The Price is Right...Or is it?

Price Book

As I mentioned before, this is not the first time that my husband has been laid off. Combine that with the weakening economy and I have felt "the pinch" for a while now. I remember when I was first married discussing, with my husband, his mother's practice of shopping at 2 to 3 or maybe even more grocery stores each week, aiming to get the best prices for her food. Well, in my mind, my time was worth more than that. I've always been a relentless coupon clipper and a store flier fanatic, so off I would go every Friday afternoon or Saturday morning to the local grocery store (note the singular). Never mind that this local grocer is, in my opinion, more expensive than other retailers in the area, but the others were not quite as close by. In fact, this chain has another store 2 towns away which I have always heard is cheaper than the one in my town, because it has more competition. But it is 12 minutes away rather than 6, so it was always a no-go. Fast forward 12 years and I'm feeling like getting a full grocery cart for $20 less if I shop around or go a little farther is now a good deal.
So I began juggling 3 different grocery store fliers and travelling 20 minutes to access both Super Walmart and BJ's. I thought I was doing well until I bought 4 bricks of Cracker Barrel Cheddar Cheese at a BOGO sale. Now buy one/get one is almost always a better deal than you will get anywhere else. I mean, it is essentially a 50% off sale, right? Right. Doesn't get much better than that.... Until I really looked at my receipt and realized that this particular store had marked the price up so much that I paid a few cents more for those 4 bricks than I would have if I'd bought them at BJ's for their regular price. Bummer!
My mind is not a steele trap by any means. At this point it's much more like an aluminum sieve; room for the big stuff, but the details fall right through the holes. How am I supposed to remember what I paid for a 3 pound container of ricotta at one store when it goes on sale at another. It's not like I buy ricotta every week.
Solution: The Price Book
How to:  For a few weeks or a month save your grocery receipts. Your "book" can be whatever works for you. I use a small 3"x5" spiral bound index card book because I like that it fits into my purse. You could use a regular size notebook of you prefer and I would imagine you could do something similar with your smart phone, though I don't own one so you have to figure that out for yourself.
Anyway, divide your book into grocery sections such as produce, dairy, meats, bakery, toiletries, etc. Take your saved receipts and use them to write the name of the item, what size it is, how much it is and where you bought it. Write down only regular prices, not sale prices. This way when a store runs a sale you can open your price book, find how much it usually is, say at BJ's, and whether or not the sale price at Stop and Shop beats that.  Periodically, update your price book and make a note of any new products you are buying or whether the price has gone up or down on anything.

No more getting taken for a ride at the grocery store.


Include the name, size and price of your item. Include where you purchased the item.