All of the BIG savings on groceries start with a pricebook. This simple tool will save you THOUSANDS with very little effort on your part. What is a pricebook? A pricebook is a gauge . . . a gauge of the best prices for items you buy. If you have this important record you can always know you are buying things at the best prices, not just what the grocery stores want you to think are the best prices.

Stores can get away with selling you overpriced items and telling you it’s a good deal because they control all of the variables. For example, if you walk into a store and see that chicken breasts are regularly $3.99, but today they’re marked down to $2.99, you might decide that’s a great deal!
Compared to what? Compared to the inflated price of $3.99 that the store tricked you into believing was a good basis for comparison. That’s why you should not buy things just because they are on sale. If you know by looking at your pricebook, that you have bought boneless skinless chicken breasts for $0.99/lb in the past, $2.99 doesn’t sound like such a great deal.

In order to know what truly constitutes a good deal, you would need to have a record of the price you have paid for items in the past. This is where the pricebook comes in handy. It’s your own personal record of the great deals you’ve found in the past.

I’ve seen the idea of a pricebook batted around online, and most of the time people are either confused about what a pricebook is or question how anyone in their right mind has time to price everything they buy at the grocery store. A pricebook is not as difficult as it sounds, and it is the most important, most empowering piece of information available to save TONS of money at the grocery store.

To start a pricebook, keep a record of the grocery items you buy and how much you pay for each item. Each time you need to buy that item in the future, consult your pricebook first to see how much you paid in the past. The trick is to make sure you are buying the item for the lowest price you have ever paid in the past. If you can’t find it at the lowest price, then skip it! Wait until you can find it at the lowest price. Once you have an actual PriceBook in your hands, shopping is a breeze.
I have a record of the prices of every item of food and other non-food item I have bought at grocery stores for the last four years. In my well-researched pricebook, I can look up any item that I normally buy and find the lowest price I have ever paid for that item.

If for instance I have found a can of green beans for $0.15/oz at The Dented Can, a local discount grocer, I try never to buy green beans for more. After all, if you find green beans for $0.15/oz, buy a whole cart full and you’ll have green beans any time you need them for the next six months!

On the off chance that you run out of $0.15/oz green beans, you know what to aim for. If down the road, you find them for $0.25/oz, you can decide to buy them, or go for the thrill of passing up on them this week and waiting it out. Maybe this week your family will enjoy a corn casserole instead, or possibly black bean soup. Green beans aren’t really the best gourmet food anyway, and there are many other options that ARE incredibly discounted this week. Just stay true to your pricebook!


_This article was contributed by Lana Dorazio. She lives with her husband in the beautiful desert of Peoria, Arizona. Lana’s personal grocery shopping success inspired her to write a comprehensive guide to saving money on groceries, entitled "Save Thousands Grocery Shopping and Cook Great Food". Buy it today at http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/grocerybook and receive a fully populated FREE Bonus PriceBook to get you months ahead of compiling your own PriceBook from scratch._
_

Uh Oh...I seem to be on a food kick again :)

Anyway, I just found a video on YouTube.com where Leanne from SavingDinner.com demonstrates how to make teething biscuts for your baby.  This is terrific because it will save you money -- and terrific for me because I found it hard to find kosher teething biscusts that weren't dairy as well.  (I only use a certain kind of kosher dairy stuff -- long story -- I won't bore you...)

 Anyway - here's the link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiSMFcXXpZs&feature=user

I don't know if this qualifies as a "solution" for most of us...but I guess it does for me :)

My son wanted an Easy Bake Oven for his birthday (way to go bashing sterotypes!) but the mixes that come with the oven aren't kosher...so I set out to find recipes that would be perfect for those little round tins.

Of course, I found plenty.  Not only can I make them kosher, but they are way less expensive than the packages of mix that you usually buy.

Here are links to sites with LOTS of Easy Bake Oven Recipes. Do you make anything unusual in YOUR easy bake oven? Share your ideas by leaving a comment!

