Bulking up. . . .

I continue to be amazed by the savings one can find by shopping in the bulk foods aisle. On a recent trip to Winco, I made a note of the items I was purchasing in the bulk section, and then checked their prices in the 'packaged' food aisles.

Here are some of the examples:

Orzo pasta

• Bulk: .85 cents a pound
• Packaged: $1.37 a pound

Brown sugar

• Bulk: .60 cents a pound
• Packaged: .71 cents a pound

Basmati rice

• Bulk: $1.79 a pound
• Packaged: $2.10 a pound

White rice

• Bulk: .74 cents a pound
• Packaged: .99 cents a pound (and this price was based on a giant, 20 pound bag of rice!)

Rotini pasta

• Bulk: .84 cents a pound
• Packaged: $1.19 a pound

As you can see, doing the legwork and cruising the bulk food aisle is worth the extra time it takes. Knowing these differences allows me to see where my greatest savings lie. So if I have a coupon for $1.00 off a certain type of pasta, I can work out the after-coupon price to see if it's better than the bulk price (it usually isn't!)