Grocery Price Book Spreadsheet

Who this is for

Know a real bargain when you see one. Record the prices you pay for regular items at each shop, and the book works out a comparable unit price for every entry. A summary table holds the lowest and usual price you have seen for each item.

Shoppers who use more than one shop, households on a tight food budget, and anyone who suspects the multi-buy offer is not the saving it looks like.

What this helps you track

• What you paid for each regular item, where and when
• A unit price for every entry, so different pack sizes compare fairly
• Which entries were offers and which were the normal price
• The lowest and usual unit price for each item, and the shop that had the lowest
• How much of a gap there is between the usual price and the best

How to use it

1. Write the household, the currency and the date range the book covers.
2. Each time you shop for a regular item, record the date, item, brand, shop, pack size, unit, price and whether it was on offer.
3. The unit price is worked out in the browser and the workbook: per 100 g or ml for weighed items and per item for things sold singly.
4. Every so often, copy each item's lowest unit price, the shop and its usual price into the price book summary.
5. Check a new offer against the summary before buying extra; if it is not lower than your lowest, it is not a bargain for you.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Why is the unit price per 100 g or ml?

Because it keeps the figures readable and lets a 400 g pack and a 1 kg pack sit side by side. Items sold singly, set to each, are priced per item instead. Always compare like with like units.

Why is the summary filled in by hand?

Because the lowest price for each item means grouping entries by item, which is easiest done by eye every few weeks. It also makes you look at the record, which is where the patterns show up.

How many items should I track?

Start with the things you buy most often and spend most on, rather than everything in the trolley. A short list kept up for a few months is more useful than a long one abandoned in week two.

How is this different from the grocery spend log?

The spend log records what each shopping trip cost in total, by shop. This book records the price of individual items, so you can compare shops item by item and judge offers.