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Is Warehouse Shopping Wearing Out Your Wallet?
It's Saturday morning. With grocery list in hand, you drag a very unwilling
family out to the car where you proceed to take them on a mega shopping
spree at Sam's or Costco. Marching down each aisle you tell your family
members "We need 3 cases of corn, 4 cases of green beans and -- Oh! That's a
good deal on peanut butter so let's get 3 gallons. Of course Susie, your can
get a bag of cookies. They are so cheap! .and Billy you can have a few bags
of your favorite chips! Yum! Oh look -- samples! These taste great. Let's
get some! What a great buy on chicken - we need 20." At the dog food aisle
the excitement mounts as each member of the family grabs a corner of the 50
lb. bag of dog food to stack on top of the basket. (We won't mention you
only have 1 toy poodle at home.)
After waiting in line and waiting in line
and waiting in line you push your agonizingly heavy and overloaded baskets
out to the car. Getting everything into the trunk of the car makes putting
together a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle a breeze, but finally home you go. After you
lug everything into the house, it's time to spend the next few hours
repackaging things for the freezer. You double wrap your 20 chickens (they
could be in that freezer for quite awhile) and frantically try to find
places for everything else in your cupboards and pantry. By the time you are
done, you are so exhausted that you couldn't begin to lift a finger to cook,
so you all go out to eat.
A few weeks later you gingerly sniff the gallon of half used peanut butter
as you try to decide if that strange taste is because it has gone rancid or
simply because you are sick of peanut butter. You threw out that partially
used gallon of maple syrup yesterday because it had sugared and was looking
really strange. You still have ten of your chickens left but if you bathe
them in some spicy sauce you are pretty sure your family won't notice the
freezer burned taste. In spite of having to throw out most of the 50 lbs.
of dog food (after a growing family of mice had invaded it), you're sure you
saved money because "they" said you would.
Time and time again, people ask "can you really save money at Sam's or
Costco?" I usually answer "not any more so then any place else". I have
checked prices several different times and factoring everything in, I have
found no exceptional savings.
Here are some tips to help you decide if a warehouse store is for you:
Do your homework and compare prices.
Buying in bulk is not always
cheaper. You really save by checking and comparing prices. I was at Costco
one day where there was a display of two Clorox one gallon bottles for $1.98
AFTER rebate. I stood there amazed as people grabbed up this "great deal." I
knew I could get that same Clorox for $.98 a gallon at my regular discount
store and I didn't have to mess with a rebate, pay postage or lug 2 gallons
of Clorox shrink wrapped together to my car.
Skip impulse buys just because they sound good.
Say
you can get 12 bottles of sunscreen for a great price. Think it through
before you buy. If your family only uses one bottle sunscreen a year, that
means you will be storing sunscreen for 12 years, not to mention that most
of the sunscreen will expire long before then.
Often, 25% of the food people buy gets thrown out.
Even
though my story was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, there is a certain amount of
truth to it. If your family of four eats pancakes once a week, that gallon
of syrup is going to last you a VERY long time. You might also consider that
unless dry goods and freezer items are very carefully stored, they will go
bad or get bugs in them. Remember to buy the size appropriate for your
family.
You need to be very well organized to buy in bulk.
All the shows and
magazine articles about organizing suggest that most of us are
organizationally challenged. Finding places to store everything and then
carefully keeping track of what you have is critical if you want to use it
all before it spoils.
Stick to your list.
Most people spend more then they originally planned on things
they don't need. This never saves money. We taste samples and so often end
up buying. If this is you, be careful. Maybe sampling is a bad idea (unless
you're making lunch of it)!
Do you have to buy in bulk?
If you have ten kids, run a day care or are buying for an organization then
you almost have to buy in bulk. If you have a small or average sized family,
you will probably save as much shopping for sales at your regular grocery
store or discount store. The key is to do the math and evaluate your
practical needs. You have to decide for yourself if buying at warehouse
stores actually saves you money or just creates more work.
About the Author
Jill Cooper raised two teenagers alone on $500 a month income after becoming
disabled with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She is the inspiration behind her
daughter Tawra's frugal cookbook Not Just Beans: 50 Years of Frugal Family
Favorites. To read more of Jill's articles and for free tips and recipes
visit Living on a Dime
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 Recommended Reading: Tawra Kellam has lived a genuinely frugal lifestyle for the past 30 years. Out of her experience she has compiled Not Just Beans, a outstanding cookbook offering a wealth of budget-friendly and highly recommended recipes that are as inexpensive as they are nutritious and delicious. From Chicken Barley Soup; Mexican Hamburger Casserole; Tuna Chowder; and Navajo Tacos; to Maple-Glazed Chicken; Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles; Onion Rings; and Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Not Just Beans offers a cornucopia of frugal but scrumptious eating that will be as easy on the pocketbook as they are welcome at the dinner table!
(courtesy Amazon)
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