Do you go for bulk or individual/normal serving size when you shop?
Like everyone else, I'm always wondering how to save money. I'm not so sure I'm good at it, but I think about it a lot. With two growing boys, the food budget is increasing, the clothes are getting outgrown quicker and there's just always "something more" that needs to be had.
I don't mind paying a little more for quality (not brand names, but quality), but if I can buy something cheaply I am never too proud for a bargain. At Sam's or Costco the perception is that by buying in bulk, you are saving money. But I've found, like everyone else I'm sure, that if you do the math it isn't always true.
And when things are bought in bulk there can be waste. I hate throwing things away. It makes me sad and it is frustrating. An example is green beans. We eat them often enough that I could see buying a case, but the quality seems to vary so much from can to can, let alone brand to brand. It is a blessing I suppose that we are not hungry enough to eat them even if they are rubbery and tasteless. I would hate to buy a case, only to find the quality is poor. So I continue to buy two or three at a time at the "regular" store.
What do you find worth buying in bulk? What do you buy regular size at the grocery store? And then the million dollar question--Where do you store all the stuff?? Is it really cost effective if you are piling stuff up in the hall way and tripping over it?
And the off-shoot of the topic is, if you do fast food do you super-size and split meals, buy just what you want, buy individual servings, but no supersize?? I know the correct answer is, "Stay out of the fast food joints!" But sometimes life gets in the way.
So what do you do? Inquiring minds want to know.
1. I'd really like tea and cookies right now.
