I buy Arborio rice at a restaurant supply store. It has a zip-lock top. I put it in a jar that I bought at the grocery store. When it gets low, I refill it. I much, much prefer it to long grain.

I also buy canned chicken in bulk (6 cans, I think) and tuna fish (12 to a pack, I don’t buy Albacore). I buy a baby loaf of Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar from Costco. It only costs me $7.99 a loaf. Just my savings from the cheese alone pays for my membership for the year.

OTOH, my SO bought a bag of wasabi mix (a restaurant size bag!) and has never opened it.

One of my best and worst bulk buying experiences was belonging to a food-buying co-op. I got high-quality (organic, unprocessed, local) food for 30-40% cheaper than retail. Buying extra-large sizes and sharing with other members was especially cheap. In the end, the extra work was a pain. There were meetings, food sorting nights, order forms, and some messy spills (don’t buy vats of honey for sharing, just don’t).

Another problem is spoilage. I’m not just talking about food not getting used before it goes bad, I’m talking about pens drying up, a power outage ruining everything in the freezer, a water leak ruining paper goods, a heat wave/power outage melting candles.

Seems like a good model for the urban areas of the USA as well.

-Mike

If I need to buy soaps, detergents, light-bulbs or home stuff, we’ll go to walmart when we feel like we can put up with the clientele to save the extra couple dollars and target when we aren’t up to it when that extra $2 savings doesn’t matter.

In terms of food, we go strictly to one foodstore to build up the points associated with that store, which usually leads to a 10% off or sometimes a 15% coupon. This leads to a big savings on top of coupons we are already using on a $300 monthly ‘big grocery shopping’.

#1 – if I buy it, will some of it go to waste? #2 – if I buy it, will some of it go to waste (considering my overeating as waste)? #3 – Do I have the proper room to keep this in storage?

If you can answer these three questions correctly, then you can buy it. Otherwise, buy the lesser amount and pay more per item – you’ll be paying less overall.

This is from a post I wrote about foodshopping:
http://shomershekalim.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/7-tips-for-foodshopping-in-israel/

Since I have honed in on saving money–I have yet to make any kind of “real” bulk purchase. Maybe diapers, but that’s it. Cuz I know that I will use them.

And not falling into the trap of buying crap you don’t need just cuz its cheap is not easy–but definitely doable.

Keep in mind the two questions–Do I really need it? Do I really want it?

We often make the mistake of buying treats in bulk. Granted, you do save money per unit, but you get through it a lot faster than you would go through that quantity if you had to buy an individual pack each time you wanted, meaning that:

a) you end up spending more money when calculated over a unit timeperiod rather than unit quantity
b) most of these treats are not the epitome of healthy eating, so it’s a bigger dent in your health to have it on hand and therefore eat more of it.
c) the treat loses its novelty, which results in a lost pleasure (which we replace with another treat, and so the cycle continues…), and also means that it becomes taken for granted so yet again, we eat more of it.

So, bulk is only good for buying staples and non-perishables in our household

Our staples and savings are:
Soymilk ($4/month)
Bread ($2/month)
Cheese block (my husband LOVES cheese) ($2/month)
dog food ($10/month)
spaghetti

and we do have enough storage space. costco in particular has good quality stuff including some organics.

Just the above justifies the $45 annual fee but again we have to be careful and my husband tends to buy too much snacks, like the following stuff about to go to waste:
raisins – who needs a pint of raisins?
popcorn – who needs a gallon of popcorn?
giant chip bags – resealable but goes stale after a while
more chips –

however, without that membership we could still get deals but need to have good timing.

-don’t buy perishable items in bulk
-buy non-perishable items that you absolutely use in bulk

Pretty simple at first sight. It only get a little bit complicated with with the item #2. Because it is difficult to know which items you really use the most sometimes.

In order to do that, you must be aware of your own habits, which would mean that you would have to track your purchases for a while to learn your own buying and usage patterns. Not an easy task, but doable.

Just like you mentioned in your first point, sometimes you tie up too much of your money at one time by buying in bulk. Simply put, buying in bulk has it’s opportunity cost.

To make sure you CAN buy in bulk, I would suggest to know all of your monthly expenses in advance and have money set aside for those expenses and it should not be touched.

Only after you take care of your basic needs, then one can think of buying in bulk.

Best,
Tomas

That aside, I am a keen bulk buyer as I always buy sugar, flour, dry beans, nuts and most food items from the bulk bins. Recently I have become a hater of packaging too. I usually only buy what I need for a week or two so I avoid looking at piles of food items stocked in the kitchen or wherever!

I caught myself almost doing this today when I stopped at the mall to pick up some things for my outfit on Saturday. (Wedding to attend, not Halloween.) I was perusing the sales racks of a store I don’t really shop at much, and thought about getting a pair of brown leggings just because they were $3. Then I snapped to my senses and realized I would never wear them…

I still walked out of there having spent $20 on three things when I only went in for one. I got leg warmers (for the wedding, sounds weird I know) and also picked up two necklaces, either of which will match my dress well. I feel a bit guilty, though, since I’m worried I’ll change my mind about the leg warmers. (I’m not very trendy, and these to me are rather trendy.)

I don’t feel too bad, but I also spent $5 ordering photos today. Saved $12 using a coupon, though, so I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad? $25 won’t kill me, I just don’t like days where I feel like I spend a lot!

Storage is certainly an issue but I think there are more deep seated issues with bulk buyers. Bulk buying may stem from a fear of lack. Lack of money for food, lack of money for other things. Lack of work, lack of everything. My mom stored bulk food. She was worried my dad wouldn’t have work and we would starve. That never happened.

I think we also as a society spend more time planning what we will eat than what we will do with our lives.

For example, canned beans, tomato paste, pasta sauce, even cold cereal. All kind of “off” in color or stale even if you eat it right away. No way would you want to eat that 1 year after buying it!

The bulk version comes in a bottle without the narrow nozzle you need to help you refill your vanity pump without spilling it everywhere. I actually had to buy a regular size refill and then re-fill the refill bottle before I could use the bulk soap! Yup, stupid.

I’ve also noticed that the bulk shampoo/creme rinse is also sold in bottles that have HUGE nozzles. So you end up using more than you would otherwise because 1 squirt is a lot larger now.

The thing that I have noticed about doing the majority of my food buying at Costco is that we eat higher quality food. I stay away from the processed food, and can buy nearly everything at Costco except for the finishing ingredients (curry paste, salad dressing, etc) that I have to buy at the grocery store. Milk is purchased 2 gallons at a time, but is about 2/3 the cost. I have just been much more focused on avoiding food waste, & find that I can direct my kids to the food on hand and they will eat it. One of the keys to making sure that food doesn’t go to waste is to keep track of what needs to be “eaten up.” In the spirit of doing that, I have instituted what I like to call “clean out the fridge night” where everyone in the house decides which leftovers they want for dinner & we have a “buffet.” We waste much less food, & have saved a lot of money on very delicious, healthy & fresh foods by shopping in bulk. I understand that it’s not for everyone, but if it works for your family, great.