3 Mistakes People make when Buying Food Storage

Do you hold off on purchasing food storage because you're worried you'll do it all wrong?  Read the 3 mistakes people make when buying food storage.  

Do you hold off on purchasing food storage because you’re worried you’ll do it all wrong?  That’s OK, I did too!  And then after finally starting, I still made a lot of mistakes.  But you don’t have to do that.  You can learn from my mistakes how you can save money, time and space by NOT doing these 3 mistakes people make when buying food storage.

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3 Mistakes People make when Buying Food Storage

My friend, Sally, purchased 30 bottles of BBQ sauce on sale fro 50 cents a bottle.  This was a GREAT price, and she knew she would use them.  It was her families favorite brand and it was money well saved.  Or so she thought.

Buying food storage in bulk and case lot sales.

Believe it or not, but buying in bulk does not always save money.  There are 2 reasons why:

  1. You buy so much you get sick of it, and quit using it.
  2. It’s such a big amount you put it away for a rainy day, not using it, and it goes to waste.

Sally ended up giving me 10 bottles of BBQ sauce just a few days before the best by date because she was not able to use it all.  They got sick of BBQ meals so often her family refused to eat it any more.  She was even giving the bottles away to other family and friends too.  In this case, purchasing 3 bottles of BBQ sauce for $6 total would have saved her $7, over a 50% savings!

A case lot sale may sound like a great idea at the time, but it may just end up waste you money and space.

Instead of buying bulk packages of seasonings, and baking ingredients, it’s best to purchase the typical size you find at the grocery store.  You’ll save time by not having to move your bulk packages into smaller packages to fit into your pantry.  Also, with these common bulk items, you will only be saving a couple of cents to the dollar per ounce.

Wheat, rice, beans and such… items that you frequently go through are good items to buy in bulk.  You will save more money per the ounce with these in bulk.  They are also very easy to re-package into smaller sizes.  We package our 25 lb bags of wheat into small 3 gallon food grade FREE buckets.

Not thinking about the best buy dates.

Like Sally, she didn’t think about the dates.  30 bottles of BBQ sauce that expires in 2-3 years, is a lot of BBQ meals.  When buying food storage you want to think about the best buy dates.  Now, I don’t always follow them… but do DO want to be sure you know when they are.

By knowing when the best buy date is, it helps you know how to organize it, how often you need to rotate the items, and how much you really eat in a year.

Buying without a plan in mind.

Well yes, you can plan to eat all that bulk food, but do you really know how many meals it will make with it?  I can’t even begin to estimate how many black bean soups I’ll need to make to use up a 5 gallon bucket of beans.

Sally thought she needed all that BBQ sauce.  But with even just one meal a week using BBQ sauce, she only needed about 6-8 bottles.

When you plan your food storage with recipes, and know about how many times a year you want to eat that recipe, then you can purchase case lot sales and bulk items with confidence.  You won’t be sick of having BBQ sauce 3 x a week to use up your stock of BBQ sauce.

In conclusion

The 3 mistakes people make when buying food storage are very simple fixes.  When you avoid these mistakes, you will not only save money, but save time and space.  Learn how to make your own food storage plan by following these 5 steps.

What mistake have you made with food storage?  Comment below.

Further Reading:

19 Ideas to Store your Food Storage

How much Food Storage do you Need?

What type of Food Storage is Best?

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4 thoughts on “3 Mistakes People make when Buying Food Storage”

  1. If people are buying supermarket type cans in bulk they need to consider a can rotation system to help with using up the oldest cans first. Plenty of DIY plans on the Internet for folks who are handy at carpentry, or there are commercial systems available.

    And I always ask folks who have wheat berries stored if they have a manual grinder on hand. If all they have are a mortar and pestle when the power goes out then it’s going to be a lot of work to make bread out of those wheat berries!

    1. yes yes yes! Especially with the wheat. A hand grinder is $50 on average and goes up from there, for a good one, and it might take more time, but will allow you much more versatility with cooking.

  2. DUH!!! I’ve had BBQ sauce on the shelves for years–it’s still fine to use. No one says you must use it in 6 months or so.
    So, you must be one of those nicky-picky that actually believes the date posted on the can!! SAD!!!
    I bet you never even thought to freeze that sauce….ouch!!!

    1. It’s true, it is definitely still fine to use. I don’t follow the best buy date, but do like to keep it in mind for those who purchase huge amounts which they will never use. And you can definitely freeze the sauce. That’s another option as well. But I know many who don’t have the room in the freezer, or they prefer to use the space for other items. I was first given that BBQ sauce almost 10 years ago and was just getting started into food storage, I have made many mistakes and have learned from them and are teaching others. Thanks for you input! 🙂

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