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._
_

I've blogged about how to create effective to-do lists before, but you've never heard me explain it like this!  If you're feeling overwhelmed by your huge to-do lists, go listen to this weeks HouseHold Helper Podcast where I share all of my tips and tools for helping you get OUT of overwhelm and into action mode!

Just Click The Link To Listen:

http://thehouseholdhelper.com/podcast/22/episode-11-effective-to-do-lists/ 

You can download it to your ipod or listen right after your computer. Please let me know what you thought of this interview -- did you find it helpful? 

Carpools can be a lifesaver -- and pain in the neck -- all at the same time!

Here's an online solution  to make planning and coordinating your carpool much easier!

At http://www.DivideTheRide.com you can input all of your children's activities and invite people to car pool who you know and trust. The website provides the name of the carpool, what it is, a practice or a game, who's picking the kids up, and who's dropping them off. All members of your carpool will emailed a complete schedule -- plus regular reminders.

 
And the service is FREE!  Woo-hoo!

Check it out at http://www.DivideTheRide.com

 

Okay...I'll admit it...I've been 'teasing' you with those last few blog entries.  (Forgive me?)

No more suspense, I want to tell you what I have found, tested and LOVED!

Many years ago, I saw Kathy Peel, "America's Family Manager" on Oprah.  Her ideas and book seemed great, but I wasn't a mother yet, so it didn't apply to me much.

More recently, I heard her on a podcast, and I got excited about the Family Manager system she created.  What she said just made so much sense!  

She explained that the same priniciples which create successful organizations and businesses, when applied with the 'family manager touch' will help you to create the warm, nuturing, and organized home you've always wanted.  She talked about using business priniciples like managing  your it by department, team building, delegating  and establishing  standard operating procedures  to create a household that runs smoothly and is a pleasure to live in.

This goes beyond traditional home organzing and is not about creating a Martha-Stewart like perfection or a cold corporate environment. Rather, this is about making it much easier for all of us to feel great about our families, and where we live.

One thing that really caught my attention, is when she explained that a Family Manager could manage their home more effectively by "departments"  The seven departments of of any household are:

* Home & Property -- The maintenance and care of all tangible assets, including belongings, house and its surroundings, and your vehicles

* Food/Meal Prep -- Meeting the family’s daily food and nutritional needs of your family.
   
* Family & Friends -- Dealing with relational responsibilities as a parent and spouse, and with extended family, friends, and neighbors.
   
* Finances -- Managing the budget, bill-paying, saving, investing, and charitable giving.
   
* Special Events -- Planning and coordinating occasions--birthdays, holidays, vacations, garage sales, family reunions, and celebrations -- events that fall outside one’s normal routine.
   
* Time & Scheduling -- Managing the family calendar and daily schedule; dispatching the right people to the right place at the right time with the right equipment.
   
* Self-Management -- Caring for one’s body, nurturing the mind and spirit so you can run your home without running yourself into the ground.

I have found it so helpful to organize my household around these "departments!" In fact,  I’ve found in my own family that the Family Manager strategies help reduce clutter, chaos, and stress in huge ways. Kathy offers a myriad of time-tested, mom approved solutions for each of these departments.

***** 

On a more personal note, you know that I make it my mission to seek out great solutions for busy moms.

I've seen it all.

It takes a lot to impress me.

But this time I was so impressed, I did just want to tell you about it, I wanted to be a part of the company that offers this solution as well!

Now I am qualified and authorized to teach you the Family Manager System through your very own Family Manager Makeover!  Just click here to learn more about the Family Manager System and Makeover!

PLUS...

To celebrate my new coaching certification, later tonight I will be starting simple contest where one lucky winner will get a FREE Family Manager Makeover...so check back soon to enter to win a FREE Family Manager Makeover! 

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!