I love Costco, I hate Costco. You can score some great deals, no doubt about that. But if you are not careful it is very easy to over buy and end up with food that will go bad before you actually consume it. The huge jar of Best Foods mayo. The frozen foods that become freezer burnt icebergs before you get around to eating all of it. We have fell victim to both. So when I stumbled across the ‘Top 5 Best and Worst Warehouse Club Buys’, on AOL Finance, it caught my attention. In case you missed it, here are both lists, followed by a little commentary by yours truly.
Top 5 Best Warehouse Club Buys
- Prescription Drugs - Can save up to 50% off your prescription drugs. OK, now it makes sense why there is always a huge crowd around the Costco Pharmacy. I tend to avoid that section of the store like the plague.
- Milk, Eggs, Butter - If you are feeding the Brady Bunch or getting ready for the Church pancake breakfast then I would agree. Otherwise, not sure if my family will drink 2 gallons of milk before it goes bad.
- Web Deals - I have noticed that Costco.com does seem to have some pretty decent deals. Never bought from their website before though. Have you? If so, did you get a good deal?
- Gasoline - The article says 10 cents a gallon cheaper. Is that true? My Costco does not have a gas station so it hard for me to comment on this one. I do get the best deal on gas in my town at a Safeway gas station though, so this does not surprise me.
- Wine, Beer, Liquor - I have bought beer from my Costco and you can save quite a bit. But you better make sure you like it because you have to buy it by the case! Not a time to start experimenting.
Top 5 Worst Warehouse Club Buys
- Coupon-Rich Items - If you can use coupons on certain items at the grocery or drug store you can often save more than by buying at Costco or Sam’s Club. The article uses this example “At Sam’s Club, a 36-pack of Charmin Ultra is $16.28, or 45 cents per roll. At Shop Rite, a 48-pack is $15.69 on sale. Tack on a $1 manufacturer’s coupon, and you’ll pay just $14.69, or 31 cents per roll.” Makes sense.
- Gasoline - Say what? I thought this was a good buy? The article says that when gas prices are heading up, warehouse prices move up very quickly. Has anyone else noticed this as well?
- Unfamiliar Brands - If you buy a brand that you have never tasted before and it sucks out loud, you are going to be stuck with 330 nasty fish sticks, for example! This is where the free samples may come in handy, plus you can just wander the store and eat dinner. Not recommended as a ‘date night’ idea!
- Dust Collectors - This one goes back to the notion of never using a product before it expires. The article uses the example of “that 116-pack of Alka Seltzer at Costco for $9.49 may not be as good a deal for you as the 36-pack for $5.29 at Drugstore.com. Both expire about a year after purchase.”
- Bulk Bags - The article makes the argument that big ol’ bags of stuff is often hard to manage and store properly. Like the 25 pound bag of sugar or flour. Unless you are starting your own cookie company, this one makes sense to me. Or if you have a bunch of large storage containers.
I welcome your thoughts and comments!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Frugal Living10 Comments
10 responses so far ↓
25 lbs of rice (at a discount) would hold me quite nicely. But as you say, it’d require proper storage and such.
Bulk bags work well for us-we use them up and we rotate them. We try to have at least 3 months of food on hand for emergencies or financial crunch. As long as you use them in order, it works for us.
Gas-they don’t have the octane we need for our truck, and I don’t want to pay more for the higher octane. Cheaper for 91 octane anywhere else, but still more expensive than 87. They only stock 85 and 91.
We do usually buy more than one gallon of milk at a time, and have never had it go bad (plus you can freeze it if need be). But I haven’t found Costco milk to be cheaper than the grocery store, especially if you watch sales.
The things that are “musts” for me at Costco are:
Pet Food
Laundry Detergent
Dishwasher Detergent
Cat Litter
Organic Peanut Butter
Frozen Broccoli (cheaper, and compared to walmart at Costco the bag is all Florets, where wally’s is all stems) and other frozen veggies. (We have a chest freezer.)
Water Softener Salt
Bulk rice, flour, sugar, brown sugar
Chocolate chips-10 lb bags, which I store in the freezer.
Organic Apples
Cheese
Here’s something I’ve noticed about Costco though-look around, most of the people in there are very overweight. Last time I was there, everyone I could see was really huge.
Maybe the mindset is that since its cheaper, you can eat more. Just because you have a lot for the same money, doesn’t mean you should eat more! It defeats the point of saving money. One Costco trip of about $175 stocks my family up for about 2 months, and I figure I save the yearly membership cost with every single visit. It’s cost effective for us. However, it would cease to be cost effective if I assumed that every price in there was a good one. There are plenty of things in there (napkins, toilet paper, paper towels) that cost a lot more than what we are already paying elsewhere.
It’s also a good place to grab a to-go meal if you are out and about and the kids are hungry. $1.50 for a hot dog & drink. Not healthy, but it can’t be worse than McDonalds, and its tons cheaper than a Happy Meal.
Great comment Jennifer! We also get pet food, laundry detergent, Cascade, and quite a bit of fruit in the summer time from Costco. And your point about assuming everything at Costco must be a good price is dead on. That just is not the case.
