Something I have been doing for years to keep my finances in check is keep a Grocery Price List. In the past, I have kept this in a separate little notebook. This year I'm utilizing the Notes section in the back of my Limelife Planner. I love being able to plan my meals for the week, look at my grocery price list, and know exactly what I'll be spending. No surprises at check out.

I grabbed one of my Post-It Label Tabs and wrote "Grocery Price List" on it with a Sharpie Fine Point marker. I put this on the first page of my Notes section. I made sure to line up the tab to where it's flush with the month tabs that are already in my planner. I'd hate to have something sticking out further. In all honesty, my Grocery Price List tab is probably a little shorter. I don't want it to draw attention away from the beautiful features of my planner.

Next I grabbed my Frixion erasable pen (in case of mistakes or price changes) and went to town making my sections. I have mine set up in meat, dairy, produce, dry goods, frozen, condiments, breakfast (yes it needs it's own category, ahah), canned, and misc. This is something that once you start it, it'll be a work in progress. Be sure to leave yourself room with each category. When you go grocery shopping, bring your receipts home, and write down your items into your price book. Pretty soon you'll have a full price book with all of your staples.

Once you have it pretty filled out you'll be able to plan your meals to the penny. After you've meal planned for the week, refer to your grocery price list and add up what you'll be spending. This is especially helpful for people on a strict budget with a set allowance for groceries. If you add up your list and it's over, you'll know before going to the store and you can alter your plans accordingly.

I have been doing this method of meal planning for years.  The last year though, I've been pretty lax with it. Mainly because we didn't need to be as frugal with our budget. However, due to unfortunate circumstances we had to get a new car this month (car payments, yuck!).  Now I'm back to budgeting! I decided this time I wanted to put my Grocery Price List into my planner instead of a separate notebook. As you can see from the pictures, my list isn't fully complete since I just started it up again. This is just from the last 2 weeks of grocery shopping. It doesn't take long to get it filled up and ready, and I'm excited to work from my list again. It is actually pretty fun to meal plan this way. I enjoy being in control of my money and using a Grocery Price List definitely keeps me on top of my finances.

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♥ In the beginning, immediately write down your prices when you get home from the grocery store. This will help you keep from losing your receipt and also make sure that you're inputting your prices.
♥ If you go to multiple stores be sure to notate which store the prices are from. Different stores have different prices obviously. 95% of our shopping is done at the same store, so I didn't need to section out different stores.
♥ Make it fun! Pour yourself a cup of coffee, sit down with your planner, and start your meal plan for the week. It can be a very relaxing time just for you.

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful!  Do you have any specific techniques to your meal planning?  If so, let us know in the comments below!

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This blog post was written by Emilee Adams for the Limelife Planners Media & Creative Team. For more information about Emilee visit her blog at www.emileespeaks.com. Please share and repost this blog entry with your friends! All we ask is that you give credit to Limelife Planners and the post author.