Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of buying in bulk. From big savings to big waste, they unpack when it’s worth it, and when it’s just more clutter. They also explore who gets left out of bulk benefits and why convenience isn't always cheap.
Lizzy and Lissa break down the hidden costs – financial and otherwise – of buying in bulk. From big savings to big waste, they unpack when it’s worth it, and when it’s just more clutter. They also explore who gets left out of bulk benefits and why convenience isn't always cheap.
Main Topics
00:00 Introduction
01:32 Running The Numbers Segment
02:03 The Privilege and Pitfalls of Bulk Buying
07:32 Unexpected Costs and Considerations
14:30 Changing Circumstances and Bulk Buying
19:51 Expensive vs. Cheap Items
21:01 Toiletries and Household Staples
22:57 Buying in Bulk in Different Cities
27:26 Food Waste
33:01 20 Cents Segment
References for Statistics
https://www.lendingtree.com/credit-cards/study/bulk-buying/
https://couponfollow.com/research/savings-when-buying-bulk
https://walton.uark.edu/insights/posts/the-high-cost-of-low-income.php
https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/
Lissa: In 2023, LendingTree found that buying in bulk can save shoppers an average of 27% across 30 different common household products.
Lizzy: But there's a catch. According to CouponFollow, the average bulk shopper ends up throwing about 30% of what they buy out. Which adds up to about $145 in wasted food every month. Dang.
Lissa: Dang. Is buying in bulk worth it?
Lizzy: Let's talk about it.
Lissa: Welcome to Net Net with Lizzy and Lissa, where we analyze hidden costs and empower you to make your own damn decisions in life. Each episode covers a different facet of life, and at the end of each episode we each give our takes on whether we think something is net positive or net negative.
Lizzy: I'm Lizzy, a strategist and consultant with almost 20 years of experience in finance and investing.
Lissa: And I'm Lissa, a personal finance expert and a certified financial planner. We're best friends who talk about money...
Lizzy: And everything else.
Lissa: In today's episode, we are discussing buying in bulk. However, this episode is informational and educational in nature and should not be misconstrued as financial advice. We share our experiences to help educate, but you should consult a professional for guidance as needed. Is buying in bulk worth it?
Lizzy: First step, running the numbers on buying in bulk.
Lissa: According to LendingTree, paper towels offer the highest bulk savings, up to 63% when bought in bulk.
Lizzy: Bulk buying can definitely save money, but only if you use everything before it goes bad. Take mayonnaise for example, you might save 29% but most people won't finish a 64 ounce jar before it expires in about three months. No way.
Lissa: Three months. Let's be real though, buying in bulk is a privilege. The University of Arkansas found that in 2020, low income consumers faced a 6.3% price increase-
Lizzy: Wow.
Lissa: ... which is more than double that of high income shoppers. That's because many miss out on bulk discounts because they don't have the storage space, they don't have the upfront cash, or access to online deals. Yeah.
Lizzy: Makes sense. Even when people do buy in bulk, food waste is a huge issue. According to Recycle Track Systems, the US throws away about 120 billion pounds of food each year. That's nearly 40% of our food supply or 325 pounds per person.
Lissa: Damn.
Lizzy: Most of it ends up in landfills costing us around $218 billion annually.
Lissa: That's wild. Well, we know there's more to life than numbers and statistics, so let's talk about it. Is buying in bulk worth it? That's basically buying a bunch of the same item at once to get a deal on it.
Lizzy: It's funny, when I think about buying in bulk, I think about going to Costco-
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: ... or some large kind of super store. But the examples that you brought here made me think of some smaller items that I am more likely to buy the larger package of.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And I guess technically that's still buying in bulk, it's just not the way I associate it.
Lissa: Yeah. Well this is the props though. The props that I brought for this episode, three of them are an example of things that I currently buy in bulk. These are premium cotton rounds, which I use for so many things like taking off makeup, putting on products to my face, cleaning random. Gillette, Venus replacement razor heads because-
Lizzy: I have those in bulk too.
