this, I let our membership go because really, the only thing it was worth was the gas, but, it was out of the way in a part of town we very rarely visit and far enough away that I didn’t feel it was worth the drive just for gas, if I need something I want to buy in bulk, AA batteries, I just tag along with my folks or ask them to pick some up for me the next time they go(they have a membership primarily for the gas prices but live much much closer than I do)
I’ve had Costco and Sams Club memberships for over 20 years. Recently I go to Sams most of the time because it is closer. That has changed several times over the last two decades as I move and change jobs or just depending on what way I’m going. I almost considered dropping Costco, but I have to many friends on my membership that would be bummed if I did and besides if I change jobs Costco might be closer again.
You can’t loose money on the Costco Executive Membership. If you don’t spend enough to cover the difference between the standard and executive membership, then they add to your rebate check to make up the difference.
You also need to be aware of special purchases where you save a lot of money. A friend of mine paid for the who year’s membership on what he saved on some special tires he ordered. I don’t really buy that much food, but I’ve noticed that I hardly ever go to the supermarket any more. It is Sams or Dollar General for most things.
One thing I don’t like about Costco is that they don’t show their store items on their web site. At Sams you can check the store and online prices at the web site.
This.
We have a membership and use it about 3-4x a year but oh do we use it 
A couple hours of shopping leads to 4-5 hours packaging into individual serving sizes, vacuum sealing and freezing and we’re good for 3 months or so. Meat is less expensive than the local grocery store and almost as good quality as when I order direct from the butchers. It’s really really hard to beat.
Outside of the meat section I need to be more careful because I don’t remember grocery prices very easily. Some things that I buy with a fair level of confidence are condiments (if you’ll use that size of package), nuts, garbage bags, ziploc bags and dishwasher detergent. I used to buy magazines there too but I’m all digital now.
Oh, the vacuum sealer came from them too, as did our water cooler and dehumidifier. All of these after researching prices.
I find the fruits and vegetables high quality and pretty good price.
My dogs and cat like the food .
Yeah, are people here really comparing apples to apples as far as quality? Generic Priolosec is about 30% cheaper than I just saw on Amazon. I can get Kirkland jeans (I believe made by Lee) for $13.99. I get a 18-pack of Hogie rolls for $3 and use them as hot dog buns, sandwich rolls, or lay them flat and make Garlic Bread depending on what I’m eating that night. Never seen any Costco electronics reviewed badly and never once been hounded about protection plans (although last trip I noticed they were selling them).
All the while, Costco has among the most liberal return policies for customers and compensation packages for their employees of anywhere. They get criticized they pay their employees TOO MUCH. They’re very often cheaper/as cheap, but even when they’re not I can feel good that my money is going to a company with a soul.
The savings on my contact lenses alone pays for my yearly membership. The gas is cheap, the steaks are great, the frozen scallops are about as good as you can get in Chicago. I’m lucky that my local Costco is 5 minutes down the street I live on.
I’ll be damned. I may have to give them a try. As far as my experience with their produce and meat goes, my MIL can’t make a bowl of cereal without ruining it, so that may be why I have a bad opinion.
Another thing to consider. Costco does testing for additional strains of e-coli in their meat and produce that aren’t required by the FDA.
It’s worth it for me. I only buy 3 things there – contact lenses, printer cartridges and refills and water filters. I save enough on those three things to make up for the cost of membership. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t buy membership.
One year, I let my membership lapse and went there on a guest pass just to see if it was worth the savings to me. Once I determined that it was worth it by pricing a few items at other local places, I got the membership at the cashier when I purchased the items.
I’ve had a membership twice in 12 years. The Cotsco in my city is about 8 - 10 miles away from where I live. To me, traveling any significant distance (IMHO 10 miles is significant) to buy food or other items on a weekly or regular basis doesn’t make sense. There are perfectly good grocery stores just minutes away from me where I can look for deals and be a smart shopper. With that said, it can be entertaining to look around there and see what they have every once in a while. I do not plan on having a membership again however. If there is something that I really want from there, I know plenty of people who have memberships that I could go with.
My wife and I average $4,000 or more spent at Costco. I know this because they told us. We live a few miles from the warehouse that is also conveniently across the street from where my wife works.
USDA Prime steaks. I don’t know where I could buy them other than Costco. They would be much more expensive purchased elsewhere.
We use the “Passport to Savings” coupon flyer that arrives in the mail. My wife loves the Olay Regenerist line of beauty products. Costco sells them far cheaper than amazon.com.
Tires. We buy our tires there using the $70.00 coupon for Michelin tires. Free rotation and balance is very convenient for us, and the service is excellent.
