Don't Buy in Bulk! Busting Down the Myths of Bargain Shopping and Coupon Clipping

AlterNet / By Rachel Singer Gordon

Don't Buy in Bulk! Busting Down the Myths of Bargain Shopping and Coupon Clipping
Everything you’ve heard about saving money at the store is wrong!

June 10, 2010 |


We all think we “know” how to save: Buy in bulk, buy generic, and you can’t go wrong. And, of course, you can only save on things that are really, really bad for you. Well, guess what? Everything you’ve heard about saving money at the store is wrong! Here, some realities behind common bargain shopping myths.

Always buy in bulk

It seems to make sense: Bigger is better, so buy pallets full at the warehouse store. With a little strategy, though, you can save so much more buying smaller items at regular grocery and drug stores. Here’s why:

You can’t use coupons at warehouse stores. Sam’s Club and Costco don’t accept manufacturer’s coupons, one of the biggest ways to save.

Warehouse stores don’t have sales. Even big box stores have fewer big sales than grocery or drug stores -- where everyday prices are higher, but sale prices much, much lower. Be patient, and the best sale prices at grocery and drug stores beat the everyday prices at big box and warehouse stores. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/economy/147170/don%27t_buy_in_bulk!_busting_down_the_myths_of_bargain_shopping_and_coupon_clipping/

I have found I buy somethings at grocery because I don't need large quantity. I like buying electronics at Costco because of their guarantees and if I don't like it in the first 90 days I can return it

without that, they would be amongst the most generic of the stores out there - it is their commitment to returns that make buying a safer bet. I have returned a monitor due to a green pixel not turning off - no problem. Try that with anyone else and you most likely will be left with 'we consider a few pixels out as consistent with the level of acceptable flaws and cannot take the return.'

And for those that want to benefit of Costco without membership, try this: I have asked Target to price match Costco on pharmacy items, and they did. You have to ask when dropping off your prescription, and they call and get a price, and will let you know if they can match. Saved a bundle and much more convenient.

I also hear you can buy pharmacy and liquor at Costco without a membership due to laws on the books about those items. You may have to get a temporary pass at the info desk, but look online and print the info so they don't play dumb.

http://consumerist.com/2009/01/hey-you-can-buy-alcohol-at-costco-and-sams-club-without-a-membership.html

Lastly, for those with the 100 dollar memberships, I believe if you don't receive 50 dollars in credits as a result of 2%-back on purchases through the year, you can ask for the difference - meaning, if you get the 100 buck membership, you are technically never paying more than 50 dollars anyway. I ended up not using my membership very much (had the 100 dollar membership) and decided to cancel a month before it ended. They refunded my entire 100 bucks. You can do that up until it expires.

All in all, they're doing something right.

It just didn't make sense for two people. By the time I got to the second giant tub of breadcrumbs in the two package container they were beyond old. Lots of things were like that. Even staples - broths, diced tomatoes, etc. were nice to buy in six packs, but they were essentially the same price as the supermarket. I also started to realize exactly what this post says - my own store on sale was cheaper than the warehouse.

Now, I did hear a radio show that said Aldis will turn your town upside down if they come to town and they are causing a schism in the grocery field where store have to decide f they are going to trend high end or low end and that the middle will be lost due to Aldis. Not sure whether to believe that or not.

and it's worked out very well for me. I skip that 36 roll pack of TP and that eighteen pack roll of paper towels, though, and only buy items I know I'll use up within 6 months.

I also get things there that nobody else in town carries. They also have deals on things like printer ink that beat all the other outlets in town.

It's not for everybody, though, and the main reasons I keep my membership there are the prescription counter and the bags of flash frozen fish. It's the only way to get decent fish in this part of the country.

Other than that, I watch sales and do better on much of what I get at the markets closer to home.

and I stopped buying them cold turkey. You could Google if you like. I read a story I stumbled on inadvertently that I wish I hadn't read and that was it. If you like the fish, don't Google. I mean that seriously.

and yes, it's one of the things I do look for.

Farmed fish is what you have to avoid.

I think I do better at Kroger with coupons and sale items. I went to Aldis once, they have a hell of a lot of processed foods (which I try to stay away from). Few fresh vegetables and no fresh meat. The cashiers sit on their butts and toss your stuff so hard that sometimes it actually breaks. They behave as if you're a bother when you check out and are rude in telling you to move on.

just like in the regular store. if it's cheaper to buy it in bulk then i do. if it isn't then i don't. I have a BJs membership and have saved a lot there. but i am careful about what i buy there as i am anywhere. as for coupons, you can save big on stuff if you are already going to be using it. but though i have gotten the coupons, i have not been able to really do the necessary work to get the most out of it right now. and i hear the reason now... ABBY!

Your store circular is your best friend, and if you plan your weekly menu around the sale items, yu can save a lot. If you are willing to spend the time and check the coupons that are applicable to what the store has on sale, so much the better. Some things at Costco are great buys and if you use the itms in a reasonable time, it's well worth the membership.

We have a Costco membership. I buy all out toilet paper there becaue I like it beter than any of the store brands and it's surprising how quickly it gets used. I buy butter in the6 pack, yeast in the bag. We make bread in our bread machine all the time and the cost is less than 1/4th the price in the grocery store. I keep both in the freezer. There are quite a few things in the fresh meat & seafood that we buy because the products are BETTR than what's available in the supermarket. Of course I have the advantage thatmy husband was a meat cutter his whole life so he knows how to cut things into smaller portions and alsopick the best product.

