Pricebooks

EagerLearner

Ooooh I'd love to see some examples - or can you let me know what each page looks like (columns etc)?

Blairweech

I have been trying to put together a price book recently, but am finding it difficult to put it into a normal notebook, as I want it in alphabetical order to make life easier. So I thought an A5 ringbinder, so it would fit in my bag, with sheets in it so that you could re-arrange them if necessary.

Anyway, I just gave up in the end and made an excel workbook with a different worksheet for every product.

Maybe we could do an online price book?

thriftlady_2

funny this should pop up again as I've been spending quite a lot of this week compiling a price book (at last). I'm comparing Tesco and Waitrose mainly, but also my butcher and farmshop. Interesting results -Waitrose mostly a lot more expensive, but not on frozen peas, pasta, decent ham or plain wholemeal flour.

My farmshop is much cheaper for milk (local and unhomogenised) £1.20 for 4 pints as opposed to £1.34, and the butcher is way cheaper for good quality dry-cure English bacon.

It's a worthwhile exercise;)

mrdexter

Blairweech wrote: »

Maybe we could do an online price book?

The prices vary greatly from area to area even in the same stores.

lil_me

Mine isn't a-z, too complicated for me, I have it in 'tins, baking, meat, fruit, veg, bread making etc etc' one section on each page

So for breadmaking I have the page looking something like this (darn scanner won't work)

BREADMAKING

Product........................... Sainsburys ................Tesco ................ Lidl
Wholemeal bread flour .........xxp/kg.................. xxp/kg
White Bread flour................. xxp/kg .................xxp/kg ...............xxp/kg
Yeast ...................................xxp/kg ..................xxp/kg


Next page is

MEAT

Product .................................AldinGrange........... Lowfields
Chicken whole ........................xx/kg ........................xx/kg
Chicken breasts ......................xx/kg ........................xx/kg
Minced beef ...........................xx/kg ........................xx/kg

Just as a short example there is of course more products on each page. I find doing it like that easier for me than an a-z. Argh refused to let me just use spaces to show rows/columns so had to use dots. Silly website.

I can then look at my price book if visiting a farm shop elsewhere (keep it in my bag) and compare the meat prices etc.

Agree wouldn't work doing online price book as prices very so frequently and by area.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Desperate_Housewife wrote: »

I do this!

I made a little A-Z book and list regularly bought items/staple foods with the bottom price and where I can get it. If I see a 'bargain' I check my book and if the price beats the £ per kg/item then I bulk buy. Its easy to be sucked into so called bargains otherwise.

Its so bashed in i don't think it would be worth taking a piccie!

I cut a notebook in half so its about 3inches and then cut out the sides so its like an adress book and made it A-Z then along the top I did columns for each supermarket ie asda sainsburys etc and then you just fill it in with the prices.

I went online to check prices to cut down the leg work and speed it up a bit but once you get into the swing of it you just keep updating the prices.

Blairweech

I'm surprised that prices vary by area, I did not realise that - you wouldn't think so with the advent of online shopping. Don't want to make it easy for you, do they? :rolleyes:

EagerLearner

Well today I bought an A5 ringbinder - planning to use it as a 'House' book really and maybe prices will be in there re shopping but mostly important house stuff so Mr EL knows where to find stuff if needed. Am thinking of cutting out nice magazine images and gluing to it, I bought some clear sticky clear film to put over the binder. Just need to either make or find some cheap A5 dividers now... then will decorate the dividers in the same way.

Then, well, need to decide what I am going to write in it... an excuse to collage and make something pretty! I think details of the electric/gas/joint bank or savings accounts, council tax etc will be one section for sure.

grunnie

thriftlady wrote: »

Does anyone out there have any experience of keeping a pricebook as discussed in The Tightwad Gazette?

Its a notebook in which you record the prices of items in different shops so that you can keep track of the cheapest source of a particular item.It seems popular on US thrift sites but I wondered if it was workable in the UK.Do prices vary that much between the major supermarkets?

Have used a price book since reading the Tightwad Gazette. I use a little address book a b c
c page has coffee prices in eg filter coffee and instant. When I find my favourite brands on offer 2 for 1 etc I buy loads and store them till the next time the offer is on. Emptied my sideboard of dishes ( ebayed them) and have them all stored in there. The toilet roll soap powders etc are in the loft. Apart from fresh milk never need to run to the shops so save loads and can cook from the cupboards and freezer and the garden. We also grow potatoes carrots turnip leeks onions shallots rasps strawberries tomatoes sweetcorn peppers lettuce and we also have 2 apple trees which keep us going all year.

EagerLearner

Grunnie - I'm jealous - we live in a town and have no car - no garden, so no chance!

Edit Sunday: Found www.diyplanner.com which is great for inspirational templates, then their group on Flickr.com here:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/diyplanner/pool/
For ideas on converting a normal Moleskin (or any other) notepad into something more fun / like a pricebook or household book.

Also found this spreadsheet for keeping tabs on Prices - should make life easier?
http://downloads.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000376,39175660s,00.htm?dl=1

Home lists templates @ Microsoft
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT102530571033.aspx