Lissa: ... they sell you the handle and you can replace the blades. And then my electric toothbrush-
Lizzy: Replacement head.
Lissa: ... replacement head. So those are three examples of things that I do buy in bulk. I don't calculate what I save by doing it.
Lizzy: Sure.
Lissa: I just know that it's cheaper-
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: ... because sometimes I've run into situations when I'm traveling where I just have to buy a one-
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: ... and it's like, oh my God, I'm spending so much on this item when I could just get it for cheaper. And these are things, unlike mayo, they don't really expire.
Lizzy: Expire, yeah.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Something about this reminded me of a kind of mindset. And an example of it is when you need to get gas, are you going to put in a few bucks or are you going to fill up the tank? And sometimes you only have a few bucks. But I, at a certain point when I was younger, made that shift of I'm going to spend it anyway. So if I have it, I'm going to spend it, I might as well just spend it now and save myself the time. And so I think about that with certain purchases. So for example my puppy's food, I'm going to buy the bigger bag even though it's a larger lump sum because ultimately there's a cost savings there. But I still don't necessarily think about that as a bulk purchase, even though technically it is.
Lissa: It is. 100%. Okay. So the big benefit to buying in bulk is the cost savings.
Lizzy: Absolutely, yeah.
Lissa: In terms of the costs, obviously the upfront money that you're spending-
Lizzy: Upfront costs, so that can be cashflow issues-
Lissa: And storage space.
Lizzy: ... storage space.
Lissa: I think are the two biggest things I can think of.
Lizzy: And waste.
Lissa: Yeah, and waste.
Lizzy: Whether or not you actually end up using it all. So for that reason, it might make more sense to buy in bulk for non-consumable items, not food items. I guess this is technically food, but thinking of my example of dog food, I was trying a new food once and I bought the big bag and then it made him sick.
Lissa: Oh, no.
Lizzy: And I'm like, "Ah, damn it." So there are just some considerations around that.
Lissa: So now that I'm thinking about it, there are some food items that we do buy in bulk-
Lizzy: Okay.
Lissa: ... at Costco. And the reason being, these are staples that have a longer than normal shelf life, longer than mayo.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: We got to come back to that three month mayo shelf life. But longer shelf life and they're items we use regularly. So for example, pasta noodles, olive oil, oatmeal, grains. Things like that that we use on a regular basis in our household, it just makes sense to buy the bigger one because we're going to use it. It's not going to go bad. We're not going to throw it away.
Lizzy: So another benefit that it's not just the cost savings, it's the time or energy savings of not having to buy it again or not having the experience as frequently of running out.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Okay, we're out of this again, again, again. You either have a replacement or you just have a bigger quantity in the first place so you don't have to experience that.
Lissa: Yeah. Okay. I have a couple of weird costs-
Lizzy: Okay.
Lissa: ... to buying in bulk that I just thought of. Okay. One. This is something I notice myself doing throughout my adulthood and I think I know where it comes from. But buying stuff in bulk like buying a bunch of these cotton rounds because it's way cheaper to do so, and these will last me for three years. I only have to buy it once at Costco and now it's going to last me for three years. A couple of things can happen in that three years that actually take away from my cost savings to begin with.
Lizzy: Okay.
Lissa: So there've been times where I've lost the things that I've bought in bulk. I don't know where they go.
Lizzy: Yeah. Yep.
Lissa: There are other times that I end up giving them away because I'm just like-
Lizzy: Oh, I've got them.
Lissa: Right. Yeah. A friend or a family member is like, "Oh, I ran out of these." "Oh, I have a whole pack. Take it." Right? So I'm now-
Lizzy: I've definitely done that.
