Remember when a bag of beans was just a bag of beans?

I keep seeing folks at the store grab those little 1-pound bags of dried beans for like $3. My grandma taught me to buy the 5-pound sacks for $6. That's five times the food for double the price, and they keep for ages in a jar. I made a pot of black bean soup last week that cost maybe $1.50 total for the beans, an onion, and some spices from the bulk bin. It feels like a simple trick got lost somewhere. What other old-school bulk buys are people sleeping on these days?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_daniel2mo ago

Totally with you on the bulk bins for spices. That little jar of cumin can cost five bucks, but you can fill a tiny jar from the bulk section for about seventy cents. Same goes for oatmeal and nuts. The big canisters of rolled oats are a way better deal than the flavored packets, and you can just add your own fruit or brown sugar. It feels like stores hide the good value stuff on the bottom shelf or in the weird health food aisle.

park.adam2mo ago

Yeah, the "bottom shelf" thing Jason mentioned is so real. I read a whole article about how stores put the pricestuff right at eye level because that's what sells. They called it the "dead zone" down by your feet where the cheap stuff lives. It's not just rice and beans, either. Big boxes of pasta or store brand tomato sauce are always down there. You gotta literally look down to save money. Makes you wonder what else they're hiding, right?

jason1122mo ago

My buddy was the same with rice. He used to buy those tiny boxes. Then he saw me with a 20-pound bag and asked where I got a "restaurant supply." I told him it was just from the normal store, bottom shelf. He tried it and said his rice cooker gets used three times a week now for pennies. He felt silly for missing it.