Costco..any reason not to get a membership?

[stahlhart]

Around here, the savings on poultry alone offset the membership cost, if your one of those folks (like me) that's cut back on red meat.

You just have to be careful (a) not to get suckered into impulse purchases -- they arrange the merchandise in the store to come after you this way -- and (b) that you not start compulsively consuming more of things just because you buy them in greater quantities (the "Costco effect").

 

[Spikesoldier]

pro:
Law Degree.
con:
Time machine.

rofl.

Welcome to CostCo, I love you.

 

[Capt Caveman]

One thing folks have left out is gas. Cheaper than anybody else.

 

[Sixguns]

I use it mostly for bottled water since the place a work at does not allow outside drinks, protein powder, and just other odd stuff. The money I save on those two alone pay for the membership and more.

 

[ponyo]

If you're single there's really no need for Costco. Walmart, Target, Trader Joe, and Amazon will work better for most.

 

[ponyo]

I use it mostly for bottled water since the place a work at does not allow outside drinks, protein powder, and just other odd stuff. The money I save on those two alone pay for the membership and more.

Walmart bottled water is just as cheap as Kirkland. It might actually be couple cents cheaper.

 

[kami333]

... What do you do with gallons of vanilla extract?

Not going to lie, I got too excited and I may have went a wee bit overboard...

My gf bakes a lot, we use it in french toast, put it in Coke, plus we've given some of it away as Christmas gifts, etc.

Even then we're less than half way through the first bottle, recipes usually only call for about 2teaspoons. I made 3 x 1.75liters so I have a long ways to go. I've stashed 1 bottle away for aging, I figure I'll get to it in 10years or so.

 

[DawsonsDada]

We are a family of four so our experience is going to be different than a single person's.

That being said, I haven't had to pay for our membership (Executive) for more than 5 years since we spend enough that the rebate always covers our renewal fee.

If you use your membership (if you get one) to buy more than just food it is definately worth it IMHO.

The non-perishable items that you can buy there mean you won't have to buy them somewhere else. The store near me has a good selection of beer, wine and hard alcohol and the tires that we have put on our car (and a friends) have already paid for next years membership.

I would suggest you invest the $50 for a year and give it a try. At the end of a year you should be able to make a better decision if it is worthwile for you or not.

Just my $.02

 

[GundamW]

Go with someone/friend who has a card, buy like you think you are going to buy if you were a member, see how long those bulk items last you, then calculate how much you will save for a year as a Costco member vs. just buying on sale items from local groceries/supermarkets.

If you are cheap, share a membership with a friend.

If you are really cheap, just leech off of a friend who has a membership and go with him every time he goes to Costco.

 

[SunnyD]

You can go there and basically get free lunch from all the free sample stations they have all over the store

The only reason to get Costco membership is for the free extended warranties on electronic stuff like HDTVs.

Both of these.

We shop there for things we KNOW will be used in bulk. We do a decent amount of grocery shopping there. For example, bread is cheaper (Nature's Own, 2 loaves for $3.58 every day versus $1.89 on sale at the grocery store). The meat is pretty good and decent price. We also get cheese there. We do get some vegetables there - usually baby spinach, baby carrots, celery and romaine lettuce. We'll also get juice there. Then some dry/canned goods that we go through a lot of - black olives, white tuna, croutons, etc. We rarely buy extremely perishable stuff there.

It's also nice to have for certain occasions - they sometimes have clothing items or shoes on sale. And the electronics are priced competitively - and they WILL price match.

The biggest kicker are the coupon books though. They make some items very much cheaper than other stores.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Yeh, got my law degree there. I also suggest the full body latte from the Star Bucks.

 

[PingSpike]

The biggest savings I noticed there were paper products and soap. Paper towels, toilet paper, dish and laundry soap are apparently extremely marked up elsewhere. Cereal also was noteworthy in how much of a better deal it was.

Their meat is an OK price, but nothing special. I buy a lot of frozen ready to eat meats or dinners for lunches. My wife always buys a bunch of fruit there and gets mad at me for not eating it...but I'm not a damn horse I can't eat all that shit before it goes bad. I think we get burned on that but that's really my wife's fault not CostCo's.

 

[tboo]

Love the chocolate dipped ice cream bars they sever at the Costco food counter. They are to die for but Im guessing probably have around 2000 calories a pop.

 

[dfuze]

Between the gas and milk savings, it has more than paid for itself for our membership.

Like someone else mentioned, the bonus year warranty on my hdtv is a great bonus too.

 

[Bryophyte]

My annual rebate always exceeds the hundred bucks that I pay for our executive membership, but we're a family of four.

