Frugal Living -- Create Your Own Price Book
I can't remember where I saw the link to the Cheap Ways To... blog, but I owe somebody BIG-time! This is a great website if you're a tight-wad like me. Cara Davis is the author of a book called Cheap Ways to Tie the Knot, but her blog is full of all sorts of money-saving tips, not just things related to getting married on the cheap.
The other day, she wrote about a site called TheGroceryGame.com that helps members save money grocery shopping by finding the lowest prices on items based on a database of store prices, sales, and coupons. It's a subscription-based site ($10 for 8 weeks) with a $1 trial subscription. It sounds cool and all, but (1) it's for U.S. shoppers, (2) I ain't really into coupons, and (3) I already track that info myself.
And so do a lot of other people, as Cara mentions in a more recent post about creating your own Grocery Game by creating and using a price book.
What's a price book? It's a book (or spreadsheet, database, set of index cards, or whatever) where you write down the prices for items you shop for, so you can refer back to see which stores have the best prices for particular items, when and how often different items tend to be on sale, and whether that sale price is really a bargain.
My wife and I have been using one for several years now, and it's great. It can be a pain to get started, and we tried several times and quit before we finally got one going, but now that we have, I think we'll probably use it forever.
We record the prices of all our groceries and a lot of things we buy (including things like cellphone, ISP, haircuts, etc.) We go through all our "junkmail" and record any bargains we find there. We check out new stores when they open to see if their prices beat our 'regular' stores. We keep a 'wishlist' with best-price info. We keep a 'Sale Calendar' showing when different stores have regular sales. Put it all together and I reckon it saves us a TON of money.
If you're interested in learning more about how to create and use a price book, here are some great links:
The Dollar Stretcher -- Starting a Price Book
The Frugal Shopper -- Use a Price Book
OrganizedHome.com -- Make a Price Book: Save Money at the Supermarket!
About.com Frugal Living -- What is a Price List?
Waldo's World -- Mom's Price Book
I use a small sprial notebook, my wife uses her PDA. Then when we have time we put the info into a spreadsheet. We also make sure we include a note indicating whether it's a sale price or everyday price. By tracking sales we make sure we almost never pay full retail price. In fact, it drives us both nuts when we occasionally get caught out and do pay retail. Argh!
The other day, she wrote about a site called TheGroceryGame.com that helps members save money grocery shopping by finding the lowest prices on items based on a database of store prices, sales, and coupons. It's a subscription-based site ($10 for 8 weeks) with a $1 trial subscription. It sounds cool and all, but (1) it's for U.S. shoppers, (2) I ain't really into coupons, and (3) I already track that info myself.
And so do a lot of other people, as Cara mentions in a more recent post about creating your own Grocery Game by creating and using a price book.
What's a price book? It's a book (or spreadsheet, database, set of index cards, or whatever) where you write down the prices for items you shop for, so you can refer back to see which stores have the best prices for particular items, when and how often different items tend to be on sale, and whether that sale price is really a bargain.
My wife and I have been using one for several years now, and it's great. It can be a pain to get started, and we tried several times and quit before we finally got one going, but now that we have, I think we'll probably use it forever.
We record the prices of all our groceries and a lot of things we buy (including things like cellphone, ISP, haircuts, etc.) We go through all our "junkmail" and record any bargains we find there. We check out new stores when they open to see if their prices beat our 'regular' stores. We keep a 'wishlist' with best-price info. We keep a 'Sale Calendar' showing when different stores have regular sales. Put it all together and I reckon it saves us a TON of money.
If you're interested in learning more about how to create and use a price book, here are some great links:
The Dollar Stretcher -- Starting a Price Book
The Frugal Shopper -- Use a Price Book
OrganizedHome.com -- Make a Price Book: Save Money at the Supermarket!
About.com Frugal Living -- What is a Price List?
Waldo's World -- Mom's Price Book
I use a small sprial notebook, my wife uses her PDA. Then when we have time we put the info into a spreadsheet. We also make sure we include a note indicating whether it's a sale price or everyday price. By tracking sales we make sure we almost never pay full retail price. In fact, it drives us both nuts when we occasionally get caught out and do pay retail. Argh!
<< Home