We all want to save money these days and it is taking on a whole new precedence with the excessive prices of gas to the economy. In order to help eliminate excess spending our family has started buying as much as possible in bulk. In order to save money, we have also started to schedule grocery shopping trips around other errands that we must complete. Eliminating those excessive trips into town for groceries and other errands is already saving us money. By mapping out my route and eliminating any backtracking I am able to save time, and gas money.
Shopping in bulk has become the most cost effective method to save money on groceries for our family. By learning to compare prices and reading the "cost per servings" on the shelf labels, I have begun to save several hundred dollars per month on our grocery bill.. A savings I can certainly live with.
It only takes a few minutes to learn how to read the "costs per serving" on the products we purchase. By reading how many serving's a gallon can is compared to smaller cans and comparing the price. (ie: A gallon can of tomato sauce at our local grocery is $3.00, 4 smaller cans added together in price total to $3.49. By purchasing the gallon can one can save .49. While that may not sound like a lot right now, when I have purchased several cans of different items, the .49 adds up real fast) then we can save money by making the wiser purchase. By planning ahead, we can purchase the gallon can (an even bigger savings when it is on sale), when it is opened it is perfectly fine to set aside what is not used into freezer containers and freeze it into smaller portions to be thawed and utilized as needed. Thus saving the family money. We purchased some inexpensive plastic containers for such things. I also also save margarine containers and other similar containers for such uses, or use freezer bags. Often small investment will return great dividends in the long term.
Thinking of things I use everyday things like flour, sugar, laundry soap, bathroom tissue, napkins and facial tissues it only made sense to purchase in bulk because these are items we use on a daily basis. By keeping them on hand has saved me countless emergency trips to the store when we are out of them. By buying them in bulk it is far more cost effective when one considers the price per use factor. A small 10 pound bag of flour for example, may be as much as $4.00. That would be $8.00 for 20 pounds of flour but if one buys a 25 pound bag of flour at $6.99 one has already saved over a dollar. Again, a great savings return and more for your money.
By stretching out what I am buying in bulk and trying to never purchase the same thing two trips in a row I am expanding our pantry and our diets.
A special note, if your local grocery stores don't carry enough bulk foods, it is worth the effort to locate other shopping venues that do supply bulk foods. If one has access to a major shopping area that includes a dented can type store as well as a large retail membership store or restaurant supply type store one has a much better opportunity to increase savings and have access to even more bulk items. I have 2 major stores I utilize for our bulk shopping. They are both conveniently located in the same parking area. One is a major restaurant supply store and the other a dented can type store.
It has become a fun challenge now to see how much I can save each month on our budget by implementing these few changes. No one has complained about what is for dinner and no one is suffering by saving money. In fact, our other bills are being paid even quicker now with the extra savings. A boost to our credit and our budget. How much will you save this month?