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?q%5B%5D=easy+bake+oven&ls=re 

http://www.fortunecity.com/millenium/sesame/177/ezbkrecipe.html 

http://www.eborecipes.com/

http://www.budget101.com/kids.htm - I like this site a lot. Check it out. They have lots of other great mix recipes, including gluten free recipes and lots of great information on saving money.

As you may know, I love food! I have more cookbooks than one person should be allowed to own by law!

But as much as I love food, and cooking and cookbooks,  you may also know that I don't LOVE planning out meals every week.

And yet...when I don't plan out my meals for the week, I find that we eat too much junk, and spend too much money on "quick" food. 

 That's why one of my all-time-favorite solutions for busy moms is to subscribe to an online menu-planning service. For a small fee these services will deliver premade meal plans & shopping lists RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX every week. No More "What's for Dinner?!?" crisises at 4:30 in the afternoon.  Just print out the shopping list and go to the grocery store on the weekend (or whenever you do your shopping). Then follow the meal plan and you'll be prepared for the week!

I'll get right to the point -- one of the best menu planning services is having a half-price sale and I URGE you to take advantage of it!  

MenuPlanningCentral  offers  more value than most of the online menu planning services out there. Instead of one type of menu, this program offers three (one family friendly, one healthy menu, and one vegetarian) – enough of each type for one entire month.

You also get a special monthly report (with past products archived), covering different  culinary topics  - such as grilling or Mexican - expert advice, videos, a community forum, and a "menu maker" service for even MORE personalized options - coming soon.  

Menu Planning Central usually costs $19.97 to join and then $19.97/month  (and it is worth it at that price!) but if you sign up before the end of January, you can join for only $9.97 and then pay only $9.97 per month for as long as you choose to remain a member. 

You'll definately want to check this one out at: http://www.solutionsforbusymoms.com/menuplanningforbusymoms.

Just sign up for their terrific freebies...and then you'll be taken to a page where you can learn more and sign up  for pre-made dinner plans, complete with shopping lists, and more for just 9.97!  

When we were new moms, we all heard it said at least once, "Babies don't come with instruction manuals, you know"

But that didn't stop us!  We STILL bought every baby book, hoping for a magic manual, or combination of manuals, to help us get motherhood right, and demystify the learning process of that first year.

As our kids grew, we never stopped reading those parenting books, searching for solutions...

And if you are 'domestically challenged' like me,  you probably also kept reading books and magazines, trying to figure out how to keep your home neat, clean and clutter free.  

If you grew up with household help, like I did, you may have also  assumed, that one person should handle pretty much everything related to housekeeping -- and never got your husband to help or taught your kids to pick up after themselves.

And if you're anything like me, you ended up hating the housework and, yes, a little bit resentful of your family (Even though it wasn't their fault -- they were behaving the way YOU trained them to.)

If you're anything like me, you kept searching and searching for "solutions" that "magic bullet" to make managing it all (almost) effortless! You kept looking for the "Missing Mom Manual"  You watched videos, joined flylady, read books on housekeeping and organizing -- and not much changed. You were seeking something that would make homekeeping so simple that it would just "CLICK" into your life (and maybe you could even get your kids and hubby on board)...

And nothing ever "Clicked"

Until now...

Ladies, I started to tell you about this the last time I posted...

And I am still doing a bit of work on it...

But I am so excited that I just wanted to tell you...

Relax Mom. The search is over. I think that I have FOUND "The Missing Mom Manual"   That ONE book, that ONE system, that we should ALL be handed the day our chilldren are born.

You all know how I love to find and share solutions -- and  I don't take that job lightly either.   When I say I have found something this good...I really mean it!

This is  NOT another baby book.  Rather it will help us manage our home and familes, much more easily  THROUGHOUT OUR ENTIRE LIVES.

And I am PROUD to bring it to you...

In my next post!