The Hidden Cost of Shopping at Bulk Food Stores? A Messy Pantry

One of the most common organizing scenarios I find as a professional organizer is a disorganized, a messy pantry that has gotten out of control due to over-stocking. Once a pantry is overloaded with large boxes of food and other things, it becomes challenging to keep it organized. According to Supermarket News, roughly 75% of consumers surveyed do at least some of their shopping in bulk.

Since just about everything you can purchase from bulk food stores is enormous, it’s a little too easy to get carried  away and buy more than what fits comfortably inside your pantry. While buying in large quantities can save you money when it makes sense to do so, if you are not careful, you can end up spending more on groceries rather than less. Listed below are several reasons why.

An overloaded, messy pantry can lead to food waste.

Bulk food stores encourage you to buy everything big. When you buy perishable products in bulk, you risk having them expire before they are consumed. I have thrown out loads of expired food over the years.

This happens because once a pantry has more stuff in it than there is room for, we start shoving things where ever we can find room rather than where they belong. Suddenly, we can’t find things when we need them and other things get forgotten about because they have ended up way in the back behind other things.

Giant-sized foods may expire before they are consumed.

Since bulk food stores do not carry small packages of anything, you’re forced to buy  giant-sized bottles of things you may not need a lot of, like sesame oil. If you only use sesame oil occasionally, you risk having it expire before it gets used.

Expired food equals wasted money.  Also, if the bottle is so large that it won’t fit well on the shelf with the rest of the oils…well now you have another problem. 

The prices are confusing.

Since sizes and quantities of products purchased in bulk are so different from regular-sized items, it is difficult to compare apples to apples when it comes to prices. We can be tricked into thinking that we are saving more money on bulk items than we really are, so be sure to do your math before you make the purchase.  

Just because it happens to be at a bulk food store, does not mean that it’s automatically cheaper. In my own experience, I have found that some things at bulk food stores cost less and some things do not.  

There are “so called” bargains around every corner.

As American consumers, we are constantly being coaxed into buying more and buying bigger, because it means more money for the seller, but we don’t have to be mindlessly wheedled into submission. We can’t even order a burger at a drive-thru without hearing, “Do you want to super size that?”

These stores are great at enticing us with bargains. Everybody wants a bargain, but it’s not a bargain if you didn’t need it in the first place. Resist going overboard by carefully considering each item and whether or not you really need that much of a given product before you put it in your cart.   

The more stuff you have in your pantry the harder it is to keep it all organized.

Believe it or not, it is much easier to stay on top of buying what you need if you don’t stock up. Once you have multiples of everything at home, it becomes difficult to monitor what products you are actually running low on.

To better manage your food inventory, only replace the items that you are almost out of, and always use a grocery list or my printable pantry inventory. If you shop without a list and make guesses about what you need at home, you will end up with duplicates. Too many duplicates will lead to not enough space for everything. 

Once you have lost control, you and your family will give up on trying to keep the pantry organized…and this is where the trouble really starts.

Once your pantry is so full that it starts to spill over into a second location, you are likely to forget what you have.

When I find myself tossing expired food, it is often because I am going through food stored in the basement, storage room, or garage. If you all of your food in your kitchen, you are more likely to know what you have. You can save a considerable amount of money simply by staying on top of your inventory so that things don’t expire before you consume them.

Other benefits to not having a messy pantry. 

An organized pantry will make grocery shopping and meal preparation easier. It will also help you keep the rest of your kitchen organized because food that won’t fit in the pantry will not be spilling over into the other parts of your kitchen. I often see lots of food sitting on countertops. This makes a kitchen looked cluttered and hogs precious countertop space, making your kitchen less functional.

Conclusion:

I do think it’s possible for some families to save some money shopping at these stores if you have a large family and/or throw frequent large parties and are a cautious and selective shopper. But for many families, once you consider all the hidden costs of shopping at bulk food stores, whether or not you are actually saving any money becomes questionable. Then there is also the $50+ membership fee on top of all that to think about.

If you choose to shop at these stores, be mindful and careful and stick to mostly non- perishables so that you don’t end up getting more than you bargained for…literally.

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