Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
Discover how a bulk buy can help you save money on groceries. Learn the difference between stockpiling and bulk buying and how to stretch your budget.
Bulk Buy Outside Of The Bulk Food Store
Did you know that Bulk buying doesn’t necessarily mean stopping at your local bulk food store?
The term bulk buy is all about stocking up but not stockpiling everyday essentials that will help lower your overall grocery budget.
I’m sure you’re wondering if there is a difference between stockpiling and a bulk buy, and the answer is yes and no, depending on how you interpret the two.
Stockpiling is buying in mass quantities for current and future use, similar to grocery store shelves or emergency shelters.
When you bulk buy, it may be just one or a few items you buy in large amounts to feed more people or stretch until the next sale.
Example: You buy three pounds of butter instead of one because it was on sale. If you were to stockpile it, you’d have 20 lbs of butter instead of 1lb.
Understanding Stockpiling
Not everyone understands the concept of stockpiling, and some believe that it’s unnecessary.
For anyone who wants to save money, buying in bulk or stockpiling is a money-saving adventure that works.
Stockpile- noun
a large amount of food or goods that are kept ready for future use
They have a stockpile of food that will last several month.
Cambridge Dictionary
Related: Should you shop at a Bulk Food Store?
What does bulk buy even mean?
to buy something in large amounts: Because we’re such a large family, we find it cheaper to bulk-buy foods we eat a lot of.
Cambridge Dictionary
Related: Should you shop at a Bulk Food Store?
Realistic Grocery Budget
When people ask me about our grocery budget and ways we can keep it so low to feed a family of three, one of the top things you will hear me say is we buy in bulk when possible.
When we started the grocery game challenge in 2012, our budget was $225.
Today, it’s $300 monthly plus one more mouth to feed.
As the years passed, inflation has increased but not as much as we had expected.
Mind you, prices are getting so expensive that it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a food budget increase for 2019.
This is probably a brilliant time to start stockpiling and utilizing a bulk buy on products when they are on sale.
Becoming Costco Members
Things changed a bit in our house, especially after we purchased our Costco membership and Mrs. CBB went Keto.
Back in the day, we would stockpile pantry essentials that most Canadian households would use to cut costs,
Pair that with eating a balanced meal, often because of using coupons and watching flyer specials.
We still do today, but not nearly as much as we used to because coupons aren’t as good as they used to be, and food waste is an issue.
Stockpiling Days Have Evolved
Around ten years ago, you’d find boxes upon boxes of cereal, crackers, granola bars, juice, and just about anything you could get with coupons in mass quantities.
These days, our walk-in cold cellar is filled with boxes of paperwork and old tax returns mixed with some bulk-buy food items and health and beauty supplies.
Mrs. CBB and I often share memories of the days when the room was so packed that it spilled out into the basement area.
Our friends would laugh at us and say we had a grocery store in our basement, and if there was a need to take shelter, they’d know where to go.
We had no room for anything more in our cold cellar after all of the health and beauty supplies and mass amounts of grocery items we would stockpile.
Bulk Buy Without Overspending
Today, we aim for the bulk buy, which works better for our family and still helps keep our grocery budget in check.
When we were stockpiling, it felt good, but at the same time, it was stressful because there were expiry dates on foods that you knew you wouldn’t meet.
Even though eating certain foods past expiry dates is fine, the manufacturer often gives extra time beyond the date it became years for us.
This was not right, and it indeed did not bring us huge savings because we had to throw the food away.
In essence, it’s easy to get carried away with stockpiling and coupons just because they may be free, near free, or perhaps a price you can’t pay.
Bulk Buy Considerations
Today, our stockpile is much smaller, and we limit what we bulk buy only because we don’t eat as much as we used to 10 years ago, and we’ve changed our eating habits.
I think it’s important to remind everyone that lists such as this bulk buy list I’ve created for our family may work for you but not.
This is part of our family diet, and if you plan to bulk buy in the future, it’s important to consider three things;
- How much can we afford to buy in bulk?
- What foods do we eat often and lots of?
- What are the best prices for the foods we want to bulk buy?
Although doing a bulk buy shop sounds great if you aren’t prepared for this type of shop, you may end up
- Spending more money than you anticipated.
- Buy far too much before the expiry date.
- Buying too much of something you’ve never tried before (and end up hating it) We’ve done that before!
Eyes Bigger Than Your Wallet
Often, people have eyes bigger than their wallets, and just like everyone else, we let our tummies do the talking.
It’s so easy to get in over our heads at the grocery store, especially when we find a great deal that wasn’t advertised.
In the past, we would get excited and load up the cart.
