We don’t have a Costco near us, but my mother does, and she solves the 72-rolls-of-toilet-paper problem by splitting it among friends; she will buy, say, two rolls of 2000 feet of Saran Wrap, use one, and her friend will buy the second. And then she’ll have Saran Wrap for a year.
Costco also shreds the rotisserie chicken that they don’t sell, refrigerate and repackage it; I like to get Mom to pick me up a packet while she’s there. Tastes great, and it’s easy to tear off a chunk or two to add to a salad, or even eat as a meal. Or to throw into the really yummy tabooleh they sell, as well.
As a single person, I don’t shop at Costco much. But one of my favorite things when I have people over is to get the ready-made Caesar salad and the ready-made shrimp salad and mix them together in a giant bowl. Always a BIG hit!
Also their stuffed cabbage in the refrigerator case is excellent. Better than Mama’s. (Sorry, Mama.) It’s a labor-intensive dish for one person to make for herself.
I’ve found that whether Costco is better for item X or not is really area-dependent. I’ve been places where milk (for instance) is cheaper elsewhere, and places where it’s cheaper at Costco. Currently, I find them cheaper for organic milk, not so much for regular. (Usually I can get a gallon-and-a-half of organic milk for the same price, or slightly better, than a gallon of organic milk elsewhere.) Butter is a toss-up, as it’s slightly cheaper or the same prices as the grocery stores I go to, but the grocery stores will occasionally run sales.
I have gone through their travel site to rent cars before, and have found them to be anywhere from $5 to $20 a day cheaper, plus the second driver is always included in the price. Additionally, the person who pays for the rental doesn’t have to be the person who has the Costco membership - the person with the membership just needs to be there (with their membership card) when the car is picked up.
If your Costco has a gas station, they are usually the cheapest around or are no more expensive than the cheap stations nearby. I’ve seen differences as little as five cents per gallon, to as much as fifty. Just keep in mind I’ve never seen them with more than two grades of gas so if your car needs mid-grade, it’s inconvenient. (I usually just get premium, as the price tends to be slightly cheaper than what other stations nearby charge for mid-grade.)
Depending on your local Costco’s practices, some don’t care if the person who pays at the checkout doesn’t have a Costco card, so long as a member is with them at the checkout. Others won’t let non-members pay - the name on the method of payment needs to match what’s on the membership card. Also, while the person checking memberships at the door may need to be reminded of the policy, someone who doesn’t have a Costco membership but does have a Costco gift card can enter the warehouse and pay for their stuff (using the gift card), without needing either a membership card or a Costco member escorting them.
I forgot to mention linens. I really like the bedding that they carry and it’s really much less expensive than other places, even Target, and much better quality.
Costco contracts with Ameriprise and I have my car insurance through them. I switched from PEMCO, upped my coverage, added rental car, and still saved 30% IIRC. I have had to deal with them too and other than a slight snaffu with the rental car coverage (that was resolved promptly) have no complaints.
We bought liquor and wine from Costco (and Sam’s, occasionally) in California, but here liquor sales are so tightly regulated (separate facilities only, floor price limits, weird hour requirements from the blue era) that the separate Sam’s liquor closet isn’t worth visiting. (The next state up, however, is.)
The organic extra virgin olive oil is the one thing I go out of my way for at Costco. Their beef is really good (and you can usually find prime cuts there that most supermarkets, outside While Foods and the like don’t carry.) And their Kirkland bourbon is a steal.
Rules for Efficient Warehouse Store Shopping #1: NEVER get in line behind two women.
They will not only have two separate orders that they will bicker over (“No, Dora, I said I’d pay for the jam this time!”), but often a third or even fourth order for someone else. These types are often the “slow payer” types as well, who wait until the end of the transaction, at which time they are utterly surprised they have to pay, and then start looking for their credit card (or, gawdelpus, checkbook).
The burly guy with a huge flat of stuff for his store will be MUCH faster unless he’s the type who has to find exact payment among his pockets of big bills, small bills and change.
I forgot the oils. Organic extra virgin and the grapeseed for deep frying.
Also, I remembered a local product for a good price–I’m in LA and my wife likes Golden Road IPA. A case of cans is $26, which is the cost of three sixers at TJs.
I go for the non-perishable goods that you will need regularly—toilet paper, paper towels, mouthwash, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, Ziploc bags, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, cotton swabs, lint rollers, bar soap, batteries, bathroom cleaner, toothbrushes, toothpaste …
In the food section, I don’t like their fruits and vegetables. If you needs large amounts of meat, I find the meat is good. But otherwise, I’d stick to things like eggs, olive oil, breakfast bars, instant oatmeal, and V-8 juice … things you know you will need a lot of and will use up.
I don’t get milk there because they don’t have lactose-free, so there’s no way I can use regular milk fast enough before it goes bad.
Also good there are things from the pharmacy section … Pepto bismol, moist wipes, vitamins, …
I got a Costco membership early this year because I was doing a mortgage refi and the lender had a deal where I could get a 1/4% off the mortgage for buying the $100-ish executive membership. That was a winner.
I went to the local store midweek in the early afternoon. It’s been open for years so, unlike the OP, there’s no novelty value about the local store.
I would not go back there if they paid me the sticker price of my purchases instead of me having to pay them. Ugly facility, noisy, full of crowds of crazed entitled bargain-a-holics and shrieking toddlers. And a 20 minute wait at the bank of registers, only 1/3rd of which were staffed. I shudder to think of what evenings or weekends would be like.
Once was plenty thank you. I might have saved $10 on my $100 worth of grocery & household stuff. Or not. It sure didn’t pay me for my wasted time or crowd-induced stress. The parking lot was like trying to leave a major sporting event. Not quite gridlock in the aisles and the occasional entitled jerk zooming around the idling cars up the pedestrian walkways to jump to the front of the line.