Even though I very rarely do my grocery shopping other than at Wal-Mart, I still check the sale flyers on the websites of Wal-Mart’s competitors.

Sunday is coupon cutting day, it is also the day I go online and review weekly ads for Walgreens, target, and Publix.

I write down what I need and then review foods that are on sale.

So here is what it looks like: Publix buys;

Carrots- $1.45 small bag (otherwise the rest will spoil)

Large Publix salad in a bag $4.00 (always get the salads from the bag they are the freshest)

Cucumbers 2 for $1.00
Okra .88 cents
Yellow squash 1.85

In season fruits and vegetables I try to avoid unless they are on sale, like corn, apples, and cherries/strawberries.

—Thats it for produce.

I cut coupons for salad dressings and can usually buy 2 8oz bottles for .99 cents w/ coupon or bogo.

Bacon BITS!! love em ( just ate a salad lol) 1.85

Cheese, buy block cheese generic, it’s usually under 3.00 and will last a while if you pull from the back.

Always always look for buy 1 get 1 w/ coupon, you will save ALOT.

Just bought tombstone pizza, bogo w/ a 1.00 off coupon, so it cost 4.00.

Frozen skillet dinners, bogo at 4.99

raman noodles 6 for 1.00

milk, get whats on sale always! had 2.00 coupons for lactaid so got 2 for .18 cents each! Loooove it!

Air freshner with coupon cost me .39 cents

Usually at Walgreens I buy clearance toothpaste and shampoo’s, razors, mouthwash, soaps, handsoaps, toothbrush, deoderants, and I use my coupons, so I get these items for around 30-80 cents and I stock up. I have a huge bucket under the sink full of those items.

Target I check the weekly ads, and found their corn is cheaper then publix, .25 cents each vs, 5 for 2.00 at publix.

I like going to target for condiments and canned goods, they have a lot of these items for around 2.19 and I use 1.00 coupons which adds up to savings!

I take a sunday to have a little fun with this stuff because it’s my rush for the week, nothing feels better knowing you saved a ton of money.

I just came across a power shopping strategy where you wait for sales on your most used items and then buy a lot with coupons to stock up. Really simple to apply this strategy. I’ll try and write a post about it on my blog (after the 50 other things I want to write about – hee hee)

Anyway, I like your get rich slowly theme. It keeps people from borrowing money thinking it will get them rich fast. Learn, become wealthy in the mind, and riches can be yours anytime because you know how to be rich.

Thanks for allowing me to vent my 2 cents.

Since we only have 2 people, its a good way to save money. We cant stock up too much, but we can buy where the items are cheapest that week. It saves us hundreds of dollars a year, and took very little time to put together.

It lets you track items, prices, and stores, over time to determine the best time to buy any particular item. It seems that most people buy the same products week in and week out, such as milk, bread, meat, and produce. They also buy the same monthly items, Toilet Paper, cleaning supplies, soap, etc. All of these items can be tracked, sorted, and categorized.

We let you create basic shopping list, which can morph into exactly the brands that you buy. We let you share your shopping lists with your spouse’s phone, or a web site. You can sync shopping lists, check items off, and analyze your buying habits.

To top it all off, we crowd-source all of the users data, so that, if you want, you can see all of the item-price-date-store info that other shoppers have entered, in your area, so that you don’t have to do all of the work.

It’s a neat app, and we’re pretty proud of it. We’re working on it almost every day to make it better. If you have an Android smart phone, we would love for you to download it, try it out, rate it, and leave a comment. You can visit our web site http://www.pricebookdb.com
You can download it from the Android Marketplace, for free, here:
http://market.android.com/search?q=pricebookdb

We really hope you enjoy it.

Save well and prosper!

1). A grocery list that shows the lowest unit price paid to facilitate comparison between the current store unit price and previous unit prices paid. Very helpful at the store!

2). Analysis on spending trends to provide a list of grocery items where unit prices have increased and total units purchased have increased, among other areas. Helpful at home for figuring out where to cut costs and why the bill is increasing.

