20 Things I Always Buy in Bulk to Save Money

Every time I mull over  buying a warehouse store membership again, I remind myself that with such a small family and house, buying in bulk doesn’t make sense and won’t save us money. I don’t’ have it in for bulk buying stores. If I had room in my condo for an extra freezer, it might work for us but as of now since we cook from scratch I don’t buy bulk.

Did I mention the last time I had this conversation with myself I was hefting a 25 pound bag of brown rice into my cart next to a gallon of soy sauce at the Japanese grocery store?

So, yeah, apparently I do buy a few things in bulk by the giant size (at least to us) and a few things in a custom size from a bulk buying bin. We eat a variety of healthy from scratch meals and I save money doing it.

20 Things I Buy in Bulk without a Warehouse Club Membership and Still Save Money!

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So what changed?  I wrote the date I opened the items I bought to find out how long those packages really last. Then calculated the unit prices of the items my family uses most often in different sizes at some of the stores I already shop. That way, while most What you should buy in bulk lists recommend pasta (something we eat too,) the unit price at Aldi for whole wheat pasta is less than where I can buy it in big bulk size.

On the other hand, since I’m the only one with a dairy allergy who eats nutritional yeast and not all that often, a big or even a regular size packages is too much. It makes more financial sense to buy what I need from the serve it yourself bulk bin – even at the otherwise expensive hippie grocery store. (Just like warehouse stores,the bulk buying bin section of the store may not be an cheap as you think.)

Here’s my bulk buying list. If your list differs share it with us in the comments below!
Some of the items on this list are things that I’ve relied on and like so much that I have no problem recommending them to you (and using my affiliate links.) Thank you for helping us keep the lights on at Lazy Budget Chef!

1  Wellness dog food through Amazon Subscribe and Save – I consistently get the sale price this way.

2. Contact lenses – one of the few disposable items we buy.

3. Thread – I buy neutral colors I use often by the serger cone and transfer them to an empty spool or bobbin using a SideWinder Portable Bobbin Winder (the MVP of my craft room!)

3 Dry beans – We go through quite a bit between winter soup season and our Instant Pot making dried beans so quick and easy, I found the best unit price at Dollar Tree. When you order them on line you can get FREE* Shipping When You Choose To Have Your Order Shipped To Your Local Dollar Tree Store For Pickup!

4 Rice – We eat a lot of stir fry type meals we pair with rice. I’m lucky if a 25 pound bag lasts 6 months.

5 Soy sauce – By the gallon to go into stir fry and marinades. Again at the International grocery store.

6 Naked PB peanut butter powder – by the two pound jar to for morning smoothies although I suppose we could use it to make unsweetened peanut butter too

7 Ibuprofen – Someone always seems to have a sports injury around here.

8.  Epsom Salts – Did I mention sports injuries and muscle soreness? Although most of the time I use it to make my own bath salts to use for just because.

9. Baking Soda – For making refrigerator and freezer deodorizers, scrubbing powder and general cleaning,and sometimes I even bake with it!

10. Protein powder and Clif protein energy bars – My husband runs 21 miles a week and uses them to refuel.

11.. Olive oil and peanut oil – By the gallon for stir fry and sautés. .

12. Nature’s Miracle Pet Urine Stain and Odor Eliminator  -  Being a special needs dog Lacey sometimes still has accidents.

13. Pet Safe Ice Melt (Rock Salt)

14. Embroidery stabilizer – I use it so often I buy it by a bolt

15.. Shampoo and conditioner – I buy a liter of each when Beauty Brands has their twice a year liter sales.

16 Vinegar – by the gallon for cleaning, cooking, and canning pickles

17. Earth Balance dairy free butter – Even though I’m the only one who has to eat it, the two pound tub has the best unit price and it keeps well.

18. Nutritional yeast – This is one of the few things I buy from the bulk bins at Whole Paycheck. It is the only dairy free thing that actually tastes like cheese (which I miss terribly.)

19. Some specialty spice – Things like cardamom, star anise, all spice and again just what little I need from the bulk bins instead of paying 20 bucks for the privilege of spice in a bottle.

20.Toilet paper – I buy the largest package the store sells mostly because I’m lazy and don’t want to be in a situation when I run out. Learn how to calculate the unit price of toilet paper in this tutorial on Lazy Budget Chef here.

If you’re not sure how to find the unit price for other items, I got ya covered. Check out my post How to Know You are Saving the Most Money: Find and Compare the Unit Price !


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