The mess bazar list: what to buy, and how much

Last updated 2026-10-04

A mess that shops from memory buys three bottles of oil one week and runs out of rice the next. A written list, and a budget worked out from last month's khata, fixes both.

Monthly staples, per member

These are buy-once-a-month items. The quantities are a typical starting point for one member eating two rice meals a day; your own last month's khata is a better guide than any list, so adjust after the first month.

Rice: 10 to 12 kg. Dal (masoor or mung): 1.5 to 2 kg. Soybean oil: 1.5 to 2 litres. Onions: 2 to 3 kg. Potatoes: 3 to 4 kg. Garlic and ginger: 250 to 500 g each. Salt: 500 g. Turmeric, chilli and cumin powder: about 100 g each. Sugar and tea leaves, if the mess makes tea: 500 g to 1 kg of sugar.

Multiply by the number of members and buy the dry goods in one trip. A 25 kg sack of rice or a 5 litre can of oil costs less per kilo or litre than small packs, which is one of the few real savings a mess has.

The weekly fresh bazar

Fish, chicken, eggs, vegetables, green chillies, coriander and lemons do not keep, so they are bought two or three times a week by whoever is on bazar duty.

Agree a rough split before the month starts, for example fish or chicken four days a week, egg two days, vegetables and dal every day. It keeps the meal rate steady and stops one person's bazar week costing twice another's.

A simple weekly meal chart

Saturday: rice, dal, fish curry. Sunday: rice, dal, egg curry. Monday: rice, vegetables, chicken. Tuesday: khichuri and egg. Wednesday: rice, dal, fish. Thursday: rice, vegetables, chicken. Friday: polao or a special meal, often counted as a full meal for everyone.

Pin the chart where the cook can see it. Bazar duty then knows what to buy without asking, and members know what they are turning off when they mark a meal off.

Setting the bazar budget

Start from last month: its meal rate is its bazar total divided by its meals. Expected meals this month times that rate is this month's bazar budget.

Example: six members expect about 55 meals each, 330 in total. Last month's rate was 52 taka. The budget is 330 × 52 = 17,160 taka, so an advance of about 2,900 each covers the food, before rent and bills.

Check the running meal rate in the middle of the month. If it is climbing, the mess finds out in week two rather than on the 30th.

Writing the bazar down

Whoever shops writes it down the same day: date, total, and item by item if the mess wants it, with the receipt photographed. Note whether it was paid from the mess fund or the shopper's own pocket, because the second needs crediting back.

An entry made a week later is one nobody fully trusts, and one entry nobody trusts is enough to start a month-end argument.

Keeping the list and the money together

Mess Ledger keeps the bazar rota, each itemised bazar entry and who paid for it in one place. Shopping with your own money is credited to you once a manager approves it, and the meal rate updates as entries go in, so the budget check above is always one screen away. It is free.

Have this done for you every month

Mess Ledger keeps the daily meals and grocery runs, then works this out for everyone at month end.

Start free Meal rate calculator