Dave Ramsey Says This Is a Good Way to Save Money — if You Do It Right

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It’s advice worth taking, especially if you’re tired of spending a small fortune on groceries and household items. 

If your credit card bills seem to be going nowhere but up despite having cut back on non-essential spending, it may be due to the fact that food costs are through the roof. Grocery prices are up 11.3% over the past year, as per the latest Consumer Price Index. And if you have a larger family to feed, you might really be feeling the strain.

Financial guru Dave Ramsey has one tip for those who are looking to save money on groceries and household essentials — start buying in bulk. But you’ll need to go about that the right way.

A good way to save, if you do it right

Ramsey insists that one of the best ways to save money on groceries is to buy in bulk. But, he says, “The trick to saving money by buying in bulk is to have a game plan before you even walk through the door of the store.”

It pays to put together a list of the items you need, rather than go to your nearby Costco and see what items it has on offer. And also, you’ll want to make sure you’re buying the right items in bulk.

A good rule to follow is that if you’re looking at buying something you’ve never tried before, don’t get it in bulk the first time around. If you wind up unhappy with the product, you’ll either be stuck with a bulk supply of it, or you’ll end up wasting your money rather than saving it.

You’ll also want to be careful about buying perishables items in bulk. In fact, Ramsey says that buying perishables is a huge gamble. “The odds are rarely ever in your favor that it’s going to spoil before you can eat all of it,” he writes.

Now, there may be some exceptions here. If you have a large family and there are certain perishable items you eat regularly in your household, then purchasing them in bulk might work out, even if they have a relatively short shelf life.

If you’re a family of five, for example, and you all take turkey and cheese sandwiches to work or school three times a week, you may want to scoop those items up in bulk even though they’ll only last for a limited period of time. Otherwise, though, Ramsey suggests limiting your bulk purchases to items along the lines of:

ToiletriesDental care itemsPaper productsBatteriesGumCerealCanned goodsRiceDry beans

These items can all last a long time, so there’s less of a risk in buying larger amounts of them.

Your personal defense against inflation

Inflation has been forcing consumers to rack up debt and raid their savings accounts for well over a year now. And while you can cut back on non-essential spending to cope with inflation, food and household items are things you can truly categorize as needs, not wants.

Buying in bulk, when done the right way, could result in a fair amount of savings. And that might make today’s higher food costs easier to manage.

Furthermore, you don’t necessarily need a membership to a warehouse club like Costco to take advantage of bulk buying. You might find plenty of bulk options at your closest big-box store or even supermarket, so it pays to explore your options before taking on the expense of joining a warehouse club.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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