Questions about Buying in Bulk

[NextTime]

For those of you who buy in bulk:

What food items do you purchase in bulk and how much do you purchase at a time?
Where is the best place to make these purchases (online/local)?
What type of container/how do you store these bulk purchases?

I've been thinking about making bulk purchases of black beans and rice and was curious as to the best way to do it.

[ooeei]

My girlfriend and I usually buy rice in 50lb bags.  Depending on whether the bag is resealable we leave it in the bag, or put it in a plastic tub thing with a lid.  Nothing too complicated.  We use that amount probably every few months so it's not like we're storing it for years at a time.

edit:  And as for where, we usually buy it at either costco or the large asian grocery store near us.  Haven't really checked if there's much difference as it's such a small part of our food costs.  I do know that the 50lb bags are significantly cheaper than the 1-5 lb bags most grocery stores have.

[bacchi]

Rice from Costco, beans (black, red) from co-op, lentils and nuts from nearby grocery store. The latter two are actually in bins and we just fill up our containers once every 2 weeks.

[NextTime]

I am looking for BPA free food storage grade containers. These sound good, but was wondering if anyone knew of cheaper containers (with the same quality).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011ISNDHO?psc=1

[Conjou]

Glass jars I get from stuff that empties (like PB) or mason jars are my bulk food containers. I have several large gallon ones from a local nursing home that I store beans and grains in, and many others for nuts, oil, seasonings, and stuff. I buy from the local co-op.

[Petuniajo]

I am looking for BPA free food storage grade containers. These sound good, but was wondering if anyone knew of cheaper containers (with the same quality).

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B011ISNDHO?psc=1

I got some frosting buckets from the local grocery store that they were done with (they go through a lot, so if they don't have any when you ask, try again another time) and gave them a thorough cleaning (several...). They are food grade, thick for long term storage, and have lids that long on super tight. They are bigger though--5 gallons, I think.

[nereo]

For those of you who buy in bulk:

What food items do you purchase in bulk and how much do you purchase at a time?
Where is the best place to make these purchases (online/local)?
What type of container/how do you store these bulk purchases?

I've been thinking about making bulk purchases of black beans and rice and was curious as to the best way to do it.

Foods I purchase in bulk
Rice, Beans, Flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking soda, Baking powder, yeast, oil, cheese, vinegar... anything i will use up before it spoils/degrades really.

How much do I purchase at a time:
Typically up to as much as I can use before it spoils.  Most things though will last as least 6 months, but I'll use up even the jumbo CostCo bag/container in less time than that.  e.g. the 22lb (10kg) flour bags could last 6-12 months, but typically last me 3-4.

What do I store it in?
Lots of glass jars, mostly.  Giant bags of flour and Sugar are kept inside big food-grade plastic totes still inside their paper sacs.  I have lexan containers in my pantry which I re-fill that hold about 5lbs each...makes it easy to grab a few cups of flour and gives me a buffer between when the sac runs out and when I need to restock.
Rice, beans, cous-cous and other grains I store in a motley collection of large glass jars.  I have several 1-gallon wide-mouth jugs I picked up somewhere, plus lots of 1-1.5Q mason jars.  I like how glass i chemically inert and washes out clean.  The jars also fit perfectly in my kitchen cabinets.  Cheese I keep unopened in the fridge.  I'll stock up when it goes on sale and buy 3-5lbs at a time.  As long as no one opens the package it will keep for months.  Yeast - in a mason jar in the fridge.  Oil - in it's original container, but I have an ~12oz bottle with a quick-pour spout I leave on my counter (like the kind bartenders use).