Buying in bulk to save money

Out,_Vile_Jelly · 9 January 2020 at 11:31AM

Thanks for the tip about the Ethical Superstore site, I'd not heard of that.

balabooberlies · 9 January 2020 at 12:35PM

Hello Carrie and Suki

Will give both of those a try. Always open to new ideas

Thank you

GreenFairy · 9 January 2020 at 1:13PM

BigGreenSmile is great for bulk buying too - it's worth signing up for their emails as they regularly do 20% off featured brands, or other really good deals.
I get washing up liquid, laundry liquid and handsoap off them at the moment in 5l drums. If I could only settle on a shampoo and conditioner I'd do that too!

balabooberlies · 9 January 2020 at 1:25PM

So many useful tips here.

Have on my list to try Groupon. Cannot believe I have never looked at their site before. Didn't think they did anything different from Wowcher. Certainly never thought about toilet rolls.

Has anyone seen the news today ? Retail sector suffering. People are becoming more savvy methinks. John Lewis questioning whether they will give out bonuses this year. Very interesting.

suki1964 · 9 January 2020 at 3:48PM

balabooberlies wrote: »

So many useful tips here.

Have on my list to try Groupon. Cannot believe I have never looked at their site before. Didn't think they did anything different from Wowcher. Certainly never thought about toilet rolls.

Has anyone seen the news today ? Retail sector suffering. People are becoming more savvy methinks. John Lewis questioning whether they will give out bonuses this year. Very interesting.

Well if this site is anything to go by, its understandable

A few years ago there was a fantastic thread on this board - Not buying it, it ran for a year or more ( I can't find the thread, perhaps someone else can? ) and it was an eye opener for so many people, myself included and I thought I was savvy at the time.

About how we were slaves to consumerism and how to get off the wheel. I know since that thread I refuse to shop unless I really really have to. I no longer view shopping as a past time, its something that has to be done, and when done as thrifty as possible

Don't get me wrong, we want for nothing here. We have nice cars, nice clothes, good ( if a bit boring ) food. We indulge in nice things as well, but only when the price is right, we don't blindly shop

From that thread there have been many more spawned, making do and mending, decluttering, love food hate waste. Theres a big shift away from mindlessly spending money on "stuff"

And if that's happening here on this tiny spot of the internet, how big is that movement?

johnlck99 · 9 January 2020 at 3:54PM

How can we buy bulk nespresso machine?

balabooberlies · 9 January 2020 at 3:58PM

Totally agree Suki

Personally I have always hated shopping and could never understand when younger why every single Saturday my friends wanted to go to a shopping mall. Hate the lighting, stale air etc....

Don't get me wrong, love carboots, markets, fairs, charity shops. So it's not the shopping it's the environment. I always found it exhausting.

I think the younger generation are pushing forward in thinking about the environment. So perhaps our own home grown kids have made an impact on this years spending. Many are chosing experiences for pressies instead of plastic goods.

Apple took a huge hit last year because people are making do with what they have. Thank Goodness !

Greenqueen_2 · 9 January 2020 at 5:08PM

Just wanted to say you can get the 5litre bottles of washing up liquid from Farmfoods. They are a bargain price and saves on plastic over 6-7 smaller bottles of the same quantity.
I also got bulk packs of loo rolls and washing power on the same trip.
Cooking oil can usually be found in huge bottles in the “world foods” aisle of any big supermarket, along with rice and flour.

Wraithlady · 9 January 2020 at 8:19PM

I have a Costco membership, so bulk-buy about twice a year on average - it varies, but bread flour in (I think) 10 kg sacks, choc chips for cakes, flapjacks etc, Swedish meatballs and table sauces such as mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce. Also 5 l containers of fabric conditioner - we have an old bottle and just decant into it from the larger one when needed. We have a fairly small house, but when we got the kitchen redone, OH got the to leave the toeboards loose and put in hinged doors above the built-in cupboards, so we have rather more storage than you would expect. The flour goes under the cupboards, in large plastic boxes, everything else goes above them.