Lissa: ... giving them away. And then on rare occasions, so this actually kind of scared me yesterday, I don't think we actually have a leak, but there was some moisture underneath our kitchen sink. And we're staging it right now to sell it so we've had to hide a lot of things. I don't normally put paper towels underneath the sink, but when we got a new batch from Costco the other day we had to find places to store it.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: And luckily they're individually wrapped. But when I had looked under the sink, I don't know where this moisture is coming from we haven't tracked it down, but there was some water on it and I was like, "Oh shoot, we need to move that because if there is a leak, everything that we bought in bulk to save money-"
Lizzy: Is going to get ruined.
Lissa: ... it's going to get ruined anyway.
Lizzy: Right.
Lissa: So it's a very weird cost of buying in bulk that the stuff that's meant to last you for weeks, months, years ends up not making it that long.
Lizzy: Right. Well, it's funny because if you think about it like a business, this is your inventory.
Lissa: Inventory.
Lizzy: These are assets. And you can lose your assets, they're part of your overall worth or deferred spending. So you bought it now so you don't have to buy it later.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And if something happens to it, that's a loss. You lost those assets.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: That's really funny. Those are great examples to point out because I think that's often overlooked.
Lissa: Yeah, the costs of buying in bulk. Because if you have the space, lots of storage space at your home, it almost seems like why would I not. I have this dream of having a pantry of snacks that's kind of like a vending machine or a corner shop like a bodega, right? I'd love all that. It sounds like a cool idea. But I know for a fact those snacks would go bad.
Lizzy: Exactly. Yeah.
Lissa: And you'd just throw them away.
Lizzy: Or because you have so much, do you overeat it?
Lissa: Or overeat it. And also give it away more when friends come over.
Lizzy: Totally. Absolutely.
Lissa: Things like that.
Lizzy: Yeah. You're like, "Oh, take this please. I have so many."
Lissa: All that to say is, now that I'm thinking about it, the primary reason a lot of us buy in bulk is those cost savings. You save $5, $2, even if it's just a few dollars by buying multiples. But then later on, are you consuming it more? Now that I think about it, this is funny. So these cotton rounds, I use them to... So here's one of the things I do in my makeup routine is I'll put two different foundations on my hand to mix it, and that's where I put on my foundation. And then I have to wipe that off. And rather than using a makeup wipe, I'll just take a couple of these rounds and use micellar water and wipe it off.
I realized, before, I used to take one of these, get the micellar water and wipe off the foundation. Today, I can't tell you why, but I'm pretty sure I grabbed a whole stack, like five of them, and just put a bunch because I'm like, cool, one wipe.
Lizzy: Because I got them.
Lissa: Because I got it. So it's like, yeah, I guess I'm more wasteful or I consume more because I know there's more.
Lizzy: Because you know you have them. Yeah, for sure. And that's the same thing of like, "I've got it. Here, take some."
Lissa: So now that you're making me think about it. Venus, these razor heads-
Lizzy: Do you use them for fewer shaves?
Lissa: This is a hygienic thing too, it's not like you should use one for a whole year. But if you don't have any more to replace it with-
Lizzy: You're going to make it work.
Lissa: ... you're going to make it work and use it longer. Clean it a little more until the blades are dull.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: But now that I know that I have so many, I'm like, okay, time for a fresh one today because I feel like a fresh shave.
Lizzy: For sure. Yeah.
Lissa: Let me change it. Same with the toothbrush head. Look at me. I'm all mad at my bulk stuff.
Lizzy: But the flip side of that being you're supposed to change your toothbrush regularly. I think a lot of people tend to-
Lissa: Yeah, because of bacteria.
Lizzy: Yeah. Or the bristles get bad or whatever. And so I think probably the average person lets it go too long.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: So the flip side is you're maybe doing it more regularly.
Lissa: And preventing cavities that are other costs.
Lizzy: See, there you go. There you go. You know what else that makes me think of? So obviously food going bad, and that can even happen with food we don't think of as going bad like canned goods.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And so you think, of course I'm going to use this many or I'm going to have this stockpile and they can still go bad.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: But I also think of medicine. So over the counter medicine is one of those examples where the cost if you buy Advil for a 24 capsule, tablet, I was going to blend those.
Lissa: Yeah, caplet.
