Is Costco worth it in your opinion?

[Anonymous]

We are just a family of 2 and I shop their once every two months to stock up on a ton of things. Their meat is outstanding so I subdivide it when I get home.

[Anonymous]

Many/Most people are posting what they buy but noone is justifying that it actually saves them money. What I am taking away from this is Milk is a wash because someone compared prices and shared. Someone compared prices on toilet paper and paper towels and called it a wash because they compared prices. What items are definitely cheaper at Costco then let's say Aldi or Safeway?

[Anonymous]

PP makes a good point about few are showing how Costco saves money.

Also I wonder what the environmental cost of is of places like Costco-- all of those veggies shipped from California or Central America, all of those crates of bottled water.

Yes, if you buy something in bulk, ostensibly, you are buying less packaging, but I feel like these places just encourage you to consume endlessly. Yes, the meat is of good quality, but buying it in bulk means that you are going to eat a lot of meat. Which is not necessarily the best thing for you or the planet.

FWIW, I am not a vegetarian and think Costco is great. We don't go because it's miserable on the weekends. I loved going there in the 90s and the aughts. But I am now rethinking all of my consumption these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many/Most people are posting what they buy but noone is justifying that it actually saves them money. What I am taking away from this is Milk is a wash because someone compared prices and shared. Someone compared prices on toilet paper and paper towels and called it a wash because they compared prices. What items are definitely cheaper at Costco then let's say Aldi or Safeway?

Meat, gas, butter, produce (if you can use the quantity before it goes bad), contact solution, contact lenses, glasses are all much cheaper at Costco.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP makes a good point about few are showing how Costco saves money.

Also I wonder what the environmental cost of is of places like Costco-- all of those veggies shipped from California or Central America, all of those crates of bottled water.

Yes, if you buy something in bulk, ostensibly, you are buying less packaging, but I feel like these places just encourage you to consume endlessly. Yes, the meat is of good quality, but buying it in bulk means that you are going to eat a lot of meat. Which is not necessarily the best thing for you or the planet.

FWIW, I am not a vegetarian and think Costco is great. We don't go because it's miserable on the weekends. I loved going there in the 90s and the aughts. But I am now rethinking all of my consumption these days.

Good Lord. Are you under the impression that the lettuce you buy at your local grocery store chain is grown in Virginia?

[Anonymous]

The money we save on gas alone makes up for the membership fee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for ways to cut our spending this year and I'm thinking of finally getting a Costco membership. Is it worth it? What types of items are cheaper there? I'm looking for a good amount of savings because (like everyone else) we have limited time on the weekends (which is realistically the only time I could go). Two kids and working parents. Trying to buckle down and save a lot this year so this seems to be a next step. Interested in folks thoughts. (I searched this board but didn't find much)

No.

I went there to check it out once.... I really couldn't imagine buying much there. It's just excess stuff you don't really need.

Do you not eat?

Shop at Costco like you play craps - stick to the bets on the perimeter, stay away from the middle, that's for the suckers.

[Anonymous]

Worth the membership price, when needed:
Tires
Contact lenses
Eye glasses
Razors
Car rental
Cookies & birthday cakes

Worth membership price, about every 2 weeks or so:
Organic ultra pasteurized Milk
Half & half
Organic eggs
Fruit & vegetables
Organic Meat
Pesto
Coffee
Wine
Rotisserie chicken

Worth membership price, but unnecessary
Fresh flowers
The occasional prepared food: white chili, spinach salad, shrimp cocktail, pizza, bread, cookies, etc.

All the other random stuff I like:
Real World Series and Stanley Cup champ t shirts the day after Nats/Caps won.
Pjs
Layer tshirts
Kids undies and socks
Kids winter jackets and snow pants
....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for ways to cut our spending this year and I'm thinking of finally getting a Costco membership. Is it worth it? What types of items are cheaper there? I'm looking for a good amount of savings because (like everyone else) we have limited time on the weekends (which is realistically the only time I could go). Two kids and working parents. Trying to buckle down and save a lot this year so this seems to be a next step. Interested in folks thoughts. (I searched this board but didn't find much)

No.

I went there to check it out once.... I really couldn't imagine buying much there. It's just excess stuff you don't really need.

Do you not eat?

Shop at Costco like you play craps - stick to the bets on the perimeter, stay away from the middle, that's for the suckers.

