Our Simplicity Plan Part 4: Useful Quantities VS Bulk Purchases

There's really no eloquent way to say this. If it rots before you eat it or just simply creates more clutter...then it may be a bulk purchase. By bulk, I mean by the case, multiple pounds, commercial or oversized amounts; not by the ounce or pound in your bulk food section at the grocery store. Cases of toilet paper, 20 pound jars of peanut butter, 36 cans of soup, 5000 BandAids...that sort of thing. Co-op's, Amazon, Costco, BJ's, and Sam's...oh my!

There are benefits for some products and some people, but not for all. A deal must be fully useful or able to be safely stored out of the way or it's not a deal at all. Another issue that I'll spend more time on in Part 5, is all the packaging that sometimes come with these things. I know the customer leaves with their stuff in boxes and that's good. What's not good is the carton that holds a box that holds 24 boxes, like some bulk juice boxes and bulk snacks. Some items do reduce wasted packaging, like rice and beans. Buying them in 20lb paper bags and storing them in jars or buckets, eliminates 20 plastic bags per recyclable paper bag.

Some examples...

A. The Kid, is actually an adult and very self sufficient. Her food budget is less than minimal, most of which is spent on quick foods that fit into her schedule or for her open house dinners, where she cooks for up to 20 people on as many dollars. She grew up a semi-veggie but somewhere between leaving home and college kid poverty, she now eats things I would never, can't ever, but, she plans her useful quantities purchases on her limited budget and shops accordingly. 5 lb's of. bulk size bags of cereal, cases of ramen noodles, frozen foods, soups, pre-made turkey burger patties, day old bagels to freeze, reduced 'Manager's Special' meats to grill, produce, and bulk milk deals are what she looks for.  Those are her useful every day needs. Even though she won't admit that she learned to shop like that from me, I'm still proud to watch her turn $40.00 into many meals. She has limited space for dry storage however, so even though she'd love that closet full of toilet paper and canned goods, she likes to keep her clothes in it more. For her, a case of toilet paper would be a bulk purchase, not a useful quantity.

B. The Guy and I, have different needs. While we live in Reality Land and need to buy by the roll, pound, bottle, jar, or can quite often recently, we have figured out that certains things (like toilet paper) in bulk are useful. They save money and time when you only need to buy them once every 6 months. Other useful quantities in our house include: masa, rice noodles, rice, quinoa, beans, distilled water, herbs, olive oil, some flours, yeast, agave nectar, maple syrup, sea salt, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, Frank's Red Hot sauce, coffee beans, organic roasted tomatoes,  Thai coconut milk, green chilies, castile soap, epsom salts, Simple Green, borax, baking soda, baking powder, and vinegars.
These are our basic must have and can live off of needs, our basic pantry. It makes everything else more affordable and appreciated. We will find the room to store them, even if it means storing the case O' T.P. in the storage unit. For us, a 4 gallon milk deal would spoil unless we are making cheese or yogurt. Our freezer needs to hold all of the nuts, some of the grains, and flours here in the desert, so for us, that turkey burger patty deal would be a bulk purchase.

C. A 5 pound bag of spinach decomposes at the same rate as 1 pound bag, as does all other produce, dairy and meat in quanitiy. Even bulk pet foods are not too helpful for us. We found the cats and dog stopped eating the 50lb bags at about -25 to -30 lbs. They want fresh tasting food as much as we do.
Another issue of buying in bulk is when you don't or can't try the product first, and more than once. My first Bob's pizza crust was one of the few edible pizzas I had eaten in months, but, if I had made it again, I would had confirmed I don't like garfava flour...which is odd because I like both beans, as beans. My case of gross pizza crust still lingers in my pantry and I'm going to have to donate it.
I am aware of how lucky I am to live in a holistic minded community and to have access to a dozen or more health food stores. Now, I try the product 3 or more times, then buy my discounted Co-op or Amazon case. I am also aware that our family of two is not at all average (in any way). I understand why large families buy in bulk more than we do...but I've also tripped over my share of boxes of things and stuff in homes and wondered how much of the bulk life...is a possessions or cluttery issue rather than actually about the savings.

Summary: Bulk spending is only helpful if you use ALL of the purchase in a short amount of time or you can safely store it out of the way for months. Useful quantities are the things that you/r (family) can use before they spoil and do not fill your space and life with it's presence. For me, not filling the landfills is as important as not filling my home. I have a deep sense of commitment to care for this planet and the children we are leaving it to. Which leads me to Part 5: Kermit was wrong. It's easy being green.