Beating the "single shopper" penalty.

[donnafreedman]

Morrobaymom had a thread on this and I wasn't sure it would make the jump to hyperspace, as it were....And I have a reason to want it to be here, i.e., I want to write about this subject.
Are you single and/or living in a small space? Have you noticed that giant "Valu-Packs" of meat cost less per pound, or that the 20-pound bags of potatoes on sale work out to 5 cents a pound, vs. 59 cents a pound for smaller bags or loose spuds, or that a gallon of milk costs about 30 cents more than a quart?
I deal with this myself, living as I do in a one-bedroom apartment with limited cupboard space. But I buy rice and pinto beans in 10-pound sacks, and 20-pound bags of potatoes, and 10 pounds of pork chops at a clip if they're loss leaders.
I know how I deal with both buying and storing. But how do YOU do it?
Do you split Valu-Packs with friends? Draft off your sister's Costco membership and reimburse her for six rolls from the pallet of toilet paper she buys? Freeze the milk in smaller containers?
And where do you put all this stuff?
Tell me your creative ways to get, and store, the best deals. I'd love to hear your best guesses of how much this saves you each year.

[Deleted]

I don't need to store much for just me so it isn't a big issue. I can store paper towels, toilet paper, toothpaste. I buy the bulk packages of meat when the sale is on and and break it into smaller portions to freeze. But perishables work out to be cheaper for me to get in season items in the amounts I need so I don't waste a lot. Sometimes I can schedule a Saturday to prep and freeze in season veggies or fruit but I'm not really disciplned at that.

I have a huge closet in my bathroom for cleaning supplies and toiletries. And a side by side fridge. The freezer is a good size for me and doesn't take up the space of a cube freezer.

[toservewithlove]

Yes, I'm single and living in a small one bedroom apt. I like to save money by buying in bulk when there is a good sale, but I don't always take advantage of the savings due to limited storage area. A couple years ago I got a very good deal on toilet paper, but had to buy 4 or 5 of the 24 roll packs to get the deal at Walgreens. What I couldn't fit in my linen closet when into my clothes closet. It lasted forever. I only hamburger and chicken in bulk because they are the meats I eat most frequently and pork would go to waste before I'd use it, so I only buy pork chops when they are on a regular sale. When I do buy larger packages of meat, I wrap pieces individually or by lb. in plastic wrap and then put them in gallon size freezer bags. I look at these practices as more of a trade off than a way of saving because doing these things allows me to aquire non necessities that I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise like pop, hot cocoa mix, ect.

[Sharon]

When I was single and lived in a one bedroom apt. the linen closet became my pantry. I stored the peaches and pears I canned in there and extra canned good that I had picked up. It had way more food stuff then linens.

[Tiny]

Looking over at the "wall" of paper towels and TP.
I'm single but have a 2bdrm house. The second bedroom is the Cat Room, Office, and Storage Room. I stocked up last April and May on Paper Towels and TP - I had lots of coups and each of the stores had them on sale as a loss leader one week after another. I lined stacked them up along one wall. I know the dates/prices because I wrote the date of purchase, sale price, coup used,total cost and place purchased on each package. (I was exceptionally nerdy back in April/May '10). At the highpoint I had 11 packs of papertowels (all purchased at 3.99 - 4.59 all various name brands) and 16 packs of TP (all purchased at 3.99-4.59 all various name brands). I did donate 3 packs of the PT to the local Animal Shelter (they had it on their wish list and I realized I really overstocked....) The wall was kinda embarrassing for a while... but then I got use to it.
Ok, the "wall" isn't as full as it was I've still got 5 packs of Paper Towels (over estimated my use) and I'm down to 2 packs of TP. (I'm pretty sure I 'donated' a couple of packs maybe more to my 'home alone' college aged neices/nephews during the summer...)
I stock up on Kitty Litter - in 35 or more pound containers once a year. That gets stored on the stairs to the Attic (close to the Cat Room and out of sight).
I stocked up on canned beans and tomatos (.50 a can with a Box Tops for Education bonus) and didn't have enough room in my pantry for them all so right the over flow is in a paper box under my kitchen table.
I keep tubes of toothpaste (sam's club) and a pack of q-tips and bar soap (sam's club) in a single layer on a shelf in the linen closet - towels go on top.
I could easily keep stuff in my basement - but I'd forget about having it and that kinda defeats the purpose as I'd probably keep buying stuff.
I do buy meat in bulk but in the "medium sized" packages of 5 pounds or less. I'll split it up into approximate "servings/use" sizes (3 to 5 actual servings) and freeze it. I use menu planning to make sure I use up what's in my freezer and to avoid buying too much meat. Bought too much once and I discovered I wasn't really fond of eating meat that had been home frozen for more than 6 months (got alittle freezer burn/dried out).

