How is your grocery budget doing lately? Straining at the seams? Mine has been growing inexplicably every month–and I don’t think it can all be ascribed to the kids eating more! After staring, dismayed, at last month’s figures, something definitely needed to change.
So, I decided to revisit my old grocery shopping tips and price book. Scratch that: those prices are outdated and just depressing when I compare them to the current tags in the grocery store. It was time to make a new price book. The way I shop for groceries has changed over the years, depending on where we are living, number of mouths to feed, budget, etc. I needed the new price book to reflect that, so I made a spreadsheet with room to compare prices from several different kinds of retailers.
In a typical month, I will buy groceries at a traditional grocery store, a bulk foods store or wholesale supplier, a natural foods co-op, and sometimes an online retailer or specialty shop.
The Secret to Finding the Best Deals on Groceries
Why would anyone want to make grocery shopping so complicated, you ask? I think of it as a kind of game, searching to find the best prices on grocery staples to fit my family and my budget. However, it’s hard to play this game without a good price reference. You may think, “Oh look: peanut butter is on sale. It’s a great deal!”
But is it really? To know the answer to that question, you would have to compare the sale price of peanut butter at store A to the regular and/or sale prices of peanut butter at stores B, C, and D.
To do that, you need a price book.
What is a price book?
A price book is a notebook or spreadsheet in which you log the prices of items you typically buy. Use one row or line for each item, and make sure there is space to write prices from several different stores. Bring it along with you to the grocery store and note down the prices of apples, milk, peanut butter, or whatever you typically buy. Or copy prices off your receipt once you get home. (This is a much easier option if your shopping trip involves young children!)
Next time you head to a different store, take your price book along again. It will give you a reference for prices at the other stores, so you won’t have to stand in front of the peanut butter display wondering whether this sale is actually worth it. And you won’t have to try to keep hundreds of grocery prices stored in your brain! Your price book will absolutely save you money, because you can quickly and easily compare prices across brands and stores.
Of course, comparing prices is even more difficult when comparing containers of different size. You may remember that a good price on natural peanut butter is $6.99 at Safeway. But if you shop at a different store, the brand might be different, and the container size might vary as well.
How do you compare the prices of a quart jar of peanut butter to a gallon pail? The key lies in comparing unit prices.
What are unit prices?
Unit prices are those little numbers on the corners of the price tags in the store, which tell you the item’s price per unit of measurement. Items are typically measured in pounds, ounces, and fluid ounces, though other units of measurement may be used. For example, if a quart jar of peanut butter (32 oz) costs $6.99, then the unit price will be 6.99/32= $0.22 per ounce.
Unit prices are useful when you are comparing across different brands and sizes of containers. They can help you determine whether or not the larger size container is actually a better deal. IT ISN’T ALWAYS! A smaller container of store brand peanut butter may actually be less expensive than a larger container of brand name peanut butter. Check those unit prices!
How do you compare the unit prices for two items if they use different units of measurement?
This is where it gets tricky. Thank goodness for smart phones with calculators! You could also bring a calculator with you to the store, or else make a note of the price and size of container, and add it to your price book at home.
Here’s what to do: if the unit price for a 32-oz. jar of peanut butter is $0.22 per ounce, and the unit price of a 9-lb. pail of peanut butter is $4.75 per pound, don’t panic! Remember, 16 ounces = 1 pound, so just convert the unit price of the pail of peanut butter to ounces: 4.75/16= $0.30 per ounce. Now you can see that the pail of peanut butter, while a larger size, is actually more expensive per ounce of peanut butter than the 32-ounce jar.
Here’s a quick tip for faster shopping excursions when you don’t have a calculator:
- A general rule when comparing one particular item across brands, in similar size containers, is that items measured in a larger unit will be less expensive. For example, if one brand of canned tomatoes is $1.19 per pound, and another brand is $0.14 per ounce, the can measured in ounces is probably more expensive than the can measured in pounds.
- Remember, this rule only holds when comparing items in similarly sized packages. In the peanut butter example above, the large pail of peanut butter turned out to be more expensive than the smaller jar.
How do price books help you save money?
You already know how price books help you compare unit prices across brands and stores, to help you determine which jar of peanut butter or tomatoes is the best deal. But is there anything else price books can tell you?
Yes! Price books can help you compare items which are not identical, but are used in similar ways. How many different ways can you buy green beans, for instance? Fresh, frozen, canned, and even pickled if you’re lucky. Now, you can use those beans in most of the same recipes (except the pickles, of course!) But do you always think about comparing the price of fresh vs. frozen beans? Your price book can show you right away what the difference is.
