buying in bulk | Saved By Grace

Guide For Buying in Bulk

Buying in bulk is one of those things that most frugal living families will tell you is a big money saver. It seems pretty straight forward, but there are some things to keep in mind when it comes to buying in bulk.

Guide For Buying In Bulk

Know what you will reasonably use up in time before it expires. If you buy too much, adjust what you buy next time to avoid wasting money. Keeping a list of how much your family goes through will help you manage it better and have a good idea how much to buy when you get to the store.

Look for unit prices. Sometimes, buying in bulk in not the cheapest option. If you pay attention to have much each unit costs in the package, you may see that by itself or with coupons, you can buy individual sizes much cheaper.

Buy containers for your bulk loose products such as baking soda, brown sugar, pasta and spices. It will give you something neater to put it in rather than just leaving it in the bag and it will keep it fresher longer. Also, putting it in a durable container keeps it more sanitary as well as pest free.

Buy perishable items in bulk with caution. Do you have the freezer space? Can it be frozen? Buying meat in bulk is a great way to save money if you can. Just break up the large packages into smaller ones in zipper freezer bags with dates. This will let you know what to use up first. Most meat can be stored for 2-3 months and maintain it’s freshness in the freezer.

Learn skills such as canning and food dehydration so you can take advantage of seasonal produce that goes on sale. Being able to preserve it will allow you to enjoy it months from now when it is no longer on sale.

Weigh everything and bring a calculator with you. If you are buying from large bulk containers, don’t just eyeball it. Weigh everything and calculate the approximate cost. You don’t want to overspend and get a surprise at the register.

Cook with what you can get in bulk and plan meals around it. If a particular cheese is on sale this week, plan a meal or two around it. Shred the rest and stick it in the freezer. Cheese holds well shredded for a couple months frozen.

For more tips on bulk buying, check out these posts:

10 Things You Should Always Buy In Bulk

10 Foods You Should Keep in the Freezer

10 Things You Should Always Buy In Bulk

It’s no secret that buying in bulk can save you a lot of money. While it can be wasteful to buy some thing sin bulk, other things are almost always a better buy when purchased this way. Of course, it ultimately depends on your household’s usage on what you will choose to buy in bulk, but here is a general guideline to 10 things that are usually a good idea to get in larger quantity.

10 Things You Should Always Buy In Bulk

1. Spices. This cannot be said enough. Spices and seasonings are much cheaper when you buy them in the bulk food section of your favorite store that carries them. Not only is it an amazing savings, it also is usually fresher and less wasteful.

2. Paper products. This includes toilet paper and paper towels. The larger packages of this stuff are often less than half the price of buying several small packages. Not only that, but there are constantly coupons circling around for these products. If you know when to look, you may end up like me: 2 cases of paper towels you got for free. I don’t normally use this many paper towels for just cleanup, but I do like to use them to make my own cleaning wipes.

3. Personal care items like shampoo. The larger bottles will be much cheaper by the ounce than smaller ones and since shampoo doesn’t really go “bad”, you should get the bigger ones if you can.

4. Vegetables that freeze easily. Buy vegetables that are freezer friendly such as peas, green beans, corn and low moisture vegetables when they are in season and flash freeze them. If you have home canning skills, this would also be a great way to preserve them.

5. Flour, sugar and other dry baking goods. This is usually cheaper if bought in the bulk foods section unless it is baking season around Christmas. The other day, I was at the store and saw cornmeal was 54 cents a pound. This is amazingly cheap considering a tub of it costs me around $2-$3 for 1 1/2 lbs,

6. Pasta. Another dry goods pantry staple that is a good deal in bulk is pasta. If you get lucky, you may be able to even find gluten free or low carb versions in the bulk foods section.

7. Chocolate. Buying baking chips or even just chunks of chocolate is a lot cheaper when purchased in bulk for making candies, cakes and other sweets. Perhaps, I included this because I just like the idea of having chocolate on hand in large quantities.

8. Vitamins. You will always get a better deal when you buy them in bulk. Whether that is a bigger package or a 2 for 1 deal that occasionally comes out, buying vitamins in bulk is always cheaper.

9. Batteries. Buying batteries in the larger packages will almost always save you money in the long run. If your household uses a lot of batteries, getting coupons for them and buying in big packages is definitely the way to go.

10. Cheese when it is on sale. You can buy blocks of it and shred it yourself for much cheaper than buying it in convenient packs already shredded for you.

The Key to buying in bulk is making sure you look at the price per unit (whether that be per pound, ounce or serving) and comparing it to other items that are similar. Make sure you are getting the best deal.