Costco

[Sophist]

We use ours a lot, but you do have to be careful buying in bulk, it's easy to go overboard.

Nuh-uh! I NEEDED ten gallons of dijon mustard! REALLY!

[Lori Jordan]

I have one and love it,i buy all bulk,they have the best quality in meat around here,I do tend too spend more but it lasts,I get my laundry detergetent,Shampoos and school snacks,I Love it i shop there on a weekly basis.

[areias]

I'm pretty sure you can stop in without a membership, you just can't buy anything. Go in and take a look before deciding. We used to have one to Sam's when I was little...I never paid attention to grocery prices, but the electronics, books, clothes, pet supplies always seemed pretty cheap.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

Thanks for the input everyone!

I'm pretty sure you can stop in without a membership, you just can't buy anything. Go in and take a look before deciding. We used to have one to Sam's when I was little...I never paid attention to grocery prices, but the electronics, books, clothes, pet supplies always seemed pretty cheap.

Yeah, we stopped by today and I saw a lot of things I might like, especially the bulk diet pepsi (I am an addict ). I decided not to get a membership today, though because the lines were HUGE!!!!! I mean, at least 10 people long in each line, and everyone had a cart full of stuff. I don't know if it's just that particular Costco, or all of them, but I will probably check out a different one in the the area tomorrow, and see if they are a little less busy. I don't want to save a little money but then have to wait 45 minutes to get through the line.

[Vela]

We usually try not to go on Saturdays hehe, the lines do get long, you can wait 25 minutes sometimes, but we have saved a LOT of money and their return policy can't be beat. I bought a surround sound system there 2 years ago and it broke recently, which wasn't Costco's fault, it was a Sony. In any event, I had the recipt, took it back, and they gave me my money and I was able to get another, nicer set for only 50 dollars more. If you save your receipts and something breaks, you can almost always return it (computers are the exception). I just bought a big screen tv that I priced out, with stand at 2850. I got the whole thing for 1500 dollars. We have a premium membership, 100 a year, but we get 2% back on everything we buy and it more than pays for the membership fee and we get more money back besides. We buy all comptuer programs there, lot of christmas gifts for others, etc. We bought our front loading washer and dryer there and saved over 800 dollars from buying the exact thing from another store. Buy our shampoo conditioner etc., lot of kitchen utensils and items, dog beds for 20 bucks, toys and dog treats for super cheap, and same ones you get at petco and petsmart. There are some items I won't buy there, cereal is cheaper at the grocery story on sale. They have great produce and meat, depending on how much you use etc. I don't buy everything there, but I go there every few weeks. We buy as many things there as possible as far as big ticket items, because if it breaks you just take it back. I LOVE my Costco membership.

[Alysser]

I have a, or my parents rather, have a Costco membership. I really don't know the prices of the membership per year, but the deals in there are FANTASTIC. I go ALL the time my parents go, mainly for the free sample. Alot of products are in larger portions, and they cost less.

[Cookiebaker]

No, we don't have a membership because I can't stand that place. We had a 6 month trial membership and everytime I went I bought all this stuff I really didn't need. And everything is so expensive!

For example, pasta. I don't cook pasta that often maybe 2 times a month. At costco they have these HUGE boxes of pasta (10 1-pound packages) for $10. That would last me 5 months. At my local Market Basket, they sell pasta for $.33 for a one pound box. I would much rather spend $.33 and keep the $9.67 in my pocket for the next 5 months.

Maybe if I had a family I would feel differently. But I don't see an advantage at spending all kinds of money for stuff that is going to sit on a shelf.

[Catlady711]

I decided not to get a membership today, though because the lines were HUGE!!!!! I mean, at least 10 people long in each line, and everyone had a cart full of stuff. I don't know if it's just that particular Costco, or all of them, but I will probably check out a different one in the the area tomorrow, and see if they are a little less busy. I don't want to save a little money but then have to wait 45 minutes to get through the line.

Don't necessarily be intimidated by long lines. At Sam's club today (which is a very busy day for them) the lines were like 7-10 ppl long, but they have many cashiers, and some have a hand held scanner, and while one person is ringing up someone, the one with the hand held scanner is scanning the cart of the person 3rd in line, keeps things moving very quickly! We only waited about 10 minutes to check out mine AND my mom's stuff. Plus Sam's club has a website like I mentioned above. Not sure if Costco has same benefits as a Sam's Club though.

[joycenalex]

catlady, will you come to the store with me, pretty please? you have skills!

[smokey the elder]

My area has BJ's Wholesale Clubs. They have a large variety of good stuff, very good meat, produce and heat and eat meals. Their house coffee brand is really good! My only nitpick is that they are understaffed, but they did recently put in self-checkout stations, which makes it better. Just don't go on a Friday after work before a snow storm!

[Catlady711]

catlady, will you come to the store with me, pretty please? you have skills!

ROFL

It's not skills so much as just plain legwork. It's not hard to get a price book going, it's just a pain taking the extra time writing all that stuff down. You can always figure out your unit costs at home if you're just getting your price book started and not actually comparing prices yet. Although I don't recommend taking any small impatient children OR husbands with you when doing this. Impatience ends up costing money with hasty purchases or costing you your sanity with someone who 'just wants to get out of here'.

I learned about the price book method from this website about frugal living. I don't by any means do all the frugal things mentioned in their website, I do many of them when I can. I balance things out between how much I'll save vs. the time/trouble it is to save a few pennies. If I can spare the time/trouble I'll do it. There are some tips they have that are outright ridiculous, but most tips are really helpful. You have to use your own judgment when evaluating them.

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