I sometimes look at the 10 pound plus super value packs of meat (really really inexpensive!) and tell myself I'm not saving money if I dont eat it or don't enjoy eating it. So buying the smaller 'value' pack IS still saving money.

[998fbird]

I recently moved from a larger to a smaller house so don't have as much storage as I used to. I'm still working out the storage places to put things here. I do have a small chest freezer so that I can buy the smaller value packs. I also break the packages down into single servings, wrap in saran and place in larger ziplocs for freezing. I've started buying whole gallons of milk and freezing in saved 1/2 gallon containers. Recently I bought 15 lbs of basmatti rice, it freezes very well and cost less than a $1 a lb. in bulk. I actually stopped buying in huge huge quantities awhile ago because I've decided that I only need enough, not too much of anything.
Donna I read a previous post of yours where you said you used under the bed containers to store canned goods. I'm thinking of using that idea for this house since it lacks closet/storage space.
One of my other challenges here is that the house is old and I need to be careful about mice, so I've become a regular customer of the local Tupperware rep. The large rectangle is terrific for storing package goods safe from rodents.
Right now my biggest problem is learning to cook for one.

[Apple]

I'm single, but do have a 13-year-old son, so there is someone else here to eat things. I joke that I have enough food stocked up in my pantry and freezers to feed a small army for a month, but only enough to feed a teen for a few days.
My house is nearly 2400 square feet, so storage room is not something I lack. When the kitchen cupboards got full I turned one of the cupboards in the laundry room (lol, anyone that has seen the size of my laundry room has been jealous, it's huge Now that I'm pretty much no-spend (unless it's an incredible deal I can't pass on, like finding bleu cheese for $1.50 a pound yesterday--I can freeze it) I've been using up a lot of what I had stocked. I hope to organize the kitchen a little this weekend (I opened a cupboard yesterday and it was almost empty) and see what I "really" have so I can make better use of it all.
I buy meats on sale (frozen chicken breast for $1.60 a pound, haven't seen that price in a long time) and 90-93% lean ground beef has been on sale BOGO free so I've bought a lot of that too. I found Glad press and seal on sale at Costco, had a coupon, so I've been using that to wrap up the meat, and then put it in a freezer bag. It's worked out great, no freezer burn on anything. I have two refrigerators and a stand alone freezer. Cheese is something else I buy when the price is right, especially cheddar. I like a sharper cheese, but not "sharp" cheese, so I buy a bunch and then rotate it. I like it best about a year after I buy it so it's got more bite to it than regular cheddar. Unopened it doesn't mold, so it's still good, and after we open it I use "tricks" to keep it from molding quickly.
Other things, I'll buy and give the "extra" to my parents. Dad is retired and mom works part-time, but their health care costs are high, so I help when I can. Also see it as payback since they get my son to and from the bus stop for me almost every morning. It's several miles of driving and way out of their way, so it uses up a lot of gas Dad says he's happy to do it though.
I also use coffee creamer every day, but it's expensive, so I'll buy it when it is on sale, clearance, or at the used food store. Take a little off the top (for expansion) and put it in a seperate container, and freeze it. Works well.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Paper towels fit really well under beds ~ which works better for storage in homes without destructive kitty cats. I also really love storage benches that can serve as both seating as well as a place to store things ... providing you don't forget what's there. I stocked up on tissue (Kleenex) last year and neatly filled a storage bench with all those boxes! When I need a new box, I know right where they are.

We actually discovered that our (weird) cats like their boxes elevated, so sometimes we store spare kitty litter containers under their large cat boxes. Like another poster, kitty litter is one of those heavy bulky things that's nice to stock up on sale ... and then it doesn't have to be lugged around stores every few weeks. We buy in the large plastic tubs, which stack really well and empty ones also make great storage containers for things in the garage. (I just have to keep track of which ones have litter, and which ones have sprinkler heads)

[bobbysgirl]

I took your advice, Donna, and started buying under bed storage containers. I store mixes and candy there. This month they will go on sale and I will buy 3 more. I use the coat closet shelf for protein canned goods and store my ear muffs, mittens and scarf in a dresser drawer. They seem to take less space up in the drawer. A laundry room cupboard is also a designated stock pile area. I did end up buying a small freezer so I am happy I now can store milk, meat, bread and such there. Toothpaste and things like that are stored in a dresser drawer. I am looking for a bench to put near the front door. I'll look for one that includes storage.

