Buying in bulk / stockpiling ....is it really worth it?

jcr16

sammy_kaye18 , just had a thought. if u shop with sainsburys on a wed,thurs if ur order is over £70 then u only pay £2.50 delivery. so u could maybe do a £70 shop and then have £17.50 left for the month incase anything crops up.

i love to bulk buy. last year i saw tesco had the 3kg pasta bag for £1. i thought wow that cheap. bet that won't last long so bought 8 bags. i had it stashed everywhere. just down to 3 bags now. so there in a spare kitchen cupboard. i lucky i got loads of storage. but then we had a new kitchen at xmas and storage was my main priority.

i did also bulk buy on flour. but started to get worried about finding funny things in them.i do buy bulk on tins when i see the ones i use on offer

poodlehorse

I am currently not bulk buying as we are getting a new kitchen and space is going to be an issue and also what I can cook will be limited as I will be without a kitchen for a few weeks. However, normally I do a lot of bulk buying, pasta, rice (I never thought I would get through a sack of rice that quickly but it is amazing how much you must use but don't notice when you are buying little packets every week), potatoes (or grow my own), loo and kitchen roll, cleaner, tinned tomatoes, baked beans etc. I would caution you not to buy too much fresh stuff or anything that might have a use by date relatively soon, I once bought crisps on special at Makro and they were close to their use by and I ended up with stale crisps._pale_
The supermarket BOGOFs are great for stocking up but I do go to Makro/Costco etc for most of my bulk buying but you have to already know the cost of it in your normal shop as they aren't always cheaper and you have to be strict with yourself when you go. I am still using a concentrated Mr Muscle that you have to dilute 1:50 to use that I bought years ago - 5l will last me a long time. Also detergent and bleach etc. But storage is the big issue. Over the years we might have made one or two mistakes but overall it has been a lot cheaper, and it also saves you nipping out to the shop for that baked beans you have run out of and come out with £30 of shopping. If it is already in the house no last minute errands.

Hardup_Hester

There are only 2 of us & I tend to bulk buy, I do a tesco shop once every 3 months, I get my meat from my local butcher approx every 6 weeks.
that just leaves the fresh stuff to buy. It works out cheaper for us.
Hester

lil_me

4 of us plus the dogs of course. Bulk buy a lot, but not frozen/chilled due to lack of storage, dog food I pay about £7 a month for 15kg of working dog food and they thrive on it. Washing powder bought when on offer, got enough under the bed to last me until probably Christmas. Loo rolls, things like that which I can store elsewhere rather than in the kitchen. If you're using Tescos anyway would seem a good decision to shop online, temptation then less, discounts etc available, £5 for first order via quidco etc aswell as the taxi saving.

nearlyrich

We are max 4 people, DS is usually away at uni, DS lives here. I bulk buy none perishables like washing powder, dish washer tablets, toothpaste, loo rolls especially if on special offer or BOGOF. I also by extra food stuff that is on offer if we use it, things like tinned tomatoes, tuna etc (oh and wine:o )

I am quite lucky with storage, over the years I have managed to plan some pretyy good spaces to stash stuff LOL, my DH thinks I have enough stuff to survive a siege but it's nice to know that if the worst happened, illness or loss of income we have a bit of a cushion, also on the good side if it's a nice day and I prefer to do someting other than shop I can.

apple_mint

There are only two of us now that the offspring have gone to Uni. We definately bulk buy as we can see the cost savings.

Following Martin's advice we now budget across the whole year. So we look at our 12 month budget rather than our monthy budget. When we see a good offer we look at:

1. how much we would normally spend on that item over a set period of time;
2. how much we have in the budget (the idea being not to go overdrawn just to get a good deal)

We recently saw a good offer on orange juice concentrate (it had a long sell by date). It was buy 2 get one free. So in effect it meant that every 3rd month would be free. We bought a year's worth - giving us 4 months free. We know exactly how much orange juice we use (one glass each every morning). We have stored it under the beds

The trick is not to use it up faster just because you have it!

We've done the same with several items. Today it has been bin liners.

I somehow think our lives have become very focussed on how much everything costs :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

sammy_kaye18

Lol

Well peeps - roll on tuesday and i will be attempting my first bulk buy of things. Im thinking ill target main ones like toilet roll, butter, (washign powder i already have two big boxes - they got reduced from £3.98 down to £2.50 each so i brought 2 for £5 and its lasted me ages!!!!!!

Dog food - i buy Gusto dog food - its 10kg for £5.50 i think and Bruno my dog seems to love it - i do buy a few little cheap tins form Tesco for 29p each which he gets on a sunday as his sort of roast dinner or for him to take his worming tablets. Plus did i mention he is only a jack russell so it will last him a good few months more i expect - hes had it for a month so far, and its still over half full.


Fingers crossed ill let you know how i do with my first bulk buy shop!!!

poodlehorse

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Lol

Well peeps - roll on tuesday and i will be attempting my first bulk buy of things. Im thinking ill target main ones like toilet roll, butter, (washign powder i already have two big boxes - they got reduced from £3.98 down to £2.50 each so i brought 2 for £5 and its lasted me ages!!!!!!

Dog food - i buy Gusto dog food - its 10kg for £5.50 i think and Bruno my dog seems to love it - i do buy a few little cheap tins form Tesco for 29p each which he gets on a sunday as his sort of roast dinner or for him to take his worming tablets. Plus did i mention he is only a jack russell so it will last him a good few months more i expect - hes had it for a month so far, and its still over half full.


Fingers crossed ill let you know how i do with my first bulk buy shop!!!

The thing to bear in mind (and yes I know it is obvious but at the end of the month it can be a shock:eek: ) is that when you first start buying in bulk your shopping bill goes up. It evens out over time as you are using bulked up items instead of buying every week but I tell you the first few trips you sort of wonder if you are saving money. Before I left work to have DS I bulk bought on as much as I could as I reckoned that if I had two years of non-perishables stashed away and paid for while working it would be less of a shock when we lost my salary. I am still using up toothpaste and DS is now 26 mths. Oh and I think I will be using my Mr Muscle concentrate 5l (you have to dilute 1:50) for about another 5 years.:cool:

angelatgraceland

Don't forget to look for online codes for Tesco and Asda. Sometimes you only have to spend £50 with Asda and lately they have had a few free delivery offers. It will save yo time and taxi fares. If you have a local Icleand they deliver free but you have to get there and do the trolleyshop yourself.

exlibris

As with others, there are only 2 of us now but I bulk buy where I can. I also bulk cook where possible and freeze in suitable quantities. Re. the chicken thigh thread, Mr T sells them in packs of 7! I buy 2 packs, cook them all at once in sauce (I find there is too much sauce if I only cook enough for 1 meal) and have 6 meals for the freezer stored in 1kg margarine tubs ( another bulk buy). I also try to fill the oven when I am cooking to save gas. The4 meals are heated in the Microwave and I have several lazy day meals in the freezer (if I remember to take them out early enough to defrost!)