Stocking up on sale items OR just buying what you need for the week

[jody]

Which one do you think actually cost the least?

I've read that making a menu and just buying just what you need for it each week actually cost less than buying sale items and stocking up, even when you end up paying full price for your menu items because there is no waste.

I have tried it both ways and I'm beginning to think I do save more by not tying up my money in food stock, even though it was bought on sale and just sticking to weekly shopping. Of course, I do read the adds and try to plan my menus around things I find on sale.

What are your thoughts on this?

[Gina]

I doubt there is a clear-cut answer to this, so to me the answer is 'it depends'.

There are sales, and there are Sales. If you aren't getting that good a deal on something, it might not pay to buy and store stuff - storing stuff does take space and time to rotate/organize.

As to tying up the money, how much money is one talking about, and what else would you be doing with it? If you are a saver, putting it in the bank wouldn't give you much these days. If you are a spender, keeping the money in 'goods' you'll eventually use might be considered indirect savings.

If you buy things on sale that you'll never really use, or they go bad, it doesn't matter how good the price was, that's a total loss of money.

I personally am a stocker. I do it for several reasons. It's what I learned growing up so it's habit. I like having lots of extra 'just in case' here in 'The Acts of God Themepark' (SoCal) - I consider it food insurance in case 'the big one' hits.

I also believe I save money,though I've never kept track, but I do consider myself a wise shopper. There also are a couple things that have gone up significantly in price and the extras I have on hand have become an even better deal.

[Bastelmutti]

I kind of do both. We have little storage room and no extra freezer or anything, so stocking up might mean an extra couple of packages of meat in the freezer or 5 boxes of pasta, no more. I try to vary the stores I hit each week so that I can get the best deals from each, esp. on bread, snacks for school, staples like pasta, tomatoes, etc. The ethnic stores have the best prices on produce, so I try to stick to those for fruit and veg as much as I can.

I have seen people with enormous pantries stocked with flats of stuff from the club stores and stuff like that & just can't see all that stuff getting used up.

[jody]

"I have seen people with enormous pantries stocked with flats of stuff from the club stores and stuff like that & just can't see all that stuff getting used up."

I totally agree with you there. That would be a nightmare to deal with.

[pinkytoe]

If I see an absolutely phenomenal buy for something I know we will use, I will stock up. Mostly though, I buy what I need every week so that I can keep the monthly grocery expenditure under budget. I have stocked up in the past and for whatever reason, don't always end up using the product and it takes up too much space.

[Mrs. Hermit]

I "stock up". I put it in quotes because I'm feeding 3 teens and a young 20's, and friends too. Somehow no amount of food lasts long around here.....

[redfox]

I do some stocking up. Cases of canned non-fat beans, soup, pasta, coffee, pasta sauce, tuna fish, and butter, all from Costco. Then we augment with fresh stuff from the co-op, and baking at home.

I am probably giving up the Costco membership now that the teen are grown & gone, as we aren't going through the quantity we were. Though my builder husband does joke about bringing home a six pack of circular saws...

[kib]

I've found it goes something like this: I buy a stock of a "backup item" ... maybe a somewhat less than desirable dishwasher powder because it was such a great sale. Then I wind up buying the variety I really like anyway. The stocked product sits there taking up shelf space. I guess if there were ever shortage of dishwasher powder I'd be sitting pretty, but it hardly seems worth it.

With a few exceptions that I will stock up on, like canned tomatoes and wine, most of our food products are perishable. We just don't do a lot of beans and grains. Even things I didn't know are perishable, like nuts, eventually get rancid and inedible. Spices get tasteless. Coffee and tea can also get stale and flavorless. I don't really like having back up storage of rice, flours and beans because we don't ordinarily eat those foods and having a rotation means yes, we have to eat lots of them.

[loosechickens]

We stock up when we find something we use regularly at a really good price, but we don't just buy something because it's on sale, it's got to be something we would be buying at the regular price. We are also very careful about rotating and using our food supply, so food is very seldom wasted or allowed to go stale.

If you can discipline yourself to buy only what you know you will use, and then rotate your supply so nothing goes out of date before use, I don't see how you could NOT save money. If you buy something for 99 cents that is normally $1.29, you've saved money, whether you buy one, six or enough to last for a year, to me.

[happystuff]

I also do both. I'll stock up on those sale items that we definitely will use and I'll buy what I need for the week. I've been on a very limited grocery budget since before the holidays and really need to take advantage of sales, but still stay within the budget.