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Is there a point that Costco does not save you money?
Yes. The closest one is hours away. Between the cost of travel, the membership fee, and the fact that I often pay lower prices just by watching for sales, it's highly unlikely that I'd save a dime shopping there.
2 person household here wanting to join Costo and wondering if it is worth it since we consume so little. I cook from mostly whole foods and do not normally buy name brand processed foods. it seems like the most savings in these places and in coupons is for people who consume a lot of pre made, processed foods that are already sold at a higher retail cost to begin with.
2 person household here wanting to join Costo and wondering if it is worth it since we consume so little. I cook from mostly whole foods and do not normally buy name brand processed foods. it seems like the most savings in these places and in coupons is for people who consume a lot of pre made, processed foods that are already sold at a higher retail cost to begin with.
I shop at Whole Foods as well, but now only for a few items (brown eggs, organic butter, some fish, etc.).
You can buy the meat staples, like beef, steak, chicken, or salmon and just wrap them up and freeze them at home.
2 person household here wanting to join Costo and wondering if it is worth it since we consume so little. I cook from mostly whole foods and do not normally buy name brand processed foods. it seems like the most savings in these places and in coupons is for people who consume a lot of pre made, processed foods that are already sold at a higher retail cost to begin with.
Just two of us as well. We don't buy any of the processed food and very little bulk food in general. Produce is usually too much for just us, but the meat can be repackaged and frozen. To give you an idea, we bought pork tenderloin on our last trip for $3.49/lb. Way cheaper than our local grocer. We also buy paper towels, garbage bags, ziplocks, and kleenex in bulk. Paper plates when there is a coupon because their normal price for Dixie plates is the same price as my grocery brand so unless they're on sale, I don't buy. We buy 2.5 lbs of coffee beans for about $13. Wine is usually $2 - $3 cheaper a bottle than the grocery store for the same wine. Lots of other bargains to be found too - like LED lights and batteries. It's not all about the food. Their prescriptions are pretty reasonable and as I mentioned in my last post, glasses are a real bargain!
One other thing I noticed is that you'll make occasional finds that are good deals - not always the cheapest per se, but very good value for the money. Their Kirkland Tuscan Olive Oil is one of those. Very high quality for a reasonable price.
I needed a new vacuum sealer as mine was starting to malfunction and their coupon book that month had the Food Saver system on sale for $149. It's normally $179. It's the kind of thing that if you can plan when to buy, you can get a good deal.
And don't laugh, but we buy a lot of clothing items there. DH loves their jeans and I've bought quite a few items for a lot less than you'd pay in the mall stores.
If you have a friend with a membership, go and take a look around before you spring for the $55 membership to see if it's worth it for you.
We definitely save more than our $55 membership fee!
I save around $40/month shopping at Costco on dog food alone. I buy a lot of dog food. I prefer getting groceries at Kroger or Trader Joe's, but I am somewhat picky when it comes to groceries and I don't buy much processed/prepackaged stuff.
I also like certain cleaning supplies at Costco, as well as the Lucky Brand Jeans, which tend to fit me very well. I also saved a bunch of money buying tires for my car.
We upgraded to executive membership, and get a check back for more than the membership. We spend $100 a week there on average, and just bought 2 new couches.
We are a two person home also. (1 temp college student 1x a month).
Costco saves me money from less frequency to the store. Twice a month, if that. I hardly go to any other store. I have no time or patience for shopping, in and out. So, I bought a large bag of oranges, large container of apples, since we each eat an apple and an orange a day, that lasts about two weeks. Same with produce items.
I also bought a sofa there recently, looked around, almost bought a sofa for $1000, saw an L shape sofa, with footstool, $800.
We save plenty. And the quality is higher than Wal-Mart.
We have belonged to Sam's Club for a lot of years through my hubby's company membership (so no cost to us), but we decided to try Costco since they had an offer that if we joined at the higher level that if our 2% wasn't at least $55 they would refund the remainder at the end of the year. Well, other than a Christmas tree we bought hardly anything there. Just couldn't find the items that we liked or what we thought were a decent deal. So at the end of the year when we only got $3 back, I contacted them for the other $52. They proceeded to tell me that it would only be refunded as payment towards another year's membership. Really ticked me off, so I basically told them to forget it and I would never be back. I don't like bait and switch.
We then went to BJs and found that we really like them. We find so many more things there that we like and use, plus they also accept manufacturer's coupons. In fact you can use mfg coupons stacked with their BJs coupons. Their produce is great and they carry really nice meats all at very nice prices. Overall we have found that they are cheaper than even Sam's and once hubby retires, we will probably be giving up the Sam's membership in favor of BJs. Although for now it is very convenient for us because they are right beside each other. They also have an optical department and I am planning on getting a spare pair soon.
I agree that "staple" items are cheaper. As a single person, Costco doesn't work for me. I find I waste more because of the larger quantities and bulk items. I do miss those smoked sausages/hot dogs that they sell before you walk out.....so yummy!
You don't have to buy food. My husband and I have an empty nest and we save a lot of money with Costco. What we buy: toilet paper, paper towels, purified water (for Keurig), K-cups, trash bags, paper plates, dryer sheets, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, omeprazole, bath soap, lotion, Q-tips, Carnation instant breakfast, sometimes meat (although we like the meat at our local grocery store better), sometimes clothes - a couple of years ago found the perfect weight long sleeved Henley T-shirts for DH and bought every color, but haven't seen them since, and also buy shorts for him there, big boxes of chocolates for Christmas gifts, FLOWERS - if you ever need flowers, they are much cheaper there than florist or grocery store. For holidays I will buy pies/cakes there. For holidays I also buy canned foods I am going to use a lot of, like green beans or black olives.
We would get things like toothpaste, floss, mouthwash and deodorant at Costco except my husband is picky about brands and they don't happen to sell the brands he likes. He has to have Crest original paste (either tartar control or cavity protection), Oral B mint floss in the round container, Listerine original mouthwash, and Right Guard original scent.
Also like to buy electronics there, because you can return anything at any time for any reason - unlike Best Buy, which charges a "restocking fee" if you need to return something.
I've been a member for years but I never became a COSTCO shopper. Bought cat food and diapers there back in the day but I'm single now, although my adult son lives with me and takes care of himself. I can't even justify the time and energy to get to COSTCO (and I have 2 close by!) to save a couple bucks on a years worth of paper towels or whatever. It's a PITA to shop there, park there, stand in line there....and I never saved any money. I always ended up buying things I wouldn't have otherwise bought.
The only real good thing is the COSTCO Amex card for the cash back. I'm only keeping it because I don't want to take a ding on my credit by cancelling the membership and losing the credit card. I will have to go there soon to get my cash so I'll look around again. It's really the only time I ever go.
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