November 11, 2010
Saving Money: Buying in Bulk
A few years ago my in-laws bought all of their kids and their wives digital cameras as Christmas gifts. We had long had a digital camera, so for my husband and me, a chest freezer appeared. It was the perfect gift for us, and we were both surprised at how perceptive my husband's parents had been.
At the time, my husband was still in graduate school, and I was running my own business from home to support the family while juggling our kids, of which we had three at the time. We often tried to take advantage of sale prices on meat and produce and freeze them, but the tiny freezer atop our apartment fridge limited our ability to do that as often as we wanted.
The chest freezer has worked in many ways for us: holdings sides of beef or sale-priced ham, providing space to store blanched garden and farmers market vegetables, frozen smoothies for school lunches and meals made a week or two in advance.
But does buying in bulk really help us save money, or does it just cause us to be wasteful by constantly purchasing and storing, only to throw it away or forget about it until it's too late to eat?
- Start by stocking up only on items that you and your family use on a regular basis. For us, this meant plenty of easy-to-grill meat and rice. My husband loves his grill, and we enjoy benefiting from that. By stocking up on items that would be easy to toss on, I knew we'd be eating them soon enough. We also love rice. For other families the go-to might be pasta or another grain.
- Combine sales with coupons. A good deal can be made better through some clever investigating. Find some favorite deal sights with easy to use databases that let you search for coupons on specific items or at specific stores. When the food you want to stock up on is on sale, check for coupons and go to the store armed to save effectively.
- Make meals ahead of time. A freezer full of meat and blanched vegetables is no good to you if they are always frozen. Try whipping up a batch of your famous spaghetti sauce, empanadas , tamales or lasagna. You're more likely to toss one of them in the oven when you're really pressed for time.
- Check the price twice. The best deal isn't always the bulk option, believe it or not. I can't tell you how many times I've realized after looking at the unit price or the price per pound where I've realized that the single-serve option or the smaller package was the smarter buy. Always make sure you're looking at how much an actual item costs before buying it.
- Be sure you have the space. A side of beef or a whole hog isn't a good purchase if your freezer is already full. Likewise, 50 pounds of black beans with no storage container or pantry space for them will be more of a hindrance than a help. Plan wisely, and make sure you have extra room before you make larger than life purchases.
Do you buy your food in bulk? How do you manage rotating your food and making sure it all gets consumed?