[rumples]

I've been married for a few years now, but my shopping habits didn't change much until we added a third person to our home. I owned a vacuum sealer (still do) which I considered essential to beating the "single shopper penalty". I used it to break up the family packs of meat, large fillets of fish, etc. into single serving sizes for the freezer. I only had the above-fridge freezer, but it was plenty of space for my needs and the vacuum-packing allowed the items to last longer without fear of freezer burn.

For paper goods and cleaning supplies, I put a wooden shelving system in the storage closet on the patio of my apartment and reserved one or two of the shelves for paper goods, such as toilet paper and paper towels, which I purchased at Costco. I also had two shelves above the washer-dryer in the hallway closet where I could keep cleaning supplies and their refills. Bathroom extras were kept in Rubbermaid containers under the sink in the bathroom.

I had a decent sized pantry in the kitchen next to the fridge that was almost as deep as the fridge and about 12-14" wide. I kept canned goods and other non-perishables in there. I did need to make sure to rotate the items faithfully, though.

I honestly have no idea how much this saved me throughout the year, but it was significant.... especially since I didn't have the time nor the inclination to clip coupons and the like. All I did was chase loss leaders on groceries and purchase other household goods mostly at Costco and occasionally on a loss leader.

[wackyaunt]

Just DH and me here most of the time, still buy "family" packs. The non-family packs at my groceries for some reason are in 3's. So if I am gonna freeze the overage anyway, might as well do a bunch. Any marinades that I use for dinner (most recipes are for 4-6 pcs of chix or pork) season the "family" size of 6 and 4 go in the freezer in the vacuum sealed bag. (separated into "2" meals). So I only have to purchase those two types of meat every 6-12 weeks. I finally got each on the sale rotation. (Beef is purchased from a local farmer 1/4 at a time.) When we visit DD, the same is true, I just freeze the extra for her in singles rather than duos. (She thinks is fun to have mom fix her dinner from 1200 miles away and it works out that we usually visit about every 3-4 months!)
TP, paper towels, dish soap, hand soap all stocked in the laundry room about this time last year during the 1st quarter sales, I was just thinking the other day that its time to begin watching for sales on those items again. Extras go with DS to college apartment (usually "shops" my inventory once a month when he comes home.)
When things like pasta, sauces he likes, and such are on sale, I have a care package box in the dining room that I put extras in. It is also where his monthly homemade oatmeal packages, and packages of his college brain food of choice "homemade" microwave popcorn go for pick up.
Potatoes I have learned to bake 6 or 8 (even with just the 2 of us) at a time (hey, the oven is warm anyway). The extras either go into potato salad (especially in the summer when we grill out all of the time), potato soup, or I slice thinly to make good old fried taters and onions (sprinkle with shredded sharp cheese just as they are finishing), or as a base for a fritata. Before I figured out this potato thing, a bag of them would go bad before I could use them all.
When onions and peppers are on sale, I try to stock up and put in freezer in 1 cup size quantities, except fajita mix of peppers and onions, which can you ever really have too many peppers and onions for fajitas?
When flavored coffee creamer is on sale cheaper than I can make it (a guilty pleasure of mine), I freeze it like Apple does. When I grew up, we lived out in the middle of no where, so I didn't realize until I was married that not every body froze milk and cream/creamers. I now freeze breads in 1/2 loafs, because we couldn't get a whole loaf eaten before it went south, the other options with the bread was making a bunch of sandwiches at once and freezing for DH's lunch (before he went on this yogurt for lunch thing.) So yeah to answer the original question, I believe there is a single shopper/small family penalty that I used to find irritating to my budgeting, so I have tried to figure out how to make the best deals work for us.

[pepperdoo]

Keep in mind this is just a snarky comment about Paul, but I'm grateful I don't have to haul 2 gallons of milk every other day up the stairs.

