I had been hesitant to buy a membership to Costco for a while, but finally pulled the trigger today. Any Costco shoppers have tips on how to actually save money by going there? Like what kinds of items are actually discounted vs ones that aren't and just take up space?
Shopping at Costco
- Thread starter CatsBy90_rivals30112
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Maybe something you should have thought about prior to becoming a member. Just a guess.
Shouldve got your pops to go in half with ya.
Costco is bonkers...can't wait for the Bardstown Rd location to open.
Had sams club for a year. Costco is about 3x as far away from our house. I let the sams club membership lapse about a year ago. Wife went with her mom saturday. Spent $50 and came back with a bag of tortilla chips (about 3x as big as typical bag), salsa (about 3x as big as typical jar), a big pack of danimal yogurt smoothies and frozen chicken nuggets. I don't think she saved anything, she just bought enough to take up room in our kitchen.
Gas. I drive 30-35k miles/year and the gas prices pay for the membership many times over for me.
If this is your approach, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Costco is very clear. They make X margin off of everything. The lower they pay, the lower you pay. In addition, they don't carry as many items, maybe 4000 vs. 100K at your typical Wal-Mart. Things like sodas are rarely on sale at Costco (if so, its a mfg coupon), but if you compare unit price, they're usually cheaper than Kroger or Wal-mart. Not everything is cheaper. You have to be a smart shopper or just not care about the difference. Most things are in bulk, so when it comes to buying fruit and veggies, make sure your family is big enough to consume it before it goes bad. I usually buy my meat from there vs. Kroger or Meijer as it's slightly cheaper and seems to be higher quality. I've purchased a few electronics which have been cheaper than Best Buy and eyeglasses are significantly cheaper. Gas is also way cheaper. I live near Costco and I almost always fill up there. The gas savings itself covers the membership cost.
This is why I no longer have a Sam's membership.
I will say that I know some extremely frugal people who have a Costco membership and love it.
Just got back from Costco actually.
Same thing as any bulk wholesaler...they run periodic deals on many items and you grab those whenever possible. For example, tonight I picked up some Quilted Northern TP and Brawny PTs, both were about $4-$5 off regular price. Last month it was Charmin and Bounty.
The quality of their food is great. Pre-made meals and bakery items are especially good. I buy bottled water frequently and Kirkland's are really good..usually cheap and bottle integrity is on point.
Same thing as any bulk wholesaler...they run periodic deals on many items and you grab those whenever possible. For example, tonight I picked up some Quilted Northern TP and Brawny PTs, both were about $4-$5 off regular price. Last month it was Charmin and Bounty.
The quality of their food is great. Pre-made meals and bakery items are especially good. I buy bottled water frequently and Kirkland's are really good..usually cheap and bottle integrity is on point.
One tip I can give you is buy the Kirkland brand. Garbage bags are better than Glad. Paper towels are better than Bounty. Bourbon is way better than the $20/price per liter. Organic food is excellently priced. Most stuff is just high quality at a good price. Nothing they sell sucks. Oh yeah they have the best sommelier ever. There wine selection is not huge, but every bottle they sell is good whether it costs $5 or $200.
If you plan on shopping there on a weekend, get there when they open. If you don't get there within an hour of the doors opening, the place is packed with stupid. Meadering old people, free range crotchfruits with absentee parents, hipsters - like a Whole Foods on steroids.
Good meats. Get a Foodsaver, hit up Costco for burgers and chops, seal, freeze. Savings.
Really good cakes too.
Really good cakes too.
I actually took the time to go to Costco and walk around taking pictures with my phone of everything I would buy or might buy from Costco before I joined. They let me when they opened the new one in Florence. Then went back to Sam's club and Kroger and did the same thing.
After I compared everything I just laughed. If you don't care about certain name brands, a lot of the stuff they sell in their stores are cheaper. Name brands, obviously buying in bulk is cheaper. I also don't have a family to spend a ton of money on, so some stuff from Kroger is great for just 2 people. I don't need 1 pound of salsa that will go bad in a month. But I will say the best thing I ever invested in was a food saver. Buying meat in bulk is just so much cheaper and I just deep freeze most of it. I haven't bought meat other than seafood since like January. Hell they had 10 pound chicken bags on sale for $3.99 one day.
After I compared everything I just laughed. If you don't care about certain name brands, a lot of the stuff they sell in their stores are cheaper. Name brands, obviously buying in bulk is cheaper. I also don't have a family to spend a ton of money on, so some stuff from Kroger is great for just 2 people. I don't need 1 pound of salsa that will go bad in a month. But I will say the best thing I ever invested in was a food saver. Buying meat in bulk is just so much cheaper and I just deep freeze most of it. I haven't bought meat other than seafood since like January. Hell they had 10 pound chicken bags on sale for $3.99 one day.
If you eat lunch there daily you will see the difference in your wallet...
...and your ***.
...and your ***.
Damn Argubs will you shop for me? Seems like you have it figured out. How often do you go?
