My Frugal Ways, Part Deux: A Trip to the Bulk Bin

The next time you happen to be in your grocery store, take a look around and see if they have bulk bins. We do a great deal of our shopping at Winco (Idaho) and they have a huge bulk bin section. The amount of money we save buying from those bins is incredible. Some of the items featured there are: Nuts, Dried Fruit, Noodles, Parmesan cheese, Parmesan Romano cheese, Beans, Rice, Spices, Honey & Peanut butter station, Baking goods, Breakfast Cereal, Snacks, and Candy. These are just the categories, the actual selections are massive. For example, there are thirty items in the Noodles section alone, with prices in the noodles section ranging from $0.75 - $1.28 per pound (the cheeses and specialty items in that section are a bit more expensive).

Can you see the potential for savings here? If your store has a bulk bin, please check it out, because you can save a great deal of money by buying some of your staple items there. Why pay twice or three times more for the same item, with the only difference being, that it's in a nice, pretty package. Why pay for the advertising, when you can get the same thing for less money. Not sure if you'll like the product, just buy a small amount and give it a try. Chances are, you will not be able to tell the difference.

Now, I'm not saying that everything in the bulk bins will be less expensive, so you'll need to do a little research to discover that for yourself. Yes, it means spending a little extra time in the store, but if you end up saving money, wouldn't it be worth it? When you go to the store, take a pencil and paper and do some comparison shopping. Check-out the prices of the products you usually buy and compare them to the same items that are in the bulk bins. Once you have a list of those products from the bulk bin that are cheaper, why not give one or two of them a try? Also, find someone you can ask to discover how often the bins are refilled, because the more often they are refilled, the fresher the product.

I realize that some of us have our own individual comfort zones when it comes to trying new things at the grocery store, so just try one or two items the first time. I'm hoping that you will discover that trying new things can not only be exciting, but economical as well.

My New Frugal Ways

I was inspired by Ann over at Ann's Snap Edit & Scrap for sharing some of her frugal ways and it gave me an idea to do something similar. As you all know, we are living in some very tough times and the saying, "a penny saved is a penny earned," has begun to mean something once again. For us, the days of impulse buying are over and the days of frugal living are beginning. So, to start things off, let me share with you my first step down the road of frugal living: making our own bread.

Before I began making our bread, we were paying close to $4.00 a loaf for the sourdough bread we like and just under $2.00 for regular bread. Over a period of a month, we would be shelling-out close to $25.00 on just bread. Now, let's do the numbers: we get a twenty pound bag of flour for $8.00, which lasts a little over a month. The recipe I use requires, in addition to about five cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of oil (I use Crisco) and four teaspoons of sugar. I make about two loaves of bread each week: the regular sandwich bread and a loaf of french bread. I figure that each loaf costs just under $1.00 to make (this includes the flour (about $0.55), salt (one to two pennies), sugar (about $0.05), and oil (about $0.10-$0.20) (optional).

Over the course of a month, I figure that we spend roughly $10.00 on bread, so we're saving close to $15.00 a month by making it ourselves. Now, I know that's not a huge savings, but it is fifteen extra dollars that can be allocated elsewhere.

If you would like to begin making your own sourdough bread, here are the recipes for the starter and for the actual baking:

Sourdough Starter

Baking your Sourdough Bread

Cart Buster Savings Event and Giveaway

I mentioned in a previous post about my start down the road of pursuing a more frugal lifestyle. What does this mean exactly? Well, it means that my family and myself are going to try and save money wherever we can and this means watching the ads for sales. With this said, I would like to pass along some information I just received: It seems that Kroger and its Family of Stores is having a Cart Buster Savings Event. From now until March 14th, you can save on a variety of name-brand products such as: Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, and Hamburger Helper to name just a few. I could go on naming more of the participants, but if you just take a look at the photo on the top of the page, you can get a pretty good idea as to who is participating.

If you're not sure whether you have a Kroger's near you, here's a list of some the stores that belong to the Kroger family: Kroger, Ralph´s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillons, Smith´s, Fry´s, QFC, Baker´s, Owen´s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets, Scott´s Food & Pharmacy, and Fred Meyer.

I will be covering this in more detail in a later article, but for added savings look around for some manufacturer coupons you can use (you can go to coupons.com). I know that General Mills has several that are currently active. I'll be heading over to Fred Meyer tomorrow and I'm going to be on the lookout for some items that I can put in the pantry I'm starting. Oh, and since this will be my first pantry, I'm open to any suggestions as to what to put in it.

Now for the part you've been waiting for: They have provided me with one card to give away to a lucky reader. If you would like to receive a $25.00 gift card, just let me know in the comments and I will pick one lucky winner. If you happen to win, I'll send your mailing information to Blogspark and Kroger, who will send you the gift card.


legal stuff... The Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills provided me with the gift card, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark.