Every so once in a while, I gotta have a Chicken Bake at the cafe. Cheap, too.
You didn’t ask about this, but - just in case you are sensitive about being politically correct - CostCo supports local suppliers and also pays and treats their employees very well.
Upon thinking about it, it may be only 6 months, not 12.
I buy TP, tissues, and paper towels. My wife and I are the kind who cook from scratch, so we don’t buy a lot of frozen food there. We do buy cases of chicken broth, nuts (which we freeze), and olive oil to cook with (we keep the good stuff for salad dressings). Costco has started going up-scale so we also buy imported cheese when we need to make a big cheese plates. For Xmas I bought a $50 Spa Finder certificate for $40 for Mrs Blather. I have also bought things like computer monitors, SW, and basic appliances.
Beyond that, Costco is fun to shop at. They change what they carry a lot and have all those free samples. I hate WalMart but I love Costco.
Primarily, we rely on Costco for household stuff like toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, disinfectant wipes, saran wrap, etc. We stuff whatever we don’t need right away in a storage closet. I also get tampons/pads/pantiliners there. It’s nice not needing to buy these things often, and it’s nice not having to mix these bulky items in with the day-to-day grocery shopping.
We buy foods such as steak and fish, Hot Pockets, milk, and granola bars. Anything perishable is either made immediately, or portioned out and frozen.
The roommate and I are suckers for the cheap yet tasty rotisserie chicken.
I love Costco, but only go there about 4 to 6 times a year.
Their cakes and muffins are simply the best.
Milk is a great price as is yogurt.
You can buy a vat of kids snacks that will last several weeks (YMMV) for about $10 as oppose to the 6- 8 fruit snacks per pack for $2.50 at any other store. I want volume on kids foods and containing the snack item.
**Their seasonal items are excellent. **I outfitted our family with a huge top of the line tent ( forget maker, but I could set up base camp at Everest with this thing.a grade or three above Colemen.), two Kelty sleeping bags for the kids, a portable gas grill (because cooking over the fire is way overrated.) and two king sized air mattresses for roughly $500, or the cost of a weekend away somewhere.
We bought our industrial/institutional fold up really large picnic table (has a plastic top and metal legs) there for about $120. Retails elsewhere, at the time, for over $200. Best freakin’ picnic table ever as it has never blown off our deck ( despite railings, a problem we’ve had with two tables) and we never fold it up. It just takes the abuse of Michigan weather and kids.
I beleive as long as you save the receipt of the item you can return anything at anytime.
Their ** food service ** there with the hot dogs and soda for $1.50 is not only one of the best deals in town you can get relish and onions with your dog, and that is a plus.
I’ve been told by several that their pharmacy has the cheapest prices anywhere. It is too much of a hassle to wade through the parking lot and the crowd and go to a place that doesn’t have any seating to wait to save $2 on some RX.
I have to agree that their meat department is phenomenal. I will buy the sheet o’ pork chops, which are the thickest chunks of meat I’ve ever seen, and slice them width ways before freezing them in lots of four in the vat o’freezer bags bought from costco.
I don’t buy books much, as the reason why Costco and Sam’s can sell books so low, from what I’ve been told and I think i read it somewhere, is that they cut the authors take on selling so many books in volume. I don’t rush out to buy the latest Devotional Bible or hot cookbook ever and anything that has ever been on Oprah, I avoid.
I cannot imagine buying jewelry there, as they don’t do credit cards.
One of the best reasons to go to Costco is that it isn’t connected with Walmart in anyway, like Sam’s.
I love this. I’ve talked to many employees there and they say it’s a fantastic company to work for.
I have to admit I’m kind of addicted to CostCo. I have one less than a mile from my house and I probably get something there 2-3 times a week.
It’s a simple store. They’ll have 27 inch TVs, they’re just not going to have 5 different brands of 27 inch TVs. Yes, their portions are huge so I still supplement at the regular grocery store, but for perishables and frozen items it’s great.
Items I like at Costco…
[ul]
[li]Reyburns Philly Cheese Steaks[/li][li]Cheap DVDs[/li][li]$1.50 Hot Dogs + drink[/li][li]Chicken Bakes[/li][li]Quality namebrand jeans for $20[/li][li]Gas[/li][/ul]
The only things I dislike are the huge lines during peak hours and the lack of salespeople when you’re wanting technical information about a product.
Still my favorite store though. 
I am a Costco addict. I have only had a membership for three years, so I don’t think I’ve fully explored the benefits yet. We’ve got two people in our household, but I have a chest freezer, so I can buy in large quantities.
