How to save on Groceries: Don’t Trust your Memory, Write it Down

As part of my series on how to save money on groceries, I am sharing the strategies I’ve used to drastically reduce my grocery spending from over $700 a month to $65 a week.

As I’ve said before, I am confident that you can accomplish the exact same thing if you’re willing to make some changes to how you’ve managed your grocery shopping.

Fundamental to saving money is buying when the price is low. Grocery store fliers and promos will give you lots of hype to make you think that you’re getting a good deal. There may be a big splashy picture on the front page proclaiming “Chicken Breast for only $3.50 a Pound!” and if you didn’t know any better, you might think, “Wow, only $3.50!” Of course, then you would feel like a dodo bird the next month when you see the same chicken listed for $1.69/lb. Oops.

The challenge, of course, is knowing if the price is low, not just letting the grocery store’s marketing company tell you so.

How do I know if it’s a good deal? One of the best tools that I’ve used is my handy-dandy, pocket-sized, pretty-darn-ugly-green price book. In this notebook I keep track of the items that I buy regularly so that I can recognize a good price when I see one. It also has helped me notice promotional cycles (how often stores will mark things down to their lowest price) and make smarter decisions about shopping at Wholesale Clubs.

The concept of a price book isn’t new (the Tightwad Gazette was advocating it over a decade ago) but the benefits are real.

How do I use my Price Book? I use my price book when I’m planning my grocery trips and when I’m shopping in the store. I have a small, two ring binder that holds an index card for each item/category of food that I regularly buy. I have it alphabetized by item and I include relevant information – date, store, brand name, size, unit costs and total price (you can click on the picture below to see a larger version of my chicken scratch)

Initially I needed to write down a lot of information each week – I would look through the circulars and jot down notes on sales. Then I would add additional information when I was in the store as I was purchasing things.

Now that I have a lot of information captured, I don’t have to spend as much time on updating it. I can easily add a new page for seasonal items or something that I haven’t captured in the past, but mostly I use it as a reference tool when I’m trying to determine if the price is right for me to buy it.

What Should a Price Book Look Like? How you create your price book is entirely up to you. I bought mine off the clearance rack at Office Max and I like it because it’s small enough to fit in my purse. This works very well for me, but might not be the best solution for you. Perhaps you would like to use a spiral notebook, planner or excel spreadsheet. Or there is also a template you can download at Organized Home. The point isn’t what it looks like, rather that you devise a system that is functional for you.

Now you may be thinking…

In reply to that I would say “Wow, I wish I had your brain space.”

Then I would say that there is absolutely no shame in needing to have a written reference book. I have a very swanky degree from one of those Ivy League colleges but I can’t always remember the best price per pound on dog chews. And if I’m really committed to stretching my pennies, I want to know that BJ’s sells them for half of what I can get them for at Walmart. With my price book I don’t need to wonder about that ’cause I wrote it down!

Tagged as: money saving tip