There are many money saving tips and techniques that you can use to fully benefit from saving at the grocery store. Using coupons, rebates and more can save you a substantial amount of money. One more tool that can save you money but that tends to be somewhat underutilized is the price book.

The idea of a price book is to amass valuable and historical information about prices that you can refer to when you see an advertised special. When you spot a sale you can instantly check the history and know if the sale is worthwhile. You can also keep track of the stores that offer you the best prices and which items can save you the most.

You can keep the information for a price book in whatever way works best for you. A spiral bound notebook or even better, an Excel spreadsheet can keep track of all of the information you need on the prices.

The idea is to start keeping track of the price on your favorite products. When you have a reference as to what the normal price is you will quickly be able to verify if an advertised special is really a good deal and worth going out of your way for.

Just use the notebook or the spreadsheet to keep track of the prices that you pay for items. Put away all of your grocery receipts for a few weeks and input the information on the prices that you paid. You might even want to note sales prices. It will not be long before you have a decent record of the typical unit prices of an item.

It is also a good idea to keep track of the date and the store that you shopped in. That way you will also have a good comparison of the stores in your area. In a little while you will start to see the history and you will have a basis for your comparison-shopping. It won’t take long for you to find out which stores typically have the lowest price. You will also be able to immediately compare the advertised sales prices to the regular prices you paid in the past.

If you keep your price book updated and carry it with you as you shop it will prove to be more valuable. It is only a fantastic tool if you use it and take benefit of the information. It will take some time at the beginning but the information will prove to be invaluable.

The more information you can amass about your shopping habits the more cash you can save because you will know when a great sale is truly a great deal and you can take advantage of it along with using your coupons and rebates.