Know your prices

I know I have mentioned this before, but it's worth mentioning again. When trying to save money and stretch your budget, it is essential to know your prices. I was reminded of this again last weekend when I bought some stuff at Save-a-Lot and Aldi. We were in Save-a-Lot on Friday night and were getting stuff for Tom to make salsa. I couldn't remember how much the bags of onions were at Aldi so we went ahead and got them there at Save-a-lot since we had the $5 off $25 coupon and did the same thing with animal crackers. When I finished doing the shopping at Aldi the next day, the onions were on sale for less at Save-a-Lot (by 50 cents) but the animals crackers were 50 cents more at Save-a-Lot. So it was a wash lol.

One good way to keep track of prices is to make a price book. This can be as simple as using a little notebook or you can be more elaborate and make a print-out for the items you buy the most. Here is a picture of a sheet I have made (but obviously do not use very faithfully lol).

 On it there is space to list the store, the cost, and the unit price. This allows you to be able to easily see if something is a good bargain, a great bargain, or not a bargain at all.