Do you belong to a warehouse club like Costco or BJ's?

[disneysteve]

I posted this in the "Post Your Wins" thread but we just joined BJ's today and in one visit, we already saved more than the cost of membership thanks to using a Groupon to get it for half price ($25).

You can read my whole post here:

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/general-discussion/84012-post-your-wins-14.html

Do you belong to one of these places? Do you find that it saves you a significant amount?

We used to belong years ago and found we just didn't go enough to make it worth it but based on what we saw today, it's totally worth it and will save us plenty.

[97guns]

I posted this in the "Post Your Wins" thread but we just joined BJ's today and in one visit, we already saved more than the cost of membership thanks to using a Groupon to get it for half price ($25).

You can read my whole post here:

http://www.savingadvice.com/forums/general-discussion/84012-post-your-wins-14.html

Do you belong to one of these places? Do you find that it saves you a significant amount?

We used to belong years ago and found we just didn't go enough to make it worth it but based on what we saw today, it's totally worth it and will save us plenty.

I used to go halvsies on Costco with my brother but stopped around 10 years ago, don't really buy food in bulk like that, every time I went in there it was for flour tortillas, their rotisserie chicken or their cheese, nothing really much more that's why I decided to stop. I do miss the chicken but the other stuff I can buy at the same price, have to say their return policy is very good too.

We don't have a BJ's, actually now is the first time I've heard of them but we have Sam's club and a slew of Costco's

[bjl584]

I am a member of Sam's club. My employer bought me the membership. It's a perk. I don't shop there very often but I really should.

[Jluke]

BJs for the paper products, allergy medicine, water, gas, etc.


Always check the coupon book and pick up the in store coupon booklet as well. Coupons can save you anywhere from $1.25 to $6 or more.

This weekend they emailed a $10 off of $100.

I had a Costco membership when I got my hearing aids. There are none in my local area so I let that one elapse without renewal.

[sweetlady2k]

We have a Sam's business membership SO father put us on. We buy paper supplies, spices, water and some meat there. Rib roasts at around 80$ yield about 22-26 3/4 inch ribeye steaks.

[disneysteve]

don't really buy food in bulk like that

We didn't buy much food, only a couple of items. What attracted us was the other stuff - paper goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc.

As I said in the other thread, just my wife's OTC med alone is $6.24 less per box than we've been paying on Amazon. Two boxes saved us $12.48.

We got a box of 9 Brita pitcher filters for $3.33 each instead of $4.74 each on Amazon so saved $12.69 right there.

Just on those 2 items, we made back the $25 membership fee.

[kork13]

We have a Costco membership. We use them primarily for gas, diapers, chicken (frozen & rotisserie), certain produce, and snacks, and that sort of thing Pistachios, bananas, apples, oranges, and spinach for example. They are all cheaper than I've found anywhere.

We've also bought a number of other one-off items, like DW's FitBit, which we got for about $20 off. I always price shop pretty aggressively, so I'll only buy stuff from Costco (or Amazon, or most any other place).

We like using them, but I emphasize the fact that we USE them. We buy things from them that save us money, and take full advantage of their overall excellent credit card.

[rennigade]

We rarely go to the grocery store anymore...almost all of our food shopping is done at costco.

If you would buy nothing but 1 milk and 1 pack of eggs each week...the amount you save would pay the $50 membership fee.

[disneysteve]

We rarely go to the grocery store anymore...almost all of our food shopping is done at costco.

That's interesting. We looked all around BJ's yesterday and we definitely couldn't do our regular grocery shopping there. There isn't enough selection and a lot of the items come in bulk packaging that is too big for our needs. I also compared prices on a number of grocery items and Wegmans was the same or cheaper.

[msomnipotent]

I have a Costco executive membership. We always get more than the membership fee back with our rebates. Counting both rebates, I usually get at least $200 back, sometimes it has been over $400. I have started buying a lot more there since several of our grocery stores have become unreliable. Sometimes I can get choice strip steak $2 or $3 per pound cheaper than ungraded steaks at the stores, and I prefer buying the huge chunks of beef and cutting the thickness I want.

When they have motor oil on sale, it is usually significantly cheaper than the stores for our grade. Sunscreen and bug spray are much cheaper, and we just bought self-inflating air mattresses that were cheap enough for suspect quality but they seem to be pretty nice so far. I even bought a kayak there. I haven't had any luck with our medications. Everything we need is more expensive there. Humira is several hundred dollars more per month for me.

Gas is usually not the cheapest in our area, and it doesn't count towards the rebate.

I must be the only person in the world that doesn't care for the rotisserie chicken. It tastes oily and mushy to me and doesn't have any seasoning other than salt. Then again, I am the queen of roasting chickens, so I am biased.

[FLA]

we belong to BJs also for the reason that it is the cheapest way to get an OTC medicine for my mother. It pays for itself in two visits. I try to buy their brand of products especially when combined with a coupon. I find their coupons to be pretty good and last time I tried, they took it with a Sunday newspaper coupon as well. I find their brand of toilet paper, tissues and paper towels to be just fine and stock up when they have a coupon. Gas isn't that much cheaper, we only get it when we are near there.

Not cheap, but their Wellsley Farms Sea Salt Caramel with Choc Chunks gelato is better than the gelato in Boston's Little Italy. It's actually cheap when compared to gelato in the grocery store.

[hamchan]

No, we don't have a car or much space to store bulk buys. I do use the subscribe and save feature on Amazon for some things; cat litter, cleaning products, some HBA items, toilet paper, vitamins (we all have issues with vitamin D deficiency due to living in the PNW and my daughter and I have Hashimoto's which leads to problems absorbing B-12), protein supplements for my husband, etc.

I like subscribe and save because they have a much wider variety of products available, which is good because I get bad hives from many cleaning and HBA products, especially fragranced ones, and have to use certain brands.

We also get our cat food from Chewy.com and it's a lot cheaper. One of our cats is on a prescription canned diet and it's expensive to buy from the vet.

[GrimJack]

What I like about Costco is they take the coupons off automatically at checkout; no need to grub around for the discounts. I still have half a box of kitchen garbage bags and I have been using them for about 2 years - same with TP, I think I am finally down to the last 2 6-packs of TP.. Some bulk items just are designed for a single bachelor. I like buying some veggies, beer (IPA only), and Stacey's naked pita chips. I probably don't really use Costco enough to justify the fee but I like knowing that I am probably getting the best deal on what I buy there (vitamins and stuff) - any other place I shop at I just stare at the prices and wonder if it is too much whereas at Costco, I just buy it.??

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Costco for 20 years. And executive for years.

Biggest savings? Auto/Home/Umbrella insurance. By far. So much savings I have friends who signed up to be costco members but shop at BJs. I turned 6 friends onto their insurance and it beat liberty mutal, geico, progressive, AAA, etc.

I plan on going back after we are out of our year disgrace period. Long story.

My single BIL is a costco member solely for the auto insurance savings as well. Pays more than $50/year it costs him. So he shops there too and buys stuff. He tends to buy toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish detergent, etc. Says why bother shopping around when it's cheaper than amazon and he can once every month and load up. He knows it's cheaper and he get cheap insurance.

As for us? Well anything and everything. This weekend I bought a cart to carry stuff to beach for $50. Amazon $60. Yeah I had to go and buy it but for $10? Same with laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. Cheaper especially when they have deals. https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Sports-Co...T2DRNVMWBB7SGH got it for $50 from costco their online site is $57, still cheaper than amazon.

I also big savings for me lactose free milk. $6.99 for 3 half gallon boxes. By far the biggest savings. That alone would pay for my $100/year membership. Run through that a week and in store a half gallon lactaid $3.99.

I also buy meats and fish for about the same price but higher quality. I get why people shop at amazon. It is easier to have something delivered.

But I have never lived by an aldis, winco, or any other cheap grocery store. So my comparison might be biased. But I do price shop and I know costco beats everything near me where I've lived except for specials at stores which I do use. But in general I easily surpass my $100 I pay to shop there just by auto insurance.

[msomnipotent]

Costco for 20 years. And executive for years.

Biggest savings? Auto/Home/Umbrella insurance. By far. So much savings I have friends who signed up to be costco members but shop at BJs. I turned 6 friends onto their insurance and it beat liberty mutal, geico, progressive, AAA, etc.

I plan on going back after we are out of our year disgrace period. Long story.

My single BIL is a costco member solely for the auto insurance savings as well. Pays more than $50/year it costs him. So he shops there too and buys stuff. He tends to buy toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, dish detergent, etc. Says why bother shopping around when it's cheaper than amazon and he can once every month and load up. He knows it's cheaper and he get cheap insurance.

As for us? Well anything and everything. This weekend I bought a cart to carry stuff to beach for $50. Amazon $60. Yeah I had to go and buy it but for $10? Same with laundry detergent, dish soap, etc. Cheaper especially when they have deals. https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Sports-Co...T2DRNVMWBB7SGH got it for $50 from costco their online site is $57, still cheaper than amazon.

I also big savings for me lactose free milk. $6.99 for 3 half gallon boxes. By far the biggest savings. That alone would pay for my $100/year membership. Run through that a week and in store a half gallon lactaid $3.99.

I also buy meats and fish for about the same price but higher quality. I get why people shop at amazon. It is easier to have something delivered.

But I have never lived by an aldis, winco, or any other cheap grocery store. So my comparison might be biased. But I do price shop and I know costco beats everything near me where I've lived except for specials at stores which I do use. But in general I easily surpass my $100 I pay to shop there just by auto insurance.

I forgot about insurance there. I will have to look into it. Our homeowners insurance is getting ridiculous and there has never been a claim on our house.

I was looking at that cart yesterday, for the same reason. Let me know how it works for you.