Discount club memberships

[Medusa]

I'll omit the name of the discount club because I don't want to denigrate any business, especially when my experience w/them is limited. I have to wonder, though, how much money is actually saved at these places. I bought a basic membership a couple of days ago because I found a patio umbrella that I wanted there; everywhere else was sold out already. It definitely was not discounted and by the time I paid for it plus the membership, I realized that perhaps the only good thing I could say about the experience is that I was able to locate what I wanted at that store. I'm put off by the idea of paying them money just so that I can pay them more money. However, I did buy the membership, so there it is.

After walking through the store, I doubt that I'll buy any groceries there. So many of the sizes are huge! Perhaps if you have a large family you can save some money but I live alone and it would take me forever to eat the cans of tuna, for ex., that I saw there. Jars of peanut butter that would be a tar pit for my Fur Posse. Good grief, who eats like that? Bags of cat food, forget about it. I could never lift them.

I scanned their jewelry dept. and didn't see anything out of the ordinary including discounts. As a matter of fact, most of it was priced higher than at jewelry stores. Same goes w/their patio furniture. Maybe it's items such as soft drinks and junk food that the deep discounts apply. I saw a woman w/a flat cart filled w/bottles of soda. I thought she might work there but no, she was making a purchase. Maybe it was for a social function, I don't know. I guess I was just overwhelmed by the store itself but I didn't see where any real money could be saved.

What say you?

[pomtzu]

I've been a member of Sam's for over 15 years, and I like it, for the most part. I know I've saved a ton of money, but then I'm not buying just for myself either. I've bought everything from jewelry to toilet paper, and everything in between. The biggest savings is on their meats and frozen goods I think. I buy the big packs of meat and then break them down to whatever size I want, and freeze them. I can buy two big chickens in a pack for less than I would spend for one in the grocery store. You can buy the smaller cans like tuna, but they're in packs of 8 so you might not want to buy that much. Peanut butter is a bigger jar than you would get at your regular grocery, and they're usually packed in 2's. You do have to watch prices tho, since I've found that some things are cheaper at Walmart, and at Walmart, you have more off brand labels to choose from which are going to be cheaper too. I get my prescriptions filled there too - usually a lot less than Rite Aide or Walgreens.
All in all, I've been satisfied with them, and I have saved big bucks over the years.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I'm with you on the "paying for the priviledge to shop there" thing being kinda silly. I've heard lots of people say that unless you shop there a whole lot or need to stock up on stuff, you don't really save all that much overall. I remember years and years ago my parents received a free membership of some sort to Sam's Club but when we went to the store we could only buy certain things with that particular membership. My dad had the card and they were being real a-holes and not wanting to even let me and my mother in the store. Granted this was like 15 years ago

[Medusa]

I don't have a big freezer so I don't buy too much meat. As I've gotten older, I find that I want meat less and less. (Now if I could just feel that way about simple carbohydrates. ) I guess I'm spoiled from shopping at Giant Eagle. Their grocery prices are really good and the fuel perks are great. I buy gift cards to Lowe's, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. because I shop there so much, then those purchases add up and my gas perks increase. I got 3 free fill ups in January from my Christmas shopping and I never pay more than around $.59 a gallon any more. So I doubt that I'd buy my groceries at the discount store but maybe I rushed to judgment and I'll give it another look when I have some time to kill. At least I found my patio umbrella!

[Medusa]

I'm with you on the "paying for the priviledge to shop there" thing being kinda silly. I've heard lots of people say that unless you shop there a whole lot or need to stock up on stuff, you don't really save all that much overall. I remember years and years ago my parents received a free membership of some sort to Sam's Club but when we went to the store we could only buy certain things with that particular membership. My dad had the card and they were being real a-holes and not wanting to even let me and my mother in the store. Granted this was like 15 years ago

Eight or nine years ago I went into one to buy a membership as a Christmas gift and the person behind the counter told me that I couldn't buy one for someone else unless I joined first. I said "That's ridiculous!" and another person agreed w/me, so I was able to buy the gift membership. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, though, and I waited until just two days ago to buy a basic membership for myself. They already asked me today about upgrading and I said "How about letting me get used to even having it let alone using it before I upgrade?"

[sparks19]

Yeah the idea is that you are buying bulk and paying bulk prices.

We shop at BJ's all the time.

The savings on diapers ALONE has paid for our membership ten fold. At the grocery store for 30 bucks you get about 75 diapers. At BJ's we were getting over 200 newborn diapers for $30.

Yeah we buy lots of stuff there. Meat... GREAT prices on their meat and we just seperate it into portions for one meal and then freeze it. so we only have to buy meat like once a month.

