Starting a price book

One of the easiest ways to save money when grocery shopping is to know what price is a good price. Some supermarkets tag “bargains” that aren’t bargains, so unless you do your homework, you’ll be fooled. Be a smart shopper, create your own database of prices of the things you buy so when you see a real bargain, you can stock up, knowing that you really have saved money.

Start by saving your shopping dockets and making a price book. Use a format that is easy for you. If you’re a list maker, you might want to use a small address book so your items are in order alphabetically. You can rule your book into sections for your various categories. If you’re more comfortable on the computer, use a program like Excel to set up your price book.

My price book is a small address book. My categories are: DATE, PRODUCT, BRAND, SIZE, PRICE, UNIT PRICE. As an example, in the “M” page I have listed:

• 14.10.06 - milk - Maleny - 3 litre - $5.00 - $1.66/litre
• 19.10.06 - milk - Aldi - 3 litre - $2.99 - $1.00/litre
• 25.10.06 - milk - Pura - 2 litres - $2.90 - $1.45/litre

The unit price is not always relevant but I work it out because when it is relevant it will show you which is the cheapest product.

Start your price book after you do your next big shop. Save all your dockets and when you’re home, enter the information into your price book. Update the book every time you buy something new, or every three months to enter increased prices or confirm steady ones.

And don't forget to take your price book when you go shopping.