My roommates and I started sharing our grocery shopping around 2018, but my journey with grocery sharing started even earlier. A few years ago, I worked for a non-profitand while I was there I started a program where we gave bulk food to families. This experience sparked my interest in implementing bulk food distribution in my home.

We may have different titles, but we are all creative

I am a creative person with a somewhat split life between the gastronomy and the art world. I work as a waiter in Chicagowhere I was born, raised, and still live. In 2023, I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Both of my roommates are also creative people and we knew each other before we moved in together. One of my roommates is a fashion designer and I actually have a family connection with my other roommate, who is a makeup artist. We’ve known each other since we were young.

Because we are creative people, sometimes we don’t always have the money to compensate each other financially. I might log into my account and find that it is negative. To create a safer environment at home, we have moved to a barter system over the years. The barter system not only makes sense to us, but it also helps us support the creation of Food wastewhich we all complain about.

We all contribute to our routine of sharing food in large quantities

We all participate in our routine of bulk buying and sharing groceries and shop at several different stores so we have variety in what we bring into the room. One of my roommates, a fashion designer, buys juices, so he buys a lot of products in bulk from places like Costco or even restaurant wholesalers that he has access to. Often he makes juices for the whole house, but sometimes he makes special juices just for himself.

My other roommate, a makeup artist, gets bottled water and grains from Trader Joe’s, Pete’s Market, or sometimes even from house pantry stores. I am the house meat buyer and tend to shop at traditional grocery stores.

My last big purchase was for Jewel-Osco. I honestly believe they developed their app partly because of me. I always give feedback on their customer experience. In the past, the app did not provide accurate information on the items that certain locations had in stock. The app has thankfully become much more user-friendly than it used to be, which is especially important to me since I don’t drive or have time to leisurely browse the store.

Sometimes I use the app for pickup orders, or when I’m in the store, I can search for blueberries in the app and see the different types Blueberries and the deals they have so I know exactly which kind to get. Last time I used the app, I saw that they had great deals on filet mignon. It was marked down from $11 to $5 per pound. There was also an additional sale on meat with about 30% off – I went home with six steaks for about $30.

Since we started bulk buying and sharing our groceries, we save about $260-$300 per month.

Depending on how much we save in a month, some of our bulk purchase money goes toward shared household bills. For example, if I make a bulk purchase of meat and end up saving $60, I take that $60 and consider it free money to use toward our bills.

Our system changed as we figured out what worked best for us

Since we started, we have tried different methods of sharing our food and paying each other back to find what works best for us. Sometimes we send each other money, but often we do things like balance out with products of equal value. For example, I really like passion fruit, and sometimes it can cost $3 a piece. So if my roommate, who likes to eat passion fruit, Juicingwould like to give me passion fruit in exchange for the steak I just bought, that would be fine.

Although we mainly use the barter system, we still buy food that is specifically for our personal use unless we agree on it beforehand. Through our constant communication and by learning more about each other’s habits over the years, we can recognize pretty easily when certain items are not suitable for our barter system. For example, I sometimes cook dishes with truffles, and my truffle products are basically off limits. My other roommate, the make-up artist, buys items that specifically contain Prebiotics and probiotics for occasional stomach problems. In other words, when we open the fridge and see truffles or a probiotic drink, we all know who it’s for.

I realize our system wouldn’t work for everyone or every household. Some prefer to manage their lives more as individuals, and some are happy to work with others, but only if there are very clear rules. It all comes down to the core values ​​of your group. Our core values ​​are supporting our community and making sure we all have the resources we need, and that’s what we try to model in our home.