Slates brand dress slacks are often sold there, and when they are, they sell for about $25, versus over $50 anywhere else.
I have purchased an entire bedroom furniture set from Costco for $2,900 after $900 off during a sale. Free delivery and set up, of course.
Printer cartridges.
Roses and flowers. No other retailer is even close on this one.
Kirkland beer, brewed by Gordon Biersch. Excellent beer for under $19 per 24 bottle case.
I recently ordered a paper shredder that was about $200 less than any other company online. Free shipping, of course.
They offer a gym membership with 24 Hour Fitness that works out to $13.34 per month.
The list goes on. Costco has saved us a lot of money.
Thanks for pointing that out. That looks like a great deal.
Don’t buy vast amounts of any food there unless you’re positive you love it and won’t get tired of it.
They have a car buying service that is supposed to be good. Tell them what you want and they get you the best price.
Things that are totally worth it…
Tires.
Cheese strings.
Snap peas.
Baby wipes.
Batteries.
Frozen fruit.
And the kids clothes are awesome. They only have one or two styles at a time, but if that’s what you are needing, the quality is good and the price is great.
But it’s true that not everything is. I can get Nutrigrain bars, razor blades and face cream cheaper at Walmart. Granola bars at the grocery store. And while Kirkland diapers are good for some kids, they were a total disaster for mine. Guess they’ve got weird little bums. Blowout city.
Can I ask you guys how much you pay for batteries? And what brand? My local Lowes sells bricks of their house brand batteries dirt cheap. A brick of 100 AA batteries is $20. 100 AAA is like $15. If that’s too many, a brick of 30 AA is $9. $20 will get you 15 9v. Last time I checked Consumer Reports, all batteries are the same regardless of brand, as long as you are are comparing the same type (alkaline, Nicd, etc.) $20 for 100 AA batteries I can’t imagine can be beat.
I am perhaps not the best person to ask since I don’t pay for my membership (I am enrolled as a corporate card through my dad’s work, it’s one of my dad’s perks that his two daughters have costco cards).
We go there for whatever is cheaper and/or will save me hassle. So, for example, laundry detergent can be had cheaper at retail stores if you find it on sale. If I can’t find it on sale and we are on our last 150 load box (I don’t like running out), I will buy it at costco. Same goes for paper towel and toilet paper. Basically, anything that I going to buy anyway that they sell at costco and I have checked that it is cheaper there, I buy there.
The exception is meat. I was busting my ass to only buy meat when it was on sale at the grocery store and set my menus accordingly. It was too much work. The meat at costco is exceptional and similar in price to the grocery store sale prices. It is a bit more work (since you need to break it all into single use bags before freezing) but it saves me a lot of hassle.
So, we go to Costco every five weeks and stock up what we will need for the next five. We would go longer between trips but we don’t have a freezer (just the one in the refridgerator).
We haven’t computed the savings, because there is some stuff there unavailable or better than in the local groceries. Their bread is awesome, and comes from a bakery that also services high end restaurants. They’ve got excellent frozen salmon with sauce.
They’ve got good pastrami in a big bucket, better than anything else I’ve seen around here, and I’m speaking as a New Yorker.
We get paper towels and tissues when there are coupons, which is pretty frequent. You do have to know the prices of products in grocery stores, since they are sometimes just as good.
As for the meat, most of the beef we’ve seen there is graded lower than the meat in our grocery store. It’s not bad, but it is often not comparable. My biggest problem with Costco is the large number of nitwits blocking the aisles, especially around food sample stations. The average aisle is worse than the worst situation in my regular grocery.
BTW, Costco also has reasonably good benefits for workers, which is another reason for me to show there.
Speaking of computing the savings: I did a few years ago and found that what definitely wasn’t worth it for me was to upgrade to the level of membership that gave me a percentage back, because it wouldn’t pay for itself for me.
Solely because gas purchases don’t count.
I find that the following items are worth purchasing at Costco:
Gasoline
Eggs
Coffee
Tea
Vitamins and other supplements, if you use them in large quantities
Clothes, on occasion
Various office supplies
Batteries
Salmon burgers
Ground turkey
Ground beef
Rotisserie chicken
Frozen dinners
Paper towels and toilet paper
Various cleaning supplies
Fruit – especially frozen berries
The hassle thing is big. Costco has pretty low day to day prices on some things (not everything). You can sometimes do better sale shopping. But if you need laundry detergent today and don’t want to dig around in flyers to find out who has it on sale - and like the Kirkland brand (which is generally pretty darn good), Costco.
I don’t do a lot of sale shopping.