You don’t have to give up the products you love to save money on your groceries and domestic purchases. Knowing the lowest prices on your families top 50 items, meaning the items your family uses the most, is incredibly effective in keeping your grocery costs low and your budget in line.

Cathy wrote a great article about maintaining a pricebook in October. She recommends starting your pricebook by listing your top 50 items. Maintaining it until you know price ranges on your favorite products and your bottom prices will be a big step on the road to great savings!

Identifying your items will be easy. Sit down and make a list. Accuracy  can be verified by gathering reciepts  from the last 2 months or marking next to the item on your list every time you grab for it in a week. Don’t be afraid to go with your memory. Chances are if you are the one who does 90% of the shopping you will be able to make this list easily.

Track the regular and sales prices on those items for a few months at the stores you already shop at and see what the lowest regular price and the best sale prices are as you keep track. I know this sounds daunting, but I promise it will become second nature. After a few months you will just know what the best prices are and you can make adjustments in your shopping to go to the store with lower overall prices or just stock up when you find the best deal! Don’t forget to always have your eyes peeled for coupons for these items too!

Stockpiling is a necessity if you hope to cash in on the best savings when they roll around. LittleMissKnowItAll touched bases on having a stockpile in January in her article How I Save So Much Money and you can read more about how I budget for my stockpile at TiaSavingCents.

Taking advantage of quarterly or annual savings on items that don’t go on sale much, and can keep for long periods, will not only save you money, but also time and frustration!

Already know your top 50? Challenge yourself - add 20 items  or reassess and make sure what you have is still valid. Toddlers get potty trained, so mark those diapers off your list and add a new item!

Photo by Bruce Turner

Tia is a blessed wife and mom to 4 busy boys ages 15-3. She loves finding great deals, shopping smart and sharing it all at TiaSavingCents.com. Join her there daily as she shares great deals, smart shopping tips and how you can keep your hard earned money in your bank accounts.