Tax refund = buying in bulk.

One of the ways we make ends meet every month is that every year when we get our tax refund we buy a lot of things in bulk that will last us the whole year. It works out well for me because it is always on hand and I don't have to budget for it every month. I've been compiling my list of things to buy as soon as that deposit hits the bank account! Thought I'd share...

  • Charlie's Laundry Soap - I've used this for almost 4 years now for all of our clothes and cloth diapers. I love it. I always add a couple drops of tea tree oil to the wash as well. I've always bought a 5 gallon bucket of it, but they changed it to a 4 gallon one. Still a good deal, hoping it will last me the whole year as the 5 gallon usually lasts me a little bit longer than a year. For 4 gallons of laundry powder, it is $130. That puts it at 13 cents per load.
  • Seventh Generation Dishwasher Soap - 8 boxes for $40 from Amazon. I don't fill up the pre-wash and only fill up the main cup halfway, so it lasts forever and the dishes come clean with no problem. We put vinegar in the rinse aid spot.
  • Essential oils from www.vitacost.com - they have great bulk size prices on some of my favorite oils, such as lavender, peppermint, tea tree and eucalyptus. 
Food
  • Beef! We normally order half a steer at a time and split it with my parents. It lasts us half a year usually. After that we buy the local, grass fed beef from Crest. Here's a pic of our order from last year! Find a local farmer near you at www.localharvest.org. We have found it averages about $3.95/lb hanging weight and half a steer usually weighs in around 400 lbs. If you're in Oklahoma, I am currently talking to a couple farmers trying to find the best local deal. 
  • Azure Standard co-op - here's what I just bought in bulk from Azure:
    • 25 lbs of organic wheat berries for $10.50. This will make a ton of flour! We grind our own w/ this grain mill from Pleasant Hill Grain. The manual one we have runs about $150. 
    • 25 lbs of organic steel cut oats for $16.90.
    • 50 lbs of organic turbinado sugar for $57.90. I go through lots of sugar making 1-2 gallons of water kefir every day. 
    • 1 gallon of organic raw apple cider vinegar for $8.80. I'm making some of my own right now. Should be ready next month! 
    • 5 gallons of raw honey for $135... that's a lot of honey. I know. Honey is expensive and I like not having to worry about buying it every month and the shelf life of raw honey is forever, literally. 
    • 25 lbs of organic brown rice for $32. Excited to make gluten free brown rice flour from some of this. 
    • 25 lbs of organic black beans for $32. Black beans have the most nutrients when it comes to beans, so I figure I'll just stick with them. The BEST black bean dip recipe can be found here. 
    • 1 gallon of organic palm shortening from Tropical Traditions for $25. 
    • 1 gallon of organic coconut shreds from Tropical Traditions for $16. (both of these are delivered to the Azure pick-up as well). 
We will be cleaning off some shelves in the garage this weekend to put all of our goodies when they arrive next week. Yay food! :) 

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