I love to buy in bulk. It saves me time and money all the time. The advantages for me are:
- Not having to drive to town. I usually buy in bulk online and get things shipped right to the house. This saves me from having to make a trip to town.
- Saving money on natural products by purchasing a certain quantity.
- Not having to shop as often and not running out of things I need.
Quite honestly, I almost always buy in bulk. I didn't even realize how much I do it until the other day when the Fedex truck delivered a case of facial tissue....
Even though I'm a bulk buyer, there are some things that I won't buy in bulk.
- Things that aren't a better price in bulk. Sometimes the individual items are cheaper or just as cheap as the price per item in bulk. If that's the case then I will stick with buying the individual package. The only exception to this rule is if it's the same price in bulk and it's something I will use alot of.
- Something that I know might go on sale for less before I need it. If I can save a significant amount of money by waiting for a sale on a product in town I will wait for that sale instead of ordering the product in bulk.
- Things that might expire. Just like when you stockpile, you don't want to stock up on more product than you can use before it will expire. Make sure you check on expiration dates before you buy in bulk. If you order online and checking expirations isn't possible, only buy in bulk the products that you can.
I definately have places I always buy in bulk from. My top 2 are:
- Azure Standard. I order from them monthly. The bulk of my groceries come from here. I order all my bulk grains from Azure as well which I store in food grade buckets.
- Amazon. Amazon has some great deals on bulk foods and paper goods and pretty much anything, especially when you can get the free Subscribe and Save discount.
So what are your reasons to buy or not buy in bulk?
Disclaimer: This post may contain a link to an affiliate. See my disclosure policy for more information.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I shop at my local grocery stores, but I buy my pasta, rice, flour, and cornbread mix from the bulk bins and store them in food grade buckets. It does NOT save me money — if I wait for a sale, I can get my pasta for $.20 / pound less than what I pay for bulk — BUT, it saves on packaging. To me, that’s important, and it’s worth the extra price.