Lizzy: Caplet bottle is so disproportionately high relative to the large ones.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: But that stuff expires too, and medicine is not cheap. So, again, those are the costs you don't think about. Like, oh, let me stock myself up. And some of that, I think, is because people just don't have this awareness that things like mayonnaise or Tylenol or whatever do expire.
Lissa: Did we have an episode where we talked about economies of scale for some reason?
Lizzy: No.
Lissa: I can't remember.
Lizzy: I don't think so.
Lissa: Where we were talking about, because I live with my husband.
Lizzy: Oh, roommates.
Lissa: Roommate. Okay, roommate-
Lizzy: Roommates, yeah.
Lissa: ... episode maybe.
Lizzy: We did.
Lissa: Because we live together, I know that it's going to be worth it. We might be able to get through that ketchup jar-
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: ... or whatever. Versus when you're single or living alone-
Lizzy: It's very different.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And I think to that end, buying in bulk is very different for a single person who lives alone versus-
Lissa: A family.
Lizzy: ... a family. Or even, to your point, roommates. A community. It doesn't even have to be a family, but people that have shared resources and the costs are very different.
Lissa: Yeah. Okay. I hope I'm not giving away my answer because I keep talking about all these things that I buy in bulk.
Lizzy: But as you talk about it-
Lissa: As I'm going through it and I'm like...
Lizzy: ... may change.
Lissa: So something that's interesting is right now I am organizing all of my household items and toiletry items. Because, again, we're staging our home. I need to declutter a little bit. And what I'm finding is there are some things that I used to buy either in bulk or in a subscription on Amazon, like subscribe and save, that I've had for a year or two and I'm like, "Wow, I overbought this back then."
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: And so, I don't know, is that a feeling of regret? I don't really regret it, but it does make me think of, dang, I shouldn't have done that.
Lizzy: Is it because you don't need them anymore or just because they take up space?
Lissa: So here's an example. This is not a buying in bulk one, but this is similar. But I bought eyelash shampoo when I was getting my eyelash extensions done, and I always like having an extra bottle so that when I run out I have it. So I like having one or two extra bottles. There was a couple times I forgot to cancel the subscribe and save order on Amazon so I had a couple, like two or three bottles. And then I stopped doing my extensions for a while. And so then they just sat there. I'm hoping they're still good because I'm using them now. I don't think they've expired in any way. But it's like they just sat there for a while and every time I saw them I'm like, oh, should I keep it or not? Am I ever going to do extensions again? Because if I don't, they're just sitting there and I can just throw them away.
Lizzy: Right. I think that's a good kind of more nuanced point of you are assuming, when you're buying in bulk, that your circumstances are not going to change for X amount of time to use up this product.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And that is not always the case.
Lissa: It's not the case.
Lizzy: And that could be a small thing like that. It could be, like right now I have a big household and in a year I have a small household.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Or people move out or people get divorced or your circumstances change.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: There's so many examples. The one that comes to mind with subscribe and save, just not quite the same but similar concept, I was taking prenatal vitamins and the pace at which they were coming was too fast for me to use them. So I had a backlog of it. And then I stopped trying for a child, and you could still take them, they're still good for you, but that kind of situation of like, oh, what am I going to do with all of these?
Lissa: Yeah. Oh, similar. That happened to me with these cranberry pills that actually worked for me to prevent UTIs. And I was using them for a while and I forgot one or two orders, and so I had a stockpile. Then I found this new product that I tried out that I actually like a lot better. And so that old one, it was too late to return. I ended up giving a bottle to another friend because she wanted to try it, and it worked for her so I gave her the second bottle that I had. Which is fine, but these are like $50 bottles that I pre-spent earlier thinking that I was going to use them.
Lizzy: Yep. It's tough.
Lissa: Tends to happen. Yeah.
Lizzy: Your preference might change, you discover something new, but I've already got this thing and it's going to last me. So I'm curious, to me that lends itself to a consideration of like is there a certain amount of time that you're willing to purchase out for?
