Mini Price Book, Part I

[livingdeb]

It's frugal to comparison shop, and the "price book" is a frugality tool for things you buy regularly. You check prices at all your stores to learn which things are cheapest at which place. The first time I did this, I had an HEB and an Albertsons within walking distance and had no car. My impression had been that both were similar. But after writing down prices, I decided that although Albertson's was often cheaper on dairy products and had better sales, HEB was the cheapest overall. So when Albertson's stopped letting me bring my backpack in (so I had to wait in line to check it in, wait in line to pay for my groceries, wait in line to get my backpack back, move my groceries from bags to backpack, then try to put the bags where they would get re-used), it was easy for me to start always going to HEB.

Over the years, my price book has evolved but has never been particularly handy. I haven't found a good electronic price book, I can't count on getting to Google docs at the store. And the staples I get keep changing as I begin insisting on things like more nutrients or fewer poisons. And now I have a car and get to many, many stores, including yet another new one as of last summer. So I've decided I want to make a list of all the things that are best to get at each of the different stores so I don't forget to stock up when I'm there. And I want it to be a one-page thing I can just bring with me.

The first step is to figure out a single page of things I actually buy repeatedly. The next step is to collect additional prices for those items for which I'm no longer sure of what my favorite place to get them is. Here is that list, include best place to get it for those items I already have a handle on. (Really, I can fit all these on one piece of paper with two columns.)

Grains

* sandwich bread (with some fiber in it) - $1.88 HEB
* spaghetti (Barilla plus - has fiber, but tastes and cooks like regular) - $2.08 HEB (often on sale for $2 at Target)
* macaroni and cheese (whole wheat) - $0.59 HEB
* flour (whole wheat) - $2.99 for white whole wheat flour (which my sister likes, but I haven't yet tried) at Trader Joe's, $3.48 for whole wheat pastry flour at HEB
* oats (instant)
* graham crackers - $1.98 HEB
* taco shells (no GMOs) - the cheapest are $1.99 at Trader Joe's, but the tastiest are the blue corn ones at Whole Foods which are more like $2.50
* crackers (some fiber, yummy, but not too evil) - $2.49 for the Everything flavor of crackers at Trader Joe's
* pretzels (some fiber--I get Newman's Own spelt pretzels) - $2.79 at Wheatsville
* brown rice
* tortillas (with fiber) - the ones at Central Market are often warm
* bagels (with fiber)
* hominy (for taco soup) - $0.98 for a big can at HEB
* cold cereal (with fiber)

Dairy

* milk (with no growth hormones) - $2.84 at Target using the Red Card (for 5% off)
* yogurt
* sour cream
* sharp cheddar (with no growth hormones) - $4.29/lb at Trader Joe's
* sliced cheese (with no growth hormones) - Trader Joe's (prices comparable to those of conventional cheese at HEB)
* ice cream (yummy, and not pumped with extra air) - $2.50/quart HEB
* parmesan cheese (ungrated)
* mozzerella cheese (ungrated)
* whipping cream - $1.29 for shelf-stable cream at Trader Joe's
* cream cheese (no growth hormones)

Protein

* hamburger (extremely low fat and grown some way that's more humane than conventional) - Whole Foods buffalo or grass-fed beef
* eggs (with omegas)
* hot dogs (no nitrates, but taste like regular) - $2.48 HEB
* canned beans - ~$0.55 HEB
* refried beans (La Sierra refried black beans yum, yum, yum) - $0.97 HEB
* tuna (no dolphins, not albacore) - $0.74 HEB
* veggie corndogs
* veggie breakfast sausage
* peanut butter (organic, no added sweetener)
* peanuts (organic)
* walnuts
* pecans
* almonds
* TVP (no GMOs)
* chili (Wolf brand low-fat yum)

Produce - Prices on fresh produce and canned pumpkin are always changing, but if I find prices around the same time period, I may be able to make generalizations.

* salad bags - $1.99/5 oz Trader Joe's
* grape juice (concentrate, organic) - $3.89 Natural Grocer
* frozen spinach
* onions
* canned artichoke hearts
* canned tomatoes
* tomato paste
* canned pumpkin - $1 is a good price I can sometimes find around the holidays
* bananas
* zucchini
* carrots
* frozen berries - $1/bag from Dollar Tree

Empty Calories

* raw sugar - $1.89/lb HEB, $1.99/lb Wheatsville (cheaper on member appreciation days)
* brown sugar
* chocolate chips (shade grown = fair trade or organic) - $3.29 for Guitard at HEB
* butter (no growth hormones)
* walnut oil - $6.49 Wheatsville
* grapeseed oil
* sesame oil - MT Market
* cheese puffs (no GMOs) - $1.99 Trader Joe's
* tortilla chips (no GMOs)

Other

* cocoa powder (shade grown)
* vinegar - $2.68 for 128 oz of 9% acidity vinegar at HEB
* cumin - $4.99 for 400 g = $5.70/lb at some ethnic grocery story I can no longer remember
* other spices - probably bulk at Wheatsville, but should check
* vanilla beans (for vanilla extract)
* vodka (for vanilla extract)
* baking soda
* baking powder

(I'm not going to go into toiletries or nutritional supplements here though they are on my list.)

Comments

[texpenguin.livejournal.com]

Why not a spreadsheet? You could list your foods down one side and the stores you shop at across the top, then put the usual (or best) price for each product at each store in your data cells and highlight the cell with the best price for each product. This would be easy to update as you get more data, or as prices change, and you could print on a single page to carry with you, and have it on Google Docs for those times you can get online. Also, it would be easy if you know you're only going to HEB this week for example to re-sort your data to list all the products that you usually by at HEB together, for an easy shopping list. The advantage of having data for all your regular stores with you is that you can tell at a glance things like "Yes, this is cheaper at Target, but I don't need anything else from Target this week, so I'll go ahead and get it here." or "Wow, this is WAY cheaper at Trader Joe's, so it makes sense to plan a trip there later this week."

I admire your ability to put something like this together. I can't even get a simple shopping list put together. I've been to the grocery store 3 times this week...

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I do have a spreadsheet--with way too many things on it to fit into one page. I could make a one-page version, but currently I have no printer.

I used to go to one store per week unless I was going somewhere out of the way, then I would also go to any stores that were convenient to that out-of-the-way place, so my think was almost just like you describe (except I would stock up on the way cheaper stuff and then just make do for a while until it ran out). However, Robin would go shopping every day if he could, so we are always going off somewhere or other. So it's not quite so important to stock up anymore.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

I always mean to do this, and in fact I obsessively save receipts so when the urge finally hits me I'm all set, but I still never have. The ideal way would definitely be a phone app that syncs from a spreadsheet or some kind of desktop function. I have Dropbox on my phone and often open spreadsheets with it while I'm out, so I have the tools I could use I guess, but I just don't ever get around to building the damned thing. I would definitely want it to be sortable so if I were already at a store I could check, or if I needed to go out and buy something specific I could find where it was cheapest quickly. Sigh. Good for you! Maybe this will motivate me.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Modern phones are not about keeping track of your own data; they are about compiling other people's data. I finally decided that just accessing google docs on my iPod would be good except that I can't.

I think you're letting the project get too big! Another strategy would be that next time you come home from a shopping trip, just enter the data from that one trip. Then slowly add more as time goes on. Of course if you get into it, it's nice that you already have a bunch of other receipts saved!