Do you buy in bulk as in B.J.'s or the equivelent? Does it really save money in the long run?

I buy alot of stuff in large quantity at Sams Club. You have to know your prices, but I know it saves me money on alot of items.

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~Happiness is a large family~

I agree you need to know your prices. Some things are cheaper and others are way more expensive.

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I buy meat and butter at CostCo's. Most other things I get at grocery stores!

I buy meat at Sam's Club when they mark it down to sell it soon and freeze it. Milk, eggs, chips, bread, salsa, bulk cheese, frozen chicken breasts, bananas are much less than our local grocery stores. But a lot of the other things are way high, especially convenience foods.

As others has said, as long as you know your prices, you save money. I shop BJs about once a month or longer and I DO think it saves me money.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan8.Samantha7,Cameron4

There have been lots of studies on human behavior done on this type of thing that I found very interesting. It says that if you have a "large" box of cereal, you will automatically pour more and eat more each time you use it. Same goes for all of the other oversized products...you see that you have tons of it, so you are not careful about your usage. Has anyone noticed this happening? We go to the other extreme when food shopping...buying only fresh fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, meat, etc for the week...and then there is nothing lurking in the fridge that gets thrown out because you couldn't see it behind everything else. We do it this way, because my oldest cannot have any preservatives or synthetic ingredients, so we just don't have any in the house.

I agree that you have to know your prices, sometimes bigger isn't cheaper and generics at the either the regular store or the warehouse store are almost always a better price per ounce. But that being said, their are a few brand names that we insist on that are cheaper at Sam's and I have found that some things being bought in bulk can keep me out of the other stores which saves me money in impulse shopping.
My cardinal rule for shopping at Sam's is to make a list (I go onto their website for the prices so I bring only the money I need) and do not deviate from the list! We have found that on a price comparison with no coupons or sales factored in, diapers and formula are cheaper in our area at the club. (We even switched to the Member's Mark formula for DS)

Our membership is purchased by our business, so factoring in the membership cost isn't a consideration for us.

Agree with the PPs too about knowing your prices.

We shop at Costco and usually buy our diapers and wipes there as well as organic peanut butter and other organics. Other Costco staples are tortillas, bread, coffee (Starbucks sold under the Kirkland label), bagels (Einstein Bros sold under Kirkland label) cheese, some veggies/fruit, organic milk, salad, chicken breast, beef and pork.

We are also a large family, so the bulk sizes help.

I love shopping at Costco, but it's usually a budget-buster for us as we don't stick to our list too often.

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SAHM of 4

August food budget (groceries/take-out): $500.00/$75.00
Total spent: $238.97/$14.12

July budget/spent: $500.00/$650.00

I definitely find that buying bulk saves money. Know your prices, and don't get sidelined by the 20 pack of muffins, etc. I have a list for Sam's Club just like I would have a list for any other store, and I stick to that list. There are certain items that I only buy a few times a year because I get them in such a big size. Bulk shopping, for me, cannot take the place of regular shopping. It is a way to make my weekly or biweekly trip faster and easier.