Buy In Bulk With Friends From Warehouse Clubs
You can save big on groceries by forming a little warehous club buying collective with your friends:
A reader wrote into the March issue of Real Simple:
Rather buying the same items separately, my friends and I buy in bulk from warehouse clubs and share the cost. We buy chicken, bags of fruit and vegetables, packs of hair products and condiments. (Yes, we have bought a gallon of mustard and separated it into smaller containers.) Not only do we save but we also get to spend time together, even if it's just running errands.
You get the bulk rate discount but don't have to have an institution-sized drum of mayo. Great idea!
(Photo: miss_rogue)
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scooping gobs of mustard off into different little containers? that's what i like to do with my friends, too!
I'm sure this works for some people, but I would gladly pay a premium to avoid spending time with friends at Costco, then going home and divvying a giant tub of mustard into cute little jam jars. I will clip coupons to avoid that fate.
I agree with roguesophist. This is great for canned/boxed goods and sometimes meat, but if you're splitting mustard into containers you're almost food stamp level.
Just be careful of shopping with friends. I went to the grocery store with my roommate yesterday and bought way more than I typically do--just cuz it took us twice as long to get through the store. While she was reading labels, I was looking around and seeing things I typically don't bother looking at.
Ugh. Wear blinders.
@RogueSophist: I agree. I can't imagine the mess. If you can afford to get a membership to a bulk store, drive around to pick up all your friends, you should be able to afford the extra dollar or two to get your own bottle just to avoid the mess.
@RogueSophist: Imagine the fighting that could occur between friends over who got the bigger piece of meat.
This sounds worse than trying to split up the bill at a dinner outing. Pass.
Even better if you aren't the one paying for the membership!
Buying in bulk can save you money or cost more. The problem I see is if you and your friends/family have different tastes. If I want to split a box of hot pockets and my friends don't like hot pockets, I save nothing. I wrote an article on bulk grocery shopping. One thing I stated is only buy what you would use.
This suggestion may be in violation of the membership agreement with the bulk sale warehouse club. The membership is generally applied to a "household" which is usually interpreted to mean one address/residence. Moreover, at least in the case of Sam's and BJ's, you're permitted to bring only 2 guests, none of whom have purchasing privileges.
@craigkay: Once you get the crap out of the store though, they don't restrict what you do with it.
In my experience a lot of things (bread, yogurt) aren't necessarily cheaper per unit than normal grocery stores. You still need to compare prices if you want a deal.
The gallon of mustard reminds me of an old episode of Who's The Boss where Tony buy's a huge jar of mustard, and Jonathan loses the knife in it, and when they cut back, his arm up past his elbow, almost up to his shoulder, is covered in mustard.
OK, it was funnier on TV.
warehous club? did you guys cut off the proofreading budget due to this depression we are in?
I've thought about getting a few people together on my street and going in on a weekly trip to the local produce terminal market, and divvying up what's bought in bulk there.
Retail stores usually make 40% margin on higher on fresh produce. And you can get access to higher quality product at the terminal market.
We used to do this in college, but then one person would eat all the . We abandoned the system after a semester.
As for the limitations that someone mentioned at Sam's/BJs, we never noticed that. I've been to both in a group of 4 or 5 and have always been fine. I hadn't even heard of it until my mother-in-law fretted about it before we went with her to Sams while visiting her.
@He: I am always tempted to buy bread in bulk - but with only two of us, the savings are gone if I have to throw out one whole loaf because we can't get through it before it starts getting moldy.
If you have a BJ's with self checkouts, you can have your friend "borrow" your card, since nobody checks it at the door and all you have to do is scan the barcode over the self checkouts, buy your stuff, and go.
@pecan 3.14159265: this is what the article is about. you buy in bulk, but then you share it with friends and eventually split the cost. less goes to waste.
@MrsLopsided: @craigkay: it might be helpful to rtfa
As others have mentioned, sometimes you get a cashier who won't let you pay if your name/photo is not the one on the card. We used to go with my in-laws all the time, who took pity on a newly married couple trying to buy a 3-pack of cereal. One day a Costco cashier spent about 1 minute telling us that we couldn't give money to my in-laws in sight of any store employee and we certainly couldn't use our debit cards. Ugh.
