Price's "Price Book"

My interest in frugality has remained strong and constant. In my previous post I mentioned some tricks that I planned to implement. I have tried a number of things, including but not limited to the ones on my list, and have discovered that the most powerful tool of all is my price book. In it, I record the lowest price on the items I normally buy. This way, I can keep track of which store has the best price on which item and when. For those of you not familiar with this system, I took a spiral-bound index card notebook and placed a stick-on tab on every third page or so. On each tab is written a category such as "dairy" or "canned goods." Each page is divided into several columns, including "Item," "Regular Price/Amount," "Sale Price," "Price per unit," and "Store." This has caused me to put many items disguised as good deals right back on the shelf where they belong. After just a few short months of using this approach to shopping, I am beginning to memorize my bottom line for a particular item. For instance, I now know that I can regularly purchase store-brand cold cereal (which my husband and I genuinely like) for 10-12 cents per ounce, so when a store sale and coupon combo looks promising, I whip out my cell phone and calculate price per unit. It rarely beats my 10-12 cents per ounce rule! On a related thread, I now understand how stores can get away with claiming so many sales. Many of the sales are just overly-priced items marked down to a more reasonable price. Occasionally, there is a genuinely good deal, and when I see a price that beats the one in my price book, whether by coupons or close-out or store-brand options, I do a little happy dance in the aisle, figure out how much of it I can store, and buy buy buy! This shop-a-holic is finding a new and more fulfilling way to get her "fix!"