That being said, I plan my meals for 7 days around the sale flyers I get in the mail, and keep on a strict budget of $40.00 a week ( up from $25.00 to $30.00 a week). This is my food budget. I have a separate stock up jar in my pantry. Since I cook and don't eat out, and I'm kind of picky, I don't buy any boxed, pre-packaged or processed food including lunch meats. I also don't buy bread, I make it, 6 loaves at a time and freeze the dough. I just used one loaf to make a stuffed bread with cream cheese, red peppers, sweet onions and 1/4 lb. cooked ground beef, for example, and that's my weekend meals, Fiiday through Sunday. I also bought 2 whole chickens for $6.75 and tossed them into the freezer to use later. It was in my food budget. Every purchase make is planned before I shop so I will eat everything and nothing will go to waste.

[Tiny]

A Sharpie solves the "what's in that Kitty Litter bucket?" question. I store bird seed in one and wrote BirdSeed on it and even added a few "pretty birdies" on the bucket. I got Sharpies in a variety of colors and pen points during the Back to School sales... they will probably be on sale again as part of the Tax Season - organize your home office sales.
A Sharpie is also great for writing on zippy bags or aluminum foil for frozen items. You can also write on the ziploc containers before they go into the freezer. I cross off old contents and just write the new contents/date on 'em. I write contents and date on masking tape to use on Tupperware.

I also "customized" my reusable purchased shopping bags with the Sharpies. I got tired of the cashiers looking for price tags and/or asking me if I was purchasing them... Added a Greek Key or tesselating or interlocking pattern to the top of each bag... put free hand"daisies" on one, when I got tired of following a pattern.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I buy in bulk packages items that I use regularly that do not go bad. This pertains to spices, which I can get HUGE containers at Sam's for a cheaper price than the grocery store. Some I use regularly, so I can get through a large amount in a year or so. TP is another item and I have found that I can store the packages in the cabinet that my furnace and water heater are in, they nicely stack up at the side. Paper towels go on the shelf in the laundry room, along with the trash bags, laundry detergent, dryer sheets and cereal (all items that I buy in bulk).

I have Click Clacks that I bought at BB&B where I store big packages of rice, beans and pasta that I've bought in bulk.

Meat gets broken up in smaller packages and stored in the freezer. However, I do tend to buy meats that have multiple uses. Sirloin and chicken are norms since both are flexible in what you can use them for. If chicken starts to get old, I make stock from it so it doesn't go to waste. Butter gets stored in the freezer too.

Canned chicken stock and olive oil are other things that I buy in bulk. I probably go through a case of stock (24 cans) in about 2 months.

I rarely buy veggies in bulk, but will buy some fruits, depending upon how big a size they are. I can get through most berries before they go bad. If I'm on a lemonade kick, I will buy lemons in bulk since I do use them frequently.

[wackyaunt]

Now that we are empty-nesters (most of the time) I can things like marinara sauce in PINT jars rather than quart. Pizza sauce I can in 1/2 pint (jelly jar) size it is perfect for one pizza--pizza is still 2 meals for us tho. (Bell's Complete Guide to Home Canning is my go-to reference; yummy salsa, I don't have a pressure canner, so I only can fruits and tomato products.)

A pound of ground beef will usually be 2 meals, so I brown all at once and freeze half after cooked, one mess, 2 meals.

When I make a meatloaf, I divide into 3 and freeze 2. Half the work is done for a future meals. I freeze raw, and thaw in the fridge then bake day/evening of meal.

My OAMC cooking style is more along the lines of figuring out how to breakdown to fast assembly steps. And/or non-traditional things like "homemade" microwave popcorn, muffins and quickbreads (like English muffins) and individually freezing. I also buy cheese in bulk, shred, and breakdown to recipe size portions (usually about 2 cups) and freeze.

Meats with marinades? I freeze things like chicken breasts in pairs (since my store packages in 3's I buy 2 packages on sale and "make" 3 meals at once with double the marinade that the recipe calls for too. (I use seal a meal thingy for these.) I also package some chicken plain for things like chow mein and such.

Another tip I have is to buy the dough roll balls in the frozen food section (not the heat and eat rolls). With just the pair of us, I thaw 2-3 of the balls and bake in a tiny pan at meal time and we have warm, fresh baked rolls with dinner without making a dozen. I haven't gotten brave enough to make my own dough and freeze yet, but the day is coming! Right now I am using up rolls that I got on sale with a coupon for way less than the cost of making the dough.

[Deleted]

What a great thread. I live alone in a 1 bedroom apartment. I've been cursing my local grocery store for no longer stocking the 6 pack of TP double rolls that fit so nicely under my sink. Now all they have are 12-24 packs, which I can't store, or a higher price/ft 4 pack. Annoying.

