Costco - worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Saves boatloads on alcohol alone. We get meat, spices, frozen things, household cleaners, and some non-perishables. I find their produce to be terrible but am apparently alone in that. I agree that you have to plan your trips -- we try to get there at opening time on Saturday or Sunday and we can get in and out without too much traffic. I avoid the middle of the store entirely -- I don't want to get sucked into the Target mentality of "we could use this, it's such a good price" at a place that sells in such bulk. Yes, that's a good deal on 75 socks. No, I don't need 75 socks. We go once a month and like a PP keep a separate "Costco" grocery list.

I'm with you on produce. Some things are good in season, like persimmons, but overall I get better quality elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I go all the time, since it's very close to my home. I buy the regular staples (milk, eggs, bananas). I love it for shopping before a party. The freezer section has great premade meals that are easy to store up for a week's worth of dinners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saves boatloads on alcohol alone. We get meat, spices, frozen things, household cleaners, and some non-perishables. I find their produce to be terrible but am apparently alone in that. I agree that you have to plan your trips -- we try to get there at opening time on Saturday or Sunday and we can get in and out without too much traffic. I avoid the middle of the store entirely -- I don't want to get sucked into the Target mentality of "we could use this, it's such a good price" at a place that sells in such bulk. Yes, that's a good deal on 75 socks. No, I don't need 75 socks. We go once a month and like a PP keep a separate "Costco" grocery list.

Huh? Costco socks packages are 3-5. Sometimes 6 for kids. Where did you 75 socks?

No need to defend Costco's virtue, it was an example of the kind of crap they sell in the middle of the store where I don't shop.

At least get your facts right. Costco dosn't sell crap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saves boatloads on alcohol alone. We get meat, spices, frozen things, household cleaners, and some non-perishables. I find their produce to be terrible but am apparently alone in that. I agree that you have to plan your trips -- we try to get there at opening time on Saturday or Sunday and we can get in and out without too much traffic. I avoid the middle of the store entirely -- I don't want to get sucked into the Target mentality of "we could use this, it's such a good price" at a place that sells in such bulk. Yes, that's a good deal on 75 socks. No, I don't need 75 socks. We go once a month and like a PP keep a separate "Costco" grocery list.

Huh? Costco socks packages are 3-5. Sometimes 6 for kids. Where did you 75 socks?

No need to defend Costco's virtue, it was an example of the kind of crap they sell in the middle of the store where I don't shop.

At least get your facts right. Costco dosn't sell crap.

Calm down kiddo. Your facts are no more right than mine, a quick google search shows that they sell socks in batches of 8. This does not have to ruin your night. Deep. Breaths. Deep. Breaths.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saves boatloads on alcohol alone. We get meat, spices, frozen things, household cleaners, and some non-perishables. I find their produce to be terrible but am apparently alone in that. I agree that you have to plan your trips -- we try to get there at opening time on Saturday or Sunday and we can get in and out without too much traffic. I avoid the middle of the store entirely -- I don't want to get sucked into the Target mentality of "we could use this, it's such a good price" at a place that sells in such bulk. Yes, that's a good deal on 75 socks. No, I don't need 75 socks. We go once a month and like a PP keep a separate "Costco" grocery list.

Huh? Costco socks packages are 3-5. Sometimes 6 for kids. Where did you 75 socks?

No need to defend Costco's virtue, it was an example of the kind of crap they sell in the middle of the store where I don't shop.

At least get your facts right. Costco dosn't sell crap.

Calm down kiddo. Your facts are no more right than mine, a quick google search shows that they sell socks in batches of 8. This does not have to ruin your night. Deep. Breaths. Deep. Breaths.

Well, 8 is closer to 8 than 75
Math fact

[Anonymous]

Costco is great. I just bought a new TV there, and it was a highly rated one (Cnet, Consumer Reports) for a real discount.

I also use their pharmacy. Often prices are cheaper than co-pay. I get contacts there as well, a year supply for much less than anywhere else (and I still submit it to my vision insurance afterwards. I also got great eyeglasses there, and so did my daughter.

I go biweekly or monthly. I don't get that much fresh food there anymore, but I get all the other stuff: toilet paper, paper towels, dishwasher detergent, laundry detergent, napkins, trash bags, canned tomatoes, pasta sauce, almonds, raisins, etc.

