Bulk vs. Regular shopping?

[Beka27]

I'm new to the site, but not new to couponing or buying in bulk. We have a BJ's and Sam's membership, altho the "bulk" of our bulk shopping is done at BJ's for obvious reasons= coupons.

It seems that wholesale shopping gets a bad rap. Why is that? I know the prices on some items are not good... and some of the quantities are not realistic (gallon of ranch dressing anyone?) but that's why we don't shop exclusively in clubs. I don't get multiple inserts, altho some weeks I might buy a couple papers, so I never have 20 or 30 "$1 off one roll PT" coupons, for example. When it's all said and done, it just seems that bulk shopping is more economical for us, when coupled with the store and manf. coupons.

[foggierbard9]

When people "super coupon" they see getting a bunch of super tiny items for free or nearly free as cheaper than getting a big item for whatever the price is. In the end they are paying pennies on the dollar for the same amount of product, but they are buying 100 small ones while you buy 1 large one. I think everybody sees it differently though.

[caylascreations]

It totally depends on the product. It's best to break it down by unit price and go from there. i.e. Wholesale you might pay .45 for a roll of paper towels. If your coupons don't get you paper towels for less than that, then bulk is the best. Same thing with jars of peanut butter, canned cokes, toilet paper, and whatever else you might buy. Unfortunately, it may be time consuming in the beginning to weigh the prices, but it's worth it!

[MizMoneyPenny]

Somethings are more than worth it to me to get in bulk; paper towels, toilet paper, etc. I live in the country, and running out of something with the price of gas coupled by the nearest convenience store is a budget buster.

I love BJ's because they have their own coupons which they will couple with mfr. coupons, so I get a really good deal on a bale of t/p and p/t.
Also, a lot of the things are packaged in twos, and most good coupons are for two.

They just changed their coupon policy (again) so if you have one of their coupons, you can use two mfrs. coupons, BUT if you are not using one of their coupons, and are buying things that are individually wrapped, you can use a coupon on each thing. If, however, the items in the bale can't be sold individually, you can use two coupons on the whole package.

Real clear, huh.

[Beka27]

Somethings are more than worth it to me to get in bulk; paper towels, toilet paper, etc. I live in the country, and running out of something with the price of gas coupled by the nearest convenience store is a budget buster.

I love BJ's because they have their own coupons which they will couple with mfr. coupons, so I get a really good deal on a bale of t/p and p/t.
Also, a lot of the things are packaged in twos, and most good coupons are for two.

They just changed their coupon policy (again) so if you have one of their coupons, you can use two mfrs. coupons, BUT if you are not using one of their coupons, and are buying things that are individually wrapped, you can use a coupon on each thing. If, however, the items in the bale can't be sold individually, you can use two coupons on the whole package.

Real clear, huh.

Uh... what? Lol. Clear as mud.

I always couple the store coupons with manf. coupons if I have them. So if kid's sauve shampoo is $6, I can use a $2 Bjs coupon, and up to 4 ".50 off 1" coupons, for example. And this same model follows for any items that are multi-packed.

Another question tho: Can I do this with tp then too? So if I have a $4 BJs coupon, and Charmin is packaged with 6 individual 6-packs, can I use 6 ".25 off" coupons?

[CRW]

I never realized you could use multiple manufacturers coupons on the multi-packs of items. If anyone knows exactly how this works could you please explain.

As far as bulk vs. regular shopping it really depends on how much time and effort you want to put into shopping and how loyal you are to particular brands. It's possible to get most/all of your health and beauty type items (shampoo, cosmetics, tissues, medicine, etc) for free if you combine store sales with coupons; however; to do this you have to be willing to spend quite a bit of time monitoring the sales, clipping coupons, and running around to different stores. You would also need space to stock pile all of the items.

If you don't want to spend the time/energy at all of the store sales then you can still save quite a bit by shopping at warehouse stores and using coupons there plus at your regular grocery store. The trick is to keep track of the unit price of the items you buy frequently so you know what a good deal is. I've found that paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper are actually cheaper at my local grocery store then they are at BJ's. On the other hand soda, cat litter, and diapers are way cheaper at BJ's then at the grocery store.

[learning]

I am also interested in hearing about using other coupons at Bjs then just their own

[MizMoneyPenny]

The last time I went, which was last week, I just decided to hand them all of the coupons, and let them sort them out. And they took them all.

I agree about the unit pricing, as well as what you buy. I bought one of the BIG containers of spice once and it took the rest of my, life to use it, and it took up wayyyyyy too much room in my cupboard.

I also save a lot on gasoline when I go.....40cents/gal. cheaper. With that, and coupons, I more than pay for the membership and get good deals on a lot of things that I use. The other thing I like about BJ's is that they are consistent. They have the same things everytime. Also, their meat is pretty good.

Sam's Club uses the Walmart model (go figure) and gets whatever they can get for cheap with a high profit. If you find something you like this time, it might not be there next time.

[ngirl80]

BJ's is the only wholesale club that I know of that allows you to use both BJ's coupons and manufactures coupons on the same item. This means that if you have a MF coupon for Charmin TP and BJ's has a coupon for that same item, you can use both on that item. I love BJ's! Also if that item has 4 packages bundled together ( 4 8pks of tp), you can use 4 MF coupons on that purchase, but only one BJ's coupon. I love this, they have my business as long as they keep this policy.