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Because it sounds to me like there could be a middle ground where you're not having to re-buy for a couple months, but not a year. And I'm sure you're not actively thinking that through.
Lissa: For me, probably a year. There are going to be some things that, like these cotton rounds, that I just don't think I'll need to buy for another at least two years. That's how many-
Lizzy: Dang.
Lissa: ... that's how many come in this box. But when I used to buy them individually at Target or some other store, I felt like I was spending more and they were just going by so fast. So it's not that I actively, when I was buying it, said, "Oh cool, this is going to last me for a couple years. I won't have to think about it again." It was just more like, this makes most sense and it's not going to expire. That's the biggest thing for me.
Lizzy: Got it.
Lissa: As long as it's not going to expire. So I don't know, I don't really have an answer for that. I don't actually look at it in that way.
Lizzy: Interesting. This is an, I'm pointing to the cotton rounds, is an interesting example. And I just bought some. So one sleeve-
Lissa: I could have given you some.
Lizzy: I know, right? One sleeve for me will last a long time, but I don't use them every day. But in my head I'm thinking even at their most expensive, it's like a $3 purchase.
Lissa: Right, right, right.
Lizzy: So on a pure value level, you can't be saving that much.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: So I'm curious, does the overall cost come into play? Are you more likely to buy in bulk for expensive items or for cheaper items?
Lissa: I think expensive. So I think toothbrush replacement heads aren't that cheap, right? Depends on the-
Lizzy: It depends on the brand.
Lissa: ... brand.
Lizzy: That's why I'm hesitating you.
Lissa: Yeah. So I use Oral-B right now. But in the past I've used Sonicare, which is another big electronic toothbrush brand. I remember those heads being so expensive that it sucked when I had to go buy them in bulk. But it made sense because once I did and put that $100 down or whatever it was, I knew I'd be good for the next year.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: So I think for me, definitely, I can't even say one over the other, definitely for pricey items. But I think also for small items too.
Lizzy: Interesting. I think I am more likely to do it for pricey items where I know I will use it and I can see a big difference in the price. Like the medicine example, or I use it for razor blades as well. Oh shoot, I just had an example and it I slipped my mind.
Lissa: Is it another toiletry? I feel like household staples, toiletries, to me are my favorite go-to.
Lizzy: Yeah. So I used to not buy in bulk because of space. When I was cohabitating, when it would've been nice, we leveraged every inch of space in that apartment. And so even things like toilet paper, we bought six rolls at a time because there just wasn't space for it.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: So now I have so much storage, oh my god, thank the gods of my apartment. Yeah. I've got the toilet paper, the paper towels. That's probably my-
Lissa: Those two.
Lizzy: ... first thought for buying in bulk.
Lissa: That's funny. You used to buy six toilet paper rolls at a time. Guess how many that I would buy at a time?
Lizzy: How many?
Lissa: 48.
Lizzy: Okay. All right.
Lissa: Because I have it on a subscription.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: And to me that's going to get used. And I don't think it's one of those situations where I just use it all crazy because I have it.
Lizzy: Yeah, yeah. You use them like you use.
Lissa: I use them like I use. So I have it on a subscription, buy in bulk. And we have three bathrooms to split them across.
Lizzy: Sure.
Lissa: So it makes sense.
Lizzy: No, it makes sense. It makes sense.
Lissa: And they're cute. It's my friend's brand-
Lizzy: Shout out.
Lissa: ... Who Gives A Crap toilet paper. So they're cute. So they're on display too.
Lizzy: Yeah. They are decorative. They're very cute.
Lissa: If it was not decorative, I don't know if I could store that many.
Lizzy: Sure. Right, storage would be a different issue.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: So space can definitely be a concern. So I'm more likely to do it for the more expensive items for sure.
Lissa: You know what I just thought about is buying in bulk a thing in primarily walking cities?
Lizzy: I don't think so.
Lissa: No?
Lizzy: Okay.
Lissa: I guess if you order stuff.
Lizzy: I'm thinking back to my experiences living overseas, and granted this was a long time ago. But I don't think you saw that right in the city, it was more kind of on the outskirts. But I think it corresponds to having space and car culture, I think, more likely.
Lissa: Yeah. Because we live-
Lizzy: Everything is bigger over here.
Lissa: ... yeah, we live in Los Angeles. And I feel like suburbs are like that too, where it's easy to fill the trunk of your car or your pickup truck or SUV with book items, whereas if you live in New York City or something like that is even a thing. Yeah.
Lizzy: I wouldn't think so. Who's the one to lug all that home? Especially because apartments are so small there too. It's just the transportation-
Lissa: And the space.
Lizzy: ... and the space.
Lissa: So then you're spending more on items, on consumer goods.
Lizzy: It's really a luxury to buy in bulk in that case.
Lissa: Yeah. In a weird sense, I feel like we have the best of both. I know people complain about traffic and driving culture in Los Angeles, but it does enable us to live in a city and still have access to things-
Lizzy: Right. Which is rare. There aren't that many cities like this that don't have that density.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah. That made me think of, did you ever know kids in elementary school who would buy in bulk snacks and candy and then resell?
Lissa: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lizzy: So there's a hustle for that.
Lissa: It is a hustle.
Lizzy: It's not just kids. You'll see that sometimes at the park someone with water bottles or whatever. So you can make a little spread, granted that's not legal, but you know.
Lissa: Yeah. Flipping stuff, I think it's genius. Because even with high inflation today, you can go to Costco and spend $5 and get a 32 pack of bottled water. Not that plastic bottles are good for the environment, but you take that and you go to a high school football game or something where it's hot outside and you chill these up with ice.
Lizzy: Go to Runyon Canyon with a cooler.
Lissa: Yeah, with the cooler. You could sell them for $3 a pop and no one will question.
Lizzy: For sure.
Lissa: And that's like-
Lizzy: Quick little hustle.
Lissa: ... I mean it's a hustle, but yeah. So there's upsides of buying in bulk in that sense, if you're buying wholesale prices and selling.
Lizzy: One of the things that relatively is a small cost that I do buy in bulk, I drink these protein shakes that if you get one at a random store like 7-eleven or something, they might be like 4.50-
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: ... if you buy them at Costco, they average out to like $2.
Lissa: Oh, wow. So that's major.
Lizzy: So that's significant. And that's only at Costco that they have the bulk. And I actually know, they're Fairlife chocolate, they're like a beloved protein shake because they're so high in protein. So I know a lot of people that will go to Costco just for that.
Lissa: Oh, wow.
Lizzy: I've gone with a few friends because I don't have a membership.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: I've gone with two good friends of mine, tagged along just to get those.
Lissa: Oh. Well, I have a membership in case you ever-
Lizzy: See all my people got one, so yeah.
Lissa: Well that's another interesting thing too, because I know that I've always had a Costco membership to buy stuff in bulk. And even there was one year two years ago where I had a Sam's Club membership for a year, also a good place to buy stuff in bulk. You pay for those memberships. So you actually are paying a membership up front to get the savings, but you got to go there enough and shop enough to recoup, it doesn't take that much, but to recoup what you've paid for this membership.
Lizzy: Yeah. And then I also think there is Costco effect. When you're there, you get enticed into buying a whole bunch of stuff you probably don't actually need.
Lissa: Yeah, you normally wouldn't get-
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: ... or need. Yeah.
Lizzy: So the other thing I can think of when I go to Costco with a friend, I will always get beef jerky because it's good and relatively inexpensive compared to buying in smaller amounts. But then I just devour the beef jerky.
Lissa: Yeah. Yeah.
Lizzy: So you're potentially more likely to consume more and buy things that you don't necessarily need and you're going to do it at a large quantity.
Lissa: Okay. Can we talk about mayo real quick?
Lizzy: Yeah. What's the deal?
