07/12/2010

Our Costco membership expired this week. We get the membership through Patrick's work, so we don't have to pay for it. That's a nice bonus, however, when it comes time to re-new, there's a bit of a lag time when they forget to pay it. We're all out of food! Those of you who know me well enough, know I REALLY enjoy saving money. I'm not a coupon clipper, but I really enjoy finding ways to save money. I go to Costco 2+ times per month and stock up. I only buy stuff at Publix that I don't need a lot of or don't use much.

A year ago, I went to Publix, Costco and Walmart with a notebook and a list of 10 items I buy/use the most of and did a little price comparison. I did this comparison study after I realized that I was spending $700 a month on groceries at Publix. $8,400 a year! Wow, we eat a LOT. I got our spending down to about $80 a week at Costco and maybe $20 per week at Publix just to pick up a gallon or two of milk and any incidental things I may have forgotten. Do the math....That's $400 a month. Max. $300 short of our prior $700 bill and a total of $4,800 a year.

If you are interested in buying in bulk, figure out how much you are spending now. Do a trial membership at one of the clubs and find out if they carry the items you eat the most. In our case, it was fruit, vegetables and meat.We save $100 a month just in meat alone. Pretty sweet, huh? If you waste a lot of food when you buy from Publix or any other grocery store, then buying in bulk won't be for you. Our fruit never goes to waste because we eat a LOT of fruit. Of course meats and vegetables can always be frozen if needed. I'm against freezing fruit. It never tastes the same.

So there ya have it....pro's and con's to buying in bulk. Find out what works best for you and your family. Since our membership won't be re-newed for a week or so, we had to shop at the grocery store today. It cost us $85 and I'm pretty sure the food will only last us 5 days. I didn't even buy any meat and it still costs us that much. It was pretty much just fruit, vegetables, milk. Like I said, we eat like a family of four.