For other staples, I often use the trunk of my car as extra storage for paper towels or other non-perishable things that I can carry into the house on an as-needed basis.

[chiver78]

I'm single and live in a townhouse with a garage and more closets than I know what to do with.

my garage had shelves against the end wall when I moved in, I've got my bulk paper products stored here - TP, paper towels, napkins that were purchased at BJs. I go there 2-3 times/yr for this stuff.

I'm with the Sharpie fans for freezer storage. sharpie ink can be removed with acetone nail polish remover (if you're writing on reusable containers) before tossing in the dishwasher. I buy chicken breasts in the family-size packages, and split to ziploc bags.

non-perishables are generally found in my pantry closet, which is in my half bath on the first floor. some units in my complex have a full tub here, so that should give a better picture as to the size of this particular closet. I've got pastas, canned goods, and whatever leftover unopened chips from holiday parties (so I don't eat them! ) hidden in here. I tend to stock up when things go on sale and/or I have great coupons. anything that doesn't fit in my galley kitchen's cabinets just goes in the closet.

[gsbrq]

If you have limited space, you may not be able to buy all your items in bulk. Figure out which ones offer you the most savings & make room for those; buy other items in smaller sizes.

I buy the giant 36-pack of tp when it is on sale & keep it in the trunk of my car.

For potatoes, I'll wait for the 5-lb bag to go on sale for 99 cents, then I'll eat potatoes just about every day. Since there are so many ways of cooking them, it takes a while before I start to get tired of them. Then, I make mashed potatoes out of what's left and freeze them in individual servings. They heat up great, and I can also make potato cheese soup out of them.

I freeze spaghetti sauce, chili, etc in ice cube trays, then put the frozen cubes in a ziplock. Makes it very easy to warm up individual portions.

I repackage & freeze meat in individual servings. When I buy something like fajita-spiced chicken, will cook the whole package & freeze in individual portions.

Cheese--I'll buy blocks on sale & shred/freeze.

FYI, keeping all these staples in my freezer only works because I don't buy frozen meals; packaged frozen meals take up too much room in the freezer.

[rubyslippers]

I store popcorn and rice in empty half gallon milk jugs, which keeps them fresh and takes up less shelf room in the pantry. Under the bed is good for those long, plastic storage containers and will hold quite a bit. I make my own chicken stock because it's better and I have more room to store it in my freezer than in my pantry. I have deep drawers in my kitchen under the staircase and in one drawer I store all my extra foil, garbage bags, ziplocks etc... I have bedroom nightstand with closed drawers and that's where I store lightbulbs. I stocked up on free lightbulbs and didn't have any other good place to put them and the table was empty, so that's where they are.

[donnafreedman]

rubyslippers: Under the bed is a good place to put things. I have some light bulbs under there right now.

[Frugal Nurse]

When I was 18 and single adn living on my own in an apt., I would buy larger quantities, break it down into smaller ones, then freeze them or use them up quickly. For example: A large frozen pizza was usually only about $.50 more than the "single serve" size, and I ate pizza almost every day for lunch. Every week I'd buy a large frozen pizza and a bag of lettuce. I'd get home, and use the edge of the counter to beat the frozen pizza on and break it into frozen slices (if you hit it just right it will break right in half. Then repeat until you've got 6 slices), then put those into ziplocs and put 'em back in the freezer. I'd also package up individual salads (lettuce, veggies, and cheese) into zip locs and put them in the crisper. Then when it was lunch time, I'd heat up a slice of pizza in the oven on a cookie sheet and eat my salad while the pizza was cooking. It made lunch simple and was instant portion control.

I think the biggest problem is that I'd eat the same thing every day for a week straight. Breakfast was always a slimfast shake, then lunch was my pizza/salad combo, and dinner was either cereal or leftover food from the restaurant where I worked at the time.

Wow I didn't realize how little I ate back then until I just typed it out - no wonder I was able to keep slim! I wish I had that discipline now!

[gsbrq]

Oh, one more thing I do is to try spacing out my "value pack" purchases...for instance, if I buy a big bag of frozen chicken breasts, I won't buy the big pack of pork loin the same week. So on the weeks when I do buy a whole brisket, I've already used up a good portion of my other "value packs" and I'll have room in the freezer. Right now I'm in a clearing-out phase, so that I can be ready for the next good deal that comes along.