I asked the question yesterday, “Could you use an extra $500.00 per month?”. In my opinion, there is nobody I know personally, who would actually say no to this. After sitting down and looking at your expenditures, or the amount of money going out in a period of months, it is time to focus on ways to cut down your everyday expenses.
There are things such as groceries, that we just cannot live without. I choose to begin with groceries, simply because this is probably where I save the most money each month. Of course you can use coupons, and only purchase things on sale, etc. But sometimes we need things now, that cannot wait until a coupon comes out for, or that the local grocery store has a sale on. So how do you save money on those items?
A little effort and some research, again, will help with this. Most of you know what a price book is, but for those that are not familiar with a price book, allow me to explain.
A price book, is a method of tracking typical pricing on items you frequently shop for. A price book, for most, is a notebook or spreadsheet, that has taken some time and energy to build. It is a database of prices.
So how do you create a price book?
You first need to select the easiest method for you to record the information in. I found it was easiest, to use a small pocket sized notebook. The reason I use a notebook, is that it is portable, and functional at the same time. It is always with me, because I keep it in my purse.
Most consumers have several sources to choose from for buying groceries. For our family, we have three major chain grocery stores, an Aldi’s, two different bulk discount warehouses, and a super Wal-mart. Because of the many locations, and the diversity of the stores, it took me a little extra time to compile my price book.
Basically, in order to create a good source of information, you will need to visit each of the stores that you have selected, at least once during a major shopping experience, unless you have a lot of free time on your hands.
When purchasing items that you frequently buy, such as milk, eggs, butter, meats, and fresh fruits and vegetables or paper and plastic products, toiletries or medications, you should be paying attention to the prices. You will need to record the information into your book.
The easiest way to do this, I found, was to save your receipts. When you get home, look closely at what you spent on each item. Compare them to other receipts that you have saved, from the other shopping sources. The purpose of this, is to discover the best prices on the items you buy.
Keep in mind, that sometimes a place, such as Aldi’s, might be the best price for a generic item, yet some items you enjoy, might need to be name brand. Recording both prices, for both stores, is a good idea.
You also need to pay careful attention to quantity, weight and packaging. We often pay more for packaging, when we don’t need to. Or we might pay more for a name brand item that has less in the package, than its generic counterpart. These are important to pay attention to.
For more more Back to Basic articles about saving money, be sure to visit the Frugal Living Blog all this week.
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