Task #6 - Buy in Bulk

We have made our way up to task six in saving money on groceries - buying in bulk. This one can be a bit tricky, but, hopefully, I can clear a few concerns here.

I recommend that you only buy items in bulk that you will be able to completely use before the expiration or 'use by' date. I do lots of baking, cook lots of international dishes, and am feeding four males and myself, so this isn't usually an issue for us, though I think you'll be surprised at how long many items last when stored properly. You may need to track what quantities you use of certain items before buying, say, a 25 pound bag of it!

Here are the items I buy in bulk: Flour, sugar, rice, paper products, meat, oil, pasta, dry beans, and spices. I store many of the items like flour, sugar, and rice in food grade 5 gallon buckets with lids in the basement. The meat is bought in large packages and split into individual freezer bags in quantities I usually use for our recipes. Spices are poured into small airtight jars. Any that won't fit, I store in zip top bags.

Here is a list of how long each of these items should be expected to last.

All Purpose Flour - up to one year
Granulated Sugar - indefinitely
White Rice - indefinitely
Meats (frozen) - 6-9 months
Oils - 1 year+
Pasta - 3 years
Dried beans - 1 year
Spices - 3-4 years

When in doubt check this website.

Around the holidays are a great time to stock up on many of these items, so keep your eyes peeled for great sales and buy as much as you will use in the year if you have a place to properly store it. This can save you lots of money on your monthly budget.