Making a price book is quiet simple. You can make it as detailed or as simple as you wish. If you are familiar with Excel, you can make a nice price book on there. You can also use a general ledger, if you can find one, which has all the spaces you need, or just a plain notebook with loose-leaf paper will work well also.
To set up your price book, start by labeling each page with a category, such as Fruits & Veggies, Groceries, Health & Beauty and Misc. You can create your own categories and be as detailed as you wish. However, if you are new at keeping a price book, I suggest making a few simple categories to begin with. You can always go back later and break them down as the page gets too full. If you are using Excel to make your price book, you can create highlighted headings to separate your categories.
After making your categories on each page, create column titles for the following subcategories: Date, Product, Price, Unit Price and Store. You can change or add different column titles to fit your needs and wants.
After creating your categories and column titles, gather any receipts or store ads you have laying around. Start by entering a different product for each line, in the appropriate category. Enter the date it was on sale, the price, unit price and the store where it was on sale.
Another tip in helping get your price book started is by taking your price book to the store with you. Walk through the isles and write down any prices of any items that you usually buy. Even if they aren’t on sale, it will help you know what the regular price of these items are, and also help you determine how good of a sale it is, when they do go on sale.