That was a big mistake, but we’ve learned to balance what we plan to buy during a grocery shop and anticipate possible unadvertised sales.
In some part, our stockpile budget helps fund these little extras, but we don’t often get high overheads into purchases such as ten boxes of cereal like we used to.
These days, you may find me with a bulk buy of oatmeal or two boxes of cereal rather than mountain tops.
Although Mrs. CBB no longer eats gluten, I do, so there are times when buying extra pasta makes sense, but then again, a bulk buy on pasta for us maybe two bags.
Dry beans are an excellent example of a bulk buy if you can get a great price on them.
Not only are they nutritious, they last ages in a cool area, and they only need to be hydrated and cooked for your meals.
There’s always space on our shelves for canned goods that we can bulk buy, but only essentials.
You’ll find staples such as tuna, salmon, peanut butter (I know it’s not a can, but we stick it here), button mushrooms, tomatoes, etc.
During the winter months, canned goods go a long way in helping to stretch meals.
Bulk Buying Cheese
There’s no stopping Mrs. CBB when she finds a deal on cheese.
You must look out as she will bowl a wheel of cheese down the aisle if she scores a reasonable price.
We all love cheese, and it’s expensive to buy, so if we can buy cheese in bulk, we will use it often.
Cheese may get moldy but it’s not bad or doesn’t need to be tossed out.
Just cut the mold off and enjoy your cheese.
You can freeze cheese too after you shred it or in whole, but be aware when thawed, it doesn’t grate well, if at all.
Fresh and Frozen Fruit
Berries are expensive, so when they are in season, I will bulk buy them if I find a deal and flash freeze them to use all year long.
Our son is a strawberry fanatic and loves to eat them frozen but chopped up into little bits.
If we had the gardening space, we’d grow them like we did raspberries many moons ago, but he’s not a huge fan of them like he is the strawberries and blueberries.
Nuts And Flour
Nuts and nut flours are a big part of our diet, so we will stock up if we find a sale on almond flour or coconut flour.
I remember when Mrs. CBB found coconut flour on the reduced stand at Zehrs.
Talk about the happy dance. It’s not often she finds keto ingredients on the reduced rack.
When we go to Costco, we might buy bags of almonds, cashews, walnuts, sliced almonds, and other nuts in bulk that we use regularly.
If they are on sale occasionally, that is the time to bulk buy them.
We tend to freeze the nuts and use them as needed.
Although some people might not like to freeze them, we don’t find it makes any difference, and it keeps them fresher for longer.
Grilling Meats And Fish
Finally, meats are an oversized bulk-buy item in our house if we can score a reasonable price, such as 50% off, which is the main thing we buy.
We can always find reduced meats in the butcher section of our grocery store, and that’s when we will bulk buy, separate, and freezer for future meals.
For example, we bought a huge pack of drumsticks from Costco on sale for $13, which ended up in 4 freezer bags with 6 in each bag.
That’s four meals for our family, which is a great deal.
We didn’t bulk buy this time as I’m not typically a fan of chicken wings, so I thought I’d better test these drumsticks out first before buying too much.
I loved them, and all I did was put them in a freezer bag with homemade taco seasoning and some PC smoke-flavoured oil and grilled them up.
Just look how beautiful they turned out, and boy, were they delicious.
Next time I will bulk buy a few packs for our freezer.
Ten Foods We Bulk Buy When On Sale
Let’s go over our top 10 bulk buy items once again, and hopefully, it might help you to create your list, too!
Don’t be afraid to add more than 10 products to your list, as this is just to give you an idea of what you might find on a bulk buy list for our family.
- Pasta
- Dry Beans
- Nuts
- Flour/Almond Flour
- Cheese
- Oatmeal
- Berries
- Tomatoes
- Canned goods
- Meats
Discussion: Name some products you would bulk buy for your family and tell us why.
June Grocery Game Challenge
Join the 2018 Grocery Game Challenge (GGC), but before you do, you must read The Grocery Game Challenge Rules and Print the 2018 Schedule, which includes new prizes!
- Last shop May- How to successfully return food to the grocery store
2018 Grocery Shop Results
Yearly grocery budget for two + 1 Toddler 2018: $3600 or $300/month (The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.
Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings or that you would like to track on your own)
- Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $300
- Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $300-$13.63=$286.37
- Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
- Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
- Total Rewards Points used to date: $0
- PC Optimum Points to Spend: 3,200,000
- Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
- Zweet -$0
- Checkout51- $1.50
Our Grocery Shop This Week
Shoppers Drug Mart
- 4 x 4L Bags Sealtest Milk $4.27 (5300 Optimum Plus points earned)
Total Our-of-Pocket $ 17.08 Stockpile
Costco
- Bulk buy chicken drumsticks $13.25
- Portobello mushrooms 5pk $4.99
- Spinach $3.99
- Asian lettuce bag $3.49
- Mozzarella Cheese $20.99
- Instant Coffee $10.99
- Splenda $24.99 Stockpile budget
- Bananas $1.59
- Tomatoes $5.99
- Cucumbers 3pk $2.29
- 4 x 10% cream $1.95 each
- Sour Cream x 2pk $3.59
- Atlantic Salmon $25.00
- 3 x whipping cream $4.15 each
- Strawberries $3.99 2lbs
Total Our-of-Pocket $120.40 plus $25.00 stockpile
Farmer’s Market
Farm eggs $6.00 for 30 x 2 $12.00
Total Our-of-Pocket $12.00
Note: All totals below have already been tax factored into them.
- Total to spend this month: $286.37
- Stockpile budget 2018: $25.00/month
- Stockpile budget used this month: $25.00
- Christmas Reserve Fund: $35/month $210 Saved
- Total coupons used this week: $0
- Total coupons used to date: $1
- Total in-store discounts this week: $0
- Total in-store discounts to date: $116.54
- Total spent this week: $149.48
- Total spent so far this month: $149.48
- Total over/Under spend this shop: OVERrrrrrr!!!
- Total left to spend for the month: $136.89
- Total Spent To Date 2018: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $323.04+Feb $169.42+March $228.70 + April $337.84+ May $275.79 + June $+July $+August $+September $+ October $+ November $ + December $
Weekly Grocery Shop Overview
Holy smokes, did we ever spend this shop, but we did load up on some goodies that will last us a couple of weeks.
I suspect next week’s shop will be a no-shop week, and the following week, just a few bits of vegetables will be needed.
We have more than enough milk, eggs, cream, and meat in the freezer to last the month.
The best deal was the chicken drumsticks for us as it would give us 4 meals and they were so good!!
MR.CBB
JUNE – Week #1 of 4- June 4-10, 2018
2018 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:
•Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00 for 2 adults
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REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:
Before we start our JUNE shopping off though, I am going to make my usual monthly “reserve” transfers:
Grocery:
$ 190.00 for the month
($ 15.00) trf to re-stocking – normally $15.00
($ 15.00) trf to holiday reserve–normally 15.00
($ 55.00) trf to summer reserve–normally 15.00
($ 45.00) trf to US Reserve –normally $45.00
CANADIAN Grocery Balance $60.00
Our local farmer’s market is open so I increased our transfer to the summer reserve. I expect to hit that plus the farms in Abbotsford this month…summer produce here I come!
REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:
This week’s shopping was all about fresh little goodies!
=========================================================================================
OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING:
No Frills – Larry’s Card – Maple Ridge
1 Dole Chopped Romaine $5.47
Total Grocery OOP: $5.47
** Earned 0 Optimum Points on this shop for Larry **
** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
—————————————————————–
No Frills – Larry’s Card – Maple Ridge
1 x 2lb Carrots $1.97
1 bunch Celery $1.97
Total Grocery OOP: $3.94
** Earned 0 Optimum Points on this shop for Larry **
** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
—————————————————————–
Save On Foods – Maple Ridge –
1 Becel 907g $4.99 ea
Total Grocery OOP: $4.99
** Earned 0 MORE Points on this shop **
** SAVED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
—————————————————————–
No Frills – Larry’s Card – Maple Ridge
2 dozen No Name eggs @ $2.00 ea = $4.00
2 LB Red Delicious Apples for $2.00
2 Iceberg Lettuce 2 for $2.00
1 Cantaloupe $2.00
Total Grocery OOP: $10.00
** Earned 0 Optimum Points on this shop for Larry **
** USED $0.00 in Rain Check Coupons **
** SAVED $0.00 Loyalty Savings on this shop **
=========================================================================================
OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING:
OUR NEXT USA SHOP WILL BE LATER IN JUNE
=========================================================================================
2018 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:
•Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year: $238.06
•Total Coupons/Rain Checks Used This Year: $0.00
•Total Price Match Savings Used This Year: $0.00
•Total More Points Earned This Year: 11027.76 Points
•Total Air Miles Earned This Year: 397 Air Miles
•Total PC Optimum Points Earned This Year: 11,900 Points
=========================================================================================
• SUMMARY OF FUNDS Y-T-D:
$ 1,140.00 Grocery Budget JAN-JUNE
($199.93) NET RESERVE TRANSFERS
($ 904.47) Actual CASH SPENT
$ 35.60 AVAILABLE Y-T-D GGC SPENDING NOT INCL RESERVES
——————————————————————————————————-
• RESERVES Y-T-D:
$ 132.74 Freezer Re-Stocking Fund
$ 252.59 Holiday Season Fund + $270 PC Optimum Points ($230 Mary + $40 Larry) + $10 Dream Air Miles
= $532.59
$ 742.50 Summer Season Fund
$ 656.87 US Shopping Reserve
$ 147.92 GGC Savings Reserve
$ 0.00 Points Redeemed Reserve
OUR CURRENT TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES ARE $1,932.62. This means the 1,761.30 that we carried forward from 2017 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $801.39 that we have added in 2018, LESS $630.07 that we have drawn out for use in 2018.
