How to Track Grocery Prices Without a Spreadsheet (Price Book App)

If you've ever started a spreadsheet to track grocery prices, you know how it goes. The first week is great. By week three, you have a pile of receipts and a sheet that's out of date.

The idea behind it is excellent, though. It's called a price book, and it's one of the simplest ways to save money on groceries.

What is a price book?

A price book is a list of the items you buy often and the lowest price you've paid for each one, usually with the store and date. When you see a "sale," you check your price book. If the price beats your lowest price, it's a real deal and worth stocking up. If not, you can skip it.

Why spreadsheets are hard to keep up

• You have to type every price by hand, usually after the trip
• Sizes and units are easy to mix up
• The sheet isn't in front of you when you're standing at the shelf
• Miss a few trips and the data goes stale

How to keep a price book on your phone

1. Pick your top 20 items. Start with what you buy every week or two: milk, eggs, bread, coffee, chicken, rice. You don't need to track everything.

2. Take a photo of the price tag. With a price book app like TallyCart, you scan the shelf tag with your camera instead of typing. The price and date are saved automatically.

3. Scan the same items on every trip. Each scan adds a data point. After two or three trips you'll see a real price range.

4. Check before you buy. At the shelf, compare today's price with the lowest price you've paid for that item.

5. Stock up only on real deals. When the price matches or beats your lowest price, buy a few extra of anything that keeps.

What you'll learn after a month

Most people are surprised by how often a "sale" price is just the normal price, and how predictable some items are. Many staples go on sale in a regular cycle, so you can stop buying at full price and wait for the dip.

Using TallyCart as your price book

TallyCart's price history feature keeps your price book for you. Every price tag you scan is saved with the date, so you can see the range you've paid for each item, starting with the lowest price. The optional TallyCart+ plan adds full price history charts that show how each item's price changed over time. The core app is free, needs no account, and works in the store even with no signal.

Get TallyCart on Google Play and scan your first price tag on your next trip. Comparing apps first? Here's our list of the best grocery price tracker apps for Android.