We use large institutional sized rolls of plastic wrap in our kitchen, and I love the bulk boxes of zip bags. They seem to last forever (in comparison to the little quantities), and I only have to worry about buying them every few months instead of every few weeks.

We have a membership at Sam's Club. I don't use it for everything, but it is good for some things. I just can't beat the price of genuine bulk packaging. We bought our vacuum cleaner there also - a commercial model. And I have to say, the thing really sucks!

Laura
Mom to Eight

We use our BJs membership only for certain things. Right now milk and dairy products are the cheapest there. Paper products and some cereals we get there. I find I can get most other things cheaper on sale at the local grocery stores or Aldi's markets.

One of our local stores has regular 10 for 10 sales. Often it is stuff that is 99 cents elsewhere, and not a good deal, but sometimes they have some real goodies. When they do, I spend a little extra to stock up on the sale items.

I also find that I can get clothing really inexpensively on clearance - sometimes just a few dollars per piece. No matter what is on sale, I usually have SOMEBODY who is wearing that size! :)

These aren't "super-size" but they're some bargains I'm proud of :-D

I went in to CVS one day and saw some bottles of detergent. It was the 100 fl. oz. bottles of Sun. I knew at Dollar General those were around $5 a piece, probably double that at CVS lol. I looked at the price tag and went to ask the cashier if it was correct. She assured me it was. They were marked $0.62 a bottle!!!! They had 12 bottles and I bought every one of them. I make my own laundry soap but I do add 1 quart of regular detergent to my 5 gallon bucket of homemade. The Sun detergent will probably last me a year!!! I also have a friend who has a "thing" for cleaning products. She has to try every new one in every new scent that comes out. So I've also been blessed with several super-size bottles of liquid fabric softener, Dawn dish soap(which was a real blessing because I was waiting on it to go on sale somewhere, etc...

I've also finally figured out how to use the CVS extra care bucks. I only buy things that are on sale, buy-one-get-one-free, or that I'm going to get more extra care bucks on. This week I bought 2 4-packs of D Duracell batteries. They were regular price $7.99 each. On sale for $5.29 each with your card. I had a $3 and $3.29 extra care buck. So I got both packs for $4.45. I've gotten VO5 shampoo for $0.11 a bottle when it was on sale and I had coupons. Now I'm wishing for shaving cream to go on sale!! They've also started making their bucks good for a month instead of the week or 2 it used to be.

I was trying to make this a separate discussion, but I guess "super size" fits the issue...
We are a family of 6, another due in September, unexpectedly.

We live in a two bedroom condo and now that DH is laid off we cannot qualify to buy a real home. We currently sleep in the living room on a sofa bed and the four kids share the big bedroom and the little room is for toys and sensory breaks. (my oldest has autism)
My DH yearly income is too much to qualify for Habitat for Humanity....I just don't know what to do. I have not told my family that I am pregnant because they have reacted negatively the last three times, I can't imagine it will change any time soon. Stressed!! I am looking for work, but that will not help with getting a loan....any suggestions?

Just out of curiosity, have you tried talking to your local bank to see if there are any alternatives that their loan officer might know of? Sometimes, even if one place can't help you, they will have resources to other places that can. I know we had a hard time getting a loan because I'm disabled and can not work, although my credit is nearly perfect and I owned my own company for over ten years prior to becoming disabled, and he hardly made enough to cover a mortgage and his credit was shabby to say the least. However, by going to our local bank and then following the bread crumbs that were spread out for us, we were able to find a company that pre-approved us for a loan and now we have our own house. It took a few months and a lot of leg work, but it was well worth the effort. I wish you all of the luck in the world in finding what you need.

A few tips on using Sam's club...

Go early in the day. They put their markdowns out then. The store is also less crowded.

Don't go hungry!! They tempt you with samples of high-priced, yummy food!

Use samsclub.com, and order through click+pull, they will have your order ready for you when you arrive (call your store when you're on your way). That way, you can just run in for the few things that you can't order on click+pull (some bakery and butcher shop items), and be on your way! It's GREAT, and FREE!

Marcia
(wife of Michael, Mom of 11 blessings here, 1 in heaven, and 1 in the oven!)

one more comment about Sam's... if you want, take the kids in AROUND LUNCHTIME, for samples!! My kids love it! WHO SAID THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH???

Marcia

We used to do that - now nobody in our family can eat the kind of things they have for samples!

The closest Sam's is 2 hours away, so we only get there when we have enough at one time to really stock up. Lately that hasn't been much, since the budget has been tight. I need to get back down there though, and see what they have now in organics and specialty foods.

Laura
Mom to Eight

Farmer's markets are a good place for the kids to get samples too. My kids still recall fondly when we went to the Farmers Market in Madison, WI. It covers six blocks--you walk around the capitol building. Samples included baked goods, dips, cheese (of course), honey, smoked trout, tomatoes, hot peppers, jelly, and jerky. They had more kinds of jerky than we'd every seen--beef, lamb, buffalo, elk, turkey, ostrich, pork, and emu!

I generally don't take more than 2 kids to the store at a time, as there wouldn't be room in the van if we filled it up with kids. Although I do enjoy the sight of my tall gangly teenage boys loping down the aisles of the store, like giraffes across the savannah.

GG