Groceries and Allowence

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> I have a question… Do any of you keep a book or journal of prices in the
grocery store. I am really bad with >prices. I couldn’t tell ya what a
gallon of milk or a box of cereal costs…..
>…. I was thinking of starting one so I can price compare in different
stores also. Do any of you have such a >thing maybe you could share how you
set it up and keep it current. Thanks

> Joanie, I keep mine on excel but you can do it on any program or even on
paper. What I did in the beginning was go through the ad flyers each week
with pen in hand and I put it in excel and made a tab at the bottom for each
category (meats, dairy, condiments, canned goods etc). My columns are set
up like this (hope these columns aren’t all screwed up when I send!):

ITEM STORE #1 STORE #2 STORE #3 DATE SALE? (Y
or N)

MILK
Deans 3.98/gal
4/1 N
.89/half
gal 4/8 Y
2.49/gal
4/16 N

2.09/gal 4/6 N
Store Brand 1.89/gal
4/12 N

As your pricebook grows you can start to see paterns, such as Store #2 has
the best over all prices both on Dean’s brand and their store brand of milk.
BUT when store #3 puts its half gallons on sale, they are the cheapest
coming in at 2 half-gallons for $1.78. If you kept the price book going,
you could determine if there is a pattern to the sale (most likely there IS)
and you’ll find that that 1/2 gallon of milk at store #3 goes on sale every
4 weeks, so you can plan on it. The same pattern for can goods would tell
you that 4th week is when you stock the pantry. Does that make sense?

The first month is the hardest, both in terms of remembering to enter items
in your price book and in learning what is a good price. Have I totally
confused you? LOL! Hope not.

Monica
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