My personal experiment of doing most of my shopping at Sam's has taught me a few things already. As I delve into my initial contrasting reactions, let me give you the run down on a few pros and cons for me.
Pro: I have a pantry full! I have a freezer full! I have Zip-loc storage and freezer bags under my bed! (Especially now that I use my baggie tree to reuse them.) I have all basic ingredients for cleansers and personal hygiene. (Even some toilet paper for those with aversions to family cloths.)
Con: I have spent close to $400 at Sam's, as well as another $100+ at "regular" grocery stores for small items. True, these small item purchases at the grocery stores led to unnecessary purchases of items that were different and exciting, AKA impulse, not in the budget... Pro: Even though I have spent at least two month's budget on my one month purchases, I do have such an inventory that could feed us for another three months even though it would be extremely repetitive; nonetheless, we would survive. Con: Another issue that I had not anticipated-cluttered pantry, cluttered mind. Yes, the old adage cluttered home=cluttered mind. And I am finding that this overflowing abundance of food is causing unwanted stress. Where do I put it? Where DID I put it? I already had one opened! This has to be used TODAY! It will take me a few minutes to get this out of the pantry I just have to move this and this and this, now I have to store the rest of this in the fridge, under the bed, in the bench..Man! Can't we just have sandwiches??? I keep thinking less is more, less is more.
So my dilemma is...how much money saved is worth the hassle and brain stress? Do let me clarify right now that no number of home canned jars of food affects me this way. Perhaps it is the work involved that provides the opposite effect of great personal satisfaction. A #10 can of tomato sauce, even though purchased for $2.08, does not bring joy when I pull it out of the pantry like my jar of strawberry jam that costs more than that after all is said and done. Is it that I am not doing the proper work to get the satisfaction? Maybe I should take that can of tomato sauce and immediately make jars of homemade spaghetti sauce. Then I have saved money and have my stock that I worked hard for, especially since my garden did not produce enough for me to have my own tomato sauce. Should I take my 10 pounds of flour and immediately make biscuits to freeze, pizza dough to freeze, pie crust to freeze (not my forte!), and bread to freeze? Leaving only what will fit in the flour bin. Would that make a difference? Or would I still be confused by the amount of doughs in my freezer when I go looking for a bag of frozen peas, bag of cheddar, stick of butter or chicken breasts? Hmmm. Sounds like this experiment is not over. Maybe a good week of nothing but kitchen organization would help. Maybe it's just all the time I spending outside this summer is making me lazy inside the house. Maybe I am overthinking it...
What a conundrum!
Do you shop at a wholesale / bulk store? Why or why not?
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