Costco

[Preston]

At $50 a year, is a Costco membership worth it?

[mommy4ever]

It depends. If you know yourprices well, and can stick to a list yeah. For us,i'm thinking yes. Milk alone saves us $1. Photos are really cheap. Clothing for DH has been extrememly good. Meat has been a good price. But it's only if I stick to my list. You can blow the budget ina hurry there.

[auntie2many]

If your vehicles will need tires or batteries they are the place to go. If you shop only with a list and know your prices so that you are sure that the grocery store is not cheaper on the item then they are the place to go. You also cannot beat their prices on things like big appliances most of the time. They will let you walk the store for free once to see if you would like to join.

[accountantbyday]

my membership is free, so yeah, it's worth it! That aside, I buy mostly dry goods there--zippies, paper towel, toilet paper, etc. It really saves on the things you have to buy all the time.

[lullaby80]

I think it absolutely is worth the money. I buy lots of things from there (their organic milk is cheap as well as organic soymilk!) and love the fact that everything comes in bulk. But more than the shoping I love walking there, sampling the foods (and getting a free lunch for myself and DS ). We get our gas there as well so that saves us a bunch of money so for us it is definetly worth is. Actually someone in the family always pays for the membership for us..

[onencgirl]

Does Costco take coupons?

[accountantbyday]

Does Costco take coupons?

Not manufacturer ones, but they do have coupon books that come out a few times a year for Costco-only coupons.

[Jayne]

It is for us...we get our dog food much cheaper and many other items...the dog food alone saves us the 50 dollars

[so68]

When I joined I wondered the same thing. I thought I'd chance it and try it out once. I really do think you save money, but try not to get too enticed with the stuff you wouldn't normally get. I save money on cat food (the dogs won't eat their dog food for some reason but the cats enjoy theirs), and things like toilet tissue, paper towels, pop, cheese, kitchen catchers, that sort of thing. I needed a few new summer tops this summer but didn't want to spend much - found a few under ten bucks, which is a good price for around here. They have some really neat stuff as well, from books to bath stuff, etc. so it's a great way to slowly pick up Christmas gifts through the year. My neighbour just got her wedding photos back from there - cost her next to nothing to get them developed so was a huge savings on her wedding finances. The photos turned out great. I'd go and visit it first, see what you'd use, see what the prices are like. If you're still uncertain, I'd buy the membership for the year and you could always cancel if you didn't like it.

[mbell0817]

I buy there huge bags of shredded cheese (cheddar and mozzarella) and freeze them, oftentimes in 2-cup increments. There 2 lb block cheddar cheese is also a good deal.

Another thing we buy is their frozen fruit medley bags. When we are running out of fruit here, I will just make smoothies with these to get some fruit servings in.

Before I started shopping at Aldi, I bought my whole chickens (and boneless, skinless) there. Their ground beef is also good.

Laundry detergent, ziploc sandwich bags, disinfectant wipes (costco brand), dish soap (costco brand), toilet paper, vanilla extract, walnuts are other staples I buy there and are generally cheaper than Aldi or Walmart. Several months ago, I bought their all-purpose and bread flours, which were an ok deal, but the bags are huge, so I nearly break my back trying to refill the canisters. I think I'll stick to the 5 lb bags. Their sugar prices are about the same as Aldi, but cheaper than Wally World. I usually stay away from the cereal/canned/frozen prepared food b/c I can find them cheaper elsewhere, but they are great if you prefer name-brand stuff.

[mom2hancj]

I do Sam's but I think it is worth it. I agree with pps that you need to stick to your list.

I buy:
dog food
cheese sticks
yeast
flour
sugar
brown sugar
garlic
oatmeal
hidden valley ranch mix
spaghetti seasoning and other spices as needed
tomato sauce
sliced cheese
shredded cheese (both in bulka nd freeze)
gogurt (on occasion)
paper towels
toilet paper

[Juto]

Yes, yes, yes! Besides gas being cheaper most of the time....here is an example. We just bought a 37 inch flat screen TV (Vizio) for $750. Anywhere else we would have paid more than $1000. That is just one of many examples...