Costco newbie. What should I buy?

[Anonymous]

Hands down, paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.) are cheaper at Costco than anywhere else. You can only get them cheaper if you're really vigilant about checking the sales at other stores like Target or Wal-Mart, plus use coupons. I generally don't have the time or energy for that, so just get everything along those lines at Costco.

We've also made other major electronics purchases (plasma TV, printers, etc.) there.

We have the Costco AmEx as well, which we use as our "regular" credit card. This year's rebate check was well over $600. Last year's was over $800.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Um once you figure in the cost of membership do you really save money? Has anyone analyzed this?

I use the Amex card for my membership. I charge enough to get back the $100 (cash reward) I spend in membership annually.

We have the Amex as well and do the same.

I buy meat, organic sugar, butter, bacon, turkey sausage. Kruestez pancake mix, maple syrup, spinach (as pp mentioned I freeze half of it)

[Anonymous]

We are a family of four and pretty much always cook at home.

Kirkland organic canned tomatoes (great price!)
Walnuts and almonds (3 lb bag of each)
Dubliner cheese
soft goat cheese
Hannah's hummus
fresh fruits
fresh veggies (baby spinach, baby bella mushrooms, brussels, asparagus, grape tomatoes, bell peppers, etc)
frozen berries
frozen organic sweet corn
sour cream
smoked salmon
whitefish salad
kerrygold butter
regular butter
mussels
some booze (they have it in DC)
Black Box cabernet sauvignon
organic chicken thighs
organic whole chickens
organic ground beef (sadly, its not grassfed)

things I wish they had:
unbleached and/or organic flours
canned coconut milk (for making curry)

[Anonymous]

When they say Costco has good meat, what specifically are they talking about? Ribeyes, ground beef, pork tenderloin, etc. Could you give some examples please?

[Anonymous]

Bumping up because we're trying to decide whether to renew membership and I'm looking for new buys. Things we like:

Prosciutto
frozen salmon (a little too salty but so easy) and wild, not farmed
barilla pasta
quinoa
rice


Things we don't:
most produce. -a least from the NE DC store it seems to spoil in a day. Is this universal?

[Anonymous]

We like: Belgian truffles, bread, rotisserie chicken, meats, cereal, granola bars, paper products, trash bags, solution for contact lenses, contacts and glasses, frozen fruit, kids clothing and books occasionally

We don't like their produce, milk or coffee.

[Anonymous]

Vodka! Also wine and beer. seltzer, bottled water, hebrew nat hotdogs (freeze) baby wipes(great value) Also the croissants, chicken salad, grape leaves, lobster bisque(at holidays) gogurts (freeze) half and half, non-food paper products, Levi's jeans for husband, tommy Bahama shirts, Calvin Klein merino wool sweaters at holidays (19.99), mixed nuts, plants, tropicana juice, shrimp salad, quinoa salad (both delicious!) I love Costco (can u tell?)

[Anonymous]

Kirkland nova lox and jelly beans

[Anonymous]

Around Valentine's day this year my friend gave me some heart shaped chocolate dipped shortbread cookies from Costco. They were so goddamn good I thought about joining Costco just to get access to those cookies.

[Anonymous]

Just go up and down every aisle. You will see everything they have a know what to buy.

[Anonymous]

Very helpful thread! How much organic food do they carry?

[Anonymous]

I love the Kirkland fish sticks (high quality); Kirkland cheese ravioli; and some other frozen foods plus the organic beef; laundry detergent; paper towels; the Costco shampoo and conditioner.

I think the Kirkland brands are always good. Costco won't buy an item unless it is high quality. however, you pay for the quality. costco is not cheap. walmart's paper products are actually much cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Their peach mango salsa is delish.

[Anonymous]

Family of 6 (two adults, one on the way, two 5 year olds, two teenagers, and four teenaged siblings that come over frequently). We buy all of our household items, and groceries with the exception of condiments...we can't eat that much mustard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When they say Costco has good meat, what specifically are they talking about? Ribeyes, ground beef, pork tenderloin, etc. Could you give some examples please?

We go for the prime beef, specifically ribeye in our case. They don't always have prime, but when they do, the price and quality is unbeatable.