Ramsey County

Making $ense of Dollars and Cents

January 28, 2008

Keeping a Price Book

          An item frequently mentioned in budgeting articles is a price book.  A price book is a simple system to help shoppers track prices of frequently purchased products. By tracking prices, a shopper can better determine what is a good deal and what is not. First publicized by Amy Dacyczyn, author of the Tightwad Gazette book series, an up-to-date price book can save time, money and stress.

          Start by saving all of your grocery store receipts. Don't forget to save the "quick-stop" receipts because often those are your "most used" items. Stash the receipts in a drawer/ box/envelope so that you can begin to build your shopping history.

          After you have collected four to five weeks of receipts, your next step is to begin building your price book using the information from the receipts.

          Purchase a small three-ring notebook or binder. Select something that is not bulky and can be easily taken to the store with you. You will want to be able to add and remove sheets as you build your book, so a loose leafed notebook is a good choice.  Some price book shoppers prefer to use account books with their many columns and line already in place. A hi-tech shopper will enter the price info onto a computer spreadsheet and owners of hi-tech toys may enter it into their palm pilots. Choose what works for you and adapt as needed.

          Start a sheet for each major category. For beginners, stick to the main items such as, Canned Food, Boxed Food, Fresh Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Dairy Products, and Snacks. You can always add more later as your book grows.

          Create columns for listing your comparison information. You not only want to compare price but also keep track of which store offers that price. A typical sheet will include columns broken down by store name, brand, size, unit price, sale price and date of sale.
          Referring to your old receipts, fill in the appropriate information.  To find any item's unit price, divide the cost of the item by the number of units. For an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce sold for $.32, enter .32, and then divide by 8 to find the unit price of $.04. If you're making price book entries at the supermarket, you can often find the unit price calculated on the shelf tag. This will be your first step to smart comparison shopping.

          When reviewing the weekly sales advertisements, pull out your book to see how good of a deal you are really being offered. Add the best deals, on your most frequently used items, to your shopping list. If possible, buy the item in bulk, so that you can optimize your savings.

          Continue to save your shopping receipts and use them to update your price book for several weeks.

          As your price book fills up, be prepared for surprises.  Often, the dedicated warehouse store shopper will discover that he/she has not been receiving the savings they thought on every item.  No single traditional supermarket has the lowest prices on every single item no matter what their advertising promotes.  

            Over time, you'll begin to recognize not just cycles of savings – dairy products in June and baking items in December but which individual items in those categories are the best buys. 

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524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu