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The ultimate guide to buying in bulk

A well-executed bulk purchase of an item can save you a lot of money, Hamm writes, but a poorly-executed one can cost you money,

Over the last several years, Sarah and I have become reasonably skillful practitioners in the art of buying items in bulk, through trial and error.

Our goal, of course, is to save money. A well-executed bulk purchase of an item can save you a lot of money. A poorly-executed one, though, can聽cost聽you money, as Sarah and I have learned the hard way several times over the years.

Lately, I鈥檝e been trying to write an 鈥渦ltimate guide鈥� to buying in bulk, but I鈥檝e realized that everything I write essentially boils down to a handful of sensible principles. If you stick to these steps, you鈥檒l save significant money when making bulk purchases. The further you stray, the less likely you are to save money on your bulk buys.

1. Price-per-unit is king.
The entire goal of a bulk buy is to make sure that the cost per unit is as low as you can possibly get it, then buying a ton when that cost per unit is low. Thus, to really maximize a bulk buy, you need to know how to calculate cost per unit quickly and efficiently.聽

Cost per unit, in concept, is really easy to calculate. A 鈥渦nit鈥� is the actual amount of something you鈥檙e getting. A roll of toilet paper is not a unit. However, a square foot of toilet paper is a unit. A bottle of ketchup is not a unit. However, a fluid ounce of ketchup is a unit. An actual unit will always directly relate to how much you use, so a bottle of ketchup might be used a varying amount depending on the size of the bottle, but you鈥檒l usually use an ounce of ketchup the same way regardless of the bottle it鈥檚 in.

Cost per unit requires you to figure out how many units you would actually be buying (usually multiplication). Then, you take the total cost of your purchase and divide that by the number of units.

What you are always looking for are situations where you can push the cost per unit at least 50% below what you would normally pay. Usually, the large versions of the items have a lower cost per unit, but it鈥檚 worth calculating it in each case.

2. Never bulk buy an item you haven鈥檛 tried before.
You may find that the product doesn鈥檛 meet your needs, even if you expect that it will.

For example, I bulk bought a particular type of men鈥檚 body wash a while back, only to find out that it dried out my skin something fierce. It gave my skin a feel that could be described as crunchy or crispy. That鈥檚 not something you want in a soap that you鈥檙e going to use daily for the next several months.

I鈥檝e bought trash bags where the bottom has ripped out of nearly every other bag. I鈥檝e bought hand soap that didn鈥檛 lather. I can go on and on with examples of products that seem like they would work but simply do not.

Don鈥檛 waste your time bulk buying an item unless you鈥檝e personally used it and you know that it works for your needs.

3. Never bulk buy perishable goods unless you鈥檙e going to go home and process all of it immediately.
We rarely buy anything perishable in bulk. On the rare occasions when we have done so, we鈥檝e gone home and used聽all聽of it within a day or two, either directly in meals or by canning or freezing it.

Sometimes, you will find stupendous deals on fresh items if you buy a lot of them. For example, I once bought about fifty pounds of tomatoes for the price of about five.

The problem is that even if you save 50% or 75% off of the item, if you don鈥檛 use a significant portion of that item, you鈥檙e not saving money. Even then, you still have to deal with getting rid of the excess. With perishables, your window of opportunity to use the item is limited and the cleanup of the excess can be messy.

If you have a plan for all of it 鈥� say, going home and making four fresh lasagnas and freezing the rest of the tomatoes you just bought 鈥� then it can still be a good buy. Without a plan, though, a bulk buy of a perishable item is more trouble than it鈥檚 worth.

4. Stack coupons and sales when bulk buying.
The best time to bulk buy is when you can stack coupons on top of bulk purchases. With a bit of planning, you can do this really well, especially if there are no limits.

When I browse through coupons, if I happen to notice a particularly good one, I鈥檒l print off several copies of that coupon. Then, I鈥檒l hold onto them and wait until there鈥檚 a sale 鈥� and, surprisingly often, the local stores will have a sale on that item well before the coupons expire. At that point, I鈥檒l go in there and drop all of the coupons at once on top of that sale.

Most stores will work with you on this, particularly if the sale doesn鈥檛 have a limit. Explain that you want to use these coupons before you go through and they鈥檒l make it work for you.

Remember, the goal is to minimize the cost per unit, and using a coupon on top of a sale achieves that quite effectively.

5. Ensure you have adequate storage space before you buy.
If you don鈥檛 have a place to put the stuff, you鈥檙e going to find yourself in a pretty serious pickle when you get home. If you鈥檙e thinking of buying something in bulk, make sure you have storage space before you make that purchase.

Also, it鈥檚 worth noting that you should never,聽ever聽consider increasing your living space just so you can swing more bulk buys. If you鈥檙e looking at a home and are leaning toward a more expensive one because of a roomier basement for your bulk purchases, then you need to re-think things. Getting a bigger mortgage, paying more property taxes, and having higher utility costs so you can store some extra bulk items is not a wise financial decision.

Many families in our area have a storage room in the basement that also doubles as a tornado or storm shelter (we have one, but it functions as a laundry room for us). This is a great spot for stowing away bulk purchases so that they don鈥檛 take up kitchen space.

6. Don鈥檛 pin yourself against the wall by running out of non-perishables.
If you get into a routine of buying in bulk, you鈥檒l start to get used to just heading to the place where you keep those purchases and refilling whenever you need something. Of course, even with bulk purchases, you鈥檒l run out eventually 鈥� and then, if you need something, you鈥檙e up against the wall.

A good routine to establish is whenever you see that you only have one or two items left out of your bulk stash of a particular item, start actively looking for a bargain on that item. Some items go faster than others, so keep that in mind. I like to make sure I鈥檓 good for at least one full month with most nonperishables.

Generally, if I know I have enough of an item already, I don鈥檛 even look at sales on that item, but sometimes something absurd jumps on you. I recently purchased a ton of men鈥檚 body wash for roughly a quarter a bottle. I鈥檓 now sitting on quite a few bottles, but I鈥檓 probably going to donate some to the local food pantry.

7. Don鈥檛 bulk buy everything at once unless you have an enormous bankroll.
When people first start getting into bulk buying, they often go crazy and buy聽everything聽in bulk, spending themselves into debt. You do聽not聽want to start off by heading to the store and dropping several hundred dollars if you don鈥檛 have it in hand.

A much better approach is to simply raise your household supply budget by about 25% for several months. Use that extra 25% to engage in some bulk buying, taking advantage of big sales when you see them.

Eventually, you won鈥檛 need that extra 25%. In fact, your household budget will now be significantly lower than it was before because most of your household purchases are simply irregular refills of things you already bought in bulk, plus you now can sit and wait for the truly good discounts.

Don鈥檛 do it all at once unless you have that cash easily available or you undo the financial advantages of bulk buying.

8. Split up bulk buys with friends and family.
A final tip: if you see a really big bulk purchase that could save you a lot of money 鈥� like a 50 pound bag of rice or something like that 鈥� but you just can鈥檛 deal with the amount you鈥檇 be buying, talk to some friends. If you can get three friends to split that huge bag of rice with you, you鈥檒l each wind up with 12.5 pounds of rice, which is much more tolerable, plus three of your friends got the same discount.

I鈥檒l often check with people in my area on social media for these kinds of bulk purchases. If you can find a few people who want to jump on board, just go ahead and buy it, then split it up into equal amounts and figure out what everyone owes you.

Sure, you might end up getting stuck with a double portion of a bulk buy, but you can always turn to your friends to get rid of聽that聽via someone else.

Bulk buying really can save you a lot of money, but you can鈥檛 just charge in. Plan things in advance a little bit and you鈥檒l be very glad you did.

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