Lissa: I don't know. That was just one article that said that. Is that true?
Lizzy: I guess so because it's with eggs.
Lissa: Oh, right.
Lizzy: So it's not...
Lissa: Well, I know for a fact that growing up-
Lizzy: I'm not a Mayo person, so I don't have it in my own fridge. But growing up, never did we throw it away after three months.
Lissa: After 3 months, right?
Lizzy: Condiments, to me, they're everlasting.
Lissa: They're everlasting. At least here in the United States, they're everlasting with whatever they have in them until they have something weird in them.
Lizzy: Yeah, right.
Lissa: Like they smell weird or they look weird.
Lizzy: Yeah. And you see something in there.
Lissa: So this is funny because I don't know how this happens because I'm pretty good at cleaning out the fridge and pantry. I don't like overly old stuff in there.
Lizzy: Yeah, you keep it neat.
Lissa: Yeah, I do keep it neat. However, there are things that somehow make it past their expiration date, but not by a week or a month, by years.
Lizzy: Oh my God.
Lissa: So there was something I threw out of the fridge, I don't know, a bottle of mustard or something the other day that said expired 2023. And I was like, how? Because we replaced the fridge since then. I've cleaned out the inside. How did that get past me? Unless we bought it and it was an old one.
Lizzy: Oh, it could be.
Lissa: I don't know. But it's happened.
Lizzy: That's funny. I've had that with just kind of random things that I don't use often, but I also assume they're going to last.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: One example that I've learned my lesson on is a jar of salsa. I'm not going to use the whole jar if I'm using it as a condiment, not to eat chips and salsa. I'm not going to use the whole jar but it will go bad fairly quickly, like within a week.
Lissa: Yeah.
Lizzy: And so I had to learn the hard way with that one. But I've definitely had that where you just overlook it and all of a sudden you're like, how did it get this far?
Lissa: Yeah. So I've definitely had stuff I've thrown away. I've contributed to this, how many, 200 billion in food waste.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Which is unfortunate. And I think that's the tough part to me. Well, one non-food products, the packaging and stuff, does that actually help if you buy stuff in bulk? It's less packaging sometimes, depending-
Lizzy: Yeah, could be.
Lissa: ... on the items. So there's actually some benefits, I guess, to the environment. Theoretically.
Lizzy: Theoretically.
Lissa: Theoretically.
Lizzy: Theoretically, yeah.
Lissa: But for food, I think it's a bigger risk because the food that you're throwing out because of it expiring. I don't mess with anything that's potentially going to make my stomach hurt. It's just like-
Lizzy: Yeah. No, it's not worth it. I have learned, even just from the grocery store buying the bulk chicken, I meal prep most of the time, and so I've learned a lot of lessons of how much is too much food in terms of ingredients to get for the week or how many meals will I realistically eat that week. And I've definitely had to throw some away. And I do find sometimes when I buy a big pack of chicken, I won't end up using it all. So I'm kind of learning lessons as I go like, all right, next time.
Lissa: But do you ever freeze food?
Lizzy: Sometimes, which is another opportunity, but I don't love to freeze meat because I found that when I defrost it-
Lissa: It's not the same.
Lizzy: ... it's just a little different.
Lissa: Yeah, it is different.
Lizzy: It's a little different.
Lissa: So we started buying meat in bulk sometime last year because we want to cook more at home and then don't always have time to run to the grocery store. It's nice to have staples in your pantry and your fridge and freezer. So there was one time last year where we went to Costco, we bought a bunch of meat like chicken and also steaks and stuff, and we portioned it out. We use Ziploc bags.
Lizzy: Oh, cool.
Lissa: We portioned it out. We wrote the date on it so we knew when we bought it so that we know when it expires, theoretically. But then there was one time that, I don't know, we open the freezer a couple times a week, maybe even once a day because the dog food is kept in there and we have to move it to defrost it. And so something fell where one of us didn't close it all the way, and then we lost everything that was in the freezer that we had bought in bulk because we're like, "This is not safe to eat. We don't know how long it's been." Even if it still felt kind of cold, it was just like-
Lizzy: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's sketchy.
