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+--- Thread: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? (/showthread.php?tid=92074)
Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - space-time - 01-30-2010
I have been a Costco members for almost 2 years. In a few month I will be due for renewal.
I never did a careful shopping comparison, but I think you get the same of even better deals if you shop at the grocery store, watch for sales, and clip coupons. Of course, at Costco you don't have to do any of that. very rarely they have their own coupons, and then one single coupon applies for all the items on sale that week (the bar code on the back is the same)
I got the costco membership mosly for tires, since with 2 cars and having to do at least 2x tire rotation on my car and maybe 3-4 x per year tire rotation on my wife's car, the membership pays off. But I end up purchasing more stuff than I really need sometimes.
I probably need to make a spreadsheet with the stuff we buy the most and compare prices at Costco and local grocery store.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - graylocks - 01-30-2010
when i look at groceries, eyecare, tires, and gas and combine that with the costco/american express card benefits (which include cashback and the membership price taken care of with the AE fee) it makes sense for me.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - andypie48 - 01-30-2010
if you're buying diapers, or have a big family, or can share the extra card with another family, yes for sure.
otherwise, you're probably close to break-even, and how much are you risking anyway?
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - iaJim - 01-30-2010
I think the costco membership is worth it. I know we enjoy going there. We get stuff that you just can't get elsewhere. We enjoy buying nice flowers for very little money. We just like going there.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - Michael - 01-30-2010
We find Costco worthwhile for 3 items: 1. half and half, 2. Costco-branded juice in the plastic container and 3. frozen fruit. We each have a frozen smoothy each morning (juice, banana and frozen fruit) and drink coffee through the day so we use a lot of those items.
Those 3 items are so much cheaper at Costco that they pay the cost of admission for the year. Everything else is a bonus.
We spend about $300 per month at Costco with an Executive card, so we get a rebate of most of the cost of the membership in any case.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - DharmaDog - 01-30-2010
It makes sense if you take advantage of a lot of their benefits. Costco does have some good coupons occasionally as well.
We take advantage of the extra interest offered through Capital One's online savings account, plus the bonus cash deposit.
We took advantage of the cash back at closing on a mortgage through Lending Tree.
We have the Costco AMEX, and use it to earn cash back on gas, food and travel.
We have the Sam's Club Discover and use it to pay for our daugther's day care to earn cash back.
And the gas is cheap at Costco and Sams, for that matter.
We like the quality of Costco and Sam's private label products, and the prices of those.
But you can find better deals of many items, and it's easy to overbuy.
Like anything else, used wisely it has its benefits.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - mikebw - 01-30-2010
Costco is worth it for us especially since our location sells gas for less than any other place in the area, and it is along our daily route to work so we don't spend time going out of our way to get there.
I definitely agree about the "Easy to overbuy" issue, but sometimes it's a good thing. I found that if we overbuy on the healthy things like fresh vegetables that we end up eating a lot more of that instead of junk. I also really dislike wasting food so I will make an extra effort to use up what we buy before it goes bad.
I have seen items like cereal on sale at Safeway for less at times, but then other times the opposite is true.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - Bill in NC - 01-30-2010
Coupons @ Costco, Costco for TVs (2 year warranty)
Sam's for some things I can't get at Costco (but Sam's is free to me as a work perk)
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - vicrock - 01-30-2010
Longtime Costco members - you have to compare prices, but they have outstanding warranties, and some things you can't buy elsewhere. We end up buying dog food, treats on a regular basis (with 4 big dogs, we buy LOTS. Bulk meat (we bought the vacuum sealer). TVs - with the warranty, doubled with the Amex.
Re: Costco/B&J/Sams Club membership: worth it or not? - thermarest - 01-30-2010
I've thought about this same question and have a pretty similar answer to Michael's. It depends on what stuff you buy and how much. Some items are just SO much less at Costco.
Here's some of my list:
-Tortilla chips (Kirkland 3 lb bag)
-Coffee (Kirkland 3 pounds $13 compare to $7+ Starbucks 12oz)
-Large photo prints - nobody else comes close.
-Bree cheese wheel
-Frozen Fruit
-Spinach
-Fresh red/yellow/orange peppers,
-Some types of meat
-Varioius clothing. Smart Wool knockoff socks 4 for $10 vs. $14 each, Calvin Klein Jeans $22 vs. $60
Michael wrote:
We find Costco worthwhile for 3 items: 1. half and half, 2. Costco-branded juice in the plastic container and 3. frozen fruit. We each have a frozen smoothy each morning (juice, banana and frozen fruit) and drink coffee through the day so we use a lot of those items.
Those 3 items are so much cheaper at Costco that they pay the cost of admission for the year. Everything else is a bonus.