Is it really worth getting a Costco or Sam's Club Membership? (sale, items)

[RHB]

Hi hollylu, and welcome.

Another element of these stores (along with price) is convience, sometimes it easier just to get what you need in bulk, so you don't invest more time shopping weekly. With my current work schedule, it reallly is better for me, even if I spend a few cents more on a roll of TP, to do it once and not have to think about it for 6 months. My time is more valuable to me than those few cents.

It is also common knowledge, that the more time most people spend in a store, or the more trips they make to the store the more money they spend. So by possibly spending a few cents more there, you might be saving in the long run.

I guess it really is, what each persons situation is, what their needs are, whether or not it's worth it.

[zugor]

I've had a Costco membership for years and when living in CA it was about 10 miles from home, or in the other direction just around the corner from the dog park so very convenient.

Now I'm 90 miles from the nearest one in Winston-Salem but I still take the Suburban down there a couple of times a year to haul back thirty (30) 40# bags of dog food. Now I'm down to feeding just 6 big dogs but it's often 10 of them with my fosters. Several friends also buy from me and I add a dollar over my cost to help with gas and membership fee.

I also buy premium dog food on line when the company has it at 22% off - then it costs about 42.00 for a 35 pound bag (includes freight of around 12.00 a bag), vs. about 25 to 27 bucks for 40 pounds of Kirkland at Costco. I mix it 50/50. The nearest store to buy the premium brand is about 50 miles away but they sell puppies that come from mills so I won't shop there.

The regular grocery store is 11 miles from home.

[Tallysmom]

Just hubby and me and 10 cats. We have a Costco membership -- Sam's Club is not really around here much.

Gas is cheaper. And because there is no choice but to pay at the pump, and no little store to get candy bars in, the line moves well.

While there are huge cans of things available, Costco seems to also sell regular sized items in bulk.

I use canned tomatoes a lot. Around here canned tomatoes go on sale for a dollar a can. Best price, and it's a store brand. But at Costco, I get S&W organic canned tomatoes for 75 cents a can -- I just have to buy eight cans in a carton.

Cereals are double boxes. We eat cereal, so it's not hard to go through them -- but prices are comparable to stores.

I get bagged chicken breast, and I prefer it at Costco. At our Safeway, the Manor House (store brand) come from atomic chickens. I mean -- I once bought a six pound bag and got four breasts. They are so big (how big are they??) They are SO big that I cut them half for us to eat, and we still have leftovers.

Like everyone else said -- you have to know your prices.

[taurus430]

I got a really good deal for a Laser Printer at Costco. I had a coupon and saved at least $100 from anywhere else. The good thing is I got free shipping and anything wrong or I change my mind, 90 days and can take it back to the local warehouse. That savings alone paid for my membership.

[SlowMotionApocalypse]

If I end up living in walking distance I might get a membership to raid the free samples for meals.

[Greatday]

We drive A LOT! And we have 4 vehicles we REGULARLY have to fuel up. Costco is, by far, the least expensive place in town. The amount we save on gas alone - something we have to do anyway - would pay for 4 Executive Memberships (or more) per year.

And, we entertain a lot - and this time of year is no exception (with an upcoming BBQ this weekend for some 40 people. Costco is the ONLY place (so to speak) to get the meats and supplies we need for that size of crowd.

Personally, the price of staples such as Milk, Eggs, Coffee, Bacon, Bread etc is work the trip.

So yes, I guess you could say that, for us, the Costco Membership is worth it.

[luzianne]

We don't buy much food there, but it is worth it for the things we do buy. We buy toilet paper, paper towels, kitty litter, ziplock bags, ibuprofen, vitamins, toothbrushes, things like that. It comes in handy for Christmas time - they always have restaurant and movie gift cards and the restaurant gift cards are usually two $50 cards and the price is $79.99. I noticed last time I was there they still have them out so maybe it used to be Christmas time and now it's all the time.

If we have a party we will buy snacks from Costco. They have those humongous bags of plain and peanut M&Ms plus every other candy you can imagine. We buy our Christmas wrap and gift tags there and it's cheaper.

The food we have tried and liked we buy there but it's just me and DH now so we don't get a lot of food, especially in big packages. We do buy the Marie Calendar 8 pack of chicken pot pies. They have a 2 pound box of frozen panko-breaded shrimp for $12 or somethng like that that when deep fried is as good as any restaurant's fried shrimp and 2 pounds is a LOT of shrimp. sometimes we'll get a package of 8 or 10 cans of tuna, Ro-Tel tomatoes, black olives, soup, corn or green beans, something like that.

My mom has been having some uh....problems...and I bought a big box with I don't know how many baby wipes in it - I'm thinking it was over 700 - for $14. If I still had little kids I'd definitely be taking advantage of that.

I don't care for Costco meat that much. We tried it, but our local grocer has great cuts of meat and we decided we prefer their meat to Costco's.

[sarahkate_m]

Originally Posted by FLGAL76

Does shopping at Sam's or Costco save you a good amount of money? Is it really worth getting a membership vs shopping at Wal-mart or like SaveAlot? What are some of the reasons you shop there or don't?

NO it is not worth it to shop at Sam's or Costco. Walmart is the international priceleader, according to UNION propaganda...Walmart isn't a pretty place to shop but it is well worth it for MOST items. SOMETIMES Target is lower priced....

Costco/Sams is designed to motivate the shopper to overshop. Been there & done that.

Exception: if you are a frequent party host: the membership stores MAY have the best deals on appetizers & big serving entrees.

Kate

[Ceece]

I am nearly 10 months into my COSTCO membership and haven't been there once, even though it's close by and I drive past it at least 2x a week. I did this once before, about 12 years ago, and didn't use it then either. My family is small and getting smaller with the kids now grown so I don't buy much in bulk, and I can usually find good sales at CVS and the grocery store so I don't think I would save any money. I do like the American Express card I got there though and my dad gets his glasses there.

[GregW]

We barely buy enough to justify the membership although we do get decent discounts on over the counter drugs. We also do not have a lot of room to store a years worth of paper towels.
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If you are buying in volume like Great Day it really makes sense.