The whole idea of costco is : BIG. You need a Big car to haul all those Big lots of stuff, so you can store it in a Big frigde/freezer/pantry/basement, and become bigger eating all the stuff you bought so cheaply! I don't need to supersize my life that much. I can buy a family pack of chicken or ground beef at wegmans and divide it into 6-7 freezer bags...I don't need 20 lbs of ground beef! I can buy the 12 rolls of TP at Wegmans. I don't need to store 80 rolls of TP. I don't need a 90in TV. I don't need an 18in apple pie! I don't want to buy 12 jars of peanutbutter at one time. I don't need a gigantic anything!

Honestly, the gross consumption just made me sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many/Most people are posting what they buy but noone is justifying that it actually saves them money. What I am taking away from this is Milk is a wash because someone compared prices and shared. Someone compared prices on toilet paper and paper towels and called it a wash because they compared prices. What items are definitely cheaper at Costco then let's say Aldi or Safeway?

Meat, gas, butter, produce (if you can use the quantity before it goes bad), contact solution, contact lenses, glasses are all much cheaper at Costco.

+1 I'm the PP who compared toilet paper and paper towel prices with Target. I only buy those items at Costco because I'm there, buying organic meats in bulk and other stuff at a lower price than Target. The meat cost savings alone is worth it to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP makes a good point about few are showing how Costco saves money.

Also I wonder what the environmental cost of is of places like Costco-- all of those veggies shipped from California or Central America, all of those crates of bottled water.

Yes, if you buy something in bulk, ostensibly, you are buying less packaging, but I feel like these places just encourage you to consume endlessly. Yes, the meat is of good quality, but buying it in bulk means that you are going to eat a lot of meat. Which is not necessarily the best thing for you or the planet.

FWIW, I am not a vegetarian and think Costco is great. We don't go because it's miserable on the weekends. I loved going there in the 90s and the aughts. But I am now rethinking all of my consumption these days.

I'm always disgusted by how many people I see at Costco buying crates and crates of bottled water.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP makes a good point about few are showing how Costco saves money.

Also I wonder what the environmental cost of is of places like Costco-- all of those veggies shipped from California or Central America, all of those crates of bottled water.

Yes, if you buy something in bulk, ostensibly, you are buying less packaging, but I feel like these places just encourage you to consume endlessly. Yes, the meat is of good quality, but buying it in bulk means that you are going to eat a lot of meat. Which is not necessarily the best thing for you or the planet.

FWIW, I am not a vegetarian and think Costco is great. We don't go because it's miserable on the weekends. I loved going there in the 90s and the aughts. But I am now rethinking all of my consumption these days.

I'm always disgusted by how many people I see at Costco buying crates and crates of bottled water.

A lot of vendors, food truck owners, and small shops buy their stock at Costco. These are often the people buying case goods.

[Anonymous]

Here's an article that just popped up on New York Magazine's website about when it does and does not make sense to buy in bulk:

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/01/buying-in-bulk-when-is-it-a-mistake.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm looking for ways to cut our spending this year and I'm thinking of finally getting a Costco membership. Is it worth it? What types of items are cheaper there? I'm looking for a good amount of savings because (like everyone else) we have limited time on the weekends (which is realistically the only time I could go). Two kids and working parents. Trying to buckle down and save a lot this year so this seems to be a next step. Interested in folks thoughts. (I searched this board but didn't find much)

No.

I went there to check it out once.... I really couldn't imagine buying much there. It's just excess stuff you don't really need.

Do you not eat?

Shop at Costco like you play craps - stick to the bets on the perimeter, stay away from the middle, that's for the suckers.

The whole idea of costco is : BIG. You need a Big car to haul all those Big lots of stuff, so you can store it in a Big frigde/freezer/pantry/basement, and become bigger eating all the stuff you bought so cheaply! I don't need to supersize my life that much. I can buy a family pack of chicken or ground beef at wegmans and divide it into 6-7 freezer bags...I don't need 20 lbs of ground beef! I can buy the 12 rolls of TP at Wegmans. I don't need to store 80 rolls of TP. I don't need a 90in TV. I don't need an 18in apple pie! I don't want to buy 12 jars of peanutbutter at one time. I don't need a gigantic anything!

Honestly, the gross consumption just made me sick.

So you believe that people consume more food because they shop at Costco? It's not that the convenience of buying in bulk (i) saves money and (ii) cuts down on trips to the store?

You might be the dumbest person I interact with today.

[Anonymous]

Are the prices for Costco online the same as in store?