How to Shop For Bulk Groceries Like A Pro
When looking to save money, I think one of the best places to start is your grocery bill. Unlike many other fixed expenses, shopping wisely for food and including bulk groceries has the potential of saving you hundreds of dollars each month.
Shopping in bulk and paying attention to sales and coupons can deliver significant savings to your overall budget. Here are three proven tips to help you to shop for bulk groceries like a pro.
Plan Ahead
For me, half of the battle when looking to bulk grocery shop and to save money is in the planning process.
How you decide to structure your meal plan is based on your personal preferences and needs. Some people like to work with a weekly schedule whereas others prefer to plan an entire month in advance.
Grouping recipes with similar ingredients together will naturally lend itself to efficient bulk shopping and food preparation.
For example, perhaps you want to grill chicken one night and then use the leftover meat the next for chicken noodle soup.
The possibilities are endless once you start looking to find ways to combine ingredients for efficiency, less waste, and cost savings.
Infographic by Squawkfox.com
Look at Coupons and Ad Flyers
Shopping the grocery store weekly sales can pay off with big savings at the cash register. Before diving into the meal planning process, I like to consult the flyers for your local stores. Combining the sale items with coupons will yield even bigger savings.
In today’s increasingly wired world, most major grocery stores even have apps with digital coupons, eliminating the need to mess with clipping paper coupons. Shopping the sales and stocking up on items that are on sale will make a big dent on your weekly grocery bill.
Store Properly
Personally, one of the biggest challenges with bulk shopping is figuring out how to store all of the perishable foods.
All meat that you don’t plan to use immediately should be frozen. Pack it in portions inside thick plastic freezer bags to protect against freezer burn. If you have a vacuum sealer, sealing your meat can also be very helpful. Meat that is properly sealed and stored can be frozen for up to one year.
You can even freeze certain types of produce and cheese for later use.
Bulk Groceries - The Bottom Line
Every little bit of savings helps when you are trying to cut your grocery bill. A commitment to bulk shopping will help you to save money while you eat like royalty.