Shopping in Bulk at Sam's Club!

I have moved my monthly Sam's shopping trip to the middle of the month and using the paycheck that we get on the 15th rather than going the first of the month.   Doing this has helped us not go down to having a zero balance in the bank account before the next paycheck. 

By the time, I went this month I was out of several things that I normally purchase at Sam's.  We went close to a two weeks without paper plates!  I know to most of you that would be no big deal to be without paper plates but to my family that means that we end up running our automatic dishwasher every day rather than every other day.  It also means that we have more dishes overall to wash as well.  One would think that it adds to our trash using paper plates but for our family of seven we only put out  ONE 30 gallon trashbag each week!  The reason behind only having the one bag is because we do recycle 90% of our trash.   Anyway, we have found buying paper plates has actually saved us money along with some of my sanity. We use the paper plates just for lunch time or when we are entertaining a big group in our home. 

Here is a list of the items(including the paper plates) that I purchased this week at Sam's:

• 600 count paper plates $17.62(with tax--figures out to 3¢/plate)
• 2 pack Rold Gold Pretzels $5.88
• 3 liters olive oil $16.54
• 3-44oz Heinz ketchup $6.52
• 1.25 gallons Canola oil $8.87
• 24 pk-10oz bottles Welchs juice $10.76
• 36 count Apple & Eve 100% juice box drinks $8.88
• 24 count 20oz Gatorade $14.88
• 5 lbs frozen corn $4.88
• 6lbs frozen shredded hashbrowns $4.88
• 140 ct. Totinos pizza rolls $8.88
• 23oz taco seasoning $3.88
• 72ct american cheese slices $7.88
• 5lbs mild cheddar cheese $9.47
• 48ct. string cheese $7.42
• 5qt pail vanilla ice cream $5.02
• 60 ct Eggo waffles $8.52
• 6.97lbs boneless skinless chicken breast $13.73($1.97/lb)
• 5lbs Country Crock margarine $4.42
• 5.37lbs boneless pork loin chops $15.47 ($2.88/lb) (They are thick chops so I cut them in half longwise so instead of having 9 thick chops we have 18 thin chops which makes at least 2 dinner meals and usually 2 leftover lunches for the seven of us!)

Total: $184.40

If you have been following my monthly runs, you will start to see that I have some things(like cheese, hashbrowns, margarine) that I get every month while other things(ice cream, juice, meat)you don't see for a month or two or more. Those items that I don't get every month I either have purchased in bulk and divided it up to last several months OR I have found those same items in the grocery store over the last month on sale for a great price so I have stocked my shelves with that item using the grocery store sales. 

Making the monthly trips to Sams has helped me to plan ahead and use what I purchase in bulk wisely. While one might think that they don't have the space to buy in bulk I have found that buying in bulk is helping me save space because I don't have to work finding a place for all the small packages of items bought at the grocery store.