Sam''s Club and Costco -- worth it?

[vespergirl]

It was never worth it for us until I found out about their prices on meats and fish.

Their meats are all "butcher quality" (better than what you get at most supermarkets) and about half the price that you pay at the supermarket. E.g., filet mignon for $9.99 per pound, instead of $19 per pound. Since you can freeze meats, I go once a month to stock up on excellent meats and fish, and freeze the rest for the month. So, we have saved tons of money on groceries from our Costco membership.

Now that we have a little boy and a baby on the way, we also buy our organic milk there (also much cheaper than the supermarket, and DS goes through 3 gallons a week) and our diapers, which are much cheaper than anywhere else. We make back our membership fee in one or two monthly trips to Costco.

 

[Callisto]

When my brother and I were living at home (so there were 4 of us) it was definitely worth it for my mom. Plus the Sams is really close and convenient so that helped.

Now I have a complimentary household membership from my mom''s account (even though I don''t live at home.. shhh) and I rarely use it. It definitely wouldn''t be worth it for just me and SO. The sams is almost 30 minutes away in a direction we rarely go and we can only get non perishable items as we cant eat other things fast enough. I still go occasionally and get toilet paper, paper towels, granola bars, and some cleaning supplies but I wouldn''t buy one for myself at this point in my life.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I''ve only ever shopped at Sams and Bjs, both of which seem on par with each other. Is Costco better?

 

[Camille]

Costco works for us [2% back] I like their meat/fish/shrimp quality, sanitary goods, seasonal items, gifts, tickets and cartridge refill service. Other than that, who needs 5# of mayo.

 

[KimberlyH]

We have a free Cosco membership (my husband is the second member, his friend pays the fee) and a Sam''s Club membership. We use both of them to purchase fruit, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc.

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 11/24/2009 10:19:37 AM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I''ve only ever shopped at Sams and Bjs, both of which seem on par with each other. Is Costco better?

I used to have a BJ''s membership, which I hardly ever used - I like Costco much better and shop there frequently.

 

[MustangGal]

We had a Costco membership years ago when we lived out in the sticks (45 minutes to to grocery store!), and would bulk up on things. We let it go when we moved to Phoenix, and haven''t looked back. Last year before the baby was born, we went in and priced out diapers/formula/etc. to see if it was worth it. It''s not, Wal Mart brands were the same or less than Costco, even on Huggies stuff. I do love the Costco baby wipes though!

DH hated the crowds/long lines, and we would always end up with extra junk we didn''t need.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 11/23/2009 8:22:23 PM
Author: princesss
Hahaa, Zoe, this thread just made M and I go get a membership! I love Costco!

That''s great!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Zoe- I saw this yesterday in the money blog I regularly read, and I thought of you!

 

[luv2sparkle]

We have both, but I use the Costco one more. They have great bargains, but you do have to do a comparison if you truly want the best deal. I kept a price book and
compared specials for a few years. Sometimes you can buy paper products for less on sale and if whole chickens go on sale they are cheaper at the grocery store. Often
fruit is cheaper at the grocery store sales. That said, Costco''s produce is very good. Blocks of mozzarella cheese are about 5.00 less than most grocery stores. I make
pizza almost every week so that is a great savings for me. You can buy lunch meat that is a very high quality and a lot that is organic.

I wouldn''t be without either. We don''t do the executive membership because you still have to pay the higher fee so it would have to coincide with when I got the check and
when I had to pay for the membership. Also there is a lot of exclusions of what gets a rebate. Frankly, it just annoys me and I would basically have to trust them to be
giving me everything they said they would. So for me it wasn''t worth it. I understand for others they love it. To each his own. They always try to push me into buying it, so
I figure they must be getting more out of it than I will.

I love Costco jewelry as well. I always have to do a jewel check when I go in. When I see people buying expensive diamonds I want to tell them to come here first and do
the research. I never do though.

 

[tina sparkle]

i think it''s worth joining just for the cheese and wine prices!!

 

[yssie]

We have a Costco membership. For nonperishables/items that can be bought, used, and stored in bulk it''s great - one shopping trip and we have a six-month+ supply of aluminium foil, cling-wrap, paper towels, soaps, and stationary, much cheaper per ounce/area than at general supermarkets - we''ve earned our membership fee back and then some.

The local Costco is very hit or miss, though: some things are incredibly good deals and others aren''t, like pasta, though you might expect them to be. Price shop!

 

[jstarfireb]

My husband and I have a Costco membership, and my parents also go to BJ''s. None of us are Sam''s Club members. I have a hard time remembering life before Costco; it''s such an ingrained part of the routine now! Prices and quality are both great, including the jewelry. Costco tends to be a bit more high-quality in their brands compared to BJ''s or Sam''s, but also a tad more expensive. That holds for the jewelry as well - my mom has bought a few diamond pieces from Costco, and I almost got my engagement ring there.

 

[stephbolt]

Love love love Costco - FI and I usually go about once or twice a month. We buy frozen chicken breasts, ground turkey, frozen shrimp, frozen salmon/tilapia/tuna, cans of tuna fish, laundry and dish detergent, all our vitamins and OTC meds. We also buy wine there and last time we went picked up a sampler of Kirkland brand beer!

I''m on my mom''s membership so we have the added benefit of not having to pay for it, but even if we had to I think we would.

 

[Clairitek]

Where I live (DE/PA area) the savings on non-bulk items items like milk and deli meat is great. I have a friend who goes through 3 gallons a week and they are only $2.19 there. Outside of BJs they would be $3.39 or so. With those savings the membership is paid for in about 3 months. The deli meat there is also of a pretty good quality so she waits until she makes her milk run to pick up deli meat as well.

I find the savings are also great on cereal (you genrall get two large bags at a time) and household products (TP, dish and laundry detergent, cat litter) as already mentioned.

Once in a while I will splurge and get some filet mignon for a whopping $9-$10 a lb. Definitely a great deal compared to the grocery store!

I''ve noticed inthe 6-7 years my mother has had a membership to a BJs that the amount of product you can buy at once has gotten smaller. It definitely used to be a bulk only place but now with the addition of a ton of products I think a membership is well worth it. You can definitely save a good deal if you pay attention to the price of things in a grocery store and bring that knowledge with you when you shop at the club.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 11/23/2009 9:19:36 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Also not sure if you buy using your cc but keep in mind Costco only takes amex and Sam''s takes discover and mastercard. BJ takes them all.

Ah, good to know!

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks for the link Charger! It does seem like more people (here anyway) prefer Costco to BJs or Sam''s.