Does Buying In Bulk Still Make Sense When Inflation Rules?

If you have been with me for a while, you know that we live remotely. Far away from the conveniences of city life. In my opinion, there are not enough conveniences to make me want to live in the big city or for any reason for that matter, but I digress...

All that to say we do not run to town or to the city on a whim. Each trip is carefully planned out. There is a method to our madness. In this post, I will be discussing the benefits and downfalls of buying in bulk during Super-Inflation. 

We purchase fresh produce and dairy, fill up with gas and run other errands in a small town about an hour away when necessary. Our bulk shopping trips are done in a large city that is a couple hours away. The trip usually takes all day long. After hours of driving, shopping and running errands we are so grateful when we get back home safely. 

We have items shipped to our home whenever possible. We, like everyone else, have had to make some changes to our shopping habits. Staying out of the stores is the main way that we fight inflation. 

We love the convenience of shipping, but not everything can be shipped. I decided this time to pick up everything from the store instead of having our dry goods shipped. We did have a couple of items that had to be shipped because they we not available for pick-up nor were they available inside the store.

I ran into the store to pick up the dog food for our 17-year-old Mini-Dachshund who is toothless, nearly blind and deaf that weighs about 8 pounds. They do not have this dog food listed online, so I couldn't just add it to my pick-up order. I was in shock at the price. I'm sure that I will regret it, but I did not purchase the dog food. 

I regret it! I paid more. I had it shipped, so I don't have to go back. 

I purchased the same dog food in November, and it was $43.78.

Gasoline is now over $4 at most stations in the city. $4.09 at one of the least expensive stores. It was just under $4 in town where they haven't received new shipments yet. The prices are usually higher in town compared to the city, but we were able to fill up as Sam's for $3.72. They had large signs everywhere that said if you weren't a member, no gas for you! They also closed down their super busy convenient store in front of their pumps. What is up with that? I get the gas thing because of the coming shortages that are being talked about in the news, again, but closing one of the busiest convenient stores that I have ever seen, why? 

Okay, here is how I keep up with our grocery list, first, I write down everything that we need when we are low or out. I do this every time without fail, so I have an idea of what to buy. This is a starting point for me. When it is time to order, I make a master list of needs and wants. I then transfer my list to the online order form. Then I start adding and subtracting from my list until I have reached my budget limit and have met my needs for our pre-planned meals. I can tell you this, it is a lot less than what we used to buy, and it is also different products, so we can stay within our budget. We buy mostly ingredients, so this is a big help with budgeting. Pre-packaged foods are expensive and most of them are unhealthy to boot. 

I also have to consider how much room that we actually have in our freezers. Pretty much everything fit this time. I put a couple of frozen meals in the refrigerator to eat in the next couple of days, so it worked out just fine. My freezers are cleaned out and fragments are gathered up before we pick up our order. We "Gather Up the Fragments" every week, so the refrigerator is cleaned out weekly. Nothing goes to waste except occasionally, like last night. I had pealed potatoes for hashbrowns, and they went bad pretty fast. I didn't expect this to happen because they usually last when stored in water. There must have been a bad potato in the batch.

While I was creating my pick-up order online, the chicken breasts that I ordered disappeared. I checked and they were out of stock. I had been watching the prices for a couple of weeks prior, planning out my order, not only did they go up in price, but they also put on limits and cases were no longer available. So, no chicken for us and no dog food for the dog. Hmmm, what will I do. By the way, chicken is the least expensive protein for us. I purchased more ground chuck to replace the chicken. It was just .08 cents more per pound. They are about to go up on beef and have gone up in other clubs already. We bought a case of ground chuck to stave off the Super-Inflation we are experiencing and to replace the lack of chicken due to shortages. This was our largest purchase. 

There were many items that were out of stock and there were no replacements. It was a little bit of a chore to get my order completed, but now that the world has been turned upside-down it is a really interesting process and much more challenging. Shortages and Super-Inflation are just the tip of the iceberg. People freaked out when they couldn't buy Uncrustables for $10.38 a pound. They just couldn't figure out how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crusts for less than $1 a pound. I hope that we have all learned how to make do or do without because the crazy of the world just keeps on getting worse and changes almost daily. 

There are a lot more frustrations to bulk shopping these days mostly due to shortages, massive price increases and sticker shock. If I know that something is going to go up in price that we need, I will place an order and have it shipped if it can be shipped. The big box store prices seem to rise at a slower pace compared to grocery stores whose prices can go up daily. But, when they do increase prices, it is a big increase at one time.

Here is a list of the pros and cons of bulk shopping during Super-Inflation:

Pro: Buying in bulk usually saves money.

Con: Usually, the prices have steadily increased, so be ready for items to be a lot more expensive.

Pro: Buying in bulk can help during times of shortages.

Con: The items you want may not be available the next time you shop.

Pro: Saves time, fuel and money. No impulse purchases are made when you stick to your list.

Con: None

Pro: Going to the store is a hassle.

Con: You may run out of something before you go shopping the next time.

Pro: Meal planning saves money.

Con: It takes time to plan out meals in advance.

Pro: You will learn to substitute, make do or do without.

Con: None

Pro: You will learn to cook with ingredients instead of unhealthy pre-made foods.

Con: None

Pro: You will learn to be organized and goal oriented.

Con: None

Pro: You learn from your mistakes.

Con: You will make mistakes.

Pro: Sam's Club has their memberships on sale right now. $70 for Plus memberships, $25 for the regular memberships. Regular memberships do not include free shipping or free pick-up services.

Con: You have to buy a membership to shop at a big box store.

I hope that this blog post helps you to decide if buying in bulk is worth it when inflation rules. We have been shopping like this for years and years. It really works for us. I know that things are tough out there for so many of us all around the world and that every person has different circumstances and needs. My goal is to encourage everyone who reads this blog. Thank you for stopping by and encouraging me to continue publishing blog posts.

Shabbat Shalom,

Mrs. Smith