Keeping a Pricebook

Today I wanted to talk about the value of keeping a pricebook. I'm a pretty thrifty shopper. I know how much I'm willing to pay for the things that I shop for. The price I am willing to pay is less than what you can walk into your regular grocery store and pay because I wait for sales, I buy sale items in multiples so that I can make it to the next sale and I use coupons. But the question then becomes...so when is something a good deal?

To answer that question, I propose that you start yourself a pricebook. I'm sure that there are many ways to go about making a pricebook, but I'll tell you how I did mine. I started by choosing the store with the best overall prices. I went to Aldi's. That's a discount store with mostly storebrand or brands you never heard of on most items. They have name brand items that are shipped in as special deals, clearance, etc but you can't count on finding national brand items every time you shop there. For most items there may only be one brand available. They don't even bag the groceries for you, you must bring your own bags or pick up boxes as you're shopping (I do both). And you have to "rent" your shopping cart for a quarter that will be refunded when you return it at the end of your trip. Aldi's is not the most convenient place to shop, but since you aren't paying for those little conveniences, you do find a lower price there. I'm describing Aldi's because while I know many places have them, many do not. I'd never heard of Aldi's until I moved to Kansas. We didn't have them in Oklahoma. (The semi-equivalent in Oklahoma is Sav A Lot)

So to make my pricebook, I went into my grocery store, spiral notebook and pen in hand and went down the aisles like I normally would. Picking the items that I normally shop for, I would write down the item, brand, size package and the price. It may need to be noted, you don't have to price EVERYTHING. Just the things that you shop for most. Don't make it so time invasive that it's not worth doing, just pick the things that you are getting once a week or several times a month...your most frequently purchased items, and the ones who take the larger portion of your budget. For example it's worth noting the price on the gallon of milk and eggs, but not really worth your time to write down how much a can of olives is unless your family eats them everyday like snacks. It is worth your time to note the prices normally for meats and things that you aren't picking up every week, but that take alot of your food budget, so that you can note patterns in sales and figure out what the best prices are. So I always look at the prices on whole chickens, chicken quarters, ground beef, turkey and the breakfast and lunch meats. By noting these prices I know what is "regular" and I can pick up enough at a sale to tide us over until the next sale, keeping us from buying at the "regular" prices!

So, at Aldi's, I just went down the aisle, and wrote down the following information for our most frequently purchased items:

• ITEM
• BRAND (At Aldi's I would put whatever brand they sell...this field becomes important at other stores)
  
• SIZE PKG
• PRICE
• UNIT PRICE (you can figure this later, by dividing item price by the size on the package...but you definately need the information as you compare prices)
  

Do that all throughout the store.

The next step, I did on the following grocery trip. I compared my list as I shopped with my regular grocery store, Dillons. I only made entries, however, when I found prices that were cheaper. For instance, Aldi's does have cheap cereal. It's much cheaper than the national brands, however, you can buy the generic cornflakes, raisin bran and fruit loop (type) cereal at Dillons for under a dollar. The idea is to have record of the CHEAPEST REGULAR prices in town. I wouldn't record sale prices (those can be watched with sale flyers and is another budget topic by itself) I just want to note the everyday low price that I can find walking into any of these stores on any given day.

I took this information home and when I felt that I had compared regular prices at most of the stores that I shop and felt that I had sufficient information on "everyday low prices" then I transferred this information in pencil into a little pocket sized address book. This step isn't absolutely necessary. Many people just keep it in that same spiral notebook arranged by the shopping aisles, but I like being able to have my items alphabetized. Other people go high tech (and labor intensive) and make elaborate spreadsheets. I tried this and halfway through found I'd rather just use my address book. It's easier and portable and by using pencil, it's easily updated.

I keep this information current by comparing once in a while as I shop, price book in hand and I can also compare my receipts to the price book after I'm home.

I love my price book and feel that it helps me to get the ultimate best price available. This is how I know whether buying a national brand with a coupon or waiting to buy from Aldi's, is better. This is how I know when I see a sale, if it's better to pick up one, ten or zero. To me, it is an absolutely essential tool for a frugal shopper. And now, since you see how simple it is to make one, I hope that you will use this simple tool as well.





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Creative Use of Leftovers

One of the easiest ways to make a big impact on your finances is with your grocery budget. One of the best ways to make that stretch is to USE your leftovers.

Pretty much everyone knows about planned over leftovers (rubber chicken, etc), but what about those little dabs that you don't know what to do with? Let me give an example.

Sunday: you cooked fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn on the cob and biscuits.
You have leftover 2 and 1/2 pieces of chicken, no mashed potatoes, but you do have a dab of gravy. You've got 2 corn on the cobs and 1 biscuit.

Those two whole pieces of chicken I would use to pack a lunch, but the 1/2 pc of chicken, the corn (cob and all) I would put in my creative leftover bucket (just an empty tupperware designated for holding leftovers). The biscuit I would put in my bread bag (a ziploc containing heels, biscuits, rolls, whatever non-sandwich bread item is leftover and won't be used the NEXT day). Both the "bucket" and the breadbag are in my fridge's freezer compartment. I add to them all week long and about once every two weeks I can use the contents to make something else.

You might notice I didn't save the gravy. I would send this out for scraps. Tomato sauces generally keep well, and if there are serving size amounts of spaghetti sauce, then I will save these. White sauces and gravies, however, I will make as I use them. They only take pennies to put together and it makes for a nicer finished product.

I've found that the cardinal rule of leftovers is this:

If it won't be used the NEXT day, then it will sit in the fridge until trash day

So I make a plan for each leftover item when I'm cleaning up the kitchen. Most of our leftovers are used for lunches at our house. But many times there are odds and ends that I'm not sure what to do with. But if I put them in the fridge for us to eat later, they almost always end up going to the trash when we clean out the fridge.

Anything that is a full serving, can be stored in freezer bags. We like to make individual servings for a lunch day when there aren't leftovers. This also keeps us from having the same thing for four days in a row.

Soup, chili, and casseroles are ideal for saving as "lunch menu" freezer items. Leftover rice I will also save by itself, bagging in two cup sized servings. Rice is great to add to other dishes or to pull out and use as a sidedish, if it is packaged is usable amounts.


So you have your bucket and your bread bag. What do you do with them now?

I generally will take a look at the contents and decide to do one of three options:

1. MAKE SOUP: meat of nearly any kind, assorted veggies, beans, rice, noodles...pretty much any kind of leftover you can think of can be used in a soup. Just add your liquid base (broth, cream sauce, tomato sauce or a combination. Then just add your leftovers and some fresh (or not leftover) ingredients too. Follow the ingredient list to decide how you want to season your soup. It can be zesty, savory, or have an ethnic flare. It's all up to you and the ingredients you have. Remember that corn cob? You can use the cob to flavor the soup (it's also good to flavor stocks). Just be sure that you cut off the corn to use and throw away the actual cob after the cooking and before serving.
2. MAKE A CASSEROLE: By adding rice, noodles, or anything that you can "layer" then you can make what was "leftover" new again. Make a double pie crust and add your leftovers to a creamy sauce and make a "Lotsa Pots Pie". Add eggs and cheese and make it into a quiche.
   
3. WRAP IT UP: If your leftovers are mostly beans and rice, or things that can have a Tex-Mex feel, why not wrap them up in a tortilla with some cheese and grill for a tasty sandwich type wrap. Another idea is to pick up some egg roll wrappers (they can be found in your produce section, usually with the organic food and tofu) for less than two dollars. You can season your leftovers with a theme of Asia with a little seasoning, soy sauce and rice or cabbage, or you can think outside the box and use the little wrappers on anything that you could wrap at all. I have used them with leftover chicken, cheese and rice casserole and they were delicious! Just be sure that you seal them up tight before you fry them. You can bake them too (I don't think they are quite as good though). Just be sure you let them brown on both sides.

To be truly frugal, don't forget to save your bones, celery tops, and other things that might be thought of as "waste" to use when you make your broth. A large ziploc can keep these kinds of things throughout the week. So that on kitchen prep day you can make a stockpot of broth without batting an eye.

For more frugal ideas to help you stay on your budget, please visit Crystal @ Biblical Womanhood for Frugal Friday, the blog carnival that highlights frugal tips and budget stretchers. Check it out!