I can't imagine not going to Costco.

[Anonymous]

OP here's a thread on the same topic:
Costco Membership - Is it worth it?
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/663472.page

[Anonymous]

Another Costco fan. Organic milk, cage-free eggs, cheerios, Kind Bars, goldfish, apples, broccoli, chicken breasts, ground turkey, all staples for my family of 4. Also paper plates, cups, plastic silverware, snow boots for the kids over the years (that they wear very few hour over the winter before they outgrow them), once a flat screen TV, trash bags, paper towels, aluminum foil, etc. We have the extra membership (forget name, but we pay $110 per year and get 2% back at the end of the year. Since we started that, I have NEVER paid the membership fee, as the 2% back ends up being a little over $110). Also - you get to add 1 person to your account, and it doesn't need to be your spouse. I try to keep DH away anyway, as he has no impulse control, and that's a bad thing at Costco. So, my dad has the other card, and what he spends contributes toward my 2% cash back.

[Anonymous]

I'm a huge fan and save a ton of money. We also got our new hvac from Costco. Had duct work moved around to put the furnace in a different part of the basement, included condenser and got it all down for 10k and it is a trane system. The next cheapest estimate out of 4 total was 3k more than what I paid the Costco contractor. I also got $1,000 Costco cash with it which paid for my kids playset.

[Anonymous]

I have a love-hate relationship. It is great for me since I make so many of my meals from scratch with mostly meat and vegetables. But at the same time, you spend a lot going there. You just do. There is always something off your list that you end up grabbing. And as someone said, most trips there are well over $100 since each item is often $10 or more.

I honestly think that most people don't even up saving much money at warehouse club. But that's not always the point. You can't find a lot of things elsewhere that they sell. And it's all high quality stuff. So you know that anything you buy there is really good.

I personally like a mix of Costco and BJs since BJs has a much larger selection. If all you ate was Costco stuff you tend to run out of variety pretty quickly.

[Anonymous]

It's worth it just on alcohol. They don't have a huge selection of beer, but they have a changing variety of good stuff and I like getting a life time supply of Grand Marnier (or whatever I happen to be buying) so I always have it on had when the need arises.

Diapers, paper towels, TP and tissues would make it worth it alone too. The occasional big thing of meat/cheese/chips for a party is very nice too.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on your baseline spending. IF you spend money on brands and you can handle quantity (i.e. freezer space, pantry space), you can spend less than you are currently spending. IF you buy very inexpensive brands to start with, it is really hard to save money at Costco. They tend to buy designer brands and offer very competitive prices on those things. This is why people are saying they save money on wine or on Tommy Bahama towels.

One way to do it is to find a neighbor who belongs and tag along with him or her. Milk is a great price. Wine (if you already buy it) is a good value. Maybe your neighbor is wiling to split a massive pack of high quality meat with you? It would give you a sense without paying the membership fee whether you could save money...

[Anonymous]

We are a family of 4 with a toddler and an infant.

What we buy at Costco that's cheaper there than it would be elsewhere: milk, eggs, tortillas, rotisserie chicken, fresh meats and fish, produce, yogurt, cheese, some frozen and prepared meals, baking supplies and spices, kids' snacks, cereal and granola, nuts, coffee, alcohol, vitamins, toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, garden tools, wrapping paper and a few other seasonal items like that, cleaning supplies (laundry and dish detergent, Clorox wipes, etc) electronic toothbrushes, a coffee maker, gas, sometimes kids' clothing, especially pajamas

The only stuff that we've tried and didn't care for: diapers and wipes (we like Pampers; the Kirkland brand and huggies both give the kids rashes), some of the prepared foods and frozen foods I've found not very tasty. I got some photos printed and thought the quality wasn't great. But most stuff we've gotten has been good.

I recommend it. I think we might buy new tires there too.

[Anonymous]

DC costco is worth it for alcohol and gas alone. I also buy eggs, milk, cheese, and meat there. Also paper towels and toilet paper.

[Anonymous]

No. You buy more stuff than you need. Food expires because you buy so much. Navigating huge stores, parking lots, traffic jams. Prices aren't that good. We're much happier with our neighborhood stores.