Is bulk buying always a bargain?

by Jen (March 31, 2008)

When there’s a dollar difference between the 8 oz bottle and the 32 oz drum, it seems brilliant to buy that larger size. But sometimes you actually end up wasting money, or accumulating so much clutter it’s not worthwhile.

Bath Products

The worst. Lotions shouldn’t be used for more than two years after you first open them. If you’re brand loyal and know you’ll use the whole 32 oz bottle, go for it. If you can recall times you’ve had more than one lotion sitting around for ages, as you bounced from one brand to another, stick to a smaller bottle. Otherwise, you’ll end up either throwing much of the product out or stashing it somewhere out of guilt and creating more clutter than it’s worth. (Tip: when I threw out everything I hadn’t used in a few months, I needed half the storage space I thought I needed in my bathroom.)

Kitchen Products

With kitchen products like cleaners, hoarding can work better. As long as the bottles fit under the sink or wherever you keep them, there’s usually not too much concern about them going bad. And most of us are happy to use our dishwashing liquid or whatever until it’s used up because it’s not a sexy product like bath gels that makes us want to try new brands all the time.

Food

If you’ve got a family of six that all likes to eat certain things, let the hoarding begin. But if it’s just you, or you and a roommate, that membership to Costco might not be worth what you pay. Although you can freeze part of a package of meat for later, remember to account for the room it’ll take up room in your freezer until you use the rest. Produce is definitely a buy as you go food. Processed foods may have a nice long shelf life, but it seems like every month or so I have to throw out a few half-finished bags or boxes of snack foods because I get bored with the flavor and move onto a new, more exciting item. I’ve learned not to buy more than one identical product at a time unless I know for sure I’m going to finish it, but I still haven’t learned to only buy one bag of any kind of chips at a time, for example. I’ll buy two different flavors of the same thing and - obviously - end up liking one better, which means that’s the only one I finish.

Observe your habits and take note of what you don’t finish using, and you’ll figure out how to buy smart for your household.

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