1. Stick to a list
2. Plan your menu around the sale ads.
3. Don't shop hungry.
4. Use a pricebook (I have to update mine with all the prices going up )
5. Try and shop without the kids or significant other.
6. Buy generic or store brand.
7. Plan a meatless meal once a week. Breakfast items are cheap to make.
8. Don't buy convenience/prepackaged foods. Make as much as you can from scratch.
9. Shop places like Aldi's or Save-a-Lot.
10. Walmart will price match other ad's. Some will match generic product for their generic product.
11. Coupons.
12. Buy fruit/vegetables in season.
13. Don't buy household or personal products at grocery stores. You can almost always find them cheaper at Target, Walmart, etc.

What is a price book??

Take any sized spiral notebook (smaller sized ones fit in the purse better). At the top of a page I write the name of a certain grocery product like Prego. Beneath that I write the names of the stores I shop at the most, the price of Prego at those stores, and the size so you can calculate price per oz. Write the prices in pencil so they are easier to change. This way when you are looking at the sale ads, and you see Prego on sale you can compare with your price book to see it's truely the cheapest place you can buy it.

I also have towards the back pages devoted to cleaning supplies. This way you can better compare prices at stores. Remember to check the size of the product. Dollar stores look like they have the best price on cleaning products, but the sizes are usually smaller than those at Walmart or Target.

It's a quick reference guide for getting the best price possible.

It's a book where you make a log of different stores and there prices so you can comparison shop.

*shop at your house first
*Shop every two weeks, less likely to to buy as much extras.
*buy in bulk and freeze when the price is good
*have a leftover night
*don't throw even the smallest leftover portion away, they usually make the perfect childs portion, or can be added to others for a casserole or breakfast scramble
*stock up 12 weeks of product when it is a great price (usually how long before it is that price again)
*buy only items you would typically buy not things just because it's a good price.

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deemom or mommy&wifeisme

I am interested in starting a price book for myself. By chance do either one of you have a scanner and can post what one of your pages looks like? I understand what you described, but seeing it would also give some of us a better understanding. Do you have different sections; fruit, veggies, canned goods, etc?? Does each item get its own page? Just wondering how big (# of pages) i need to get. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Thanks Ladies! I'm going to start one!

araefinn-I don't have a scanner but here goes. I organize mine according to how my favorite store is laid out. I keep items together like pasta, vegetables, fruit, breakfast items, dairy, frozen, meat, paper products, and cleaning products/hosuehold items like shampoo.
Prego
Walmart 10 oz then the price
Fareway....price
Target....price

Each item gets a separate page. I also compare generic products like grape jelly

Thanks for explaining this ladies!

I'm going to start one too!!

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Ask your friends from other areas of the country to send you coupons. Where I live under $1 will be doubled; however, most coupons are $1 off 2. However, my SIL lives an area where coupons are not really doubled so she sends me her 75 cents off coupons and then with it doubled it is $1.50 off one.

I only go shopping when I am not hungry and if I can after I workout so I will not buy the snacky things (since I just worked so hard to lose a few pounds).

Shop the perimeters.

I look thru the meat section and find some meats that have $2 or $3 off coupons on the packages ... I know the prices for the meat per pound and do the math to see if it is a good buy then I go home and cook or freeze immediately.

I keep my price book really simple. Tiny notebook that I keep in my purse. One letter of the alphabet at the top of each page. Track the lowest price of every item I buy.

So on the F page I list flour. First I had the price as $ .99, then crossed that off and wrote $ .50. So, it is a record of the lowest price I have ever gotten an item for. That price then becomes my target price. I aim to never spend more than my target price. When I find an item at my target price I stock up.

- Jennifer