Does anyone have the problem with BJs/Costco/Sams having a dismal selection of fresh fruits and veggies? I'm talking about having giant parcels of oranges, apples, grapes in a plastic tub, and maybe some pineapples, but I never see any variety of oranges or pears. If I could get blood oranges in bulk, I'd do it, but BJs doesn't seem to offer it. Is it because they make more by selling fewer varieties? I get that wholesale clubs are still more or less the most beneficial to families and that busy people may not care whether their kids eat navel oranges or blood oranges...
@MrsLopsided: c'mon now...they're just suggesting that you split giant boxes of olives and tampons....it's not like they're telling you to torrent TV shows illegaohwait
I was at a BJ's (here in Queens, NY) recently with a friend. We used my card to get in and both orders were processed separately. Scanned the card, they did my friend's order; friend paid. Scanned the card; processed my order; I paid. No problems. YMMV.
@rpm773: That and retail stores have insane overhead - they only squeeze out about a 1-1.5% profit on revenue!
@mbz32190: If you have a Costco or a Sam's Club...just avoid BJ's and you're set. BJ's has higher prices, worse service, a crappy return policy, and the self-checkouts treat you as though you're a thief (seriously...do we need to scan, weigh, and laser check the dimensions of each item?)
A galleon of mustard does seem like rather a lot.
I do this a lot actually. Even with friends that also have memberships. Nobody needs 500 freezer zip lock bags, or 20 rolls of paper towels. We both buy stuff and split in half and it really makes a difference.
The problem with buying in bulk is that food spoils before you ever get to finish it. I once bought a 3 pack of Mayo, thinking I would never have to buy mayo again, and as soon as i was ready to open the second bottle, i noticed it was spoiled already, so be careful what you buy in bulk. It may not be worth it in the end.
@AcceptingTheAward_GitEmSteveDave: No, it's still pretty funny now. I'll hold that mental picture with me whenever I start feeling blue.
The woman in the photograph seems to have a freakishly large right arm!
To do it this way makes more sense with family members rather than friends.
Is there enough savings to bulk bulk Mayo and repackage the stuff, especially considering food borne illness issues?
@DaoKaioshin: I wish I had friends who lived much closer to me. Actually, I do...I'll think about asking them.
I've never had a problem at my local Costco with "splitting" the pay or using a card twice. This happens a lot when my husband's family visits with us. We all go, and when it comes time to pay, my father-in- law will hand the cashier half in cash and I put the rest on my debit card. Or, like over Christmas, he paid for all the groceries and then I did a separate payment for the xbox 360 I bought for my husband. I don't know if Costco would accept the card if I wasn't there, however.
I do agree that when it comes to food, one has to be careful of what you buy. Its easy to store non perishables in bulk in our basement and meat in our freezer, but I'd never consider buying their mayo or mustard and we would never finish it in time.
You have to consider time as money in these types of situations. I don't use enough mustard to justify doing this, I probably use about 1 jar or bottle a year. A bottle of generic mustard is about 1$ here. Its usually on sale in the summer too, so if I bought 2 when it was on sale I would be set for the year easily. The cost for the jars to store the mustard bought in bulk would also add up.
Splitting food could also turn into arguments, and you would have to eat the same thing as your friends. There is also the possibility that your friends may buy more than you would, and buy things that you don't need or want, which would result in higher costs for you. Its also confusing to calculate who pays for what so everyone gets their fair share.
We belong to Sam's but we focus on things that will not spoil. You will eventually get through that big package of toilet paper, so there is no need to split it with anyone else, just keep it longer and use as needed. Its not going to spoil. It means you don't have to waste gas by running to the store every time you need more TP.
@pecan 3.14159265: Chest freezer in the basement. Bread and most lunchmeats freeze fine. Some of the Costco whole grain breads are awesome.
Bagels too.
We live across the street from some of our friends and we're always splitting bulk food purchases/swapping coupons/divvying hauls from the farmer's market. It makes shopping easier and it's fun to cook a meal together after all the groceries are sorted.
@pecan 3.14159265: Actually, the Costco near us in Delaware has some pretty random and exotic fruits and veggies throughout the year - along with the average oranges, apples and what-not.
Sam's I believe offers 2 memberships in a "family" deal. At least when I did it they did. That or you can always just go together and share a membership card. Most of the store have gotten a lot more lax on that policy.