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The constant rising food costs and never ending gas price increases are whittling away at everyone’s food budget. Bulk buy is one of the ways, I have been able to somewhat maintain my family’s food costs. I buy food in bulk quanities and fill “our grocery” located in the basement. Our in home grocery store has saved me more than once from making that quick trip to the store which saves gas and reduced trips avoids impulse buying.
My two main sources are Azure Standard and Sam’s Club. Azure Standard is a food co-op that has a delivery route to this area. They offer a variety of healthy and organic items. I usually purchase items like beans, wheat berries, oats, essential oils and glycerin from them. Sam’s club is another source which is about 75 miles away so I don’t visit often. I buy a three month supplies of various items like #10 cans of tomato sauce, ketchup, spices, dog food, and toilet paper and bar soap. Like Costco and other warehouse stores, there are deals to be found in this store. The trick is to avoid all the impulses! Know your prices by keeping a price book and understand how to calculate the per unit price. These stores have impulse items lurking around every corner and especially the convenient frozen food isle as much as possible. These stores have a great selection of pre-packaged frozen food items like Buffalo wings, prepared breakfast sandwiches, frozen pizzas that taste really good but simply out of my budget. Not to mention the fact, many are not a health option.
Another source often forgot about is the local grocery store. I stock up on food items that are on good sale prices. Quite often store brand items will be on sale for less than Sam’s club leading brand prices. In that case, I buy up enough to get the family through to the next sale. Generally we see the same items rotate through about every six to eight weeks. It is not usual for best prices will have limit and of course, I pick up the limit. I will return later in the week to purchase another limit if I am already out for some other reason otherwise inflated gas prices may just eat up the savings.
Our grocery store consists of a large Rubbermaid 6 shelving unit. I keep everything from toilet paper to noodles to coffee to sugar here. If it is on sale and a regular item in my home, I usually pick it up to store here. I also have some food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids that house rice, wheat berries, dry beans and oats. The buckets were previously from our local store (bakery section) and they will give them away, if you ask. You could also check the Deli section since potato salad also comes in these 5 gallon buckets. A 25# bag of grain fits just about right and the tight sealing lid locks out bugs, dust and the occassional rodent! Even if you need to pay $1.00 or so, food grade 5 gallon buckets are a good storage idea for large quantity items.
Keeping staple ingredients on hand has many benefits. It saves on additional trips to the store and allows buying extra when prices are low. It also gives a stockpile for when there is not much on sale or when our grocery budget had been exhausted for the month. Although storage space maybe an issue for some be creative because stocking up on best prices is good defense against our times of rising costs.
My two main sources are Azure Standard and Sam’s Club. Azure Standard is a food co-op that has a delivery route to this area. They offer a variety of healthy and organic items. I usually purchase items like beans, wheat berries, oats, essential oils and glycerin from them. Sam’s club is another source which is about 75 miles away so I don’t visit often. I buy a three month supplies of various items like #10 cans of tomato sauce, ketchup, spices, dog food, and toilet paper and bar soap. Like Costco and other warehouse stores, there are deals to be found in this store. The trick is to avoid all the impulses! Know your prices by keeping a price book and understand how to calculate the per unit price. These stores have impulse items lurking around every corner and especially the convenient frozen food isle as much as possible. These stores have a great selection of pre-packaged frozen food items like Buffalo wings, prepared breakfast sandwiches, frozen pizzas that taste really good but simply out of my budget. Not to mention the fact, many are not a health option.
Another source often forgot about is the local grocery store. I stock up on food items that are on good sale prices. Quite often store brand items will be on sale for less than Sam’s club leading brand prices. In that case, I buy up enough to get the family through to the next sale. Generally we see the same items rotate through about every six to eight weeks. It is not usual for best prices will have limit and of course, I pick up the limit. I will return later in the week to purchase another limit if I am already out for some other reason otherwise inflated gas prices may just eat up the savings.
Our grocery store consists of a large Rubbermaid 6 shelving unit. I keep everything from toilet paper to noodles to coffee to sugar here. If it is on sale and a regular item in my home, I usually pick it up to store here. I also have some food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids that house rice, wheat berries, dry beans and oats. The buckets were previously from our local store (bakery section) and they will give them away, if you ask. You could also check the Deli section since potato salad also comes in these 5 gallon buckets. A 25# bag of grain fits just about right and the tight sealing lid locks out bugs, dust and the occassional rodent! Even if you need to pay $1.00 or so, food grade 5 gallon buckets are a good storage idea for large quantity items.
Keeping staple ingredients on hand has many benefits. It saves on additional trips to the store and allows buying extra when prices are low. It also gives a stockpile for when there is not much on sale or when our grocery budget had been exhausted for the month. Although storage space maybe an issue for some be creative because stocking up on best prices is good defense against our times of rising costs.
