Organizing My Weekly Shopping Trips

In order to save money on my weekly shopping, I go to several stores. But I was always having trouble remembering if an item was cheaper at store A, B, C, or D. Also since we're on a very tight budget, I would get to the store and invariably have to scratch some things off my list because the other things added up to more than I could afford.

So I came up with a solution. It took me about 30 minutes or so to originally set up both files, but now it only takes me a few minutes to make up my weekly shopping list before I go shopping, and it only takes me a couple of minutes to update the Price List after I get home from shopping. Through the week whenever I think of something I need, I just add it to my weekly shopping list.

I set up 2 database files on my computer. I put an icon for each on the desktop so they are easy to bring up when I want them.

The first is my regular Weekly Shopping List. It has 6 columns:

• Item
• Description (name brand, size, any other info about it, briefly)
• Quantity to buy
• Which store to get it at
• The price I expect to pay for it (for each item)
• The actual price I paid for it (this I jot down as I'm shopping, or I could wait till I get home and go through all my receipts)

The second is my Shopping Price List. It has 4 columns:

• Item
• Description (name brand, size, any other info about it briefly)
• Which store I got it at
• The price I paid for the item

By keeping the Shopping Price List up to date every week, I can more easily make up my weekly shopping list. I know how much I have to spend and can refer to my Price List as to where to go to get each item at the lowest price. Also that way I can arrange my shopping list so that I go from store A to store B to store C, etc., without having to back-track. This saves me time, money, ENERGY!, gas, and frustration.

By Cricket from Parkton, NC