No one has mentioned how yummy and cheap their roasted chickens are. They’re delicious, and only about $7 (in Canada). Better and cheaper than grocery store chickens. The dairy in general is very cheap. Whipping cream costs half as much as in supermarkets.
We buy:
Flour (30lb sacks. I bake enthusiastically)
Sugar
Eggs
Milk
Cream
Canned Salmon
Orange Juice
The wonderful 5-year-old cheddar
Blocks of parmesan
Store-brand cranberry juice
Cereal
Some spices
Packaged deli meat
Frozen berries
Ground Beef
Stewing beef
Laundry detergent
Just got a new rice cooker
Batteries
They have a very wide selection of prepared and frozen foods, many of which are very high quality. I don’t tend to buy vegetables because they go off before we get through a whole package, potatoes excluded. I don’t buy a whole lot of meat, but everything I’ve bought has been very good.
We buy regularly at Costco –
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Paper napkins
Sandwich bags
Freezer bags
Plastic wrap
Toothpaste
Sanitary napkins
Olive oil (pretty good, actually)
We buy only when we’re having a big party –
Meat - fantastic beef, pork, salmon, etc.
Bakery items
Dips, etc.
Butter
What we don’t buy at Costco –
Fresh produce - their fresh fruits and vegetables tend to be rather gross
Seafood - I don’t know whether there’s anything wrong with it, but it just seems too iffy
OH MY GOD YES! This is one thing I absolutely LOVE about Costco - their cakes! In fact, their whole bakery department.
You can get a half a sheet cake (that’s a lotta cake!) for $12.99 + tax (usually winds up being something like $15) in my parts - and if you order it 24 hours in advance they’ll even decorate it for free. ANYONE WHO HAS A COSTCO MEMBERSHIP: you should totally go in and order a chocolate layer sheet cake with cream cheese chocolate frosting and chocolate mousse filling. Chocolate overload, yes. Diabetic coma, yes. But pure, chocolately blissy? Hells yes. Sometimes, when I’m feeling particularly food-naughty, I’ll go in and buy one of those half sheet cakes…for no reason. Just to have it around. It freezes good, too.
I want one now. And damn if there isn’t a birthday near here to buy one for, either.
Oh, and their chocolate muffins? Divine.
~Tasha
It’s just my boyfriend and I, and I find membership to be totally worthwhile. Toiletries, baking goods, cereal, detergent, vitamins–all cheap and in big enough packages that I only have to think about shopping for them once every few months. There are a few spices that I use liberally enough to make the big containers worth it. Canned foods come in 6 or 8 packs, but that’s no biggie–just shove 'em in the pantry. We eat a lot of cheese, and the savings on that alone pays for the membership. They get decent stuff, too.
Not everything at Costco is a bargain, so you have to shop thoughtfully, but it’s not hard to do. Also, I don’t buy a lot of meat or veggies there because I’m picky about that type of food (I try to buy organics) and I don’t think Costco has much in that way.
As a side note, I refuse to step foot in the place between November 1 and December 31. It’s just not worth it.
Stainz and I LOVE Costco!
I’ve had a membership for 13 years. In fact this year we upgraded to the “Executive” membership. It was explained earlier, but in Canada you only get 2% cash back, so if you spend ~$200 a month you’ll get a cheque for $48 and break even (Standard membership = $50, Executive = $100).
We go at least once or twice a month, and we rarely spend less than $150 at a time.
We regularly buy:
Tenderloin Steak
Fresh Chicken Breasts
Hamburger
Pork Chops
Salmon
Diapers
Wipes
Formula
Toilet Paper
Paper Towel
Vitamin
Muffins
For our wedding we dropped a few hundred bucks on snacks, juice, sheet cakes, etc.
A also love Costco for their return policy! It’s the best bar-none! Basically you have a life-time warranty on anything you buy there. I once (for a test) returned a lamp that shorted out on me 3 years after I bought it! No receipt, they just gave me the last lowest price on it! They even stopped carrying that lamp over a year ago!
I also overheard someone talking to a Costco employee. They were asking about a particular printer they wanted. The salesman said they didn’t have that particular printer yet, but they should get them in the next month or two. The lady said she would be back to get one then, the sales person said “Sure do that, but buy this model in the mean-time. When the model you want arrives, return the one you boght today and get the one you want”. Can you ever imagine this happening at Futureshop or Circuit City?
A friend of mine bught a video camera there and has upgraded it twice in 2 years for better smaller cameras (and he usually gets money back doing this).
I LOVE COSTCO!!!
