How to Tell When Buying in Bulk Saves You Money

You don’t necessarily have to be a member of shopping clubs like BJs, Costco, or Sam’s Club to buy in bulk. Major retailers like Target and Wal-mart do provide bulk purchase sections in their larger (“super”) stores, and maybe some smaller stores, too. And there are discount stores like Big Lots and Bargain Hunt, Dollar General and Family Dollar, and many similar low-budget stores. You can sometimes find bulk items for sale in these stores because they buy up expiring inventories from other retailers.

When you’re in a major store that offers bulk merchandise, the large packaging may look like it’s a good deal but that isn’t always the case. Sometimes you’ll save more money by buying the next size smaller. You have to look at the price-per-unit (which may be sheets, ounces, or some other measurement) to see if you’re getting a good price.

Consumable goods, especially food items, may be less expensive in bulk form but you also have to take into consideration how much you will waste and how much you will use. If the bulk food spoils before you can use it, or if you prepare too much to eat and end up throwing out leftovers, you’re throwing away money.

Dry goods, especially paper towels, and individually packaged items including soft drinks are often good things to buy in bulk. But even so, when I have compared prices with bulk items at shopping clubs and even local supermarkets, sometimes the grocery has the better deal.

When you buy a lot of food in large containers what often makes sense is transferring the food to smaller containers but you have to be careful how you do this because exposing that food to open air introduces bacteria into a previously sterile environment. If you cook the food and then store it in vacuum packaging and/or freeze it then it can last for weeks or months without spoiling. You don’t have to eat it all right away.

Even so, freezing and reheating food degrades the flavor and sometimes the nutritional value of the food. And so you should be careful to plan your use of bulk foods carefully in order to maximize the nutritional value of the food you buy, your enjoyment of that food, and the savings you incur with wise purchase decisions.