Buying in Bulk

Where do people buy in bulk and have it actually be cheaper than the grocery store??? Every single time I look it is more expensive. I shop at Walmart (can't help it) and Aldi. Also I don't buy organic (again no choice). I also do not have cheap farmers markets around me. I have always wondered how prople buy in bulk and actually save money...

There are Amish and Mennonite stores here that sell bulk goods cheap.  The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS, or Mormon) has stores with cheap bulk food as well if there is one near you.

I buy a lot in bulk. Where I get it depends on what I'm buying. In general, check ebay. More specific would depend on what you are looking for.

The trick to doing it is to be prepared to do math. Know the price per pound it costs you now, what type you want, then start looking, comparing price per pound of the item PLUS shipping.
So 10 pounds of something at 3.00 a pound plus 17.00 shipping is 47.00 divided by 10 equals 4.70 a pound. How much are you paying locally for it? If it's less than that. keep looking.

I also buy cheaply from discount stores that sell items that the grocery stores send to auction for asst reasons. One of the local stores has been getting a lot of restaurant supply foods in bulk. That's interesting to me.  BUT! Don't buy anything you won't USE!! When in doubt, skip it.

I have been to Costco and Sam's, my math has me not buying a membership. They have big cans, at a great price for that product, but it's of brand name products. I don't buy brand name, generic is half the price. Cheaper brands in smaller cans maths out to cheaper on the products I was looking at.

Do your math!  And check ebay, AFTER you know the price you are currently paying, and exactly what you want.  

Have you checked out buying bulk at a feed store?

I don't have any of today's prices though at one time a 50-pound bag of oats at the feed store was $13.95.

Feed stores sell other grains also.

Have you checked Azure Standard that is where they shop at Wheaton Labs and a lot of other folks here shop there:

https://permies.com/t/61122/Azure-Standard-bulk-organic-food

Here are some threads that you or others might find interesting:

https://permies.com/t/197715/kitchen/Organic-Bulk-Buying#1632054

https://permies.com/t/170944/kitchen/grind-grains

https://permies.com/t/171821/kitchen/wheat

I am looking mostly for things like rice and flour, maybe oil of some kind. I would add meat, but that might cost more than I could afford.
As far as I know, I don't have Amish or Mennonite stores near me. Also I cannot support the LDS. I have looked at Azure standard, and while they had a great price on palm shortening, I didn't see anything else that was cheaper than buying here. As for ebay, it doesn't appear to be cheaper for food.
If you buy oats from a feed store, is that fit for human consumption? Or dried milk for that matter. Which reminds, the two feed stores I have been in, were not cheap either. I don't know what the prices were on bulk grains though.

We have a resturaunt supply store we buy from.

Robert Ray wrote:We have a resturaunt supply store we buy from.

How do you find one without a membership?

Here i bue my vegetables in bulk from friends who are market gardeners. Most time i help them at the same time in their plot and come home with bags of 25-50lbs of vegetables for a very better price that i could find elsewhere. I do that mostly in autumn when they are at the end of their run and their employes and themselves are very tired of their season of gardening. It's a good bargain for them to have a helper for a day or two who is paid in produce directly from the field without more work.

Pearl is spot on. Have a long memory and do the math.   Also, keep enough of a cash reserve that you can take advantage of a target of opportunity.
I use Costco …but, I am in a special situation.   The store is located In The big city where my wife’s doctors are. So, we would be making the trip anyway. We price carefully in advance.   Normally, a few big ticket items more than justifies the membership price.  But do not enter the store without doing the research.  It is easy to buy tons of things you don’t need.  While there are great deals …. There are also items I can get cheaper elsewhere.

H Hardenberg wrote:

Robert Ray wrote:We have a resturaunt supply store we buy from.

How do you find one without a membership?

If we pay in cash there isn't an issue here.

Robert Ray wrote:

H Hardenberg wrote:

Robert Ray wrote:We have a resturaunt supply store we buy from.

How do you find one without a membership?

If we pay in cash there isn't an issue here.

Do you can just walk in? That's pretty nice