Warehouse clubs, the only place you can go to purchase your chicken, your wedding ring, your outdoor furniture, AND your underwear all under one roof! While it can be great to score some savings on toilet paper, today we explore the pros and cons of warehouse club shopping and how to determine if they provide the best frugal options for you!
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Diversifying: It’s a great option for your portfolio and your life! It’s especially relevant today as we talk about warehouse clubs. Who have seen diversify better them?! I mean where else can you go to get your chicken AND your underwear! All manufactured by the same company. Hey if it works for them, it can work for you. Diversifying – try something different today!
Notable Notes:
We combined the following articles to figure out whether buying in bulk is worth it, and what the yearly savings might be in light of yearly consumption.
- The author of this article figured they used about 49 rolls of TP per year – https://www.controlnroll.com/how-much-toilet-paper-do-we-use/
- Cost of TP at Sam’s Club https://www.samsclub.com/sams/mm-bath-tissue-fq-45-roll-235-sheet/prod21231904.ip?xid=plp_product_1_1
- This article approximates how much shampoo a person with medium length hair uses each year; answer – 3 (24oz bottles) https://www.menshealth.com/trending-news/g19539457/serving-size/?slide=2
- This article estimates they used 40 (56 gallon) trash bags per year https://www.dumpsters.com/blog/us-trash-production
If considering joining a warehouse club, first track your consumption. Find out how much of each product you use yearly and consider if the yearly savings (offset by the membership fee) is worth the warehouse shopping!
More from the Internet:
This article from The Balance further explores how much buying in bulk from warehouse clubs can save you financially. They give great tips on what to buy in bulk, and what not to buy, along with some of the lesser known items you can purchase from warehouse clubs for some cost saving goodness!
More from Jen and Jill:
- Consider splitting the cost of membership with a friend
- Go shopping with a friend and split some of the bulk items purchased
Items to buy in bulk include:
meats, ready-to-eat meals, canned items & non-perishable/shelf-stable items, paper products like toilet paper, paper towels, and paper plates, diapers – they did the math! Candy, laundry and dish detergent, garbage bags, coffee (if you drink a lot), dog food or treats, toothbrushes, cereal, jewelry
What NOT to buy in bulk
Skip food items that will go bad before you have time to eat them, Bread, Perishables, unless you have a large family
- Other things to consider
-buying in bulk may mean you eat more of those peanut butter filled crackers – and thereby ruin all of your fitness goals!
-Avoid impulse buys! Warehouse clubs change out their merchandise and it’s always tempting – so beware!
Simply put: Frugality will always err on the side of simplicity
BILL OF THE WEEK – Emma – Thank you for sharing your bill of the week and for your tempered and realistic approach to frugality. So glad you parked close to the ferry!
If you want to submit your bill of the week visit frugalfriendspodcast.com/bill to leave us a bill
Lightning Round
This article from Money Crashers lists 11 things you shouldn’t buy in bulk, including:
- Brown rice & whole grains
- Nuts & Seeds
- Liquid Bleach
- Spices
- Olive Oil
- Eggs
- Sun Screen
- Canned Veggies
- Condiments
- Frozen Items
- Plastics/Paper products
Well, we can’t say we agree with the whole list of 11 things – but it’s worth noting!
Frugal Friends Book Club
It’s March and we’re reading Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver
- If you want a free copy, leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, screenshot the review and send it to frugalfriendspodcast@gmail.com. We’ll select the winners at the end of the month.
See you next week!
