[treeluva]

*Sigh* I really wish we had an Aldi's here. The last time I was able to shop at one was when I was living in Germany. Even in Germany, Aldi's was great.

All we have here is a Sam's and a Save A Lot other than the Walmart and Country Mart. Not much variety.

I used to have a Sam's Club membership but I let it lapse when I was in Germany because there was no sense in paying the $30 fee when I wasn't even going to POSSIBLY walk into a Sam's for 3 years...

I am thinking of going and renewing my membership now, but I am wondering if it is really worth it. Buying in bulk when you have a place to store it is probably worth it as long as you use it, but I do not have a deep freezer and my freezer is VERY small.

Things like toliet paper and such may be worth the membership fee, but I haven't been in Sams in at least 4 years so I don't really know what the prices are. I orginally got the membership for diapers and formula.

Do you think it is worth the membership fee to buy things like tolietries and laundry soap? I am sure there are some non perishable food items I could purchase there as well, but again, I am not sure about the cost of these items in Sams anymore...

 

[justpeachy92]

We are a family of 6 and I find the membership is worth it for the milk. Milk at ours is $3.80 a gallon, vs. $4.59 in the grocery store. Bananas at Sams are like 42 cents a pound vs, 70 cents in the other stores. I have never bought TP there as I have always been able to find better deals on that other places. I also buy all my meat there.

 

[DonnainME]

Something else to think about is Gas. When I was in FL all Sam's had gas stations and it was cheaper than regular stations. Here in ME, I haven't found a Sam's that has gas.

I agree about bananas being cheaper. I did occasionally buy TP from there - their brand but don't remember price.

I have a BJ's membership now. They take coupons and also food stamps. They do have a gas station here and it is normally 5 to 10 cent cheaper per gallon.

 

[MoonMommy]

I have a membership at BJs Wholesale (like Sams club) and I share it with my Mom. Can you do that at Sams? At BJs you can have two people on the membership and it doesn't matter who they are. So, we share the fee and that can save money. I find it is worth it for us. The milk, bananas, toiletries, etc are often a lot cheaper, plus (not sure what Sams' policy is) BJs wholesale accepts coupons so you can save extra money.

 

[freebs]

of course sams it just like every where else prices have gone up.The membership is $40 now. Most of the time my sams gas isnt any cheaper than the walmart next to it. I can get the $4 meds everywhere now. I do like to by my butter there, a 5lb country crock is $3.xx. eggs are very expensive there. I do buy ketchup, pickles, mark down meat, hot chocolate mix. I used to buy there potato salad but they changed brands and we dont like the taste now. I also buy my acid reducer there as i can save $15 per box and i buy 4-7 boxes a month so that right there pays for my membership for a year!

 

[cutetexancowgirl2002]

I buy Pedigree dog food there. If I calculate it out per pound compared to Wal-Mart, I save about $10 each time I buy it. Of course, it only comes in a 52 lb. bag so I have to store a lot of it. If I only buy dog food 4 times a year, it will pay for my membership.
Like another poster said, milk is also a good buy there. Sometimes the block cheese is also a good deal. Spices are also relatively inexpensive there too.

 

[cheles2kids]

Yep, I agree that it's worth it.
My husband & I have been going back & forth for the past couple of months whether we should get a membership or not.
Before moving, we had a BJ's & a Costco close by and we used them every couple of weeks for different items.

But we don't have anything except a Sam's club now, so we were unsure whether it would be worth the added membership expense.

We just made out second trip this past Saturday and I would defiantely say it is worth it for us. I also think you have to take into consideration your family, your eating habits, what you would purchase on a regular basis, etc.

I don't have the receipt in front of me but their HUGE ginormous packages of t. paper run *about* $14.00 or so, that's for double rolls 2 ply, now of course if you can use the single ply and don't use that much, you probably could get a better deal somewhere else with a coupon.

Also the milk prices are considerable for us, it saves us around $.60 or .70 cents per gallon. I usually buy 3 or 4 gallons and we use one and I stick the others in the freezer, since we only go to Sam's about twice or so a month.

The gas is another biggie. We can save around .20 or so a gallon, and since the only gas stations we have in town are mostly mom 'n pop places, they can't compare with the prices.

