Buying in Bulk for Bigger Savings.

I shop the same way. I am lucky to have a pantry, tons of cupboards and tons of closets to store stuff in. Being a family of 6, it really saves to make bulk purchases.

That is so true, we shop at Sam's club and buy honey in large bottle and shampoo since we all 4 use it we go through it pretty quick. People argue that they would not use it all then do into it with someone else and divide it. You both improve your lives this way. Also my bread I prefer is sold in 2 pks so we get a couple of those and put one in the freezer for later. Can't wait to go back and get some of the 3 pound salad bags. Eating more of that since I am watching what I am eating for now. Love the bulk buying ability.

It is good if you have somewhere to store it all...Actually..we have a bulk store here in Ontario....and my son was just mentioning how popular it has become..so I guess there is a need for buying in bulk...

I think buying in bulk is good when you have a really large family and if not you could actually be wasting money because you might have to give things away and you definetly have to have the storage.

In most of the cases the bigger sizes actually works out to be cheaper than the smaller, but that is not the case almost you should check that out, another way of saving is to buy things in promotional sale or regular sales.

I completely agree. However, there are times when buying in bulk means consuming more. So if buying in bulk is going to work, one has to be disciplined first. FT http://www.MillionDollarJourney.com

Buying in bulk can save you money if you buy items that you will actually use. Items that you listed don't spoil and you can save them for future use, however, you need to avoid buying too much food in bulk or go in on these types of items with friends who can share the cost and the purchased items. It can be good to buy at warehouse stores, but it can also end up costing you more money if you don't be careful. You also have to avoid buying things just because you think that you are getting a good deal. If you are never going to use it or would have never purchased it if you hadn't seen it at such a "good price", don't waist your money on it now. But it sounds like you made some smart purchases.

I too try to buy in bulk also, I belong to a store called BJ which sells wholesale and in bulk, I have a chest freezer so I stock up on meats there. But everything is cheaper there including buying diapers.

Very true, buying in bulk definitely saves money. We shop at Sam's Club often. But sometimes I feel with the thought of saving money we tend to go over boeard and buy stuff we don't need or will not use that frequently. If something is available in a pack of six, and we need only one or two, to save a little we land up buying the six pack..hehe..

"The more you buy, the more you save!" I hate this kind of marketing spin. It draws us in because, after all, who doesn't like to save money? But it conveniently focuses on only one part of the picture. A sale might entice you to buy three shirts for $30 rather than at $12 each. Obviously, a $10 shirt is cheaper than a $12 shirt. But they've gotten $18 more of your dollars. Did you really go out intending to buy three shirts? The commercial should say, "The more you buy, the more you spend." The idea of saving money by buying in greater quantities is also the appeal made by warehouse clubs. These huge member-only warehouses claim to offer great savings, partly due to the fact that you're buying in bulk (and partly due to the no-frills environment). But are the savings more than offset by the fact that I may buy more than needed? And is buying in bulk really a money-saving strategy? I went on a crusade to find out! I started my quest at Sam's, the dominant warehouse club locally. I thoroughly enjoy walking down aisle upon giant aisle of everything from tube socks to hot sauce. I mean really, who couldn't use a 48-bottle case of Tabasco? With apparent bargains all around, it's hard not to love the clubs. I decided to primarily focus my research on goods one would buy regularly from the grocery store. Though it wasn't mandatory for the items to be food, the food items I did pick were in a quantity that would not quickly perish. So with my clipboard in hand, I wrote down the prices of 175 items at Sam's, and then went to two of our leading grocery chains, Kroger and Meijer, and wrote down the prices for those same 175 items. Most of the time, I was able to compare items of the same container size. In other words, if a package of four 32-ounce bottles of Mott's Apple Juice could be purchased at Sam's, I priced the same Mott's Apple Juice, but in a single 32-ounce bottle from the two grocery stores. When this was not possible, I wrote down the price of a comparable size. After crunching the numbers, I found that a great majority of the items were indeed cheaper at Sam's. On average, the savings amounted to 31%, more than enough to easily offset the $35-45 annual membership fee. To see if there were patterns to where the savings would be found, I broke down the data into categories: baby, can goods, cereal/bread, cooking/baking, dairy, frozen, health/hygiene, household (cleansers, paper and plastic products, etc.), snacks, soup/sauce, and other (peanut butter, stuffing, salad dressing, etc.). The big winners: cereal/bread, cooking/baking, snacks, and other averaged nearly 40% savings. Still not impressed? Buy some raisins, syrup, bottled water, and sandwich bags and you can save an average of 66%. And it doesn't stop there. You can rack up even more savings by buying generics in bulk, where I found savings of up to 83% on items like aspirin and hand sanitizer. So how does this translate into your daily life? It may never have crossed your mind that your child's glass of OJ could cost you a quarter more than necessary. You shrug off a quarter? If you're determined to get Junior's daily dose of vitamin C in, you would be shrugging off about $90 a year. Or, how about this—you can save 20 cents a bowl on Raisin Bran. What's 20 cents? For a family of four that has a bowl every weekday, it's $208 a year. That's $208 that could be paying off a debt (and the high interest rate that comes with it). "I don't eat cereal," you say. Oh no? Do you eat chicken? Do you like snacks? Do you use tooth paste? Hopefully you answered "yes" to at least one of these questions, in which case you can save an average of 38%. (And none of these examples include the additional savings on sales tax!) To take the study a step further, I compared the Sam's price of an item to the cheapest current sales price available at the grocery chains. The warehouse club still wins, saving you 22%. Savings aren't necessarily limited to groceries. In his book, Saving Money Any Way You Can, Mike Yorkey cites warehouse clubs as being great places to shop for small appliances, car tires and prescription eyewear. And I personally have saved money when buying books, computer software, and even flowers for my wife. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when shopping at a wholesale club: • Not everything at warehouse clubs is sold in bulk. You can buy a single gallon of milk or one ink jet printer. In those instances, the savings may not amount to much, so be sure to compare prices first. • Strangely, some items cost more in bulk (and even at the grocery store, I came across a number of items that cost more per unit of measurement when bought in the bigger container). • The variety is limited. • I surveyed items that wouldn't perish quickly. You're not saving money if the product goes to waste. • You might save some money buying items you use less often, like cat shampoo, but you'd be tying up money that would probably be better used elsewhere. • Depending on how you categorize items, you may experience different category savings as some items could be in more than one category. • When the grocery chains came out ahead, often times it was because there was a sale. Their advantage can disappear when the promotions end. Furthermore, keep in mind that grocery prices are regional—what's cheaper for me in Kentucky may cost more where you live, or vice versa. • You have to account for storage of these items. Even still, warehouse clubs are a great place to find really good savings. But to truly win at the cost-cutting game, you'll need to investigate the pricing patterns of the chains in your area. And you never know, you might bump into me one of these days—I'll be the one with the clipboard and case of Tabasco.

