Thrifty Thursday: Making the Most of Bulk Purchases

Most of you know by now, I shop differently than the average consumer. I buy items on sale using a coupon to get them at rock bottom prices. One main strategy I use is to buy in bulk at these low prices so that you have some in your storage and don't have to pay full price later on.

I choose to buy in bulk from the grocery store because, believe it or not, it's cheaper than Costco or Sam's Club. Really! Warehouses generally offer a 10-15% discount. I normally get at least a 50% discount at the grocery store. {There are a few things I do still buy at Costco, just FYI!}

For today's Thrifty Thursday, I thought I'd show you a few ideas on how I "process" my bulk item purchases. I am a busy mom of three, so when I buy in bulk, one of my strategies is to prepare the foods as to minimize meal preparation for the future. One handy item I have that allows me to do this is an upright freezer. It's paid for itself a hundred times over by now in the amount of inexpensive food I'm able to fit inside! Plus, it often saves us from eating out as I have several prepared meals on hand at all times.

Today I want to show a few simple ideas on how to save with buying bulk chicken breasts, ground beef and block cheese.

Last week I price matched Winco at Walmart and got boneless, skinless chicken breasts for .98/lb. {Compare to Costco's frozen chicken breasts at $2.19/lb!} I bought over 10 lbs worth as it was such an incredible deal! We generally only use 1-2 breasts per meal, so I paid $10.02 for what will most likely cover 14-17 meals, which breaks down to .59-.71 per meal.

{On a side note, I was able to price match very easily! They didn't have a problem with me just telling them the prices at Winco. I bought over $100 worth of items for only $37, then saved even more by paying with my $25 Walmart gift card from Nicole's Savings Advantage! Score!!}

Back to the chicken! We froze half individually on a large jelly roll pan covered in plastic wrap. The other half we grilled, then froze individually. When it comes time to prepare dinner, the grilled chicken will take only a fraction of the time to cook after it defrosts. Plus it will have that yummy grilled flavor even in the middle of winter!

Freezing each breast individually is a huge time save as then I was able to put it all in 1 big storage bag so that I can pull out one or two pieces for meals later on.

A couple weeks ago I picked up a package of ground beef that had been marked down at Albertson's. The mark down price made it only $1.11/ lb! {Compare to Costco's $2.69/lb or frozen ground beef for $2/lb!}

I defrosted a package of ground turkey I got a while back for .03 and browned some of the beef and the turkey together with chopped onion. I'm not a huge fan of ground turkey by itself, but when combined with beef, you get the added nutritional value and you can hardly tell the difference. Another tip: even if a recipe calls for 1 lb of ground beef, I use less and you'd never notice!

Altogether I had 4.62 lbs of meat that cost me $3.84. I was able to split it into 6 meals so each cost about .64.

You can also brown the beef and actually make a few meals to freeze. Meatballs and meat loaf are good options. One of my favorite make-ahead meals is lasagna. Actually making the meals and freezing them is a real life saver as you then have inexpensive, home made meals for those nights when you are out of time and energy!

I got these 2 bricks of Tillamook cheese at Albertson's last week for $1.49/ lb. {Compare to non-Tillamook block cheese at Costco for $1.89/lb.} Preparing the cheese for freezing is a no-brainer- I grated it. Normal bags of shredded cheese come in an 8 oz package, however, I opted to stretch them a little farther and made 10 bags, each holding about 6-7 oz and costing me about .60 each. Depending on the meal I prepare, each bag will cover about 2-4 meals.

I've bought several things over the past few weeks that require freezing, so needless to say, my freezer is filled to the brim right now!

These are just a few ideas on making the most of your bulk purchases. I am planning on more posts with even more ideas for the future!

Have an idea to share? Feel free to leave a comment!