Saturday, January 28, 2012

Why I bulk buy certain things and other bits and bobs.

First of all I moderate my comments as it's my blog and I can do what I want....right....LOL


Occasionally my brother leaves me messages and he left me this one:


i have decided i had better not try any of those recipes just in case as i only have a weeks supply of toilet roll in !
they cant be that good if the author needs a back up supply like that !
just how long does it take to get over each one ?
ha!ha!.... nick



That was in reply to this post.  Now I know he was joking around, but I'm not sure he understands why I do what I do.   So I thought I'd explain.


I mentioned in that post I had enough toilet paper stocked up for six months.  On that shopping trip I picked up 4 packs of 12 double rolls of toilet paper, which should last us 4 months, if not more.  Generally I think they cost around $5.99 to $6.99 a package (they may be more I never pay full price).  So we'll use the $5.99 price here.  They were on sale for $4.99 per package and I had a $1 coupon, so all in all I saved $2 per package on the regular price, saving me a total of $8.


Another thing we use a lot of is I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.  We average a 1lb tub a week.  It is normally around $2.49 a tub, but comes on sale every three to four month at $1 per tub.  I generally stock up and buy 12 tubs at a time, which will last us 3 months.  By buying them on sale I save $18.88.  So just on those two items alone, which we use and a regular basis and I have room to store I have an extra $26.88 in our pocket.


Granted if I had a very small fridge and no room to store these items I couldn't take advantage of these deals, but I am lucky enough to have both.  What this means though, is that if a nutritionist looked at my weekly grocery shop it would be very unbalanced as I will buy things on sale, so some weeks it looks as though I haven't bought fruit, where in reality I already have fruit in the fridge or freezer from a prior week when I stocked up on it when it was on sale.

I have been shopping like this for years and wouldn't do it any other way, as I hate paying full price for things, especially food.  Also this system works for me, and I am happy with it.


Do you want free onions, see this post over here.  I have never heard of doing this before, but when I next buy green salad onions, I'll give it a go.  Also cathy@home grows potatoes from potato peelings, see this post.  For more detail on how to do it read this  I think I will try this, this year.


I would also like to thank Juliebadoolie for signing up using my referral for Swagbucks.  If you have any questions please just let me know.  If anyone else wants any tips regarding Swagbucks just leave me your email address in a comment (I WILL NOT PUBLISH IT) and I will get back to you.  If anyone would like to sign up I would really appreciate it, if you would sign up under my referral code: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Appleby   

Swagbucks is a great way of earning free things, in my case $5 Amazon.ca gift cards for being on the computer.  If you live in Britain, the States or Canada, you can participate.  I have now earned $500 in Amazon.ca gift cards since I signed up in December of 2009.





20 comments:

Caroline said...

Gill, I usually shop this way to. Wouldn't have it any other way as I to also hate to pay full price if I don't need to. However we don't have coupons the way you do which puts us at a slight disadvantage.
Caroline

that british woman s brother said...

way-hay!!!
fame at last!!
me-joking about on my big sisters blog - who would have thought it ?
nick.....

Kaisievic said...

Great way to shop, Gill, however, my household is so fluid with young adults coming and going that it would never work for me, at this stage of my life, unfortunately.

Hugs, Kaye xoxox

Nancy said...

My husband and I are sale shoppers as well and always have a stash of this or that in the house. :)

Debby said...

I so agree Gill, by shopping in bulk on sale and with coupons we have been saving a ton of $$. In the process I also pick up things to donate to our soup kitchen for free or close to free. It's great to have a stash to pull from, less trips to the grocery store = more $$ in the bank. Love your blog

simplicityinthemaking said...

I am in the positions to be able to shop this way as well. However it took 6 months to get to the stock-up postion fincially within a budget. We also have a larger family and live in the boonies, where having these supplies on hand is a must as we never know what weather will keep us at home. I am like you and love the shoppers drug mart specials only, with coupons as added bonuses. I have two questions for you. 1) I have done Swagbucks for over a year now and only have 800 points because all I do in the survey of the day. I find the tasks too time consuming when I time myself to only an hour on the computer a day. Too many other things to do! What else can I do without facebook? 2) where do you get coupons? I only get them in the paper once a month, we use to get them weekly.

Cindy@NorthofWiarton said...

Really, is there any other way to shop? Carry on Gill, as it works for how many of us out here?

Jane and Chris said...

Gill, I have enough swagbucks to order Downton Abbey series 2 with Amazon cards...thanks for telling me about this.
I buy vegan marg on sale too, and coffee when that goes on sale. It's a lot to pay out in one go, but the long term savings are worth it.
Jane x

Angela said...

4 x 12 double packs = 96 loo rolls.
you reckon that is 4 months [16 weeks worth]
do you REALLY use SIX loo rolls a week? how many people in your household? are Canadian loo rolls shorter? Three loo rolls last two of us for a fortnight, and I wouldn't say I was 'thrifty' with my paper requirements.
I am now busy having very inappropriate thoughts about the loo roll consumption of my friends.

please answer my queries at your own convenience!

blessings x

Jackie McGuinness said...

I am going to have to try growing the onions like this. I always have some in the fridge.

~Carla~ said...

I joined under your link for you, Gill! I hope you get the credit or whatever.. :)

Your brother is funny!! lol! And yes, I understand why you shop the way you do, I try to do the same! :)

Meri said...

Gill, I refuse to pay full price any more for anything. Its fun to save and see how low you can get that yearly total.

Rose said...

I totally understand why you shop like this...if I had room I would do it too.

Lena said...

We have about 4 months worth of toilet paper right now, and I'm going to pick up two more 12 roll packs next week because I have coupons. But we go through tons of toilet paper-there are 4 of us plus I babysit 2 kids twice a week. And if it goes down the drain anyway, why pay full price, right? :) I never pay full price for things we use all the time too!

Cathy said...

Thought I'd commented here but obviously not lol
I have the same feeling about a nutritionist looking at my trolley as like you I tend to buy and stock when things are reduced - 'cept for fresh that is.
Toilet rolls are one thing I always stock up on - never know when all the grandchildren will arrive and I'm sure they have never been taught the 3 piece rule my dad used to try and get us to use.
One to wipe - one to shine - and one to poslish clean!
I won't pay more than a certain prce for the brand we prefer so i buy up big when they are reduced - I tend to think you have to have a little bit of luxury in your life and compared to some of the sorts around ours is luxury!
When the Flora we use is reduced I also stock up but it goes in the freezer as soon as it comes in the door.
Cathy

Kim said...

Wow a tub of margerine a week! I too use I can't believe it's not butter but recently found out that it is hydrogenated - so trans fats - crap!

Also the green onion thing - I am sure it works, but I always use both the green & white parts so it wouldn't work for me - the white is the best part in my mind :)

Unknown said...

We like stock piling. It's well worth doing because it will save you a fortune in the long run. I'm all for it!

Sft x

Scarlet said...

I couldn't have started to live on £100 a month for the 3 of us if I didn't keep well stocked up with things- many bought when they were on offer.

EG CameraGirl said...

I think you are a better shopper than I am...but I'm learning!

Anonymous said...

I shop this way to! Anyway who looks at my cart would think I was insane but it works for me. Our market recently had a can can sale so I have 6 cases of canned tomato's, veggies, potato's, and gravies stocked against the garage wall.

This week our market had ground meet on sale for 1.99lb(which is cheap right now) and I had 4 coupons for 2.00 off a pack of meat so I bought 4 large packages.

Its the only way to get through now a days.

{{{SIGH}}}

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