Lissa: So anyway, that was just another example of what I said about putting paper towels under the sink.
Lizzy: Yeah, power outage.
Lissa: Power outage.
Lizzy: Yeah. We had that with the fires here in L.A. And our power was out for several days, so everything was gone. And if I had just stocked up, I would be pissed.
Lissa: Pissed, right? Yeah.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: So the costs are that you're paying upfront so that you are basically protecting your future money because you're paying upfront and you're getting some savings out of it. But I think you're taking on a lot of risk-
Lizzy: Yeah. Which I think people don't think about.
Lissa: ... with having it in your possession now.
Lizzy: Yeah. Interesting. That's a good way to put it.
Lissa: Yeah, it's making me rethink some of my purchase.
Lizzy: Where do you think you're going to land?
Lissa: I don't know.
Lizzy: Is it about that time?
Lissa: Yeah. 20 cents?
Lizzy: 20 cents.
Lissa: Yeah. 20 cents is the segment of the show where both Lizzy and myself, Lissa, each get 60 seconds to give our 2 cents on today's topic, whether it's a net positive or a net negative for buying in bulk. Where does 20 cents come from?
Lizzy: You'll get the opinion of two dimes.
Lissa: I think I know where I'm going, but I have no idea which way you're going to go.
Lizzy: Really? Okay.
Lissa: So you're at first 60 seconds on the clock. At this moment in time in your life, is buying in bulk worth it?
Lizzy: All right. I always want to give a middle ground. Right now, I guess technically I buy in bulk or will buy more than one of certain staples that I use really, really regularly. But it's not my general approach and I almost never go to a kind of super store where you're going to get a large amount of items. So I think for that reason, I'm going to say net negative. There's exceptions, but I am not really approaching it of like, let's save money by buying in bulk. It's not my MO.
Lissa: Interesting.
Lizzy: Does that make sense?
Lissa: Yeah, it does.
Lizzy: Yeah. Okay.
Lissa: I didn't know you were going to go that way.
Lizzy: All right, all right. What about you, Lis?
Lissa: Oh, this is tough. Because obviously I gave you all the examples of stuff that I do buy in bulk. Oh man, this is tough.
Lizzy: It's tough, right?
Lissa: I like the idea of saving some money from buying in bulk. Now that I've been reflecting more, I do think that I have way more than enough examples that show me that I've also lost lots of money buying in bulk. So it's making me rethink that what am I really getting out of it? That said, I think I'm going to go ahead and say net positive. The primary reason being that buying in bulk not only saves me a little bit of money here and there, but it definitely saves me time.
Lizzy: Yeah.
Lissa: Because I'm going to the store less. We're only going to the store to buy more perishable things. But any household staple, any toiletry, anything that doesn't expire anytime soon, I think if there's a cost savings and I have the space for it, I don't see a huge downside except for those rare edge cases.
Lizzy: Yeah. Yeah, I got you.
Lissa: Interesting. I didn't know we'd go-
Lizzy: I know.
Lissa: ... split on this one. Well, this is what we think at this moment in time. Liz is a net negative and I am a net positive for buying in bulk right now.
Lizzy: Right now.
Lissa: That'll change as soon as you have a family, as soon as you have something. But no one can make that decision but you. What do you think, is buying in bulk worth it?
Lizzy: Hit us up, let us know what you think. DM us on Instagram @netnetpodcast or email us at hi@netnetpodcast.com. And if you want to follow us individually, here's where you can find us.
Lissa: I'm @wealthforwomenofcolor on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.
Lizzy: And I'm @live_well_lizzy on Instagram and TikTok.
Lissa: All references, statistics, and resources mentioned can be found in our show notes. This podcast is for educational, informational, and entertainment purposes only, and should not be constituted as financial advice. Remember to always do your own research, consult a professional as needed, and feel empowered to make your own damn decisions.