Making a Price Book: 1/15/10

Our Target recently became a SuperTarget, and I have been shopping there for groceries a time or two. My theory was that they have generally cheaper base prices on most things, but that their sales aren’t as good, since their loss leaders tend to be non-grocery items. Also, they don’t double (or triple, or Super Double) coupons, which is where a lot of the really good deals are to be found. But if you don’t have time to clip coupons or comparison-shop, or there just aren’t any good sales or coupons at the grocery stores, I thought Target was generally going to be your cheapest option.

But I wasn’t sure. So I thought I would get started making a price book. Basically, a price book is a list of the regular price of various items at various stores. You can get more complex than that, but in essence it’s a tool for knowing whether you’re getting a good deal or not — the price book allows you to see what the average price of the item would be, so you know if they’ve marked it up before discounting it, whether it’s cheaper somewhere else even if it’s not on sale, etc.

I wrote down everything we needed that week grocery-wise (and everything I had multiple coupons for) and noted its price at Harris Teeter using their Express Lane feature. Then I went to Target and compared. The results:

Product                                          Harris Teeter             Target
Mission tortillas                           $1.99                            $2.19
Pepperidge Farm bread             $3.19-$3.79                $3.32
Betty Crocker potatoes, box      $2.29                           $1.84
Texas toast                                    $2.99                           $2.99
Bob Evans sausage                     $2.99                            n/a
Dole frozen fruit                          $3.69                           n/a
Baked Lay’s                                  sale $3.50                   sale $3
Butterball kielbasa                     $2.99                           n/a
Celestial Seasonings tea            sale $2.50                  regular $2.59
Bisquick, 40 oz.                          $3.65                          $2.89
Honey, 12 oz.                               $2.87                          $3.24
Glass cleaner, generic                sale $1.79                  regular $1.12
Eggs, dozen                                 $1.79                           $1.29
Canned mixed vegetables        $1.15                            n/a
Bagged salad                              $3                                 $3
Grape tomatoes, pint               sale $3.50                   sale $1.99
Red onion                                  about $1.50                 n/a
Green pepper                            $1.29                            89 cents
Black beans, bag                       $1.99                            n/a
Salsa                                            sale $2                         sale $1.50
Parmesan cheese                      $3.49                            $2.99
Ketchup, 32 oz.                         $2.99                            $2.74
Kraft mac & cheese                  sale, 89 cents              sale, 96 cents

(Sorry for the goofy formatting.)

With a few exceptions, I was right: Target’s base price is cheaper but their specials are not as good. They do appear to have a few grocery loss leaders — salsa in particular seems to go on sale pretty regularly — but not as many as HT and other grocery stores. And since they don’t double coupons, cheaper prices don’t always translate into bigger savings. In the end, I got a few things at Target and went to HT for the rest.

Target:

• Market Pantry grape tomatoes,  regular $2.99, sale $1.99
• Market Pantry salsa, regular $2.19, sale $1.50
• Market Pantry Parmesan cheese, $2.99
• Newman’s Own marinara sauce, two bottles, regular $1.92 each, sale $1.82 each
• Bisquick, $2.89, minus 60-cent coupon = $2.29
• Coke, 12-pack, $4.74 (Mr. Jones cannot live on Pepsi alone!)
• Market Pantry eggs, $1.29
• Turkey Hill ice cream, $3.99, minus $1 coupon = $2.99
• Friskies cat food, seven cans at 44 cents each

Paid: $24.51. Saved: $3.49, or 12 percent. Meh, but at least I know I wouldn’t have found this stuff cheaper elsewhere.

Harris Teeter:

• Kraft mac and cheese, three boxes, regular $1.19 each, sale 89 cents each = $2.67
• Tendersweet canned green beans, regular 69 cents, sale 57 cents
• Tendersweet canned corn, three cans, regular 69 cents each, sale 57 cents each = $1.71
• Tendersweet canned peas, three cans, regular 69 cents each, sale 57 cents each = $1.71
• Harris Teeter honey, 12 ounces, $2.87
• Harris Teeter popcorn, $1.67
• Harris Teeter black beans, $1.99
• Harris Teeter crispy rice cereal, regular $2.49, sale $1.97
• Fresh Express spinach salad, two bags, regular $2.99 each, sale $2.50 each = $5
• Pacific Rose apples, 3.15 pounds, regular $1.99/pound, sale $1.29/pound = $4.06
• Green bell peppers, two, regular $1.59 each, sale $1.29 each (they were out of these at Target)
• Red onion, $1.84
• Carrots, one pound, $1.19
• Dole frozen fruit, two bags, $3.69 each, minus two doubled coupons for 75 cents off each = $4.38, or $2.19 each
• Harris Teeter frozen blueberries, $3.99
• Sargento cheese, four bags, regular $3.69, buy one get one free, minus two coupons for $1 off two = $5.38, or $1.35 each
• Smart Balance sour cream, regular $1.79, sale 99 cents (I had a coupon for $1 off this, but it wouldn’t go through, and the cashier seemed like she was having a bad day and was trying to be nice even though something was clearly getting her down, so I didn’t push it, because I’m cheap and all, but even I am not that cheap)
• Here there are two items labeled “BB Sausage” that I simply cannot identify to save my life. I have no idea what this is. If I remember I’ll come back and edit this post, but I’ve got not a clue.
• Plumrose bacon, regular $3.99, sale $2.47
• Gwaltney sausage, $2.95

Paid $56.13, saved $23.75 or 29 percent. Not my best work, but sometimes you just need stuff! Now I’m off to try and find out what the BB Sausage could possibly be.