I have a love/hate relationship with bulk warehouse type of stores. Certain things are, certainly, cheaper when you buy them in mass quantities. But a lot of things are just bigger. Not cheaper.
There are a few things I've purchased in bulk because the bulk price was a better deal, but it's taken my family jokin' FOREVER to use all of it up. The cheaper price doesn't justify the use of shelf space in my already space-challenged kitchen.
Some of my bulk buying boofs have been popcorn kernals, canola oil, and pancake syrup.
What say you? What have you purchased in bulk that you wished later someone had knocked some sense in your head before you bought? Are there items that you think really DO make sense to get in a larger quantity?
Inquiring minds (mine) want to know.
Half-Pint House 
Been there. The popcorn would be worth while at our house, but definitely not the oil or syrup. But yes, we’ve learned this lesson as well. It’s only worth the lower cost IF we’ll use it. Things we do buy in bulk: flour/grain, yeast, ketchup, olive oil, cheese, rice, canned fruit, organic spinach, organic carrots, ground beef, and chicken.
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Well, we DO go through a fair amount of popcorn around here, but that 25 pound bag took us forever to go through. 🙂 I don’t have a real pantry – that’s part of my problem.
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White vinegar and Baking soda for cleaning! 😉
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Also, paper/disposable goods, household goods, and food for the freezer.
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We just finished doing a major cost comparison on Sam’s vs Walmart vs Kroger on our frequently used items. We found that Sam’s is definitely cheaper on most things–even when comparing to generics we buy at other stores. We lack storage space, too, so Ed put up some shelves in our laundry room for extra storage. We definitely do well to buy snack foods like Goldfish, Ritz, Raisins, Graham Crackers, Apple sauce, etc. We have been getting chicken there for awhile, but last time we found some good roasts. We also have had luck with breakfast foods like bagels, granola bars and even bread. Keep in mind our local grocery stores don’t have much competition, so they might get away with higher prices than St. Louis stores. I don’t know.
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We buy syrup in bulk because my girls eat frozen waffles almost every day, and they can use a LOT of syrup! We also buy the big oil for the deep fryer.
We have a chest freezer in the garage, so we buy waffles, mini corn dogs, corn, and chicken nuggets at Sams.
I also buy the girls’ allergy medicine in bulk. With three taking Zyrtec (actually the generic Sam’s brand) daily, we use up the pills long before their expiration date. And I buy my ibuprofen there.
We buy the large block of cheese, and we rarely have to throw any moldy cheese out. I also buy quarts of cream.
Like you, I don’t have much pantry space, so I don’t buy things like canned goods in bulk. I did buy a big pack of mac & cheese because it was so much cheaper, and I knew we would use it relatively quickly.
Biggest bulk regret: my husband bought a large bag of peanuts in the shell. He’s the only one that eats them. We had them for a LONG time, and I think they were responsible for our pantry moth infestation!
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I purchased the giant tub of mustard which we then had to transfer into the smaller bottle when it started to get empty. All well and good, except we really didn’t have room in the fridge for the opened large container. I have been baned from purchasing that item again …even though it was much, much cheaper [smile].
~Luke
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Oh yeah, and there’s that ginormous jar of dill pickles that we’ve had in our fridge forever. It takes up very valuable milk space.
*sigh*
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TOILET PAPER! Always a wise bulk purchase for our house.
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I love to buy in bulk! BUT – I probably don’t need the huge bag of Pretzel M&Ms that I picked up recently! LOL
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yes- toilet paper (6 ladies in one house = never too much tp!), spaghetti, lemonade mix, laundry soap, pinto beans, flour, rice, oatmeal, ziplock freezer bags. when storage challenged, I bought glass canisters at Target that served as storage and looked good on top of the cabinets also. (ps- don’t forget a stepstool!)
no- canola oil, junk food (we’ll eat as much as we buy at a ration that seems to go even more quickly than “regular” sizes!), untried mixes (we bought a cornbread mix that was not good. ugh!)
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