Could potentially save more money going to Walmart then just using Savings Catcher if you buy any brand name products. Just use your phone to scan the code on the receipt and Walmart will compare the prices to all the competitors within whatever their defined radius is (for example, it compares to about 30 competitors for me, and my town only has 2 grocery stores). If they find it cheaper, you can get that money back in the form of a Walmart gift card. I don't buy too many brand name products, but when I do I frequently get money back because at least one of those 30 competitors is likely going to have it on sale.
As far as store brand products go, I have no idea which would be cheaper, but Walmart brand products are pretty dang cheap as it is.
As far as store brand products go, I have no idea which would be cheaper, but Walmart brand products are pretty dang cheap as it is.
The pharmacy is much better than Wal Greens. Just limited hours.
Meat, gas, tires, potatoes are all good deals. If you have room to store the bulk, I've found most things to be cheaper and better quality than Wal Mart. I live 4 miles from one. My store has huge parking garage and the store is always clean.
Thy have good beach towels for $10. Not much I wouldn't buy there.
Meat, gas, tires, potatoes are all good deals. If you have room to store the bulk, I've found most things to be cheaper and better quality than Wal Mart. I live 4 miles from one. My store has huge parking garage and the store is always clean.
Thy have good beach towels for $10. Not much I wouldn't buy there.
One other tip would be to get the executive membership which gives you 2% back on purchases throughout the year plus the Costco Amex (soon to be Citi MC) which also gives you a percentage back. The refunds that come with those can be significant and more than cover the cost of the executive membership vs. the basic.
Sounds like poors vs. Main boarders to me. I do not approve of this recommendation.
Back in the day, I spent half a day traipsing through Seoul to get to a Costco because they were the only place that had a 32gb video iPod in the entire peninsula of Korea. I found it, paid for it and my membership, as well as a tub of kimchee. And the tub the kimchee came in. All for $60 US. Costco is awesome.
Butchering your meat a bit saves money too. At Kroger or Meijer pork chops are usually $4-$5/lb. But you can buy a pork loin for $2/lb almost all the time. Take it home and cut your own chops. You save money and get the cut you want. You can do the same with ribeyes, strips, beef tenderloin (filets), etc.
I've been a member for 5 years, and I love that place. I go about once every six weeks and load up on stuff that can be bought in bulk. Bottled water, Gatorade G2, V8 juice, protein bars, tp, dish washer pods, frozen foods, ziplock bags, etc... Plus top off my gas tank while there. And get the occasional good deal on other stuff I see in the monthly mailer. Got a set of 8 solar landscape lights for $39. Great price!
I thought the appeal of costco wasn't the ridiculous SAVINGS!1!! but the high quality of foods for a good price as well as cheap gas?
As an old I do extensive prescription price comparisons. Their prices on medicine are almost always lower. Often significantly lower.
I agree with everything you said except the wine part. Costco's lead wine buyer is disliked in the wine trade. She has no real expertise in the product. In fact before she took over the wine area, she bought auto parts for Costco. She likes to say that buying wine is no different than toilet paper. I don't care what TP I wipe my butt with but I do care what wine that I am serving with my prime bone-in ribeyes. Of course, that doesn't mean that some of the wines that Costco stocks aren't good. I just like to buy my wine and get recommendations from places that appreciate the product more than toilet paper.
http://www.winebusiness.com/blog/?go=getBlogEntry&dataId=100146
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Sounds like sour grapes to me lol
I lol'd despite myself.
We are members of both Costco and Sam's but I don't know why or if it saves us money because I never go shopping, that's what my wife does LOL AMIRITE GUISE??
Being a poor, I did try the 1.85 Combo one time and lemme just say - there is a very good reason it only costs 1.85. It tasted like what I would imagine cardboard covered with ketchup would taste like after it's been sitting on a warehouse floor for 3 days, it made me feel sick, and gave me some kind of crazy poo poo.
Free snack samples on the weekends. [banana]
** Note to poors and cheapskates: If you don't call attention to yourself, you can go through several times with your family on weekends and get a full meal free (or so a friend told me).
Usually, the cheapest gas around.
Good prices on electronics.
Best prices on prescription drugs.
** Note to poors and cheapskates: If you don't call attention to yourself, you can go through several times with your family on weekends and get a full meal free (or so a friend told me).
Usually, the cheapest gas around.
Good prices on electronics.
Best prices on prescription drugs.
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I think it's cool you enjoy the ritual of buying wine. Your appreciation for such may be greater than mine. Costco chooses to sell wine as a commodity. In my $8-$20 per bottle price range I know I'm not going to get Chateau Latour and that's ok. Load up on toilet paper, paper towels, salty snacks and some average to good but quaffable wine.
They sell USDA Prime Beef. Buddy of mine buys a full Strip or Loin, slices to his preference, and vacs individually w/ the FoodSaver. Has Prime steaks on call whenever he wants, at a heavily discounted price.
That will be my plan.
That will be my plan.