A price list - ?

**Nishu** · 11-10-2010, 10:23 PM

Has anyone tried just writing the prices on the things you buy?

I have heard that you should make a price book for the things you buy most often, but I'm never really sure what to include and what to leave out. Using an actual notebook was just too cumbersome and too time consuming to get a handle on.

I figure, if I write on the most obvious ones with a sharpie, I'll probably just memorize the price since I'll use the item so often. I guess it wouldn't work if you tried to keep track of the price of everything, but it should work at least with the most common things you buy, right?

**Sassyclass** · 11-11-2010, 11:06 AM

I don't see why it wouldn't work. I just save my reciepts for a couple of months and compare prices that way. I pretty much buy the same items anyway. I'm only buying for 2 so it's easy to memorize prices.

Cat

**Ceashels** · 11-11-2010, 02:58 PM

I started my pricebook by using my receipts. Then next time I went to the store I wrote down the unit costs. I update my book now and then but I don't have the extra time to go isle by isle documenting the things I use occasionally.

**shp1055** · 11-11-2010, 04:12 PM

I've done the Sharpie thing before with the price, but I also wrote the date I purchased the item so that if it was stockpile items. Worked well for me.

**shoiji** · 11-11-2010, 05:17 PM

I made a price list using receipts and a spreadsheet. After each shopping trip I would note the store and sale price.

I stopped doing this since I was basically purchasing the same items at the same store so yes, I pretty much know what a good price is.

Go ahead and try your idea. It may be what works best for you.

**Lynn4** · 01-03-2011, 12:56 AM

I was using a list I made in Word, it fit one side of a piece of paper. I built it after collecting prices from receipts. The way I laid it out made it easy to put check marks on the things I needed to buy and create a shopping list. I made a key for the stores i.e. WM, FM, COSTCO etc. and color coded that in, oh and I also put the prices. The way I shop now, I don't buy much at the regular grocery store except for dairy and produce, so I stopped using the list. But it was nice to be able to run through the list and check the pantry before I went shopping--I tended not to forget things.

**houstenh** · 05-28-2011, 04:46 PM

I don't write prices on the things I buy. But, I try to write purchase dates on my food items. I just try to make sure that I do not plan on returning those items.

**craftypam** · 05-28-2011, 05:49 PM

I go to Sams when I have some extra time and write prices down in my small notebook I carry in my purse. That way when something is on sale I can check if its cheaper at Sams.
I also want to start writing dates on something when I open it so I can learn how long it takes me to use it up. That way I won't buy too much. When I had the ds's at home this was never a problem, but it is one with just the 2 of us.

**Debbie-cat** · 05-28-2011, 09:51 PM

I write down the things I buy most often. It really helps when I compare to 3 other stores! You do have to use what is most comfortable to you though.

**RaineyDaye** · 05-29-2011, 02:20 PM

Although I keep track of prices in a database, I also write the dates on everything I buy for my stockpile. Once in a while I write the price on the item itself, if it was a good buy, such as "$0.25 C" ($0.25 with a coupon). I think I might start writing the prices on the items I buy infrequently, too, that way I can just check the items in the cupboard when I see the item in the store ads, to see if the price is good for stockpiling.

**NicJean** · 05-29-2011, 10:32 PM

I just shopped Friday at Wallyworld and at my "big" grocery store. WalMart has had the best price on Cornmeal, but it has had a use date of July since March (love using a deep pantry). I refuse to buy things for my pantry (stockpile) unless I'm going to be able to use it up.

They must have had a recent shipment, because Friday the use date was now February '13, and I got two for $1.60 each (grocery store price 3.60+). After I came home, I wrote what I paid, the Store: WM and the use by date on the lid with sharpie.

Most of what I buy, I do so regularly, and therefore, don't see the need to keep a notebook - I remember. However, things I buy once in a blue moon (cornmeal, or a box of Scotch Brite scrubbies) I like to note the price on the item itself. (One less thing to lose, too.)

**greekislandgirl** · 05-30-2011, 02:29 AM

I do the price notebook and write it all down BUT where I live all the supermarkets put price tags on the items and while I repackage many things, it is certainly true that the stuff that stays in it's original package, I can tell you without looking exactly what I paid. I have been looking at the €6.50 on my shampoo bottle for months now, for example.

When we manage to get off the island to shop in the normal supermarkets that use bar codes there are no price tags and it doesn't work once you put something into a glass jar, so I still need that price book but if you leave things in original packaging then I think it will work.

**qtkitty** · 05-30-2011, 11:05 PM

I know personally I do not have a fancy phone to do this ... however did you know that there is an app for that ... no kidding .. there is an app that you take a snap shot of the UPC and it tells you if you can get it cheaper else where !!!

I heard about that during christmas .. I was like * jaw drop * .. someday maybe they will have enough uses for those fancy phones to make it worth it to have one *lol*

We really only have 2 grocery stores in town sooooo .... yeah ... one is more expensive than the other but offers double coupons ... so if i was good at couponing .... but i try to shop our ding and dent store first which is like 1/3 the price of the grocery store .. wooohoo