I know I’ve written a little bit about the process of moving to Grenada, especially in this recent guest post I wrote called Expat 101: How To Move To A Foreign Country. However, one of the things that I haven’t mentioned is just how many items we bring down here every year.

Essentially, imagine going to your local big box store. You’ll probably grab your favorite brand of coffee, those razors that are on sale, and your go-to cereal. But here in Grenada, we can’t do that. Sure, they have a grocery store, but the items are by and large inconsistent from one week to the next.

So, in order to have everything we want here, we spend a good $500 – $1000 every time we go home on shampoo, deodorant, pens, pencils, folders, coffee, school books, power cords, etc. etc. etc. We literally look like pack rats with 20 lbs. of coffee and 4 bottles of my favorite lotion and seconds and thirds of a dozen of other items just stuffed into 4 bags.

Here’s a quick snapshot of one of our bags from our most recent trip:

You can see that we also have to buy all our vitamins, laundry detergent, and yes, even dog toys ahead of time. I actually buy Julep, our pup, 3-4 Nyla bones every year. I just keep them in a drawer and give them to her sporadically. We also have to buy her heartworm and tick medication one year in advance. That alone is $200.

It takes some planning, but it’s also just a unique part of this experience. We keep a running list throughout the year of everything we need or are missing. So far, we’ve managed to live without most things, but it sure is nice to have a little something from home when you need it! Still, I have a heart attack every time I look at the total in the checkout line at Target, but I just remind myself that I just bought toothpaste for the whole year!

Do you buy anything in bulk? Even though it’s a good deal, does it make you queasy in the checkout line?