Bulk buying to, hopefully, beat inflation.

mumtoomany

Hi, @Savvy_Sue, thanks. Luckily we have them delivered by the council. Unluckily we don't use them. We have our own compost bins, made of old pallets. So we have loads, and no use for them. The council won't not deliver them, even though we never use the food waste bin. 
Hugs, mumtoomany.xx

silverwhistle

mumtoomany said:

@silverwhistle, I don't tend to buy huge quantities of flour at once. This house dates back to around 1750ish. It is huge, draughty, damp and cold. We manage to live with that, but flour tends to go off. I look out for bags reduced I aldi, when the bags are split. I can usually pick these up every couple of months. I 9nly make bread in the summer months, it doesn't rise in winter! Thank you for the suggestion though.

Ok! My only suggestion would be a large plastic storage box for the flour sack - I got mine in The Range and luckily it was big enough. As for proving I use my airing cupboard as my house can be cool, but funnily enough I was browsing in a book shop on Saturday and reading in a baking book about this guy in his list of equipment having a proving box. He didn't initially think it necessary but came to find it very useful, and no, I'd never heard of one before either.:-) I might splash out on the book when I can carry it and not dashing off to watch football.

Actually a long cold initial prove can really help with the taste, and then I liven mine up in the airing cupboard or by the wood burner.

Auntycaz

Tesco will also have veg on offer for 15p from the 15/04 -21/04 (courtesy of chippys on hotukdeals)

• All Rounder Potatoes 2Kg
• Carrots 1kg
• Broccoli 375g
• Parsnips 500g
• Swede

Andyjflet

Light bulbs? Shop around, switch to all LED and find the best deals. I have a cupboard full of these but since LED became a thing I dont change them very often at all now. 

purpleivy

I just read through the whole thread and like lots of the suggestions. I always have at least a year's supply of laundry detergent and dishwasher tablets..

One thing I feel I ought to mention is that, particularly as you are in a farmhouse, suggesting rural location, you maybe need to consider vermin.  Food spoilage in this way is distressing. 

I recently came home from visiting my aunt, not far from the middle of a large city in Canada.  Let's put it like this, I wasn't the only guest and some of the others were much less welcome. The pest control guy came round while I was there. Discussions with him.  We scored well in some respects, most of her dry goods in clip top containers, flour and sugar in large plastic containers.  The 10kg flour that was in a plastic bag waiting to be used.......well it didn't survive.  He said the packet of crisps on the counter was a potential trouble spot.   The fact that we had put the extremely large box of Lindor on the counter top was neither here nor there, they could have got to it quite easily!  

I recently had creepy crawlies in some dried beans I got out.   Eventually found the source, an unopened pack, but was absolutely buzzing with the blighters! 

At a friend's in Spain a couple of summers ago and she got pantry moth/weevils or something similar.  That was deeply unpleasant. A whole massive cupboard had to be emptied and every item of food checked.  Apparently they like a cardboard box!   They had got into herb packets, all kind of stuff.  Horrendous. 

So look after all your hard earned supplies! 

Rosa_Damascena

DiamondLil said:

@mumtoomany - remember the sugar shortage in the seventies ? The cupboard in my old bedroom at mum and dad's house was piled high with bags of sugar - and my dad didn't take sugar in anything.... even I don't bulk buy to that extent.

We could do with a bit of that now for the sake of public health - although with rising prices of confectionary I now buy a great deal less. 

@purpleivy - good pest control tips, thank you. I cannot imagine what the good folk of Birmingham are going through at the moment.

Sallyforth

Love this thread @mumtoomany. I vaguely horde non-perishables but, with your inspiration, I’m going to do a thorough cupboard audit today and draw up lists.

I think you and others have pretty much covered everything that is likely to increase in price - actually what isn’t?!

Cat food and litter is always top of my list when genuine offers are on. My indoor cats already have at least a year’s supply!

Totally agree with candles, matches, lightbulbs and did anyone mention batteries.

Part of this worthy challenge I guess is combining bulk buying with bargains and special offers etc to maximise savings over the year as well as beating inflation and price hikes.

DiamondLil

Sallyforth said:

Part of this worthy challenge I guess is combining bulk buying with bargains and special offers etc to maximise savings over the year as well as beating inflation and price hikes.

Yes, always. 

In my case, it's the only reason for bulk buying. Unless I'm completely out of an item (which, given my history is nigh on impossible) I only bulk buy when the items are on offer - reduced, two for one, etc.

dollypeeps

I like bulk buying as well. Mostly household goods.
Good shout on bin liners. Our food caddy liners are free from the library or leisure centre.
i use washing pods and washing liquid so work out the price per wash and when I see a good ( to me) offer I stock up.
same with toilet rolls and kitchen rolls …work out price per roll and then stock up.
for general cleaning purposes I could cut costs with cheaper detergents but I do like Method so look for offers on those.
I mostly buy from Farm Foods, stack the offers, use the vouchers and then use a cheddar gift card for cash back….all brings the unit price down.
Also stockpile personal care items such as shower gels, shampoos etc.
Im toying with the idea of stocking up on tinned goods as we have space in the attic.

mumtoomany

Hello everyone, started the stocking up this week, even though the pension is not in until next week.

Bought in Tesco: 15 tubes of toothpaste at 50p each.
                               6 deodorant at £1.40 each, will need more.
                               8 gravy granules at 45p each, have more in the cupboard.
                               9 dried peas at 80p each, all they had.
                               2 packs lasagne at 75p each.
     
From Aldi: 2 shampoo and 2 conditioner at 79p each, have some in.
                   2 shower gel at 35p each, may need more.
                   2 golden syrup at £1.25 each.
                   2 coffee at £1.99, need a lot more.
                   3 packs tea bags at £1.39, (although one had 30% off, the pack was.                         battered), also need a lot more here.
                   4 tins of kidney beans at 37p each, will price up dried.

I also bought lots of potatoes and carrots, 24 kilos of potatoes, 9 kilos of carrots. Also managed to get a 10kg sack of onions from the veg shop for £2.50. 

I will buy lots more after the 24th, when the pensions comes in. Big gas bill this month, we don't have mains gas so the tank was filled, our half was just under £500. Daughter pays the other half, we all share the house.

Couldn't get pilchards, Tesco have none in any store. Dried peas have gone up from 50p not very long ago! I noticed milk has gone up 10p a bottle this week.

Thanks for all following along, and all your ideas and suggestions, hugs, mumtoomany.x