Buying in bulk, whether it be from a large chain discount store, or to take advantage of a great sale, can be a very frugal thing.  If you pay less for what you would buy anyway, it is an instant return on your money.  But sometimes bulk buying can get a little out of hand.  Be aware of these three things when taking the plunge into buying in bulk.

• Buy only what you can store safely and efficiently.  Storing 50 boxes of your favorite cereal in your garage isn’t frugal if the garage is prone to mice.  Buying 20 lbs of meat on sale that you can’t freeze isn’t frugal either unless you have a big enough family to eat that in a short period of time.  Make sure that you are aware of your storage limitations and work with them instead of hoping for the best.
• Be aware of expiration dates.  Sometimes, items are marked down because they expire soon.  This can work for you, but when buying in bulk, it works against you.  Make sure to check expiration dates and buy accordingly.  If you eat 2 boxes of cereal in a typical month, don’t buy 10 that expire in 6 weeks.  Buy three. 
• Have a plan for what you purchase.  Bulk buys are great, until they end up in the back of the freezer for a year and get thrown out the next time you clean it out.  Organize your space so that it makes sense and nothing gets forgotten.

Hopefully these tips can help make bulk buying a frugal part of your shopping experience!

This tip provided by paidtwice, who has 17 boxes of cereal in her converted linen closet and 9 lbs of coffee, among other things.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 11:35 am and is filed under Frugal Tip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.