How many times have you walked through the supermarket unsure of whether the sale price was really the best value? Learning the methods that are used to track prices for the items that you purchase on a regular basis can help to reduce the amount that is spent at the supermarket on groceries and household items. How can you begin to track the prices that are found in the local grocery store? First, make a list of the items and brands that are purchased on a regular basis. There is no sense tracking prices for items that are never purchased. Most families will have around twenty-five items that are going to be included on this list. In the instance that the family is not particular picky about the brand of the item, it’s fine to note the general item without the brand. In this case, the price will be tracked (while noting the brand on sale). Next, create a spreadsheet or use a notebook to track the prices of the items that are on this list. Begin the price search on week one by looking through the sales flyers at the prices of the items on the list. This will continue throughout the course of six weeks, where the price is going to be tracked. At the end of the six weeks, go through the listing of the prices that have been tracked and identify the low price for the items, while noting the date. How do you use this information while planning the shopping trip? At the end of the six weeks, when the low prices have been tracked through the local stores, go through the list and identify the lowest price and when it occurred. The next low price for this item, based on traditional sales cycles, will be six weeks from that date. Using this approximate information, you can track prices to find the best deals while shopping at the local supermarket.
Wow, thank you so much for this post! I have always thought that finding the sales was too much trouble, but the way you've broken it down makes it seem so simple.
Thank you for explaining this. I have been starting to coupon and this was the one thing that baffled me because every other couponer seems to know when specials occur and I seem to miss them by a long shot. This makes sense - seems to take some planning but makes sense. Thanks for the post.
This post is wonderful!! I never realized the cycles of sales. I literally just went grocery shopping this evening and was trying to figure out which prices were better, with and without coupons. It can be so frustrating. Thanks so much for taking the time to outline this!!
Wonderful information there! I did start doing that when I first started couponing, but I got lazy and quit. Something I really need to pick back up again. There are also seasonal cycles in sales, like getting picnic supplies around the fourth of July. Thanks for the tips!
Also no idea about the six weeks rule. The best I do at the moment is not to buy non-perishables unless they're on offer. As such been using bubble bath as shower gel for a couple of weeks- nice to know I might have to wait another four!
Hmmm...I may have to look more into this. My husbnad and I are currently fine tuning our grocery budget so this would be really helpful. At the moment, we have a price list nearly complete of the products we buy most often. I was not aware that there were traditional sale cycles. Thank you for this useful information.
Thank you for this helpful info, it shows that you really took some time to research into this. We just track how the prices of the groceries change by keeping the receipt everytime we shop. Thanks to you, now I'm aware of the traditional sale cycles at the stores.
