Save Money by Planning and Buying in Bulk

Here's a useful comment left on my post titled Can You Save Over $2,000 a Year Using Store Brands?:

I've saved more than that just taking 30 minutes out of my day to PLAN my grocery shopping. There are items I can buy in bulk at Costco and save money and then get the items that I like (the brands) with coupons and buying when there are really good sales.

Buying in bulk at Costco . . . I know, I know people SAY that you use more when you buy more. Yeah, if you have the HUGE box in your pantry, kids and husband tend to use more because it looks like a lot more is there. But I've taken care of that psychological problem. When I buy in bulk, I put the stuff in "containers" that are the same size as the "usual" stuff. I have tall, thin plastic containers that I put cereal in (labeled). Pantry stuff that I buy in bulk are stored this way with the big boxes in our "DISASTER STASH" in the OUTSIDE PANTRY in our garage. They see the "normal" containers, they take "normal portions."

Other items such as meats and vegetables and breads, I go to the store with the best prices that week. I have about 6 different stores in my neighborhood and somebody has a good deal. But lately I've been going to the farmer's market for vegetables and there I can haggle for the best price (but I check the prices at the supermarket first). It takes about 30 minutes to make a list of my needs, look at the papers and a figure out who has the best prices this week, take my coupons (another 30 minutes out of my week) and get A LOT of stuff for very little money. I tend to feed a family of 5 on $300 a month this way.

We shop at Costco as well (and thus buy in bulk by definition.) I don't think it causes us to eat more than we normally would (we aren't gaining weight) and nothing goes to waste. My wife also plans her shopping -- both by deciding what store(s) to go to that week as well as having a list when she shops. Now if I could get her to LOOK at the list when she's in the store, we'd be all set. ;-)

Comments

[Billy]

Remarkable you can feed a family of 5 for @$300. What does a typical month look like? 8 lbs of chick ($.99 lb), 8 gallons of milk ($2.99)...etc. Like to see how it's done.
Thanks

[Suze]

Is there a place where we can see a sample meal plan and a sample grocery list for a week, along with some typical prices?

[FMF]

You two realize that this is from a comment on a post, right? The part in red was not written by me.

[Suze]

Yes, I realize that. However, it's always helpful to see how people accomplish these goals, rather than just hearing that they do. Perhaps the person who left the comment will read this.

For example, does she drive to up to six grocery stores a week -- in addition to the farmer's market -- to shop? That drive time would add to the additional 30 minutes a week it takes to plan a menu.

How do track all these prices? With an Excel spreadsheet? If you're comparing prices in six stores, that can get a bit complicated. If you entered a base price for a product and then took your local paper and entered all the specials for all the stores each week, you could could gauge whether it would be worthwhile to drive to a store or just skip it for that week.

Also, lots of products don't show up in the paper, so you won't know until to get to the store whether they are stocking the least expensive brand. Do you then drive to the next store?

I don't want to sound too skeptical because I believe the person who left the comment is a careful and frugal shopper, but I have quite a few questions on how it is accomplished.