3). Item detail and trend analysis for additional detail.

The site is groceryhop.com

Please let us know what you think!

I use an excel sheet — the most important thing to compare is unit prices.

After a while, it was easy to see that a particular box of wheat crackers from Wal-Mart were .14 per unit, while the same crackers from Nabisco were .32 per unit.

Now I always buy the same things, no big hassle checking prices.
(And I know generic beans used to be .50 per 15 ounce can, and are now .78 per 15 ounce can.)

It’s cool — JUST DO IT.

p.s. I use the money I save to go out to dinner sometimes!!!

[...] Use a price book to slash your food spending at Get Rich Slowly This entry was written by Laura and posted on July 16, 2008 at 2:51 pm and filed under Menu Plan Monday. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. « Vanilla Dairy-Free Ice Cream [...]

It requires rethinking family meal planning, but you end up eating seasonally which is the best thing anyway. I rely heavily on recipes from the cookbook Moosewood Cooks at Home because most of the recipes are seasonal or easily allow substitution of one type of vegetable for another.

I usually shop at the supermarket once a week the day after my CSA pickup so as to make the best use of the produce that came in. In the fall and winter we get so many root vegetables that I make big pots of soup and freeze half. By January when nothing grows in my area, I’ve got a freezer full of delicious healthy organic homemade soups to get me through the worst of winter.
Plus my freezer’s stocked in case a friend gets sick.

happy eating!

[...] Use a Grocery Price Book to Slash Your Food SpendingThe Grocery GameHow to Spend Less – Lessons From ‘Why We Buy’Daily Links: Money Saving Tips EditionPrice vs. Ethics: Is the Best Price the Best Choice? [...]

[...] tough. You can plan your menu around sale items and coupons to increase your savings. 2. Make a price book—This will help you find out the true cost of many items and help you plan your shopping trips [...]

[...] even make an entire system out of it. Get Rich Slowly posted a lot of info on creating your own grocery price book a while ago, which just seems like a lot of [...]

[...] with the advent of the internet. I can find out prices of cars, prices of houses, prices of groceries, tax information, and daycare prices if I really want to online. We have a pretty good idea of how [...]

[...] anyone interested in starting their own pricebook, Get Rich Slowly is a good place to begin. It really helps keep track of which stores have the best prices, even if [...]

[...] I’m guessing that The Grocery Game works best when used in conjunction with a price book. [...]

[...] For those of you who may not be familiar with the concept, a price book is used to track regular and sale prices of goods, usually groceries and consumables. With this data, you know if something is a good deal in comparison to other deals you can get, and you know where to go for the best price when you need something. I was first introduced to the concept in Amy Dacyzyn’s Tightwad Gazette. Get Rich Slowly sums Amy’s concept up nicely here. [...]

Grocery Store Differences…

I’ve been keeping a grocery price book for 6 months now (see my current info).

I usually visit anywhere from two to three grocery store on my shopping day: Vitamin Cottage, Albertsons, King Soopers and/or Safeway. While my price book doesn’t keep…

[...] Use a Grocery Price Book to Slash Your Food Spending — Dacyczyn advocates using a grocery price book to save big bucks at the supermarket. A grocery price book is an ongoing list of the items you most commonly purchase and how much you paid for them. This list allows you to detect price cycles, spot bargains, Tagged as: [money shopping finance budget grocery food] [...]

We decide on what we’ll eat that week, as well as what staples we’re out of (including non-food items like toilet rolls). Then we make a list and note down the prices at the shop we’ll be going to. That way we have an idea of what our bill is going to be (and if we’re on a really tight budget, it will shape what we’ll be buying and eating that week). Then at the shop we can compare prices and spot specials or price increases. If we buy a new brand or item we just add it in to the spreadsheet when we’re adding the receipt to our budget program.

It does help that the 3 main supermarket chains here often have mostly the same prices on non-generic brands. It’s really only their brands which can be very different in price.