MtM
Well, I easily saved the $50 when I went there to by wine for my Wedding reception. Their alcohol prices are very good.
They need a freakin’ express aisle. I come in sometimes on a lunch break to pick up something and I get sandbagged behind people who are stocking up for winter. I’ve been told that Sams or BJs has express aisles. Heck, you only need one.
Other than that, I love the place.
I could never get the smaller details right. Yeah, it’s 2% for us also, not 3%.
The pharmacy has great prices. Take your prescription there or call them and find out. For that you do not need a membership. (at least in Michigan).
How are the coffee , dog food and cat food. I need to know to see if I should get a membership. On weekend you can practically get a meal on samples.
I don’t have a Costco membership as there aren’t any in my area. I’d say it’s nicer than Sam’s Club, which I do have a membership in. As a single guy living alone with a cat for a roommate, I don’t get much food there. At times it can be handy to stock up on frozen goods–fish, hamburgers, anything that can keep for a while in the freezer–and the bagels are at a good price. Normally, though, I only go there for about three classes of merchandise: paper goods like toilet paper and towels, cat litter (the scoopable litter is a bargain at 35 pounds for $9), and beverages (mostly cases of water, but it’s not a bad place to get alcohol.) I also will get DVDs and even sometimes other software there as well, but not too often. There are other things I get, of course, but I don’t use it much for food. More like dishwashing liquid, soap/shampoo, laundry detergent, and so on. Things I can stock up on once every few months instead of having to go to the store every month.
Just got back, and wow, was that overwhelming! I will probably join up in a week or so, once I’ve had a good night’s sleep and have more than half an hour or so after work to explore the place - I’m hosting a potluck on the 13th, and should make up a good chunk of the membership fee on the stuff I’m buying for that event alone. The things that swayed me:
– Boneless leg of Australian lamb for $3.99/lb. - I was at a friend’s dad’s place for Christmas dinner, and he bought the amazing leg of lamb we ate that night at Costco (here’s the recipe - I’d never had anything quite like it!)). The recipe I’m doing for the potluck main dish requires a leg of lamb, and my usual source, though about the same proce, doesn’t sell them already boned - and anything that makes less work and less mess for me on potluck day makes me happy.
– Booze for the aforementioned party - they didn’t have a ton of variety, but the prices were pretty darn good (and I was surprised at the variety of higher-end wine than I expected, not that that’s what I’d normally buy).
– Salmon seemed to be in 2- to 3-lb. fillets, which is much more manageable than 5 lbs., and looked very fresh.
– Jarred pesto that is made with actual olive oil rather than soybean oil, and doesn’t have preservatives, etc.
– A much wider variety of preservative-free and organic foods (yes, I’m a label-reader) than I expected. (Though somewhat to my disappointment, most of the bakery stuff has preservatives in it, so I probably wouldn’t buy it - but then I like to bake anyway. And a friend of mine swears by their bread, which did look good, and free of extraneous chemicals.)
I just wanted to take a quick peek for now, but I got so overwhelmingly distracted that I completely forgot to look for the shelf-stable milk that got me into this mess in the first place! And I didn’t even get as far as the back of the store.
(I’m now trying to picture what would have happened if you took some 1980s Soviets into Costco on arrival in the U.S. Their heads would probably explode.)
Thanks for the ideas, guys - keep 'em coming, because it will probably take several voyages to explore that cavernous place. (Though I can see it certainly won’tt be a replacement for my usual grocery-shopping haunts; I like the local and ethnic and esoteric stuff, too. Plus I am addicted to Trader Joe’s fresh-squeezed orange juice.)
Another single person checking in.
I visit CostCo about once a month. Certainly makes sense for certain things:
- toilet paper
- paper towels
- kleenex
- Claritin
- Daily vitamins
(Used to be the place for shampoo, but they’ve stopped carrying Pert).
They have good deals on books, but the selection really varies. Likewise with DVDs - and the prices vary over time (I just snagged all 3 seasons of “Arrested Development” for $17 each !).
I tend to stay away from the food, though. Unless it is something frozen.
But here’s my BIGGEST tip (especially for a single person):
DO NOT GET A CART !!! That is, only buy what you can carry.
When I first started going, I got so caught up with all the great deals, I ended up buying too much stuff I did not need/use and ended up tossing a bunch of stuff (trust me, you CAN OD on those candied peanuts !).
I experimented with the “no cart” plan, and it works wonders ! Being able to carry your load really filters out what you really can do without. And I now swear by it.
I forgot granola bars, olive oil, and a bunch of other stuff that we buy regularly. I’m glad you had fun.