be beat at Aldi’s or Sam’s Club. When you identify a sale in a weekly flyer that can not be beat elsewhere and therefore is truly a good bargain it means that it’s time to stock up on that item if it is a pantry item, freezer friendly item or paper item. I found that there is a whole underground world that I didn’t know about of people like me who were keeping track of these truly good bargain stock up sales because when I went to the store to stock up the item was GONE! SOLD OUT! And it was ONLY those items. Sometimes it’s like getting an A+ on a report card because if you see that the item you have identified as a true bargain is missing from the shelves or nearly missing, then you got the answer on the test right. Our local store, Giant Eagle (equivalent to Super Stop and Shop, Piggly Wiggly, Krogers, etc) will give you a “rain check” on these items that are sold out which will allow you to purchase the item at the sale price when it comes in even if it is after the weekly sale flyer. You can get your rain check at the customer service counter.
Yes I know that this is a lot for some people and most people I know that love to tease me about these things will have a field day with this, but I will tell you that I am paying less for the same stuff that they are buying and that is worth it for me. I do have a couple friends and my mom who like to do the pricebook occasionally with me by checking prices with me so that is fun. I must admit that I haven’t figured out the coupon world just yet. I have tried a couple times but I never seem to pull out the right coupon with kids in tow and I never seem to come across the right coupon so the Pricebook is my replacement for that although I aspire to get the coupon thing down. I find the Pricebook more satisfying because a coupon you can usually only use on one item whereas hitting a Pricebook bargain you can really stock up at a great price. Here is a view at how I have kept my Pricebook in word format. I occasionally just delete the stores that do not have the best price and leave just the best price on my Pricebook so I know the number I am trying to beat.
3 comments:
Another thing to consider is FoodSupport. They work with local grocery chains to bring local residents prepaid grocery cards. Their website is http://www.foodsupport.org
I can't seem to get all the questions answered at that site. I can not scroll down to see the whole pages. I think I've tried that site before. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
I love this idea of a pricebook. I've heard of it before, but I thought it would be too labor-intensive to do it in the store with Evan. So, I started keeping receipts like you suggested--great idea. As far as coupons go--check out www.couponmom.com. You don't have to clip coupons, just date the sunday flyers and they list the best deals in several stores in your area. I've found that you don't need to use coupons as much when you are truly getting the best price on things, so it is not worth too much of my time to clip, sort and update them. This free website is quick and easy. Thanks Jenn for the great ideas!
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