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How much do you spend at Costco?

MichelleCarmen

MichelleCarmen

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Feb 8, 2003
Messages
15,880
A spin off to Kenny's Costco free sample thread... How much do you typically spend when doing a Costco Shopping trip?

I recently got my card renewed to purchase an item but haven't gone "grocery shopping" there for a number of years mostly because I'm worried my cart will pile up and I'll have a $300+ bill at the register. Instead I keep ending up at Trader Joe's and spending around $70-110 but running out of good stuff in a couple of days...

So, what's your typical shopping-trip damage?
 
I buy petrol at Costco twice a week. I suppose that should be included too? Grocery wise, only $200 or so a month, mostly on non-perishables.
 
We are usually around $120, and I'd say we go every few weeks. If we are buying diapers or pet food, though, it will be more. That $120 almost always includes non-food items....clothes for the kid, DVDs, etc. We buy a ton of fruit there, as well as a few frozen food items (their orange chicken is the best!). Yogurt, bread, ground beef, chicken breast, crackers, cereal, etc...we buy all of that there.
 
I go in fits and starts. Sometimes I don't go to Costco for months and other times I feel like I'm there at least once a week. I buy staples (TP, paper towels, prosecco... ) but I also end up with a bunch of "stuff" from the middle section like clothes and books. The main reason I go now is because of gas. I had no idea how much cheaper it was than a regular gas station (literally 30-40 cents!) until I started driving more due to this renovation project. Last week I went for ziplock baggies and a rotisserie chicken and I spent $248!!!
 
We go at least 2 a month and spend at least $150 but usually around 300-400.

However we grocery shop for me my fiancee and his mom, and we buy pet food for 9 cats, and that includes gas.
 
We usually go about 1X a month, and spend $200-300. We don't buy a lot of food items because it's just the 4 of us. We get house supplies like shampoo/conditioner, detergent, paper towels, toothpaste, coffee, paper plates etc etc.
 
My weekly run averages $60, with an occasional $100 or $150.
My staples from Costco are are, milk, cheese, salmon, hot rotisserie chicken, Rx, paper towels, toilet paper, dog food, nuts for baking, olive oil.

I'm pretty immune to impulse purchases.
 
Actually I totally forgot to talk about my occasional snack-food run to Costco. Yesterday I bought almost $70 of snacks to keep at work(to share with coworkers: pretzels, cashews, Hawaiian trail mix, savory pub mix, chocolate covered almonds)!!!
 
We average around $200 a week with some weeks being much higher but rarely any lower. We also are not finished with our shopping as Costco doesn't have everything. We usually make a Whole Foods trip every other week along with Trader Joe's and rely on the supermarket for miscellaneous items.

I rationalize our Costco spending by that cash back we get at the end of the year using our Executive card.
 
We spend $200- $300 every two weeks, and we buy everything there. I go to other grocery stores only for seasoning packets (chili mix, chicken gravy) or an occasional snack that they don't have, maybe once a month. When I go to other grocery stores, I'm shocked at the prices. Why would I pay $5-$7 a pound for chicken breasts, when Costco is under $3 a pound? And I HATE running out of stuff, so we have a freezer and eat every bit of what we buy. We freeze bread, buns, muffins, bagels, tortillas, etc., and they're ready to eat after a few seconds in the microwave. I've found that a kitchen scale is the KEY to defrosting meat; I plug the weight into my microwave, and it defrosts perfectly.

We are chugging down fruit lately, since so much is in season. And we have developed a terrible addiction to their Kirkland chocolate covered macadamia and caramel clusters. Why waste the calories on lesser stuff? :naughty: And all that romaine for $3? It lasts for 2-3 weeks versus one head grocery store iceberg for $1.99 that wilts in a few days. :| Also their Kirkland seafood is fantastic.

See, you got me started . . . :lol:
 
iLander|1405455292|3713866 said:
We spend $200- $300 every two weeks, and we buy everything there. I go to other grocery stores only for seasoning packets (chili mix, chicken gravy) or an occasional snack that they don't have, maybe once a month. When I go to other grocery stores, I'm shocked at the prices. Why would I pay $5-$7 a pound for chicken breasts, when Costco is under $3 a pound? And I HATE running out of stuff, so we have a freezer and eat every bit of what we buy. We freeze bread, buns, muffins, bagels, tortillas, etc., and they're ready to eat after a few seconds in the microwave. I've found that a kitchen scale is the KEY to defrosting meat; I plug the weight into my microwave, and it defrosts perfectly.

We are chugging down fruit lately, since so much is in season. And we have developed a terrible addiction to their Kirkland chocolate covered macadamia and caramel clusters. Why waste the calories on lesser stuff? :naughty: And all that romaine for $3? It lasts for 2-3 weeks versus one head grocery store iceberg for $1.99 that wilts in a few days. :| Also their Kirkland seafood is fantastic.

See, you got me started . . . :lol:
Click to expand...

Oh and don't forget their amazing wild salmon prices! They do have great deals on seafood and organic produce. :appl:
 
I do most of my shopping at Costco too. If I go to the regular grocery store it is only for one thing. My usual bill is between 200-400 every two weeks. I buy most of my fruit and veggies there, especially organic produce. My bill will be going down a little bit since I will now be buying all my beef and chicken from a ranch in Temecula. I will still buy seafood there, toilet paper, laundry soap and organic eggs, and Irish butter (oh my gosh, I love this stuff). I love getting the check back yearly too. That is usually my splurge money. I buy stuff with that that I wouldn't ordinarily buy, like chocolate.

