I wrote an article about making your own price book to learn when to pick up the food and supplies you use. The idea is simple - stock up when you see the best price on something, and keep your best prices written in a portable notebook: Make a price book for food shopping

I thought we might make a version of a price book here for us all to use. Simply add the best prices you see on certain items, where you found the deal, and the item size.

Here is one i found a few days ago - Walgreens was selling Kellogs Raisin Bran cereal for $2 a box. I thought that was pretty sweet, with a limit of four boxes. I happened to have dollar off coupons for the cereal as well.

The best price i have seen on whole milk (one gallon containers) was also at Walgreens, for $1.69. This was two weeks ago. There was a limit of two per purchase, but i managed to keep going in and buying more on different days, and freezing the extras for later.

Oh and last week CVS was selling BOGO on their $1 spices, so all their spice bottles were 50 cents each. That's the best i've ever seen on spices. I bought all the bottles of vanilla they had, plus a selection of savory spices i use every day.

The best non-coupon price i've seen for a box of bandaids is for $1 at the dollar stores. If if you don't have coupons to make them work out for free at the drugstores, then a buck is pretty good.

For toilet paper, I won't pay more than 50 cents a roll - and that is for the big, tight rolls of 1000 sheets, like they have at CVS, Wags, and the kind Scott Tissue makes.

This week Wags is having a special on their single roll brand of 1000 sheet TP of 50 cents each (these are normally 89 cents a roll). You need to show them the special price in this week's circular to get the deal (they have circulars by the front door).

I am stocking up, and actually using these as "fillers" with my register rewards (so they end up free).

I have noticed if i wait long enough, I can always get the TP for this price, no coupon needed.

For the brands of TP that are 'softer' on the roll (less densely packed), you can usually do a deal with a coupon and sale price to get each roll less than 50 cents. This kind of TP is sold in large packages of 12 rolls, for example.

I personally don't think that is as good a deal since they don't last as long as the 1000 sheet rolls. I do know some people only like really soft TP, though.

So, the point here is to take a look at your TP purchasing and make a note that you should be able to find 50 cents (or less) a roll specials and stock up.

Nobody has any best-case prices to add?

Hydrogen pyroxide, rubbing alcohol - 50 cents a container.

top ramen - non sale price 3 for 1 dollar at walgreens

sale prices - 6 for one dollar

I used to see 10 for a dollar when i was younger; do they still do that anywhere?

I have found the best price on 18 oz of SunMaid raisins is $2 a container at either CVS or Walgreens, when they go on sale.

Right now Wags is having a sale on tomato paste for 25 cents a can, which is probably the best i have found. Maybe a dented can store would be better?

I have an ALCO store with really good prices on some items:

cat litter - large bag for $3
cream mushroom soup - 69 cents
spagetti sauce - $1
bottle of salsa - $1
30 pounds of cat food - 9.99 for two bags (BOGO sale)

Jill,

This is such a great idea. I have seen many of the popular coupon website recommend keeping price books. I wish I had the time. It's like, I have the prices in my mind. Like you said above, I won't pay more than .50 for TP...even if it's on sale. It's the writing everything down part I need to work on.

My CVS just phased out the super inexpensive spices and changed them out with smaller bottles of more costly spices. Pay more, get less! Arg.

My local ALCO has dollar spices so i guess I will start picking them up there. I did prefer the 50 cent spice specials at CVS tho.

Maria, just write things down when you think of it. Or post them here. You don't have to do a big chunk at once. Just start where you are.

Anyone have any 'best prices' to share on staple foods and sundries?

last week Walgreens had a 50 cent each coupon for baking soda. Whenever i can get two for a dollar I call that a deal! Usually they are from .66 to .99 cents for each box. It's easy to stock up on baking soda and they have so many uses.

Since my wags was out of baking soda i got a raincheck. Works just as good as the coupon from their weekly circular.

I have found that if i go by sales, markdowns, coupons and specials, I can pretty much always find a nice bottle of wine for under $5. I try to stick to that.

I found the large generic canisters of oatmeal for $2.88 each at a superwalmart today. That's excellent. That's two for a bit more than $5.

I have recently been told you can get 25 pound bags of salt at Costco for $3. If anyone can verify that, it's an amazing deal.

Walgreens is having a sale this upcoming week on spices for 75 cents a jar. That's better than the usual dollar from the dollar stores. I'd stock up and get rainchecks if they are out of things.

Cornstarch at Super Walmart, 88 cents a package. That is more than half the cheapest i've seen elsewhere.

And I found a better price on oatmeal than walmart's - only $1.99 for the generic large canisters at Alco.

okay, best price on lemon juice - a large container for only a dollar at ALCO in the dollar section, bottom shelf. That blows any other price I've seen out of the water for lemon juice. Usually a tiny container costs 2 or 3 bucks.

Best price on ramen noodles - walmart for 18 cents each in a case of 12. Right now the chicken flavor is at the Rollback price of $2, making it only 16 cents each. I bought four cases, since this stuff never goes bad. It's always something quick and easy to eat, so it's worth stocking up.

79 cents on chunk light tuna in water at Walgreens. This is a sale price this week using a coupon from their in-store circular. Limit six per purchase.

I also found a clearance/close out price (red sticker) of 89 cents on a different brand of the same kind of tuna.

Any time I find cans of tuna that are under a dollar I tend to stock up. It's healthy, versatile meat that doesn't go bad, and the containers are recyclable.