Bulk Shopping for Big Savings

Home Lifestyle Groceries and Food Shopping Tips Bulk Shopping for Big Savings

In tight economic times like these, we're all trying to trim our budgets the best we can. It's estimated that 38% of the average American's budget is spent on housing, another 19% on transportation, and a whopping 15% is spent on food.

According to the US Census Bureau, our average household income is $50,233*, which breaks down to $7,534 per year for food or $628 per month.

So, looking at the big three, we can try to cut back on our driving, we can give the bank a call and see if they'll reduce our mortgage payment (good luck with that), we can call our landlord and ask that the rent be lowered, or we can focus on the 15% that we shell out every month for grub.

One great way to do this is to buy in bulk. Now, when I say bulk, I'm not talking about those fifty-pound bags of macaroni at your local warehouse store. Yes, these are often (though not always) a good deal, but the cost of buying so much of one item, at one time, takes a big bite out of the monthly food budget. It's hard to save money at the warehouse and still have some variety in your menu. Who wants to eat macaroni every night for a month?

Let me suggest an alternative to carbohydrate overdose, and incorporate into your savvy shopping arsenal yet another weapon.

How to Bulk Shop

I have several requirements for the best place to shop, including the store must have a good, stable variety of items, isn't too crowded, and has excellent prices. Most of the time, the best of these "excellent prices" are found in a bulk food section. Not all stores offer bulk food. You may need to ask around to find one that does.

In general, you can expect to save at least 30% on basic staples like flour, cereals, and pastas, and as much as 60% on mixes, snack foods, and pet foods. I won't even tell you how much you'll save on spices, you wouldn't believe me.

Make a list of your top 10 (or 20, or 30) food staples. Find a store with a good selection of bulk foods and jot down the prices for each. Now, compare those with what you're paying, brand name or generic, at your regular grocery store.

Here's my list of 10, taken from my last trip to the store:

Yep, you're reading that right. The same bag of groceries I can buy in bulk would cost more than three times as much at my local Albertsons!

So, let's be wary, let's be over conservative and say we can save, on average, only 40% by buying in bulk. Could you use that extra $250 per month somewhere else in your budget? I know I sure could!

* Real median household income in the United States, from most recent available statistics (2007) U.S. Census Bureau.

Novelist, blogger, and award winning travel writer, Perry P. Perkins is a stay-at-home dad who lives with his wife Victoria and their year-old daughter Grace, in the Pacific Northwest. His novels include Just Past Oysterville, Shoalwater Voices, and The Light at the End of the Tunnel. Perry has written for numerous magazines and anthologies, and his inspirational stories have been included in eleven Chicken Soup anthologies as well. Examples of his published work can be found online at www.perryperkinsbooks.wordpress.com and on his SAHD blog at www.ricecereal.wordpress.com

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