Guest Post: Buy in Bulk and Shop Around, It Saves.

ibThis is a guest post from Emily/b who is a stay-at-home mom, a href=”http://www.mommysecretsonline.com/”mompreneur/a, and friend. nbsp;Emily’s goal is to help lead families to a healthier, more environmentally friendly household without draining their bank accounts. You can find lots of tips and ideas on her blog a href=”http://www.mommymadegreen.com/”Mommy Made Green/a./ibr /br /span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”People are always asking me how I do what I do with the budget I have. My grocery budget is smaller than many of my friends and we eat al natural and mostly organic. So how do I do it? First of all I make many items from scratch such as bread products, oatmeal, sauces, salad dressings, etc. nbsp;However, there are two principles that I use for shopping:/span/spanbr /ollispan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;”Buy in Bulk When You Can/span/lilispan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;”/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;”Shop Around/span/li/olspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”bBuying in Bulk/b/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”I am a huge fan of Costco, I haven’t been in Sam’s for years, I refuse to shop anywhere associated with a Walmart (but that is for another post). Costco has a ton of organic products and they are all available in bulk for a fraction of the price at regular stores. Some of the regular products I buy there are: salsa, chips, strawberry spread, almond butter, frozen organic vegetables, frozen organic berries, dishwashing soap, and even an organic clothing line that often goes on clearance./spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”I have recently come in contact with the owners of a local company callednbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”a href=”http://www.grains-n-more.com/”Grains-n-More/a/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”that sells many products like flour, organic sweeteners, beans, oils etc. at amazing prices. For example I have been paying $9.99 for a tiny container of organic coconut oil and that has been the cheapest I could find it. I am able to get a jar twice that size for only $8.50 from Grains-n-More. You do have to join their site to access their products, but it is free and well worth the savings. I am just getting familiar with them so I am sure I will have more to say about them as I research prices more and order a few products./spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”I also buy some products online, for example I use/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”Happy Babies Organic Cereal with Probiotics/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”img alt=”” border=”0″ height=”1″ src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=momm0e35-20amp;l=btlamp;camp=213689amp;creative=392969amp;o=1amp;a=B000YSS7EO” style=”-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-bottom-style: none !important; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-color: initial !important; border-left-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-left-style: none !important; border-left-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-right-style: none !important; border-right-width: 1px; border-top-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-top-style: none !important; border-top-width: 1px; border-width: initial !important; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0976563) 1px 1px 5px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;” width=”1″ //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;when my babies are starting out and the cheapest place I have found them is online at Amazon. I have to order them in cases of 6 but the savings were great and the shipping is free./spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”Lastly, I know I have talked about my amazing/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”a href=”http://mommymadegreen.blogspot.com/2010/05/frugal-friday-join-csa.html”CSA/anbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”so I do buy my veggies in bulk and preserve them, but I also buy organic grass fed beef in bulk as well. I buy 1/4 of a cow at a time. This cow costs us anywhere between $200-300 depending on the size of the cow and then lasts us about 6 months. I buy my cow from Craig atnbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”a href=”http://www.twomulefarms.com/”Two Mule Farm/a/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;and have been buying from him for over 2 years now./spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”bShop Around/b/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”This principle will take a little while to fully take advantage of. But I know where I can buy certain products at the best prices. I tend to also implement the buying in bulk principle here so that I can cut down on the amount of trips. I do most of my grocery shopping at Publix, but there are few products I buy other places. For example, Kroger has the cheapest organic ketchup, Whole Foods has the cheapest bac-out, mayo, and hot wing sauce, and if for some reason I need to buy meat quickly The Fresh Market has the cheapest organic meat in a grocery store./span/spanbr /divspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //span/spanbr /div class=”MsoNormal” style=”mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;”span style=”color: #1f497d; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”This will take time to figure out, but as you shop around you will learn. Pay attention to prices and check out a wholesale warehouse near you and you will start to see a difference. I also am always available if you need some help! Just shoot me an/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #738050;”a href=”mailto:emily@mommysecretsonline.com”email/a/span/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”nbsp;/spanspan class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”with your questions about where to find the cheapest items and I will be more than willing to help you out!/span/spanbr /span style=”color: #1f497d; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //span/spanbr /ib**Have a financial story or tip you’d like to share? a href=”http://www.daveramseyroad.com/p/guest-posts.html”Dave Ramsey Road/a is now accepting submissions for guest bloggers. nbsp;See a href=”http://www.daveramseyroad.com/p/guest-posts.html”Guest Post/a tab for more details**/b/ibr /span style=”color: #1f497d; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //span/spanbr /span style=”color: #1f497d; font-family: ‘Trebuchet MS’, sans-serif;”span class=”Apple-style-span” style=”color: #4c3b25; line-height: 18px;”br //span/span/divimg alt=”Anna” border=”0″ src=”http://www.aghdesigns.com/images/blogs/siggy4.png” //div