Buying in bulk....

[RNMOM]

Hi all, it's been a very long time since I've posted on the board but have been around since about 1998. I wasn't even aware that this frugal board existed. Pretty great ideas here!

My question was about buying groceries in bulk. This is the only way I shop. I used to be very involved in a couple of food co-ops, one of them was Allison's Pantry and I can't remember the other one. It was pretty awesome. You could buy a case of spaghetti, or 5 pounds of chocolate chips for just pennies from what the store was selling in their little packages. The drawback was that you had to repackage. No big deal for me.

I don't do the co-op thing now, but does anyone? This seems like a great way to save money. If anyone has a lead on food co-ops I would love to know.

For the avid couponers. Coupons don't seem to be geared for those who do buy in bulk. I've never seen a coupon for 25# bags of flour or sugar. To me it seems that they are geared for more convenience type foods. Am I not looking at coupons from the right direction? I've been browsing through some of the websites that have been suggested from this board and there is a lot of coupon divas.

I had a talk with my family today and once again talked about the need to tighten our belts. Turn off the lights, hang up the clothes, do less laundry....that sort of thing. This economy is freaking me out. I work in a very busy ER and feel that I make OK money, but it sure seems to do less these days.

I was browsing here at work yesterday and one of the nurses asked me why I was looking at this stuff. I told her I'm a homesteader at heart and wish I had a bunch of laying hens and a cow. She thinks I'm looney.....that's fine with me.
Anyway, thanks for letting me ramble, I've just gotten so many good ideas from here the last couple of days.

[Shamrock1121]

I maintain a large amount of food in storage (probably a year's worth of most of the basic things), both emergency storage and our daily food stuffs, but on my $50/week food budget, I had to stock up over time. Any amount of money leftover each week accumulates for the large purchases I make during the year.

Setting an amount limit for groceries to begin with is the BEST way to save money. When you're out of money, you're done buying!

When the garden is in full swing, I don't need as many "groceries" and that's when I use my food dollars for a year's worth of Morning Moo's Whey-Based Milk Alternative - www.moosmilk.com. If you purchase the 50# amount - that will supply 70 gallons of "milk" for about $1.26 a gallon. And it tastes nearly like regular milk. Even if you were to mix it with regular milk, you would get a lot of savings.

The summer and fall is also when I purchase grass-fed beef and free-range chickens (locally produced) for the freezer. Although they are more expensive, I think they are better for us. We're not big meat eaters and supplement our meals with several meatless meals during the week, as well as meals that only use a small amount of meat (stir-fry for instance).

I keep hundreds of pounds of grain/seeds/beans on hand and usually make large purchases a couple times a year. I mill my own flour from a variety of grains/seeds/beans and use very little commercial unbleached flour. A REAL money saver compared to commercial flour. I also bake all our breads and baked goods.

Most of my weekly purchases are for items that are on sale (hopefully also with a coupon). I purchase very few canned goods and stick to whole foods for the most part.

I never purchase commercial cereal, I make all our cooked cereals and make my own flakes, such as oatmeal flakes.

I also use powdered whole eggs when they are cheaper per egg than fresh eggs.

-Karen