Another example is fats and oils used for cooking. Have you ever compared the prices of olive oil and coconut oil, for instance? What about butter? Price books make it easy to see at a glance which one is less expensive per pound or fluid ounce. Maybe you could adapt your recipes to use more of the cooking fat which is least expensive.
Price books can also help you spot a good sale a mile away! Once you get used to checking unit prices and learn which products are the best deal, you won’t be so quick to jump at a sale on the fancy Italian brand of canned tomatoes. However, you will notice right away when the summer produce prices drop below the cost of canned and frozen produce.
Price books can show you where you are spending your money, when it comes to brand names or organic items. Lately, I have been trying to balance buying some organic products when the prices are similar to non-organic, or if it is an item I think is more important to be free from pesticides. If you go the extra step of comparing organic and non-organic items in your price book, it can give you that much more information about your grocery expenditures. In a lean month, you might decide to opt for non-organic products instead of vaguely assuring yourself that it doesn’t make much of a difference to your budget.
Of course I’m not saying you always need to choose the least expensive option for every item you buy! The point of a price book is to give you information, not force your choice. An informed choice is the best one.
Price Books and Sales
Price books are useful for comparing unit prices for the same or similar items across brands and stores, but are they really any use when it comes to sales?
Actually, price books are your best friend when it comes to shopping sales. This is what you need to do to get the most out of sales:
Note down SALE PRICE, SALE DATE, and HOW OFTEN the item goes on sale. You can do this on a separate page of your price book if you want, or on the bottom of the page for each item.
This will allow you to not only buy items when they are on a great sale, but also stock up enough to last you through to the next sale (presuming the item is shelf stable, or you are able to preserve it). For example, condiments like ketchup and mustard typically go on sale before Memorial Day, July 4th, and sometimes Labor Day (in the United States). You won’t likely find them on sale before Thanksgiving, however; so make sure you buy enough during the summer sales to last you until next summer.
Fresh produce goes on sale in the summer, or when the produce is ripe on farms closest to you. Frozen fruits and vegetables often go on sale in the spring or early summer, as stores are trying to clear out last year’s stock to make room for the next batch.
How to Make Your Own Price Book
Enough about the whys, here’s the how to:
There are two different ways to make a price book: you can make a physical book using a notebook and pen, or you can make a spreadsheet on the computer and either print it off or just keep an electronic log of prices.
Making a Physical Price Book
To make a physical price book, you will need some kind of notebook. I like smallish spiral-bound notebooks with a lot of pages! Use a separate page for each item. We will use eggs as an example. On the first line, write the name of the store where you found the item: “Safeway.” Then write the unit price: “$2.60/dozen.” Next to the unit price, write the cost of the package: “$12.99/5 dozen.” Skip a line underneath, so you can write in sale prices. Go to the next line and write the name of another store where you can buy eggs: “Costco.” Continue with the unit prices and package price as above.
Is this starting to sound like a lot of work? Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to write down prices on every single item you buy all at once. I save my receipts and enter prices over the course of several weeks, whenever I have a few spare minutes. This project does take a while to complete, but it is well worthwhile in reducing grocery expenditures over the long term.
TIP
Does your grocery store have an app or website? Use this to check prices and enter them in your price book before you shop!
The one downside to a physical notebook is that you can’t add pages later. Whether you organize your price book alphabetically or by category (produce, meat & fish, etc.) there is always a chance you might miss an item. I suggest making a list of all the items you want to include in your price book on a separate sheet of paper and looking it over a few times before copying the items into your price book. You can always write in more entries at the end of the notebook, if all else fails.
Making a Digital Price Book
The second option is to make a spreadsheet on your computer. If you would like to go this route, I’ve already done most of the work for you! You can grab a copy of my Grocery Price Book Template, print it off, and simply write in the names of the stores you shop at and the prices of the items.
I tried to make my template thorough, but it does reflect the items I buy, and your list will most likely be different. I included several blank lines in each category for you to write in items not found on my list.
If you prefer to keep your spreadsheet in a digital format, or if my list is widely different than yours, I am happy to share my Grocery Price Book Digital Template with you. You will need to access Google Docs to open the document. Please SAVE A COPY to your own Google Drive before you edit anything! Otherwise you will be editing the master copy for everyone.
Get A Free Grocery Price Book Template
Click the button below the image to download a PDF of my blank Grocery Price Book Template.
For even more ways to save money on groceries, be sure to read Ultra Power Saving Mode for your Grocery Budget.
I hope you find these grocery price book resources helpful! As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
Happy Homemaking,
~Kimberly
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