How to Create a Grocery Price Spreadsheet

Keeping track of your local grocery stores' prices with a spreadsheet can help you manage your monthly food budget. By noting the price you pay for common grocery items, you are better able to take advantage of sales and coupons. Your spreadsheet will tell you when it is time to stock up and when it is time to shop around. Having a grocery price spreadsheet also allows you to determine which stores tend to have higher prices and which stores have better deals.

• 1

  List each store you shop at its own separate cell on in the top row of a blank spreadsheet, starting from the second cell. Leave the first cell in the first row blank. List the grocery stores you shop at most frequently in cells toward the left-hand side of the spreadsheet and the ones you shop at least frequently in cells toward the right side of the spreadsheet.

• 2

  List each item you buy regularly at the grocery store in the first column of your spreadsheet, starting from the second row. List the items alphabetically from top to bottom. Don't worry about forgetting an item. You can insert a new rows to add new items over time.

• 3

  Insert the price for each item at the each store. First go down the rows to find the item you bought. Then go across the columns to find the store where you purchased it. Type the price into the corresponding cell.

• 4

  Repeat this process every time you return from a grocery trip, working off your receipt. Over time, your grocery spreadsheet will fill up with prices, and you will notice patterns from store to store.

• 5

  Change the price on your spreadsheet whenever a grocery store raises or lowers a price permanently. You may want to also note the sale price of times in each store by including a second price after a slash.

• 6

  Plan out your shopping trip with your grocery spreadsheet once it is half full for the stores you shop at most frequently. Calculate how much you can save by going to multiple stores. If the savings seem worth it, make separate lists for each store and visit them all in one trip or day.