The value of a price book

[ChristineLynne]

I finally started one a few months ago. Part of my difficulty had been finding something I could cart with me to the store. I perused Officemax and found a two-ring binder for index cards, and some dividers. It works great!

And a good thing, too. Our Winn Dixie had huge dayglo signs all over, advertising the store closing and everything 30-50% off. I went over expecting to stock up on anything that wouldn't go bad. But the prices were not as good as the best prices in my book, by a long shot. I bought nothing.

I got burned last week by not having the info available in my book. I saw Angel Soft at Aldi, so I snagged it. Normally I use Scottissue, and that's the only brand I have records for. So at the time I had no clue that Angel Soft was cheaper at two local grocery stores the very same week!

Goes to show, what seems to be a bargain may not be. And appearances are deceiving: you can often get the best price on a particular item in a nice, clean, tastefully appointed high end store, and pay more at a grungy, poorly-staffed, warehouse-like store.

[Darlene]

Good for you! You're right, it pays to know your prices. Wishing you bargins galore & happy shopping!

[tbs727]

How have you organized your price book? I haven't done one because I'm not really sure how to start. Do you divide it into produce, dairy, etc. then into stores?

[ChristineLynne]

Yes, I have Produce, Dairy, Baking, Cereal, Cans, Freezer, Meat, and Pantry for food, and Storage and Bath so far for other stuff. Each one has an index tab, and they're roughly in the order I shop.

For an example, under Produce, I have one card with "Seedless Grapes" written at the top. Then beneath, in pencil, I write the price per pound, the store, and the date. So each store has its own line. If a store advertises a better price than I have recorded for it, I erase and correct.

It's great because all I had to do at Winn Dixie was look at spaghetti, figure the price per ounce, and flip to that page in my book. (oh yeah, I do bring a calculator to the store)

I highly recommend starting your book using your store receipts, and maybe the circulars. If you try to price the whole store, you'll go nuts and quit. Just remember when you're putting away groceries to note the weight of each item on your receipt, so you can figure price per unit.

[forestdale]

I started a price book about a month ago and so far it's helped. Even dh takes it to the shops now.

I used an address book and I've listed all my products alphabetically by their name, not their brand. My columns are: item (which contains brand info), price, size, unit price, store, date. I use a pencil too so I can update easily.

Anyone else using a price book?

[Mamaw]

I was trying to figure out how to do this. I really like the idea of an address book! I think I need to start one also and that would be easy to update.