As for fat people shopping at Costco, unfortunately, I have noticed that in EVERY store I have been in the past few years. 65% of Americans are either overweight or obese!!
I love Costco, I have found some amazing bargains there.
The gas being cheaper is true, ours has a gas station, the only problem? It is 35 miles away, so the savings doesn’t work for me.
We buy our milk and eggs there(4 kids means LOTS of milk), and I do buy some of the bulk bag stuff-I am a pantry person, so I like to have mass quantities of “essentials”
I also buy my pet food there, the savings are huge!
I have also heard of people sharing a Costco trip, though I have never done it: Everyone chips in and buys the enormous bulk items an then splits it amongst their families, I understand that this is supposed to translate to more usable quantities at cheaper prices. Sounds good to me!
Take Care
LJ
The Kirkland Coffee beans roasted by Starbucks are smokin’ deal, and they even have a grinder if you don’t have your own. I also love their chicken breast (although this last time I bought them they were individually packaged, ANNOYING!) and you can’t beat the Kirkland Laundry Detergent (200 loads for $12). There real vanilla extract is also a very good price.
LJ and Tricia, thanks for the great tips and advice. I really like the Kirkland brand coffee as well, already ground though. I will keep my eye for the beans roasted by Starbucks, have not noticed that before.
And LJ, my wife has considered the Costco shared trip with some friends but they have yet to coordinate it. I really like that idea!
Great post! And funny.
My Costco faves:
* the wonderful rack of lamb
* the nice selection of cheap- to mid-priced wines
* shampoo
* Kirkland liquid laundry detergent
* dishwasher tabs
* blue jeans that fit a grown-up woman
I wish they sold unsalted butter.
And yeah, of course their price on gas goes up when the price of oil rises. But it’s still cheaper than anyplace else in town–often by 10 or 12 cents a gallon.
Their fruits and veggies can be a bargain — if you know your prices. I’ve found their romaine lettuces are about the same price as grocery store packages, but they have twice as many in the package. Score for us, because we use them fast! Bananas, not so much, 15c more per pound.
I buy the baking soda and white vinegar which are large sizes and GREAT bargains and I use them for cleaning purposes. And, as a bonus, I make volcanoes for the kids in the bathtub using the baking soda and vinegar and then they scrub it–fun, eco-friendly and frugal. What’s not to love? Also, Costco is good for a quick, inexpensive lunch for a family of four. Hot dog and soda for $1.50 is unheard of today! But, I agree–not everything’s a bargain, and too much stuff clutters up your home.
We are fortunate to live very close to the business costco (which you can only use with a business-level or executive membership). But they have few or no “consumer” items like clothes, books, videos, or “fancy stuff.” Keeps the impulse buying in check.
I keep a list of basics that I stock up on:
* Eggs
* Milk
* 5 pound chubs of the 90% + lean burger (so incredibly lean that there is almost no waste). I cook and freeze in portions (with onion, garlic, and/or seasonings already in it).
* our staple produce (celery stalks, onion, spinach, organic lettuce, sliced fresh mushrooms). I cook up 2/3 of them - the onions in one crockpot (carmelizing), and the mushrooms in another, then package/freeze in use-size portions…
* frozen stir-fry veggies - very high quality
* the chickens (whole) -> cook into broth and deboned meat for recipes or soups; The flash-frozen chicken breasts.
* bananas (I often share part of these with an older man at church or our neighbor - even giving some away, at 4# for $1.30 or so, we come out ahead of the 3/$1 at the lunch counters). Other fruit (I often share)
* the coffee (I vacuum seal what I don’t use, or again, share)
* the “free and clear” store brand detergent (hubby allergic to scents).
* shredded cheese
* dried fruit
* the coffee
I watch the costco coupons for the sales they have on Britta filters, toilet paper, paper towels (I buy the store brnds), the dish detergent (dishwasher and regular). I stock up, then add it back to my list a couple months before it looks like I’ll run out.
* soy milk (the individual non-sweetened cartons do work out to $1, much less than even Trader Joes)
* their premium vanilla ice cream (full half gallons, not the 1.75 containers, and much better quality) - we add our own toppings instead of buying flavors of other brands. We enjoy the creativity now, and pretend we are a “coldstone creamery.”
If you have a business costco, they sell the Toriani coffee syrups - the full-size bottle - for $3.60. This amazing deal keeps me out of starbucks - I use Sugar-free, and paying $.50 more for a shot of syrup when I can get the flavor I actually love (Irish cream) at home, keeps me drinking “My own.”
I think my biggest shift was in simply not buying - or minimizing - processed food as much as possible. Our food bill dropped.
On the other hand, I buy bacon bits - not slices - at the Grocery Outlet (3# packages for $4), and it is better bacon; and our canned goods (tomato paste, etc). I’m careful watching “dents” (you have to know what NOT to buy) and date-labels… but basically, I don’t buy those things at Costco.
DH also has to have a Dove-type soap - but for example, the target or other store brands, are a cheap way to get exactly the same quality. (I just buy about six month’s worth at Target - I only go there about 2x a year). Same with the “store brand” Cetaphil-type cleanser and other health and beauty items.