This is my second in a series of tips I have on saving money on groceries that even a very beginner can master this month. Today I will be going over why you need to know your prices and creating a price book.

Whether or not you are trying to eat healthier,  feed your family more nutritious meals, or just get that paycheck to stretch until the next paycheck we could all save a little money on groceries. My hope that after you have learned and implemented my tips into your grocery shopping plan you will not think that eating healthy is too expensive and will be able to feed your family more nutritious meals at less than the cost of what you have in the past.

I’ve found that groceries can be a HUGE chunk out of your family’s monthly income, but with a few strategies up your sleeve you can greatly reduce that monthly cost.

In case this is the first time you have came to my blog my name is Shannah Holt and I’m a mom of 8 kids (and 8 furbabies; we had 9 up until a few months ago and unfortunately lost one). I’m also a SAHM that has homeschooled for about 15 years now, so living on one income and sometimes less than that with a large family I’ve had to learn the hard way how to stretch that paycheck to survive. I just want to share my tips so you don’t have to go through as much struggle as I have.

Before I share my 2nd tip I want to give away another gift. I did give away a gift with Tip #1 as well so be sure to check out that one too. You can get today’s freebie right here:

Price List

How much is a gallon of milk at the store you shop at the most?  For me that is Aldi’s and it costs $1 for a gallon.

How much is a gallon of milk at the store closest to you? Once again for me that would be about $2-$3.

Maybe milk is too easy you may know the price of that off the top of your head. What about the price of chicken breasts? That is a typical food that is purchased for meals when you are trying to eat healthy. Do you know what is a good deal on chicken breasts in your area?

The point I’m trying to make is actually my tip. You need to know your prices, especially on items you buy often like milk, toilet paper, bananas, etc.

I personally have been doing price comparisons for a long time, but we move every couple of years out of state and prices are different every place we live. So I’ve had to design myself a Price Book. All that is is a list of items and how much they cost at my local stores at regular price.  For me that is Aldi’s and Walmart. Based on the store sale papers for that week I may also shop at another store or two.

Why would we need this? Well say like the example in yesterday’s tip our plan failed and we had ran out of milk and needed it for our recipe for dinner. So we had to run out to the closest store to pick some up, because we were still cooking dinner. So of course while you are there you see other things. Just because you are there for milk doesn’t mean your attention isn’t drawn to what else is spotlighted that week. There is a sale on chicken breasts for $2.50 a pound and think that you need to go ahead and grab them at that sale price. If you had known that chicken breasts at the store you normally shop at is only $1.89 lb then you would know that is not really a good sale price and shouldn’t pick them up.

How about those buy 1 get 1 free sales? When do you know if they are a good deal if you don’t know what one costs at your normal store.

Some stores have a sale for 3 for $5 and will let you go ahead and only get only 1 for $1.56, but there are other stores that require you to buy all 3 to get that deal. You really have to look at the sale rules to know for sure. The important thing is to know your prices so you don’t overpay for things just because they are labeled as a “sale”.

I’ve taken this concept a little further. I have a price book that lists things at rock bottom prices. What I mean by that is grocery stores have  what is called sales cycles that last between 4-6 weeks. During that 4-6 week time frame they will offer an array of prices on a particular item. For example going back to the chicken breasts. The rock bottom price will be $1.49 lb and will offer this price once in that sales cycle. Other weeks out of the sales cycle they will have it advertised as a sale price of $1.79, $1.89, $1.99, and even $2.50. If you didn’t know they were about to finally offer the next week that rock bottom price again you might pick them up for $1.79  this week since you thought it was a great deal because it was cheaper than your normal grocery store price.

The first time you make this price book you are really going to be writing down the prices each week during a 4-6 week time frame so you can figure out what the rock bottom price is and when it happens. Then you will be able to know the next month or the next sale cycle when it is at its rock bottom price and that is when you should Stock Up.

Of course you can’t use this on everything such as bananas since it will spoil before the next sales cycle, but you can stock up on toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, and even chicken breasts (by freezing them).

With this Price book you will be able to use this as a guide to when you should stock up on items your household will need to last until the next sales cycle. By doing this you will always be paying the lowest possible price .