Buying Bulk And Freezing

Same here, although we have 2 housemaids now, the only other people in the dining table is my husband. We used to buy in bulk particularly meat because it is much cheaper. Besides, the market and supermarket is far from our home so we try to make do with once a week shopping. But when we experienced spoiled meat in the freezer, our policy had changed. We don't store meat or fish anymore in the freezer and just try to go to the market every day or every other day.

 

I do not usually buy in bulk, mainly because of budget considerations. Mostly I would buy what is needed for up to a week or two. I don't know if buying many things at once is a saving, but there are some products which, if bought in larger sizes, may turn out to be more economical in the long run. I have seen this to be true especially with some can products, as well as packaged cereals like oat flakes and oatmeal.

I would not buy products in bulk that have a short shelf life, like vegetables, for instance. I prefer not to freeze these type of products. For other products, it would all depend on the size of the freezer too.

 

I don't buy in bulk for it doesn't work for my small family. We love fresh vegetables and fruits so we buy weekly things from the open market or supermarket. You got to keep in mind that frozen doesn't last forever, you got to use it up within at least 3 months. Here is a list of how long to keep frozen foods frozen link from

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I don't really buy in bulk except maybe for biscuits and oatmeals. For other foods like vegetables, meats, fishes and chicken, we tend to buy it everyday from the nearby market. It's fresher that way instead of freezing them up. Besides, the market is just a few minutes away from our house, you can just walk to it. The goods are always fresh and way cheaper than the grocery prices.

I have tried freezing cooked meals before. But I think I thawed them the wrong way. For instance, the potatoes in one meal ended up being soggy and too soft. And it doesn't taste as good as freshly cooked meals as well. But I think it's a great option for people who don't have much time during the weekdays to cook. You can just cook meals in the weekends and freeze them. You can then thaw them and reheat during the weekdays.

 

No, because the food tends to get spoiled even after it is stored in the freezer, so we don't do it. We just buy cooked food as we need it.

 

Yes, I like to buy stuff like meat in bulk and keep my freezer stocked. It helps save money in a number of ways. For one, I am less inclined to make impulse buys throughout the week, if I've already spent much of my money up front stocking up my freezer with meats. Secondly, you can take advantage of the savings on buying meat in bulk, vs. buying smaller more expensive packs of meat every other day or so. Thirdly, as soon as I get home from the store with the meat, I will portion it out into realistic portion sizes, so I can stretch the packs of meat further. As I mentioned in another thread, I will butterfly fresh chicken breasts into two portions, and carefully measure out stuff like ground beef into reasonable portions. A recommended portion of meat per meal is only around 4 oz, and most people consume far more than they need to.

Another thing is, by buying all my meat up front, I'm less inclined to blow that money on other stuff I don't need, until I get my next paycheck.

 

Since we renovated and moved our old refrigerator downstairs I've been able to buy more food in bulk and freeze food. I love doing this. I find I am saving a whole bunch buying meat on sale and freezing it. I noticed this helps me with dinner planning as I can usually just look in the freezer and see what meat I've got frozen and plan my meals around it. I like buying meat at Costco as well and of course unless you have a large family you end up freezing some of the meat. The prices are very good at Costco.

 

Usually I'd only mostly consider buying in bulk if I could store them more easily as I don't like filing up my freezer that much so when I do buy in bulk I mostly just buy dry goods that I can keep in the open like in the pantry or even in the storage room. Sometimes I do come across some great deals in groceries though so I do end up buying a lot of a single item like if steaks are discounted or a certain brand of frozen instant meal I like is on promo, I'll end up buying loads of them and just keep them in the freezer but I try to also calculate how much I'd be able to keep them in storage for.

 

This is a wonderful tip. I also recently started buying in bulk and it does save a lot of money. I understand people think fresh will always be better, but a carrot that is frozen the same day it is picked is fresher in a week than a week old carrot that was not frozen so keep that in mind. As long as you use airtight bags and prevent freezer burn, buying in bulk and freezing is your cheapest option.