We also buy our shampoo, bodywash, toothpaste, deodorant and other such things there. We get 4 tubes of toothpaste for what you would pay for less than 2 at the grocery store. SAme with deodorant. and I can't beat the price of the bulk pack of feminine products

[Medusa]

That makes sense. I imagine you do save quite a bit on diapers and possibly baby food. However, it's been a looooong time since I had to buy that kind of stuff. LOL I think I'm at a disadvantage sometimes because I live alone. Even a loaf of bread goes stale or moldy before I can use it all unless I freeze it, which I don't like to do because it dries out. I've heard good things about their meat dept. though, so I'll have a look next time I go back. I bought a pot roast the other day and cut it into three pieces because unless I cook for guests, that's way too much meat for me.

[sparks19]

That makes sense. I imagine you do save quite a bit on diapers and possibly baby food. However, it's been a looooong time since I had to buy that kind of stuff. LOL

we never really considered a membership at a bulk club until we had to start buying diapers LOL. So now we tell all new parents that the best advice we can give them is buy diapers at BJ's lol.

But yeah ... it's the kind of place where you have to know how much it would cost you at the grocery store because some things are WAY more expensive then what you would pay at the grocery store. But for some things you just can't beat the price

[pomtzu]

Actually, I was kind of put off with them when I first joined, until I realized - hey - that pack of 24 rolls of toilet paper is gonna last a long time - and I won't have to buy it again for quite a while. It might seem like you're spending more money at first, but when you break it down by unit price, then you see the savings. Then of course there's the savings in time too - less time shopping since you don't need to buy items as often. Sometimes I can completely skip a week.

[Medusa]

Something I didn't see but I didn't look for either was produce. Do they carry it? I love fresh veggies and salads.

[sparks19]

Actually, I was kind of put off with them when I first joined, until I realized - hey - that pack of 24 rolls of toilet paper is gonna last a long time - and I won't have to buy it again for quite a while. It might seem like you're spending more money at first, but when you break it down by unit price, then you see the savings. Then of course there's the savings in time too - less time shopping since you don't need to buy items as often. Sometimes I can completely skip a week.

agreed

although the danger with that much TP... sometimes you think you have more left than you really do LOL

[caseysmom]

I have a membership at costco and sams, I like costco the best, the meat and produce are great. Great prices on cheese, meat, produce...

I am even ordering a refrigerator there. I love costco! We even bought our vacation to hawaii there!

[Moesha]

My sister bought the flowers for her wedding through Sam's Club. I don't think they have the floral department now though. I believe Costco does. Sam's also has a fabulous deal on Fresh Step litter. They have 40 pound buckets of it for just over $14. There are things that are way over priced there, but sometimes the deals you can find make the membership worth it. Right now I don't have a membership, so if my sister or my mom goes, sometimes I'll just tag a long with them. I do have enough rebate dollars saved on my Discover card to get a Sam's membership and a $10 gift card. I thought about doing that but haven't yet. I'll probably just keep shopping with someone else who has a card for awhile. Razor blade refills are another thing that are a huge savings at Sam's. I wish there was a Costco closer than Nashville because I just heard of these frozen fruit thingies that they have there that I want to try.

[pomtzu]

Something I didn't see but I didn't look for either was produce. Do they carry it? I love fresh veggies and salads.

Sam's does - I don't know about the others, but I would imagine they do.

Another thing Mary - if you know someone that might want to split some of the products with you, that would be a way to buy in bulk without having to keep an excess amount. I know of a few people who do that with canned goods, paper products - anything that you have to buy in bulk. They just split the product and split the cost.

[Seravieve]

I've been to both for years now.. I don't have a membership to either but my mom has one to Costco. She used to have one to Sam's, but she has since turned Anti-Walmart... so yea. I'll go with her every few weeks to check out their movie selection for my business... But there's no way J and I could use up any food item I'd buy from there. Their produce does look nice though, and I know my mom really likes it. And their flowers are nice, but its more of just a display, not a dept. Sam's here has a full floral dept. And their rotisserie chickens are awesome. Their movie selection is ok... Neither one carry any dog food we'd care to buy.. otherwise, I'd definitely go there for it, since it seems to be pretty cheap. J's brother has a Sam's membership, and I've gone with him a lot. He only has one to Sam's because there are more locations here than Costco's... so if there's a good buy (he sells movies too), he can go to multiple locations for them.

I think they really benefit larger households and business owners... It's definitely not worthwhile for people like us, just two mouths to feed.. Everything would go to waste before we'd get around to eating it. And I cook everything, too.