When buying groceries in bulk, one should consider what and how much he needs. It is important to buy food for the cheapest price without wasting or running out of groceries. To do this, one should buy the right foods in bulk. Obviously, perishables like fruit and vegetables should be bought in mid-sized quantities and eaten shortly after they are bought. However, processed foods like chips, granola bars, candy, and other snacks will stay fresh for several months, or even years. They can be bought in large quantities and kept at room temperature for long periods of time. It is important to remember that the bigger the package, the smaller the individual cost of an item. For example, if twenty energy bars are sold for $15, each bar is clearly cheaper than the normal price of $1. These bars are not perishable and thus, easily kept in the house. A person can save a sizable amount of money by switching from buying one bar a day to buying one bulk pack every few weeks (www.squidoo.com). Another way to save money is to freeze products that normally do not last very long. Meat and bread need to be eaten soon after they are bought. If frozen, their lifetimes can be extended by as much as two weeks (www.ohioline.osu.edu). If it is not necessary to buy a food within the next couple days, one can save money by waiting for a sale or a coupon, buying food in bulk, and then storing it in a freezer. Canned goods can stay fresh for a long period of time. A large amount of these should be bought in large packages or during a sale. Be aware that some products claim not to spoil until the expiration date, but for some things like cereal, soda, and crackers, this only applies as long as the seal is unbroken. When opened, the lifetime is greatly reduced. One can buy several two-liter bottles of soda for a good price, but for maximum usage, a bottle should be drunken within a couple days of the seal being broken. One of the best places to buy bulk foods is Costco Wholesale warehouse. They sell large quantities of food and other products for reasonable prices (www.costco.com). Other good grocery stores include Wegman’s, Wholefoods, Giant, and Trader Joe’s. The most important thing to remember is not to waste food. Some foods can stay fresh well past the expiration date if stored properly (www.ohioline.osu.edu). Also, it is not actually smarter to buy in bulk if you use less than the amount of the smaller package.