=========================================================================================
Good Morning Mary,
Boy you sure scored some deals on your vegetables this week. What do you typically buy at the market during the summer? 🙂
It depends on what’s a good price but when I go to the local farm market it’s generally for fresh dill, vegetables and once in a while some pickles. What’s nice about the local market is that the crops they have were picked within the last 24 hours. We have oodles of blueberry farms locally too where you can pick for a cheaper price.
The Abbotsford farm markets is where I load up! I can get a month’s worth of herbs, vegetables and fruit to fill up 2 cardboard packing boxes for about $25-30… if I buy what is in season and currently coming out of their fields & green houses. There are no savings though on items they’ve brought in from up country such as stone fruit but generally it’s a nicer quality than the supermarket. You really have to know your prices to take best advantages of any deals. 🙂
If there are good Loss Leader sales at the grocery stores, sometimes it’s cheaper to shop there…you have to check out the flyers before heading to the farms so that you pay bottom dollar! 🙂
As for me, everything that’s on discount should be bought. Golden rule of consumerism ?
JUNE 4-10
Yearly Budget for 1 Adult $2400 or $200/mo
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $200
STORE: NO FRILLS
-Astro Yogurt Banana Flavour $1.97
-PC Mushrooms (2 for $2) $2
-Rooster Garlic (3 pack) $0.77
-Lemon $0.87
-Lg PC Orange Juice $4.71
-Strawberries $2.00
-Ziggy’s Tortellini $2.00
-Ziggy’s Ravioli $2.00
Points Earned: 200
Total Out Of Pocket $16.32
STORE: SAFEWAY
-Living Lettuce $1.99
Total Out of Pocket $1.99
STORE: SAVE ON FOODS
-Breyers Ice Cream $2.99
-1 can Kicking Horse Cold Brew Coffee $3.74 – coupon $3.50 = $0.23 (tax and recycling fees)
-Lean Ground Beef (@6.19/lb) $4.50 – $2 off sticker = $2.50
-Stewing Beef (@3.99/lb) $4.63
-Bulk Curry Powder (@1.99/100g) $0.70
-Bulk White Pepper (@3.49/100g) $0.35
-Bulk Italian Seasoning (@2.32/100g) $0.23
-Bulk Spicy Rice Crackers (@0.99/100g) $2.70
-Bulk Garam Masala (@1.79/100g) $0.13 (25% discount)
-Bulk Pinenuts (@7.49/100g) $7.31 (25% discount)
-Lg Simply Orange Juice $5.23
-1.75kg Western Family Organic Plain Yogurt $8.89 – coupon = $0
Total Coupon $12.39
Total Out Of Pocket $27.00
STORE: LONDON DRUGS
-3 x 250 ml Blue Monkey Coconut Water (3 for $5) $5.41
Total Out Of Pocket $5.41
STORE: FARMERS MARKET
-1 bunch Salad Turnips w/ greens $3.50
-Pizza Bun $3.00
Total Out Of Pocket $6.50
CSA BOX
I prepaid for the 20-week CSA box, which calculates to $17.81/wk. The prices below are what the items are being sold for in their farmers market stand.
-1 bunch Carrots $3.75
-1 English Cucumber $4.00
-1 head Lettuce $3.00
-1 shallot (@4/lb) $2.50
-1 bunch Garlic Scapes $2.50
-1 Bok Choy $3.00 (I forgot to check the price for this but I’m guessing its around $3)
Total Out of Pocket $17.81
POINTS OVERVIEW
Total Gift Cards used to date: $41.21
Total Rewards used to date: $42.61
PC Optimum Points Balance: 3530
PC Optimum Points Redeemed: 0
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
COUPON APPS
Checkout51- $6.95
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK
Total to spend this month: $200
Total coupons used this week: $12.39
Total coupons used to date: $12.39
Total in-store discounts this week: $2.00
Total in-store discounts to date: $2.00
Total spent this week: $75.03
Total spent so far this month: $75.03
Total over/Under spend this shop ($50/wk): Wk1 Over $25.03
Total left to spend for the month: $124.97
Total Spent To Date 2018: Jan $217.46 + Feb $127.79 + Mar $124.18 + Apr $121.50 + May $174.18
WEEKLY OVERVIEW
Excited for the CSA to begin! The only problem is that I pick it up from the farmers market…I tend to purchase other produce (especially fruit! Those berries were very tempting today).
