Saturday, January 3, 2009

Anaylsis of bulk-shopping

I have been going to BJ for most of my grocery shopping since the end of the summer. My sister and I joined together (actually she "treated me" to membership). But it makes sense to join with a friend. The memebership costs $40 and you get 2 membership cards, which can have 2 different names on them and they don't even need to be related. So for my sister's $40 I got a card and she got a card.

My first trip to BJ's was in August and my sister paid- and since she paid- I am not counting it. I will begin my analysis from my first solo trip at the end of Sept. So my analysis will be over about 4 months from Sept. 22-Jan. 14 (I have already gone shopping and won'tbe going again until I get paid on the 15th, so my numbers include all I will by until then).

I have 2 side notes before I begin. One, at my first trip toBJ's my head was spinning with prices and units and unit prices- after 2 years of carefully tracking my groceries I know what is and what is not a good unit price for items I usually buy. I was skeptical- not thinking it could beat generic prices at Walmart. Before BJ's, I spent an avearge of about $105/week at Walmart buying food and a few "impulse" buys. A big drawback for me at walmart is I tend to buy other non-food items that then get factored into my food busget even thougth they are not food. Second, Some things are not cheaper at BJ's and since they buy only the Top Sellers- they do not carry alot of variety- so some things I need I can not get there. I do not buy bread, pretzels, 2 liter bottles of soda, Cat food, or ice cream at BJ's. Why? Bread, soda, pretzels & ice cream at cheaper at both Walmart and Shop Rite. And the cat food my cat needs- is not sold at BJ's - I usually buy it at Shop Rite.

Here are the crazy numbers. Do not think I am crazy for having this- I track EVERYTHING!! How else can I make an informed decision if I do not have the information.

I started on 9/22 & hoped to make it 3 weeks before returning to BJ's

9/22- $209.94 @ BJ
9/26- $22.07 @ Shop Rite
9/27- $27.88 @ Shop Rite (not all food- 2 b-day cards,a bat mitzvah card& chips to take to hang with friends)
9/30- $14.19 @ SR
10/3- $7.07 @ SR (ice cream splurge-better than spending $20 at Wally's for everyone)
10/5- $28.49 @SR


Total for 3 weeks: $309.64 == $103.21/week-

**If not for ice cream splurge and trip to get cards and chips.. total would have been $274.69 or $$91.56/week**Not bad for a first time- without the two "extra trips" to SR- I was under my average Walmart weekly spending by about $15/wk or $60/month.



Starting on 10/11 and hoping to make it 4 weeks this time!!

10/11- $196.00 @BJ
10/12- $37.19 @ SR
10/21- $27.53 @ SR
10/24- $40.54 @ SR
10/27- $30.81 @ SR (included our large pumpkin to carve for Halloween)
11/2- $59.14 @ BJ


Total: $391.21 for 4 weeks== $97.80/week

This is a savings of about $10/wk or $40/month.. NOT BAD considering it appears to not only save me money but also TIME!! Although it looks like there are alot of trips to SR they are quick- run in and out trips not hour-long grocery shopping. And the few times I have been to BJ's there are never any lines- so checkout is a breeze- compared to Walmart's standard checkout time of about 40 minutes. So saving money and A TON OF TIME! (my best guess is I saved about 5hours this month by bulk shopping)

But I do find it hard to have $200 once a month- our budget is truely paycheck to paycheck- so pulling that much out of one paycheck hurts that single week.. so at this point I changed to continuing to shop at BJ's but stagger our needs so I would go there every 2 weeks- or about $100 out of each paycheck, which is a smaller hit.

So here's how that went..

Started on 11/9.. planning to make it 2 weeks.



11/9- $146.92 @BJs
11/11- $18.14 @ SR
11/16- $23.89 @ SR

Total for 2 weeks : $188.95 == $94.47/week... about what we had been spending..good so far!



Again looking to buy food for 2 weeks.

11/22- $78.80 @ BJs
11/26- $63.79 @ SR (Thanksgiving stuff and Snacks/drinks for car ride to Hershey)
11/28- $25.36 @ SR (last minute Thanksgiving stuff)
12/1- $94.28 @ SR (UGH! Could have saved money I am sure by getting this stuff at BJs)
12/5- $54.72 @ SR


Total: $316.95 for 2 weeks=== $158.47 /week!! EEEKKK!!! What the f..?

Ok, some of that was for Thanksgiving and some "convience foods" for the car trip, but really I think most of it was "lack of time and planning" and I could have done better to get some of that stuff I bought at Shop Rite at BJs. This is why planning and staying organized saves money. UGH!!


Oh- but it only gets worst from here... the holidays, the lack of time, rushing not thinking.. deadly combination... oh my aching budget...


The next trip to BJ's should last us 3 weeks right up until shopping for Chirstmas dinner.

12/6 - $326.26 @BJs (BUT.. this included 3 Xmas gifts, sprinkles and cookie stuff for our Holiday baking with Laura and a gingerbread kit for another December Friday) The actual total for GROCERY stuff was $ 273.88.. so for 3 weeks that works out to $91.29/wk-- or right on budget!


I did go to BJ's for Christmas dinner stuff but that is not part of my fammily grocery budget so I am not including that receipt. My FIL also reimbursed us $60 towards Christmas dinner. We lived on the left overs from that dinner for a few days.



I finally went back to BJ's last week and I am hoping this will make it until January 15th.

12/30- $ 139.99 @ Bjs
12/30- $ 21.31 @ SR


Total: $ 161.30 for 2 weeks== $80.65/week -- WAY UNDER BUDGET!!



So my final analysis.. BJs saves me money but also does sooo much more! I save, on average $15/wk or $60/month. But I also spend about 5 less hours per month in the stores. I also spend almost no time watching sales flyers, clipping coupons and looking for great deals- which I did religiously in order to stay at my $105/wk budget at Walmart. I also get Name Brand items when at Walmart I was almost always buying generic. I do not have any problem with generic products, in fact I find them to be as good as the name brands- but name brands give extras like "box tops for education" which my kids' schools collect and run raffles for those who bring in box tops. For every 5 box tops you bring in you get a chance to win a $50 target gift card. They run this raffle every quarter of the school year. So hey, I could even win a gift card!


My Goals for this for 2009-- are to continue what I am doing! I like BJs! I do have a few small changes- I am going to aim for under $90/week, but still buying every 2 weeks, which works well for our budget. I am also going to try to do more cooking from scratch- and buying less "convience" foods which aren't that healthy or cost effective. I am hoping that our Healthy eating and cooking from scratch will help me keep to under $90/week. Buying staples such as flour, butter, eggs, milk, sugar etc.. instead of cookies, snackcakes, and other muchies. Better for our budget and better for our health!

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