 

[ponyo]

Between the gas and milk savings, it has more than paid for itself for our membership.

Like someone else mentioned, the bonus year warranty on my hdtv is a great bonus too.

Gas is just as cheap at places like QT and Racetrack. And those places don't have crazy lines like Costco. Milk is similar price at Walmart or Aldi. Credit card will give you bonus year warranty.

It's not worth financially for single person to have Costco membership. You can eat at their food court without membership.

I'm a huge Costco whore but for OP it won't be worth it.

 

[Eos]

One thing folks have left out is gas. Cheaper than anybody else.

Around here when comparing the difference between Costco's price and the 5% rebate through Shell/Citibank, Shell always wins by a few cents.

Today's Shell price is $3.77, so I effectively pay $3.58. Costco's price is only $3.62.

 

[Corporate Thug]

I'm a single guy that doesn't eat at home that much, though I want to and Costco will certainly give me the motivation to..so I feel like a lot of the bulk stuff would end up wasted, but I don't know anyone who doesn't love their membership.

Any reasons that I shouldn't get one?

I had a membership but as a single guy, I found most of the stuff they sell not useful. I can go to the supermarket and spend ~$100 for about two weeks worth of good. At Costco, I just found myself buying useless crap. The other thing is I only used my membership 3 times in one year.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Gas is just as cheap at places like QT and Racetrack. And those places don't have crazy lines like Costco. Milk is similar price at Walmart or Aldi. Credit card will give you bonus year warranty.

It's not worth financially for single person to have Costco membership. You can eat at their food court without membership.

I'm a huge Costco whore but for OP it won't be worth it.

Ive never heard of OT or Racetrack and I dont think there are any around here. I commute 100 miles a day so the 20 cent difference in gas prices make up for my membership.

 

[blinblue]

If you are looking for a big purchase (TV, furniture, etc), then it all comes down to whether the $50 +$Purchase Price is a good deal. If it is, go do it (that's how I got it, they had a good deal on a 42" LCD TV back in 2008).

If it will mostly be grocery purchases its a little harder to justify for one person.
Their milk is consisantly $1 less per gallon than most stores. The exception (around here anyway) being Aldi, however I'd trust Costco milk (from non-hormone injected cows too) a million times more than Aldi milk.
Don't get me wrong, I love Aldi, I just wouldn't trust them with things that can go really bad easily. I use them mostly for fresh fruit and veges where I can easily see what quality they are.
Anyway, a gallon of milk a week already pays for the membership.

Prices for other items vary. If you wait for coupons you can usually get cereal for really cheap, and that lasts forever so you can buy in bulk. If you bake your own bread (which if you are looking to save money and have great tasting bread, you should) you can buy 2 pounds of yeast for like $4 (which is a TON cheaper than anywhere else). Similar deal with flour and olive oil.

Things like soda really aren't a good deal. For cans it comes out to 23 cents a can or so is their regular price. Around here sales for 12 packs at regular stores (Target, Jewel, whatever) go for $2.50/12, or about 21 cents a can.

Their meat selection is great. You can get prime grade top sirloin for $6.99/lb (used to be $5.99/lb a few months ago ). Its a very tasty/tender steak for dirt cheap.

Some things are always cheaper at Costco, somethings are cheaper than non-sale grocery store prices, some things are more expensive.

Anyway, in short, it may or may not be worth it depending on your needs. Why not take a walk around the store to check it out? Also, you can return your membership and get a full refund at any point. So you could even try it out for a few months to see if it actually saves you any money.

 

[kami333]

Their oatmeal is very cheap too, we buy it in bulk and make our own granola. Mix in some dried cherries, nuts, etc (also cheap) and you have your own trail mix.

 

[PottedMeat]

Their oatmeal is very cheap too, we buy it in bulk and make our own granola. Mix in some dried cherries, nuts, etc (also cheap) and you have your own trail mix.

yeah clubs definitely have the cheapest dried fruits/nuts. 3lb of dates for $7 - hell yeah

 

[InverseOfNeo]

Don't forget that if you're not satisfied about your membership, it is fully refundable at any time.

This also goes for the Executive membership, if your rebate doesn't cover the extra $50 to get the better membership then they'll give refund you the difference.

 

[Kanalua]

- Cheap gas (here in Hawaii, generally cheaper than the military's gas prices).
- Prime meats for cheap(er)
- Some other random benefits over Sam's.

 

[BurnItDwn]

They had an awesome deal on a projector and screen and mount ... saved me about $300 compared to next best option .... and that's after deducting the price of the membership ...