I don't buy in bulk so much because it is myself and my husband mostly. But I do tend to buy meats that have been marked down to the expiration date being within the next day or two. I just pop them in the freezer when I come home. I remember one time being at the supermarket and they had chicken wings bags marked down to 2 dollars a bag. People just looked at the date and walked past. I guess they didn't even think of the freezer. That was ok, more for me.

Even though I live alone I always buy the biggest size foods or detergents and toiletries .. I split bulk buy meats up into portions before I freeze it, use loads of storage boxes for dry goods to keep it fresh .. and toiletries, hair care etc., I decant into travel sized tubs for ease of use .. I can save loads of money this way .. but however hard I try at some point everything seems to need stocking back up on at the same time .. so I try and keep an eye on the special offers and stock up as and when I can

it may be true. But i have noticed that in my case it also triggers spending the things a lot.

I agree buying bulk can save more money. However, it depends on certain items too. It's more because of our psychological view. When we see there's still a lot of an item in the storage, we tend to use more unnecessarily. If we know we're scarce of them, then we'd be more careful in utilizing the item.

I agree if it is something you will use up in a timely manner or it doesn't matter if it sits for a long time. Toilet paper and laundry detergent don't go bad if they sit for too long. I don't buy food in bulk anymore like I used to. Not worth it for only 2 or 3 people. I did buy alot in quantity/bulk when all 3 kids were living at home. It does make a difference in the cost and savings.

I also buy in bulk - usually goods that can be kept - loo rolls, washing power, coffee. I have a special store cupboard where I keep it all. And when I see a bulk item that's also on discount, I buy, especially if I know I'll definitely be using it. You do end up saving a lot of money over time doing this.

Buying in bulk definetely gets things cheaper. My reasoning is that we may be buying more than what we need. In the end, I believe we are not saving more but spending more. To me, bulk purchase is practical if there is a group of people and a bulk purchase is done and everyone receives their proportion and not in excess. There is of course the problem of storage if one buys too much. Have we thought about the shelf life of the goods we purchased? How about rodents round and about the home? There are many other reasons to make this a no no. Still, this is only my personal view on bulk purchase.

Buying in bulk definetely gets things cheaper. My reasoning is that we may be buying more than what we need. In the end, I believe we are not saving more but spending more. To me, bulk purchase is practical if there is a group of people and a bulk purchase is done and everyone receives their proportion and not in excess. There is of course the problem of storage if one buys too much. Have we thought about the shelf life of the goods we purchased? How about rodents round and about the home? There are many other reasons to make this a no no. Still, this is only my personal view on bulk purchase.

Yes I agree with you buying in bulk.I like sams, but we dont have a sams hear so every so often we drive 2 hours to sams to get things like paper towels, chicken in a can,toilet paper and other items.If you have a large family it is way cheeper to buy in bulk.

bulk buying is great if your a seller ans use sites like ebay....etc you save alot.......and make alot