Buying in Bulk

I’m not a fan of grocery shopping.  I’m not really a fan of shopping in general.  I’d rather stay at home than go out and have to deal with crowds and lines and seeing all sorts of things some marketer thinks I need.  There is the rare occasion when shopping is enjoyable for me; like when time is not of the essence, or when my list of to-do’s is not growing ever longer in the back of my mind.

Grocery shopping is particularly bothersome to me because I read. every. label.  Even if I bought the same item last week, I read the label again.  I do this because manufacturers are constantly changing the ingredients in their products.  Most of the time they do it to make more profit.  That was one of the reasons pop began being made with high fructose corn syrup.  It’s cheaper than sugar.  Sometimes ingredients change because of availability, and sometimes it’s because of taste.  Whatever the case, I feel it is my responsibility to know what I am putting into the bodies of the people in my home with the food that I serve them.  I cannot afford to be lazy in this.  The health of the people I love the most is at stake.

The fact that I read all the labels means that a trip to the grocery store takes me twice as long as it used to.  Time I could use to grade papers or fold laundry or play in a Wii bowling championship game.  And the more prepared foods that I purchase, the longer it takes.  A can of soup has maaaaannnnnny ingredients.  A bag of garbanzo beans has one.

Saving time from reading ingredient lists is only one of the reasons our family has been buying in bulk for many years.  There is a significant cost savings when you buy in bulk.  The price per pound goes down considerably.  For example, where I buy wheat berries 5# is $3.80 for organic hard red wheat, 25# is $15.55 and 50# is $29.75.  That breaks down to $0.76, $0.622, and $0.595 per pound respectively.  I save $0.165 on every pound of wheat.  On just 5# of wheat I save $0.825 and on 50# I save $8.25.  Multiply that out over how much wheat I use and on many different products and I end up saving a bunch of money by buying in bulk.

The secret to buying in bulk is to buy what your family will use.  If you save $8.00 on a 50# bag of wheat but you never use it, then you have not saved anything.  You’ve wasted almost $30.00.  That’s never a good plan, but especially not now with the uncertainty in our economy.  Which is another reason why we buy in bulk.  Have you been watching the prices of food lately?  I save money by buying whatever food I can in advance.  I get to eat at yesterday’s or last month’s or last year’s prices.  Last year I watched as wheat prices went from $0.40 per pound to almost $0.90 at my local health food store back in Colorado.  Quinoa went from around $30.00 for a 25# bag to over $50.00.  Some of the prices have eased off a bit, but I’m still spending more money today for the same stuff than I did even just 6 months ago.

Another reason for buying in bulk is simply the convenience.  If you have things on hand, you don’t need to run to the store.  If you don’t need to run to the store, your chance of spending on impulse purchases is non-existent.  Having items on hand makes preparation so much easier too.  Not to mention the fact that it’s pretty much a necessity when you live off grid, 20+ miles from the nearest regular grocery store.

A fully stocked pantry used to be commonplace in homes in this country.  Sadly, modern conveniences have made people rely on the availability of food stuffs at the store instead of in their homes.  When faced with any kind of emergency, how will modern day American people survive?  The loss of a job, a blizzard, a tornado, a glitch in the shipping infrastructure . . . these and many other situations could make normal trips to the grocery store impossible.  FEMA recommends a 3-day supply of food for your family.  I think that amount is laughable, but it is at least a good place to start.  Buying in bulk will help get you there.  I’ll write about what to buy, how much to buy, how to store it all, and how to use bulk items in future posts.

Go to the ant, O sluggard;
   consider her ways, and be wise.
Without having any chief,
   officer, or ruler,
she prepares her bread in summer
   and gathers her food in harvest.
How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
   When will you arise from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
   a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
   and want like an armed man.

Proverbs 6:6-11

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