Nobody in his senses now wants to buy into bulk. The trend all over the world is to cut down, to minimise and to do with less. And that includes one’s own size!
There are however people who still insist on buying in wholesale under the false notion that it is economical. They will go to the wholesale markets to buy in bulk and by the time all of whatever has been bought is used up, quite a bit gets spoilt and has to be thrown away. Add that to the cost of transportation and I have always believed that buying retail from closeby grocers and others made more sense and also saved on space.
There are some groups, particularly from cooperative housing societies who pool together small orders from members to buy in wholesale once a week or something like that, to share among themselves and that makes sense when the members are of two income households where shopping becomes difficult. I have great admiration for this particular form of cooperation and encourage it wherever I can.
I personally do not buy anything is bulk as it is not necessary. Fresh produce is available at my doorstep and I will be foolish not to enjoy that facility to its fullest.
This is my contribution to the Weekly Loose Bloggers’ Consortium (LBC) endeavour to post on one single topic every Friday. Today’s topic has been suggested by Maria. I hope that you enjoyed reading my contribution.
I buy some fruit and veg in bulk and you are right, some is wasted but I make sure that the cheaper price is low enough to account for the waste. I particularly like buying a whole box of bananas, it means i can eat as many as i want with the excuse that “they will go off soon”
A lot of people seem to love getting bulk tissues and toilet paper but they are impossible to store and the saving is rarely enough to justify the storage problem.
long live minimalism!
I live in a city and in a suburb where everything is available within hailing distance at retail. So, it makes more sense to buy small and fresh. I also get fresh vegetables and fruit delivered at my doorstep everyday by handcart vendors.
We buy paper goods in bulk, but no more than we can comfortably store. Convenience means a lot to us nowadays.
Cheerful Monk recently posted..Good for Her!
I understand that. I also like it that you can keep it so simple!
I am all for bulk buying non perishables. Toilet paper (Kylie) and paper in general (Jean) have been mentioned. The day you won’t need toilet paper and kitchen tissue is the day you are dead. The day you don’t need to print something is the day you are (brain) dead.
However, and here is this economist’s shrewd observation, you can only “afford” to bulk buy if your cashflow allows you to. That’s why it’s cheaper to be rich than to be poor.
U
Ursula recently posted..Vee Double You
Absolutely. In India, particularly in cities where daily wage workers abound, everything in small quantities is available. For instance you can buy one stick of cigarette from one of thousands of shops!
you know my thoughts on this without my even saying them here!
ditto yours.
tammy j recently posted..dear diary
As our mutual friend would say Yay!
We make a once-a-month trip to a discounter with another family member to buy mostly nonperishables. We have ample storage space for them. Making the two-family trip saves on gas costs and also allows us to pay only one annual fee to use the store. We make the five-mile trip to the nearest supermarkets twice each week for everything else after consulting food ads from our newspaper to see if anything we need is on sale.
Gabbygeezer recently posted..A Pope of Hope
Yes, when you have to go long distances to shop it makes sense to buy in bulk. The coop system works here too.
I vividly remember as a child a couple who bulk bought dozens of items, and their attic room was always stuffed to the rafters with it all. Whether they actually used it I couldn’t say. Personally, I’m with Tammy. I don’t want loads of clutter in my life and I prefer to buy things as and when I need them.
nick recently posted..Undue punishment
I am with Tammy too.
We are almost on the same page. I buy certain non-perishable items in bulk – things like laundry soap, paper towels and yhe like but you cite the same reason as I for not buying perishables.
Our grocer is just across the road and I can telephone him to deliver whatever I want apart from getting fresh vegetables and fruit brought every day to our doorstep by pushcart vendors.
Hi Ramana:
Add to this the wholesale buying (into) of brainwashing by the media and society and we have no space left in our brain for the greater things in life !
Raj Krishnaswamy recently posted..Kamala Sahasranamam Audio
How I wish that I had thought of this and included it in the post! Thanks, a very interesting addition indeed.