One more way to save a lot if yu have the opportunity is to show at a supermarket that marks produce, meats & seafod down the day before the sell by date. The product is still good, and depending on the store policy, you can save from 20% to 75% dependig on that store's policy.

were not right for us. For two people, 6 cans of tuna was 5 too many. I huge box of Cheerios would go stale by the time we got to the bottom. For foodstuffs, I never saw a real bargain. Maybe that is because I shop the sales in the grocery stores. Cannot comment on things like electronics or tires.

Appliances were definitely a better deal when on sale at other retail outlets.

In my opinion, the big stores like Costco or BJ's offer a convenience more than a saving. If I had a large family, perhaps it would pay to learn the ins and outs of warehouse shopping.

but they often only made sense where you could double them. Now, most coupons forbid doubling, and where I live now, there is limited doubling, often 99 cents and under. You don't find a lot of worthwhile coupons for under a buck anymore.

My favorite ploy is the smash-and-dent section of the markets. Especially near an upscale neighborhood, you can often get good deals because the hoity-toidy's don't want to be seen with something like that in their shopping basket.

buying in bulk doesn't make sense for me. For one thing, I live in a fairly small place and so don't have a lot of space to store stuff.

I've also been highly, highly suspicious of coupons when some years back I tried using them, and discovered that somehow my weekly grocery bill was a lot more than it had been without coupons.

First time frame was back in the day when my medical insurance would pay 80% of a prescription (or anything else) and I paid 20%. Anybody remember those days? No tiered co-pays, and it actually made sense to shop around for a cheaper prescription price for the medication I was on, because it was expensive enough that my 20% added up. With the savings on medication, getting stuff in bulk was gratis, though I still watched my pennies. I did my studies and saw I could get most stuff for about what I would pay if I shopped for things on sale.

Second time frame, the company was paying for the membership. Costco tends to have good quality stuff, and I'd learned to not buy the 144-packs of snot in four different flavors -- since I'd like two of those flavors, be okay with one of those flavors, and the last one, well, would taste like snot and would sit around growing stale. And then, would you eat stale snot? Me neither!

Third time frame, I was laid off from said company... But they continued to pay my Costco membership for four more years. Somehow, I never thought to mention it to them. Those five-dollar Rotisserie Chickens tasted even more juicy.

You can take some of that stale snot and make boogers for the kids

It's a lot better than unhealthy sugary snacks.

And there's nothing that says "I love you" like dropping a few in their lunch bags.

Here, kids, have some snot! It's stale! Mmmmm!

I don't drive and my husband is not fond of grocery store shopping so I keep a very well stocked pantry. I use a vacuum sealer and break down my bulk packages in to two person servings. The dry foods are broken down also and vac sealed in jars. They last a very long time this way. We don't eat much in the way of processed foods and that seems to be what most coupons are for. I will hit the regular grocery stores when fruits and veggies are on sale or perhaps a particular cut of meat but that is about it. I could probably survive 6 months on what is in my pantry and with food prices going up as they have, I find it the long run it has saved money when you look at what prices were months ago.

and you need an extra part-time occupation.

I generally use coupons only for internet purchases. For grocery shopping, I mostly rely on Asian supermarkets, store brands, and the occasional sale or oversized item. But it pays to check, because bigger is not always better.

And BTW, I like this comment from the site:

xMVince
always buy my nugget in bulk! Saves me a ton of money. I get zips for 400 rather than paying 65 an 8th which overtime adds up to 520 a zip. I know the author is talking about BJ's and Sam's clubs though so my comment is a little bit off topic. Just adding in my two cents :)

fat shopping at Costco.

My wife and I have been using coupons for decades. We don't have kids, but Costco has been great for us on non-food items. We've found that paper goods, cleaning products and kitty litter are a much better deal there than at the supermarket. We both drink cokes/diet cokes like fiends, so they're a good deal too. I learned my lesson about buying frozen food there 'cos if you find out you don't like what you got, you're stuck with something you'll never eat and end up just tossing it and I can't stand to waste food. It has to be really inedible for me to trash it; case in point, California Pizza Kitchen's limited cheeseburger pizza which is just fucking horrid. I choked it down even though wifey said I should just bin it. Luckily, I bought it with a coupon and it was on sale, which is probably the only way i would have tried it in the first place.

I know people are wary about the whole club card thing, but here in So. CA, we've saved a ton using the Ralphs supermarket card. In fact, we just got back from shopping and I got a few frozen Stouffer's meals for quickie dinners for $1.88 each using their card. If you combine those discounts with a coupon, you come a lot closer to paying for what the prices actually should be.

Of course, we have a house and room to store the larger items, so if you're in an apartment you probably don't want to share your living space with 36 rolls of TP. If you clip the coupons wisely though, anyone can cut their grocery bill down if even by a few bucks. Plus, it'll give you a reason to read the paper (the Sunday one at any rate), thus helping another dying industry!

Not sure if this is going to happen nationwide, but the Target Stores here are gearing up to have full-scale groceries in the next few months, so it'll be interesting to see how that affects the other chains. Target already takes coupons, so I imagine that will continue. I try to avoid Target as much as possible as they're notoriously non-union and the people who work there all look miserable to me. Costco is also non-union, but at least they pay their people a decent wage. One thing I refuse to do though, is use the new self check-out registers that are popping up in my local markets. They're just more job-killers and i can wait a few minutes in line if it means somebody can keep a union job. One of the clerks told me that they'll probably be going away here in CA as kids have figured out they can buy booze using them when the other lines are busy and nobody's looking. I was really happy to hear that.