I do buy some seasonal stuff there like wrapping paper and christmas decorations. We have bought TV's and appliances too.

We did go in the other day and just buy 1 lightbulb. We needed to make sure that it fit before we invested in changing all our can lights to LED. It did and it is awesome. Costco saves 5 dollars per bulb and we probably have 40.
 
I go to BJ's which is basically the same thing. It's usually at least $100 but can go up to $350 if I buy a larger item like seasonal things or if it's the holiday season.
 
$50 - $100 weekly.

Staples are baby romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, meat for hubby, frozen fish for me, sweets for hubby, some type of berries/cherries to go with my plain oatmeal. Impulse buys like books and Peet's coffee cards (was $70 for $100 in gift cards last week).

Gas - once a month, we are retired and drive a hybrid.
 
I try to get everything there, but you still have to go to a regular grocery store for some things. I get all my gas there. Last year's total was about $3600. My trips are all over the place cost-wise.
iLander, the chocolate covered almonds are fabulous; I keep a jug in my desk so I never have to go the the candy machine. We have a deep freeze in the garage because of their meat also. They have some of best quality meat in town and the prices are amazing. The best all-around hamburger I've ever cooked with is $3 a pound.
I got the mattress and box spring in our guest room from Costco and we love it.
People don't believe when I tell them I can get a year's worth of Kirkland Zyrtec for less than $20.
 
Way, way too much.

I've walked out of there with small buys... under 40 bucks for some OTC medications. And I've spent over 800 (we bought our TV there, and a mattress). Average bill is over a hundred I would say though.
 
Their OTC meds are awesom. The Kirkland infant Tylenol was so cheap, but I can't find it in our local stores. You would get three bottles for I think $10.
 
I stay far far away from Costco. I know myself too well and would blow my entire paycheck if allowed in there. LOL :lol:
 
Absolutely $0.00 I haven't had a Sam's Club or Costco membership in years. I quit shopping there probably 10-11 years ago. Last time I checked, neither of those retailers had spectacular deals or spectacular merchandise that I could not find elsewhere. And I tired of having to buy a membership just to get in the store so that I could walk around and see if there was anything in there that I wanted to buy. So, I just quit them. I also don't shop any online retailers like Zulilly that make me register with them before I cam browse the content. Window shopping should always be free, imo.
 
I just noticed.... MC and Gypsy, your kitties could be siblings......
 
I had a SAMs club membership but I let it expire. I found I only used it for paper products and the occasional big purchase (I bought a twin mattress for one of the kids). We have a food chain that has great prices and I spend most if my money there. We buy a ridic amount of produce and it wasn't cheaper at SAMs. Meats were more expensive too. I figured for what I buy it wasn't worth it. Costco is too far away. One thing I did like buying was diapers once upon a time, they had a great price for those.
 
iLander|1405455292|3713866 said:
When I go to other grocery stores, I'm shocked at the prices. Why would I pay $5-$7 a pound for chicken breasts, when Costco is under $3 a pound?
Click to expand...

Ha, yeah, I pay $7 a pound for chicken but justify it because it's organic. I need to check out the organic prices at Costco.

I'm also an impulse shopper so a thought would be allocating a certain amount each trip toward something I don't need but looks fun.
 
I don't shop at Costco because the locations are completely across town, but I do shop at Sam's.

I probably go every six weeks give or take. I'd guess I spend around $100 or less each time. It's usually meats, beer, peeled garlic, sour cream, maybe some cheese or English muffins. I also tend to pick up cute summer dresses and tops from the "middle section" and the occasional piece of clothing for the husband (what they carry is less his "style"). I try to stay out of the frozen section as we don't eat a lot of processed foods. I do sometimes buy bags of shrimp though.
 
I get gas at least once a week, so I guess on average $120-$150/mo on gas.

Otherwise Maybe $100/mo if that? They have Cottenelle Ultra Jumbo Roll 36 packs on sale this month here and we hoard that shit, so I bought 4 of those, and may go back for more. They only have it maybe once a year and I don't love their brand or Charmin. Yes I realize that it wipes my rear end but I don't want the barrier between my hand and my rear end to be woosie and disintegrate!

I like to buy meat there, though I usually don't go when I don't think I will use it all fairly quickly because I don't have a deep freeze and I don't have enough freezer space in the freezer for a lot.
 
luv2sparkle|1405520617|3714379 said:
I just noticed.... MC and Gypsy, your kitties could be siblings......
Click to expand...

:cheeky: For MC's sake I am hoping hers only looks like my Hally but doesn't act like her. My little black and white is a demon on four paws.
 
We go routinely, every 2 weeks like clockwork, and the bill is typically around $250 (average) per visit. We're a family of 3, but buy lots of things like cases of gatorade, french cheeses, wine, pet items (our dogs eat a combo of kibble and raw, so lots of whole organic chickens - yes, they're spoiled). The average also includes things like periodic toiletries, canned and dry goods, vitamins, light bulbs, etc.

In addition to that, we spend about another $100 per week on organic produce at the grocery store (organic adds up quickly), and maybe $80/month on high end pet food for the cats and dogs (for when they don't eat raw).

Damn, we spend a lot on food!
 
We live in Hawaii which is horribly expensive. We are a family of six and we spend about $350 a month at Costco.
 
I only go to Costco about once every couple of months and then usually spend about $200.
 
Went today- $322.00 and $406. in optical for new contacts and glasses.
 
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