I am a guarded proponent of strategic shopping at your local big box store, heretofore referred to as BBS. Guarded being the operative word. Big box stores offer some great deals; but you must stay vigilant and guarded, or you will surely end up coming home with 50 pounds of filberts and a new ice cooler than you didn’t need.
So first and foremost, shop with a buddy. NOT A PARTNER. These people will only bring out the worst in your shopping and buying urges. Never shop with a spouse or partner for that reason. I never shop at the local BBS with my partner. Never. I get a list together, ask him what he thinks we need and that is the sum total of his contribution until I come home and need some muscle in unloading.
Second, be sure that you and your friend have an agreement to help each other avoid what I call the ‘Aisle of Temptation’. That’s the entryway as you go into your local BBS and it is chock full of tempting offers and items you absolutely do not need. We joke our way past this alleyway of over budget no-needs and get to business.
Stick to your list. I say that but also be aware that there may be some real bargains that you want to consider on the fly. I always get the bottled water that my partner drinks because it is considerably cheaper at the BBS. I also keep an eye out for the laundry beads he uses that I think are overpriced to begin with. At the BBS they occasionally go on sale and are then acceptable to buy.
I buy a lot of meat at the BBS for someone who doesn’t actually eat meat. My partner and pup are voracious carnivores and thus the only way I can afford to feed them meat is to hit the big box store quarterly for my meal haul. I buy stew meat, pork chops, chicken and ground beef if the prices are good and when I get home, I divvy up those large packages into individual meal-size containers, tag and freeze. This makes the expense and effort of cooking with meat much more bearable for someone who, again, doesn’t eat meat herself.
I am wary of buying most produce at the BBS simply because of the sheer size and volume of the packaging. Be very sure you can consume all that you buy is all I am saying here. I can easily use up a bag of onions and even a large bag of carrots because they last a long time when properly stored but a huge basket of berries (unless the grandkids are visiting) is likely going to waste. Lemons last a long time so they are likely ok to purchase but not green beans because I will never use them up before they start to go bad. I have successfully bought a large bag of broccoli and used it all up prior to it going to waste but even that is a push. Just be sure you can use up what you buy before it goes to waste is all I am saying.
I don’t buy a lot of soda to begin with and my shopping buddy tells me that soda is strangely overpriced at our nearby BBS so I don’t even look at it.
As for other food stuffs, this is where knowing your pricing is crucial. I know what a 5 or 10 bag of sugar costs elsewhere, so I know when it is better to buy at the BBS. Same goes for flour, oils, pasta, etc. I know what a better deal/price is for literally everything we consume on a regular basis, so I know when to pounce at the BBS.
Sometimes I will stock up on things I rarely buy like sponges or foil pans because I’ve done the math and know that running to the dollar store isn’t going to save me money in the long run, but I do my homework before I buy one-off items.
For the holidays, I will occasionally buy the mega-sized baking ingredients like 25-pound bags of sugar and 5 dozen eggs but only when I am clearly going to set off on a baking marathon and have a plan to use up the vast majority of the items I buy. Again, this is rare but not unheard of. This strategy works for a big family bar-be-que or holiday dinners as well. Those green beans that I ‘never buy’ for example, I will gladly buy for a big holiday meal because I know I will use up nearly all of them.
Strategic is the name of the game when you plan on venturing into a nearby BBS. What do you buy that saves you money at your local BBS?
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