Sometimes buying a large size of a product will be significantly less than buying the much smaller product, but don’t assume that it’s always less. You must check the unit pricing to be able to accurately compare prices and know that you’re saving money.
Once you see it’s a good deal, you’re going to ask yourself, ‘What do you do with such a large container full of product?!’
When I saw jumbo (over 2.6 kg) cans of tomato paste for 25 shekels, the savings was so substantial that I stopped buying the standard size. Once opened, I kept the can covered in the fridge, but sometimes before I could finish it (because it’s a huge amount), the top layer would grow mold and I would throw whatever was left away. Even though I was still saving money, this obviously detracted from the savings.
For quite some time I went back to using small cans until one day I was out of tomato paste except for the two bulk cans in my pantry. At this point, I thought about a solution and now I’m back to buying tomato paste in large cans. I fill a silicone mini muffin mold with tomato paste and freeze it.
Once it’s all frozen, I remove the frozen pucks from the mold and stack them in a freezer bag. I put the bag in the freezer and remove the amount I need when I make a dish. Now I enjoy the savings along with the convenience of easy to use portions.
Another example – I bought a three kilo container of minced garlic for about 35 shekels, then separate two cups into a jar that I keep in my fridge. I freeze the rest, and refill the small jar as needed from the larger container.
I buy these items during my infrequent bulk shopping trips, at a store that sells restaurant size containers. But they can sometimes be found at larger supermarket chains as well.
Last week I did my bulk shopping for the first time in a year and a half, and some other things I bought that I transfer to smaller containers as needed are: baking soda (1 kg bag – 6.10 shekels), vinegar (4 liter jug – 10 shekels) and dish washing paste (18 liter bucket – 80 shekels).
There are plenty of things that I could theoretically save money by buying in large containers, that I choose to buy in a smaller size because the money savings isn’t worth the repacking and the space it takes to store. An example would be a huge can of olives, versus buying a can that is enough for one meal. I’ve seen five gallon buckets of techina for a great price, and bulk peanut butter, but I stick with the standard jar size found in any store.
No one can tell you what is worth buying in bulk, because it depends on what you use and how you use it. But you can definitely save a good bit of money by shopping in bulk wisely.
If you ever buy larger than usual sizes, what items are worth it for you to buy? How much do you save and how do you store it?
Avivah
Yeast is significant, if you bake. The 1 or 2 lb blocks of compressed dry yeast barely cost more than a few envelopes, but give you tons of yeast. I keep mine in a ziplock in the freezer with a tablespoon size measuring spoon inside.
Great example, thank you for sharing! I buy the 500 gram/1 lb package for a bit over ten shekels and it lasts me for months, using it every week to make challah. I also keep mine in the freezer.
I find I’m doing this less now than I used to, mainly because with babies and even toddlers, the time it takes to repackage and store things had a hidden cost for me. I might have a few minutes to make a quick lunch while baby is happy playing and that plan quickly gets derailed if everything is not compact and easily available right now. And there doesn’t even seem to be extra time to sort things out (that time is best used sleeping or playing). And not being able to make my own lunches quickly costs when you end up having to buy a quick sandwich on the go instead. I think with a more established family with older children (who eg might hold your baby while you cook while you will then also use bigger quantities of food at once) these sort of bulk buying comes to its own more.
It’s important to keep your big picture in mind as well as the logistics of your current reality – eating out is a huge budget drain and that sounds like it’s more of a priority for you to focus on that.
I buy items in large packaging on a small scale and the time involved to do things is minimal. It takes about one minute to pour from the four liter jug of vinegar to a one liter bottle, or to scoop a smaller amount of garlic from a bigger box to a smaller one. Since I involve our younger children in what I’m doing, it doesn’t take additional time and it works for me.
What stores in Israel sell restaurant size container bulk items?
I go to Shimurei Ichut in Holon, but there are others. A couple of weeks ago I saw a short youtube video about more of these kind of stores opening to private individuals to help people combat rising food costs. I don’t remember the name of the stores, but I remember one was in Beit Shemesh. If you do some googling using different terms, you’ll be able to find it. Good luck!
I love the tomato paste idea, Avivah. I always had the problem of the container becoming moldy before it was used up.
I’m glad it’s helpful, Chaya Dina! I was so glad when I found a way to use all of it without it getting wasted.
A friend of mine will prepare her homegrown garlic once or twice a year. She peels it (I have found the best way to peel a large quantity is to boil water & put the cloves in for 15-30 seconds. If it is still hard to peel put back in the water. This is short enough that it doesn’t cook. You also don’t have sticky hands.) After peeling she processes it in the food processor and uses a cookie scoop to make pucks ( I think hers is 1 tablespoon), places it on a tray and then freezes them. This way she can do a huge quantity. She stores them in freezer ziplock bags but she puts the first bag in a second bag so the smell is contained.
Thank you for sharing this, Betsey! That’s very interesting.
For a short time in the spring, fresh garlic is sold here with the green part attached. I bought a large quantity and processed all the green part (scapes) and froze it in small baggies. Unfortunately, I didn’t know to double bag it. My kids still remember that when someone put a plate with a piece of cake on it in the freezer, when they took it out a day later it tasted like garlic!