Lots of people here do a common practice called price matching to lower their grocery bill at the register.
I'm not a price matcher but a price booker.
In layman's terms, price booking is sort of like keeping track and trends of stock prices. If the price is "right" (lowest best price possible) that's when you buy.
Price booking At Costco: Not Everything is a "Deal" At Costco
By price booking, I can compare the unit cost of an item sold at Smith's or at Costco to review if it's a good bang for the buck.
At Costco, you spend $100 and you walk out with what, only 4-5 items super-sized in bulk? That's a lot of money! I can't light Benjamins on fire...
With price booking, I've been able to plan and price over time, better deals from Smith's than at Costco for many grocery items. Because of the amount of money you have to drop at one time for a few items, I shop at Costco only when I absolutely know for sure I cannot get a better deal at Smith's depending on the week and item I need to buy.
Many times, the price is the same or more, just super-sized times three at Costco.
One recent experience:
I love chocolate milk. (Maybe because I don't drink coffee???). One Saturday at Costco I had a sample of organic chocolate milk and loved it so much that I bought the 24-pack case and consumed about 2-3 packs once I got home.
After my chocolate rush, I checked how many ounces were in a pack of chocolate milk.
8.25 oz
8.25 oz times 24 is 198 ounces.
How many ounces in a gallon? 128
198 divided by 128 is 1.5 gallons
I'm paying $15.99* for a gallon and a half of milk????
*Kirkland Organic Chocolate Milk: 66 cents per pack February 2014.
I went to Smith's to compare the price of organic chocolate milk and the Horizon Chocolate Milk for half a gallon is $4.99*
*February 2014
It would be $14.97 for 198 ounces. Not much savings from $15.99
Geez so much from "savings" at Costco....
I decided from now on, I'd get the non organic gallon of chocolate milk at the everyday price of $3.99 or at $2.50 when on sale at Smith's. Even with a coupon I can't justify the savings of buying organic milk at Smith's.
Which brings me to the next point on the usefulness of price booking:
Price Booking plus Couponing = Powerful Savings and Better Spending Decisions
Price booking allows me to see whether I'm really getting a deal or not with a coupon.
Using the coupon itself doesn't do much, you have to combine it with a store promotion/sale, and coupon stacking. Sometimes it's a deal, sometimes it's not.
Price booking allows me to see a trend of when a sale for a certain item will hit up. I buy enough of what I need to last through the next sale.
A sale combined with coupons and other in-store promotions have been tremendous, especially at Smith's. Price booking combined with couponing, has allowed me to lower my total grocery bill down by 20, 40, and even over 60 percent on shopping trips at Smith's. (That will deserve its own post SOON)
A price book is terrific to use as a reference when I'm planning future grocery trips or if I'm at the store and just can't remember the price of beef per pound. Sometimes a "sale" isn't a sale because I would remember a lower price for that specific item a few weeks back.
Everyone has heard of the advice "write a grocery list, and stick to it"
With price booking I not only have my list, but know how much things cost and be able to stick to my budget for it.
I learn what I really need to buy and what things can wait a little longer to purchase.
Instead of buying a song from iTunes I bought a price book app instead.
You can find it here!
You start entering prices on the app from your (1) grocery receipts, (2) circulars, and (3) anytime you are at the grocery store and want to jot down the price and unit amount for an item you're keeping track of.
The more you utilize the app, the better it'll serve you.
It made more sense for me to go this route and lower our expenses by more than half, rather than do direct sales from home and make little to no revenue. To "make money", it is easier and more feasible to look around what you're spending already and cut expenses. Looking for new customers every month to buy my stuff would stress me out.
Finding and planning ways to reduce our grocery expenses by more than half every month energizes me to the max. Price booking facilitates that.
You can begin price booking whenever you're ready to do so!
I'm not a price matcher but a price booker.
In layman's terms, price booking is sort of like keeping track and trends of stock prices. If the price is "right" (lowest best price possible) that's when you buy.
 |
| All images of price booking found HERE Lots of information on how price booking works |
Price booking At Costco: Not Everything is a "Deal" At Costco
By price booking, I can compare the unit cost of an item sold at Smith's or at Costco to review if it's a good bang for the buck.
At Costco, you spend $100 and you walk out with what, only 4-5 items super-sized in bulk? That's a lot of money! I can't light Benjamins on fire...
With price booking, I've been able to plan and price over time, better deals from Smith's than at Costco for many grocery items. Because of the amount of money you have to drop at one time for a few items, I shop at Costco only when I absolutely know for sure I cannot get a better deal at Smith's depending on the week and item I need to buy.
Many times, the price is the same or more, just super-sized times three at Costco.
One recent experience:
I love chocolate milk. (Maybe because I don't drink coffee???). One Saturday at Costco I had a sample of organic chocolate milk and loved it so much that I bought the 24-pack case and consumed about 2-3 packs once I got home.
After my chocolate rush, I checked how many ounces were in a pack of chocolate milk.
8.25 oz
8.25 oz times 24 is 198 ounces.
How many ounces in a gallon? 128
198 divided by 128 is 1.5 gallons
I'm paying $15.99* for a gallon and a half of milk????
*Kirkland Organic Chocolate Milk: 66 cents per pack February 2014.
I went to Smith's to compare the price of organic chocolate milk and the Horizon Chocolate Milk for half a gallon is $4.99*
*February 2014
It would be $14.97 for 198 ounces. Not much savings from $15.99
Geez so much from "savings" at Costco....
I decided from now on, I'd get the non organic gallon of chocolate milk at the everyday price of $3.99 or at $2.50 when on sale at Smith's. Even with a coupon I can't justify the savings of buying organic milk at Smith's.
Which brings me to the next point on the usefulness of price booking:
Price Booking plus Couponing = Powerful Savings and Better Spending Decisions
Price booking allows me to see whether I'm really getting a deal or not with a coupon.
Using the coupon itself doesn't do much, you have to combine it with a store promotion/sale, and coupon stacking. Sometimes it's a deal, sometimes it's not.
Price booking allows me to see a trend of when a sale for a certain item will hit up. I buy enough of what I need to last through the next sale.
A sale combined with coupons and other in-store promotions have been tremendous, especially at Smith's. Price booking combined with couponing, has allowed me to lower my total grocery bill down by 20, 40, and even over 60 percent on shopping trips at Smith's. (That will deserve its own post SOON)
A price book is terrific to use as a reference when I'm planning future grocery trips or if I'm at the store and just can't remember the price of beef per pound. Sometimes a "sale" isn't a sale because I would remember a lower price for that specific item a few weeks back.
Everyone has heard of the advice "write a grocery list, and stick to it"
With price booking I not only have my list, but know how much things cost and be able to stick to my budget for it.
I learn what I really need to buy and what things can wait a little longer to purchase.
 |
Instead of buying a song from iTunes I bought a price book app instead.
You can find it here!
You start entering prices on the app from your (1) grocery receipts, (2) circulars, and (3) anytime you are at the grocery store and want to jot down the price and unit amount for an item you're keeping track of.
The more you utilize the app, the better it'll serve you.
It made more sense for me to go this route and lower our expenses by more than half, rather than do direct sales from home and make little to no revenue. To "make money", it is easier and more feasible to look around what you're spending already and cut expenses. Looking for new customers every month to buy my stuff would stress me out.
Finding and planning ways to reduce our grocery expenses by more than half every month energizes me to the max. Price booking facilitates that.
You can begin price booking whenever you're ready to do so!
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