Comments on: The Benefits of Shopping at Warehouse Clubs

By: debtmaven

debtmaven — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:44:47 +0000

Great post! I just joined this summer and just started budgetting a month ago. Shopping with a list at Costco (or anywhere else) is imperative. My typical purchases are the 1lb mixed salad greens (cheapest in town), the frozen small 2lb scallops – great for a number of dishes, a big hunk of cheese (my variety varies from week to week) which I eat as a snack, put on salads, or cook with on their frozen burgers – I like the 3lb bags of salmon patties – at $12, it’s a steal for wild alaskan salmon.

I don’t often buy a lot of produce there, due to the quality and quantity I’d through out, but some staples like sugar (now that it’s baking season), dijon mustard, chicken stock, big bags of raw nuts (for snaking and baking), are all worthwhile.

I agree, it’s hard not to splurge on something, but I usually allow myself 1 item every other visit to try. I live .5 mile away, so I go every week and that lets me keep my item count down to the necessities. If I really want it and don’t get it, I can always go back.

By: The Penny PIncher

The Penny PIncher — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:34:14 +0000

One big saving: photo developing. In Canada, it costs 58 cents less for a 5×7 print at Costco than the next cheapest place (Wal-Mart). An 8×12 is $2.58 at Costco.

By: Link Love « Saving Money Ideas

Link Love « Saving Money Ideas — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:36:04 +0000

[...] The Benefits of Shopping at Warehouse Clubs at Being Frugal [...]

By: trek

trek — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:37:59 +0000

I use Costco as my primary store for certain items and save a huge amount on our grocery bill by doing so. Not milk, though. We tried and the milk, even when ten days from the sell by date, tasted funny.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:28:46 +0000

I’m undecided about continuing a costco membership. I used to have one and it was great. But, I just moved into a new house and EVERY dollar counts. I find myself seduced by things I don’t need in places like that. Same thing happened when I grocery shopped at Target- that’s how they get you. You really need to be disciplined to shop in warehouse type stores. However, there are some things that I really miss- big jars of sun dried tomatoes, giant bags of spinach ravioli, and oh, the rugula….my ultimate weakness.

By: Renata

Renata — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:55:40 +0000

We had discontinued using a warehouse club because we could get better prices with grocery store sales. However, when we moved to another part of the country, we joined a warehouse club because I wasn’t able to find deals on certain grocery items like I used to and I needed consistent prices that were relatively low. Another advantage is that our credit union has a very limited debit card network, so I need to purchase everything with cash on hand (their ATM network is pretty good). That removes the temptation to overspend.

By: jillbilly

jillbilly — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:17:17 +0000

We love the chicken pot pie from Costco – one huge pie recently fed 10 family members, with seconds for some! We first got our membership here in Chicago 12 years ago, when we bought our first freezer. We were astonished at the quality of the meat and baked goods. On our first trip, we bought a 25-lb sack of long-grain rice, which we put into a 5-gallon bucket. We still haven’t used up that rice! We figured that the savings on that first trip paid for the membership.

By: Think Outside the Grocery Store Box | The Wisdom Journal

Think Outside the Grocery Store Box | The Wisdom Journal — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 06:01:45 +0000

[...] Warehouse clubs such as Sam’s, Costco, or BJ’s sell pantry staples, meats, and even prescription medications at great prices, and many of these sell gasoline at a substantial discount, making it very easy to recoup the annual membership fee. I have to be careful in warehouse clubs because there are lots of tempting goodies (edible and otherwise) that call to my wallet! You can also buy in bulk, but be aware that bulk buys aren’t always everything they’re cracked up to be. [...]

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:20:11 +0000

I also love the warehouse store. Unfortunately, it’s a drive to get there–so when times are really tight, I can’t always make it there. Here’s my 2 cents:

- Gas is usually cheaper there–but it’s useful to see if a local grocery store is having gas specials, too. Our local Price Chopper store is having a gas special–10 cents off per gallon per $50 in groceries purchased. That brings the price of gas–for me–cheaper at their participating gas station than at BJ’s.

- I love to buy natural peanut butter at the warehouse store. It’s in jumbo jars and at a much better price. Plus it has a long shelf-life, so I don’t have to go into PB overload to use it up before it goes bad, which is sometimes the case with other things bought in bulk.

- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are a real deal. Okay–sometimes I can buy a family pack locally at $1.99 a pound on sale, but at just over $2/pound at BJ’s, they’re wrapped 2 breasts per package within that giant pack. That saves me having to re-package the breasts myself (there are only 2 of us in my household, so 2/bag is what I’d do anyway), and of course I’m saved the price of the freezer bags, too.

- My warehouse club has, by far, the BEST price for lamb around. A boneless leg of lamb is under $5/pound.

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:54:56 +0000

I do have a Winco, though it’s not as close, now that we moved. We have a Food 4 Less that’s a bit closer, though I haven’t compared to see whether Food 4 Less or Winco is significantly less than the other. Another reason to make a pricebook.