I also scored a coupon for the yogurt which I’ll probably use mostly for cooking (sauces, curries), dips and smoothies. The pine nuts were a surprise. I think it’s the first time buying them for me. Are they usually this expensive? Can anyone suggest cheaper stores or options to make pesto?
For the meal plan this week, I plan to make these for dinner and have leftovers for lunch/dinner
Beef Curry https://veenaazmanov.com/slow-cooked-indian-beef-curry-recipe/
Salmon Pasta w/ Pesto https://thewoksoflife.com/2017/04/salmon-pasta-green-goddess-pesto/
I’ll make pesto out of the garlic scapes (and maybe the carrot tops too).
I also really like the turnips I bought, so I might clean out some of my older vegetables and make a roasted vegetable salad or something. And I’ll reserve some of the cucumber for a quick pickle to snack on.
Jenny,
Hi! Pine nuts are crazy expensive and they can turn rancid quickly so I keep mine in the freezer and only take out what I need for a recipe. I’ve found a good alternative for a pesto is walnuts but I have been known to use pecans as well. I like to make my pesto with various herbs and greens too…arugula is very nice and I am a big lover of a dill pesto. 🙂
Doh! I already have walnuts in my cupboards. It’s my first time making pesto so I just followed a recipe. Thanks for the tips and ideas Mary! I will put the remainder of the pine nuts in the freezer now as I don’t want to waste any of it.
Grocery challenge June 4-10 2018
Store: Askew’s Foods (local small town store)
Total coupons; 0
Total out of pocket; $53.62
bananas, 2 0.84
Ben and Gerry’s Ice cream 3.87
broccoli crowns 0.94
green onions 0.88
Brussels sprouts 0.94
Tomatoes on the vine 1.15
mushrooms, white 0.81
red pepper,1 2.06
long english cucumber 1.68
romaine lettuce 1.78
celery stick 0.29
zucchini 0.41
orange, 1 1.20
potato, russet 0.68
eggs, 1 dozen Omega 3 4.98
kale, Frozen, Europe’s Best 2.98
Oriental veggie mix, frozen 2.98
broccoli, frozen 3.18
corn, frozen organic, Stahlbush 3.48
Greek salad, prepared 3.13
samosa, 1 3.99
Flour, whole wheat Organic 5.69 Marked down 53.62
Store: D Dutchman Dairy (local farm)
out or pocket $5.55
milk, 3 quarts in glass bottles 5.55 5.55
Store: Fruit World (local market)
Out of pocket $5.30
limes, 2 1.00
strawberries, 1 lb, 3.99
red onion 1.31 5.30
Weekly total $ 64.47
Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $300 for 1 adult and visits from children
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $300
Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
Total Rewards Points used to date: $
PC Points Plus Earned to date: will update later
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP)to date $ 0
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
Checkout51 to date: $0
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK (add any other sections you need to show expenses and savings)
Stockpile budget 2018 ($25.00):$
Stockpile budget used to date: $0
Total coupons used this week: $0
Total coupons used to date: $0
Total in-store discounts this week:$
Total in-store discounts to date: $0
Total spent this week: $ $64.47
Total over/Under spend for the month: $
Total left to spend for the month: $235.53
Total Spent To Date 2018: (does not include stockpile budget)
Weekly Overview (your final thoughts):
I am attempting to buy smaller quantities of fresh produce to have less food waste. I am adopting a healthier diet, more organic and vegetable based, and learning as I go.
The frozen vegetables this week will be there when needed and not spoil! I used the frozen veggies for a soup called “Too Busy to Cook Soup”.
Hi Valerie,
Funny you should mention that because Mrs. CBB and I were talking about this topic the other day. We often find we are scrambling to eat up some produce at the end of it’s life because we have too much of it or we don’t eat it in time. Instead of buying 6 peppers at once we will buy 1 or 2 now. I like that name for a soup, lol and I’m sure Mary will do. She’s a huge soup fan here at CBB. Welcome and thanks for joining in . Mr.CBB
Hi Valerie! Welcome!
Mr CBB is right, I have a burning desire to know…what all do you throw in your Too Busy To Cook Soup? Is it done on the stove top, in a slow cooker or instant pot? I make soup all the time & love to get new ideas! 🙂