CASE LOT SHOPPING TIPS
WHAT IS A CASE LOT SALE? About three times a year, several grocery stores in Utah have case lot sales where you may buy 6, 12, 24 or 48 cans or packages of food at a reduced price. Some freezer foods are on sale as well. You can find dehydrated foods in #10 cans and buckets of wheat, oats and more at reduced prices.
COMPARE PRICES: All items in a case lot sale are not the cheapest you can find, so it is best to compare prices. Look over the grocery ad online first before you shop. Figure out how much each item costs. Is it really a great deal, or have you done better with other sales?
SHOPPING PLAN: Planning beforehand will prevent shopping on impulse. You might get star-struck when you walk into a store and see all of those stacked cases. So it is best to come prepared with a list, gather only what you need for your food storage, and get out of the store as quickly as possible.
BUDGET: Set a limit. You don’t want to go into debt for food storage. “Patience is a virtue.” Realize this is not the only sale that every existed. There is always another sale just around the corner.
CONTAINER SIZE: Stock up on the container size your family will use before it goes to waste. For instance, a 40 oz. peanut butter would go rancid in my family before an 18 oz. one would. And so would a gallon of vegetable oil, so I buy the 48 oz. size. Even though larger may be cheaper, it may not be the best choice for your family.
WHEN ARE CASE LOT SALES? Case lot sales begin in January, March/April, end of August/September and early October. But there will be some great baking ingredient sales at grocery stores in November and December, so you could wait then to buy flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cake mixes, evaporated milk, etc. Unless of course you need them.
SINGLE ITEMS AT CASE LOT PRICE: Some stores allow you to buy single items at the case lot sale’s price, which is awesome! This is helpful for those of you with limited storage space. It also helps if you want to buy a variety of flavors such as four different types of chili, instead of a case of one flavor.
AVOID DISTRACTIONS: Shop without little kids. Teens are great for lifting items or pushing an extra cart, but imagine fitting a child in a cart with four big boxes of food!
ORDER IN ADVANCE: Place an order in advance online and pick it up the next day. Let store employees gather and load items into your car. Call the store customer service desk to find out if your store does this.
Good luck at the case lot sales!
Valerie
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