Buying in Bulk?

[Csara]

What products do you buy in bulk that seem to save you time and money?

DH and I were at Costco yesterday and we always buy our paper goods, diapers, and razors in bulk, however we don't buy much of anything else. I was considering buying (for example) the diced canned tomatoes because I seem to use them in recipes a lot and it would probably pay off since they don't go bad.

So, what items does your family buy in bulk - this includes food, toiletries, personal items, pet supplies, etc?

[CC21]

We buy our paper goods at Sam's (paper towels, kleenex, diapers, paper plates, napkins). We would buy our TP there too, but they don't carry the brand we like. We also buy soap and laundry detergent. When the kids were on formula we bought it there too.

We also buy some food there depending on what it is. If it's something we can split up and freeze we usually do. If it's something that would need to be refrigerated in a gallon size container, probably not.

[meliz]

Good post! We are thinking of joining Costco and wondering if it's worth it for us... this should help.:)

With just 2 of us, I don't buy that much in bulk. When chicken breasts are onsale I buy the big bulk family packs (they are regularly $7 a lb here, so a huge $ incentive!)... then I divide them into 2 piece pks for us. I also buy the huge-ass pks of TP (pardon the pun). We also buy big packs of granola bars-- often take them for our lunches, and the things keep forever. I think canned tomatoes would be a very smart thing to buy in bulk-- we go thru tons of cans of them too; our problem would be storage.

I once bought a huge bulk pack of soya sauce; saved a bundle. Stupid. ONE bottle lasts me years; I ended up tossing the rest of the bottles just to clear up room in the cupboards. In the end, I paid a frikkin fortune for said single bottle.:)

[HeavenLeigh]

I use to go to Sam's at least 3 times a year. I haven't been there in a few years but have a one time pass that I plan on using in a couple months. I would always buy those big huge boxes of tampons, toilet paper, paper towels, frozen food--marinated chicken breasts/porkchops/meatballs/etc..., snack cakes, soda, etc...
I would take orders. If I didn't use enough of something I would ask family if they wanted to go in to buy certain items like big jars of pickles, mayo, etc... My Dad always got big bags of dog food, and freeze pops.
I am working on eating the things I have stocked up on before I go. It seems like it costs a ton of money, but you really do save in the long run. Especially if you compare the prices to smaller portions of the same thing.

[Deana]

we go once a month. My goal is to totally stock up at costco and then just go to the grocery store once a week for produce, lunchmeat, and other fill-ins. This is part of our financial diet that we have started!
We buy (I'm trying to go through the isles):
-all paper goods -- paper towels, napkins, tp, feminine stuff, garbage bags etc.(except diapers - I buy Luvs at the grocery)
-laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, jet dry
-orange juice, frozen fish fillets (orange roughy and salmon), frozen chicken breast (the kirkland brand big huge bag - they are really good), a few frozen quick meals like this marie calendars chicken picata dish that we like for when I don't feel like cooking. We sometimes get suckered into another frozen item (when they pass out samples!!)
-diet coke
-coffee and coffeemate
-canned tomatoes, chicken broth, jarred pasta sauce, dried pasta, peanut butter (but I really only buy that like 2x/year)
-a big 'jug' of pretzels
-ibuprofen when needed
-wine and beer
-I buy a 6 pound thing of ground beef and then freeze it in one pound freezer bags
-loaves of bread (I freeze a lot)
-a gigantic bag of frozen veggies

I love doing our grocery shopping this way. HTH!

[Csara]

Wow - thanks, D! Do you find that it saves you a lot of money that way? Plus it would seem you always have stuff on hand for cooking.

[Deana]

C, we started doing this two months ago and we have seen a dramatic change in our amex bill (we put everything on our amex). I used to meal plan and then go to the grocery armed with a huge list. Now I see what we have and meal plan around what is in the fridge/freezer/pantry. It is SO much better this way. And of course, we have some really bland dinner days (our night of mac and cheese, turkey dogs and corn was a real low, lol) but we have committed to this, so we are just making it work.
I think the biggest thing for me is that since we have everything we need, I don't find myself running to the grocery 3-4x/week for something (like being out of diet coke/OJ/etc)... and then adding another $20 worth of stuff to the basket.
I'll say too that allrecipes.com has an AWESOME tool that lets you search for recipes based on ingredients that you want and that you DON'T want... it's awesome, I have had great success with that!!

[Csara]

Thank you for the tips. That is so helpful. My DH just said the exact same thing you did - about why not meal plan around what we have in the house versus going to the store to buy a million ingredients we aren't going to use up. I have been going to the grocery store about 3 times a week and end up spending sooo much money (over $200/month) plus we go to Costco or BJs about 3 times a month and never spend less than $150. That is a ridiculous amount of money per month on food considering we eat out at least twice a week (including lunch) too. I am definitely going to work on this. Thanks again for your help!!

[Deana]

we knew we were in trouble when we added up our grocery/target/costco expenses and they exceeded $1500 one month. We kind of freaked, which lead us to a new way of thinking...
We weren't eating outrageously (we are really pretty health concious). I think we just got sucked into buying, buying, buying stuff instead of using what we have. When we got serious about this, we realized that we had two tenderloin filets burried in our freezer... with horrible freezer burn, and we had to throw them away. Had I been on top of what we had in the freezer, we could have made a nice meal out of that.

[HeavenLeigh]

We don't have a costco here (I live in hillbilly hell) but I'm sure there's one near any of the Sam's we go to. Do you have to have a membership card like you do at Sam's?

[Csara]

Krysti - yes, you need a membership card at Costco, but isn't Sam's Club the same thing? I'm sure you can buy the same type of things in bulk there.

[HeavenLeigh]

You probably can, but I wonder which is cheaper?
I'm working on my list, I hope to go in a few weeks. I have almost cleaned out my excessive stash of canned/boxed goods. It's about time to restock :D

[Turtleheadfred]

I've wondered about doing more of this, but honestly, STORAGE is an issue for us! Where to PUT the bigger things!!!

We do buy LOTS of TP in larger quantities, trash bags, things like that that don't really take up much space, and hopefully when we get the kitchen demo complete I'll have a big enough pantry to make it easier... at least that's my hope.

You guys have definitely given me something to think about!

[Csara]

We did this last week and I have to say so far it's been working. I only had to run to the grocery store once and spent like $20.

[Turtleheadfred]

Has anyone done an actual "spreadsheet" type cost comparison of how much they're actually saving month to month doing the bulk buying vs. regular grocery shopping?

That's something I'm really interested in.

[heather6773]

Unfortuantly we don't have either stores near me so by the time I pay for gas to get the nearest store I might as well go to the local stores. I just try to catch the sales and clip coupons

[Turtleheadfred]

I'm still wanting to know if any of you ladies have figured out exactly what you save month to month - bulk vs. regular buying. That would help me "sell" this concept to Hubby! :blush: