Costco/Sams - Canyou really save money?

[PrincessPerky]

one could argue that there are other species of mammals that would drink milk if they had the opposeable thumb with which to milk another animal... then again, that's why my cat has a human, so i can get her milk and cheese for her.

heh

[scfr]

Yes! You really CAN save money at Costco! We buy gasoline, office supplies for our 2 home-based businesses, eyeglasses, long-distance calling cards, photo development, laundry & dishwasher detergent, TP & PT, shampoo, dog food, coffee & filters, juice concentrate, cereal, olive oil, nuts (almonds & walnuts), milk, and so on ...

Costco has a wonderful assortment of natural and organic products (they just got Kashi frozen blueberry waffles ... yipee!) and their turnover rate is really fast so we have never bought anything that was not absolutely fresh.

Their return policy is the most generous of any store that I know of.

Not everything is a great deal. You can definitely find better deals elsewhere on clothes, books, etc.

Since there are just the 2 of us, obviously some things don't work for us if they are Costco-sized (such as the already-much-discussed cheese).

We go about once every 2 months, tho' if we have company coming to stay at our house we will make an extra Costco run just before they come.

Fortunately for us, the driving distance to Costco is exactly the same as it is to Fred Meyer. [Fred Meyer is the grocery store chain in our area that consistently has the lowest prices.] If we had to drive a long way to get there, we would have to reconsider our membership.

[richinspirits]

I am surprised that more people are not mentioning gas as a potential area of savings with a warehouse store membership. I am "lucky" (the traffic is a bummer) to work in one of those areas wiith about 5 of each type of establishment within arm's reach. So without going out of my way, I can see that Costco's gas is usually 5-10 cents less per gallon than the rest of the places. I know that not all of the locations offer gasoline, though.

I agree that the freezable/nonerishable items are the way to go.

Some of my favorite deals at Costco are...

Soy milk...usually $2.00/2.50 per quart in grocery store...I can get it for $1.00 at Costco...and that's nonperishable

English muffins...$3.39 for 18...usually it is $2 or $3 in the store for just 6!! We freeze these.

Boursin cheese...$4-5 or so in the grocery store....$2.66 each at Costco (this is more of a special occasion thing for us, so we will get it for parties sometimes)

Also, remember that a lot of cheese is freezable. I often get the Costco brand 2.5 lb shredded cheese and immediately portion it out into baggies and put it in the freezer. I think this works mostly with recipes in which the cheese is mixed in, as the freezing may sometimes slightly affect the texture. I wouldn't do it with fresh mozzarella or something!

Sushi...$5.50 for about twice as much as I would get at the grocery store for that price (Again, not an everyday thing for us, but as a treat as opposed to eating in a restaurant or something)

Oh man and those great bags of tortilla chips! 2 lbs for $3.29, and I think they taste much better than Tostitos or other brands.

We mostly get things at Costco when: we are having a party, they are freezable, or we just commit to eating a lot of something over the next week or so (only two of us in the house). I wouldn't give up my membership though. The savings is worth $1 a week to me!

[five2one]

I don't know that I'd shop there for 2 people, but for our family of 4 with a husband who eats like 3 (very high metabolism) and is a major carnivore, it saves me a bundle. Like others said, you are buying bulk, so you do have to be diligent in storing the extra. We have a deep freeze that stays well stocked with everything from meat to bread to cheese. I have a Foodsaver that I use to repackage into meal portions as soon as we get home. And, you would be wise to do some comparisons; it's cheaper to buy flour and sugar from the grocery store. I also weigh in the fact that we have Giant Eagle that gives 10 cents off a gallon of gas for every $50 you spend, so that goes into my calculations, too.

I go against the grain, though, and do take my kids with me. Our Sam's is a trip, so we make an afternoon of it and end our shopping (no whining/begging) with a soft pretzel and an icee (we share). Just little treat and the girls love it. They are also learning how to shop and why I DON'T buy certain things there.

[PrincessPerky]

Ditto take the kids, though you have to know your own kids, and you have to train them..when they ask for junk food tell them why not, when they ask for a normal food that is bought cheaper somewhere else tell them why, when they ask to try a sample go for it, best free treat of the day

And on the way out at BJs is this put a quarter in and move back and forth truck...which the kids are perfectly happy to climb on while I 'bump the side' no quarter required..though I do occasionally put one in.

[Aleta]

Frankly if I want to save money, I have to leave my husband home and not take him to the grocery store or BJ's. He really doesn't care about what something costs. If he wants it, he buys it.

Sometimes gas is lower priced at BJ's and sometimes, it isn't. I found other gas stations closer to the BJ's that was actually $.01 cheaper.

fivetoone: I have a food saver too and I swear by them. I cook lasagna, or whatever I want and freeze it into dinners or portions. It is a great money and time saver.

[disneysteve]

I have a food saver too and I swear by them. I cook lasagna, or whatever I want and freeze it into dinners or portions. It is a great money and time saver.

We also cook and freeze stuff in individual portions, but don't have a food saver. We use regular plastic containers or zipper lock freezer bags. They work just fine and are cheap. Stuff keeps for months.

[PrincessPerky]

Heh so apparently you can take the kids but not the husband

[Aleta]

I don't take any of them. My two sons are grown and married. Their wives have to deal with them. But, they are good shoppers.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Oh yeah, we who are Costco members in order to save on wine also do buy cheese there! What else are you gonna do with wine, but nibble some cheese? Nah, really, some cheese at Cosco is pretty good, some is ho-hum. We buy cheese other places. too. Cheese seems to be one of those things we are wiling to spend highly on in order to sometimes get a really fine product. Yet Kraft "plastic" slices can also be found in our fridege.

[richinspirits]

oh sigh i always forget that in other states, people can actually save on beer and wine in costco! not here in good old PA....people also rave about the great, cheap "two-buck chuck" from trader joe's, but we don't get that either...

[Homebody]

As usual everyone thinks they are right! One size does not fit all everyone!!!!

It's just two of us now and DH's business pays for our membership (but we pay for our two older daughter's memberships and paid for YD's Sam's Club membership when we moved her out to NC last December). ...

Anyhow one week when I was feeling exceptionally OCD about money, I compared all the sale items I could find in the Sunday papers for toothpaste, shampoo, vitamins, feminine hygiene products, mouthwash, toothbrushes, ect, ect, ect everything I could find. Well Costco's prices were about the same as the sale prices... so I made a decision instead of chasing down sales, there are certain items that it is just easier to purchase there. My time is worth money.

The milk alone made it worthwhile when the girls were all home. My mother purchased the frozen salmon individually wrapped and gave us a couple. It was very good. We buy coffee, omega-3 eggs, cheese, organic baby lettuce, half and half, tomatoes, avocados, bag of red potatoes, we did buy red meat until we just bought the grass fed organic side of beef that is in our freezer right now. I just bought new adidas walking shoes for $25.00. I buy my contact lenses there, etc, etc.

Yes you still must watch what you buy. I personally am not compelled to buy the latest new thing there. We also have friends who are empty nesters that we split things with occasionally.

I tried using coupons and found there was not a whole lot I buy that uses them, plus I don't get the newspaper anymore and coupons are not readily available here in Northern California, certainly not like back in North Carolina!

For us, it is worth it, but we also have gasoline there and it is THE cheapest here.

Unfortunately there is probably no easy answer, everyone has to weigh the different factors for themselves.