I also have been buying quite a bit of their family packages of meat, that have been 'reduced', that knocks off about $4.00-5.00 a package, so it's a considerable amount. Plus on most of their family packs, we divide them up into meal portions, which usually equals about 3 or 4 meals for us.

I noticed that their tea bags are considerably cheaper as well.
But I compare most of their prices to Save-a-lot, so in your area you might be able to do better on some of these items.

I stay away from convenient type foods though, I can see how someone could really blow alot of money on certain items they sell.
But I think for the most part if you shop conservatively, you will save alot on your grocery bill.

 

[cheles2kids]

I have a membership at BJs Wholesale (like Sams club) and I share it with my Mom. Can you do that at Sams? At BJs you can have two people on the membership and it doesn't matter who they are. So, we share the fee and that can save money. I find it is worth it for us. The milk, bananas, toiletries, etc are often a lot cheaper, plus (not sure what Sams' policy is) BJs wholesale accepts coupons so you can save extra money.

Gosh, I miss my BJ's. I loved that you could use coupons and that they carried alot of their own brand name items at a considerable savings. Costco does this too, but I don't have one of those close by anymore either.

As for the membership, you can have two people on one membership, I just don't know if they have to be related? I really dunno on that.

 

[MoonMommy]

We used to have two large dogs (both over 50lbs), and we saved so much money just on their food alone by having a membership. Then when my kids were in diapers or using formula, that was also a big savings.

I have found that alot of BJs brand stuff is just as tasty if not better than major brands. I am a bit disappointed because I used to always buy their mac n cheese, it tasted better than Kraft, my kids liked it better (in fact my older picky pants doesn't like Kraft at all), and was more fortified, anyhoo, they have discontinued it. So, I guess my picky eaters are going to have to get used to homemade soon.

 

[tigo]

The gasoline discount alone makes up for our membership. The rest saves us money as well. We had Costco and Sams last year but decided we shopped at Sams more and just kept that membership.

 

[freebs]

wow everyones gas seems to be cheaper than everywhere else?? I get upset as the gas at sams is the same price as walmart next door so no savings on gas there

 

[chettasmom]

Sam's for good deals..I just bought a huge package of TP for $16.00..I'm not in the room with it right now but I believe it had 36 double rolls (or 72 regular rolls)..that to me was a bargain. (and it's not that see through cheapo stuff either!)

 

[treeluva]

Toliet paper is a big one in this house... us three girls sure do go through ROLLS of Toliet Paper a day.... I used to think my mother was just being silly when she joked about how once I moved out of the house she could afford all sorts of things since she didn't have to buy so much tp anymore, but now I think she was totally serious!

I went to the Dollar General today and got a 12 pack of double rolled tp for $5.00. It was the DG Brand, which I find to be comparable to the Quilten brand. (Is it northern quilten? Shucks, I don't even know what brand of TP I buy! I just know I know it when I see the label... sigh. Advertising!)

I am going to go to Sam's tomorrow to just look around and price things and compare the prices to my price book. For a $40 membership fee, I would have to calculate and figure out what my break-even point would be. Certainly the membership would pay for itself within a year if I shopped there for things I would usually purchase that are cheaper there, but if it takes longer than 2 months to get my membership fee back in savings, I am not sure that the temptation of walking through those doors is worth it to me.

 

[Greebo]

The gas alone may or may not make it worth it.

It depends on how many miles you drive and the mileage you get.

For example, if you drive 500 miles a month, and your MPG is 25, a $0.10 discount on gas will save you $2.00 a month, or $24.00 a year.

To compare, run these numbers:
Monthly Mileage / Miles Per Gallon * Regular Price Gas = Regular Total
Monthly Mileage / Miles Per Gallon * Discount Price Gas = Discount total

Regular Total - Discount Total = Savings per month
Savings per month * 12 = savings per year

We shop at BJ's, not Sams - too similar to have 2 memberships - and the gas is nice, but not a HUGE savings for us, since we both drive hybrids anyway, but the gas savings plus milk, eggs, larger meat and cheese purchases, etc., makes it worth the annual charge.