Where to buy bulk?

[Frogfeathermom]

We are trying to begin buying and storing bulk quantities of food and emergency items but are trying to find the lowest prices for doing so. We want things like rice, flour, beans, etc. -- not the dehydrated meal packets -- as well as candles, batteries, gas cans, water filtration system and storage, etc. We are a large family and on a tight budget. Any ideas?

 

[heatherlynnky]

I buy bulk batteries from tsc. We have been using them a year or so now. They seem fine, they don't die any sooner than any others and much cheaper than the name brands.

 

[the funny farm6]

sams club and the amish.

 

[BarredBuff]

I prefer Sam's Club to all resources. But I find that you can efficiently buy in bulk via sales and coupons pretty well right now in groceries like Kroger and Wal Mart. You also have things like Costco, and Emergency supply retailers like Emergency Essentials and other stores of the type. Hope this helps!

 

[ORChick]

Depending on where you live you might find Azure Standard useful.

http://www.azurestandard.com/

 

[Hinotori]

We have Winco here. They sell a lot of bulk stuff and if you a full bag, you just ask and they will order one in for you. Full bag is a little cheaper than the bulk rate even. We've ordered quite a bit there. The lady who stocks it showed us how to read the tags for the whole bag cost.

 

[TanksHill]

Depending how you plan to store the foods there are a couple options. I follow the store what you eat and eat what you store motto.

I buy food grade 5 gallon buckets from Home Depot. I tried getting them for free or discounted form my local grocery and doughnut shop but they never came through for me.

Gamma Seal lids are great. I buy those from BayTec, the more you buy the cheaper they are. I use these lids for easy access to what I'm storing in the 5 gal buckets. But they are not necessary.

You can buy your bulk items from Emergency Essentials already in a bucket but I have found its cheaper to assemble the buckets myself. They do however have great sales on Mylar bags. They go down to 1.50 every now and then.

For the food itself I buy from the bulk stores as well as Azure Standard. Azure is great for Organic stuff and animal grains. But the ordering process is a bit complicated. Once your signed up with a drop point it's easy as pie!!

If your going to look for wheat you better get on it soon. Azure has been selling out for the past 3 months. There is no animal grains available at this point. My Aunt buys directly from her local mill in Mo. and she is seeing her prices more than double because of the drought. I am hoping that in the spring Azure will have more availability. For beans look for the larger bags. When I order 25 lb bags I can get organic for under a dollar a pound still. At my local grocery they run more like 1.40 to 1.60.

One thing that helps in an inventory list. I have bought a couple books that have recommended list. I kinda base my storage on these but tweak it to fit my canning and families needs.

Best of luck. Don't get overwhelmed. Just try buying one ore two extra items here ad there. It will add up nicely.

gina

 

[baymule]

Try the LDS home centers.

http://providentliving.org/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations?lang=eng

Adobe Milling for beans.

http://www.anasazibeans.com/shopping/beans.html

Quinoa.

http://feedadam.com/#/shop