Anonymous wrote:I’m never happy while or after shopping at Costco. It’s a zoo. It feels like a foreign airport. All that hassle and stress to allegedly save a few bucks? No thanks.

What is a foreign airport like?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Do your research. People flock to Costco like it's a badge of honor or a cult. Kinda like owning a knock off designer purse. The food is mediocre and not less expensive than low cost grocery stores - Lidle, Walmart, Shoppers etc.

I kind of thought that way, too, but was given a membership. For some items the quality seems higher than elsewhere.

Yeah
Just try to find Tide liquid detergent cheaper.
Probably if you substitute brand and quality you might do it.
Like going powder detergent different house brand in Walmart.

Anonymous wrote:I’m never happy while or after shopping at Costco. It’s a zoo. It feels like a foreign airport. All that hassle and stress to allegedly save a few bucks? No thanks.

I agree that one question to factor in is when you usually shop. If your usual shopping time I saturday or Sunday midday, then it’s probably not worth it. If you shop early mornings, later evening or mid day on a week day, that’s a different story.

Anonymous wrote:I’d rather pay a premium to shop amongst kinder and more attractive clientele at Whole Foods and other higher end grocers.

Are you nuts? Whole Foods is also a zoo! So many browsers and shoppers standing around that it’s a PITA to get in and out.

I’d rather pay a premium to shop amongst kinder and more attractive clientele at Whole Foods and other higher end grocers.

I’m never happy while or after shopping at Costco. It’s a zoo. It feels like a foreign airport. All that hassle and stress to allegedly save a few bucks? No thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We find that the savings with car rentals, gas, appliances, groceries, vision center and the cash back on the Costco cc more than pays for itself. We come out ahead.

Trust me you are not saving in groceries - not even close. You haven't even tried to compare. Also, the appliances are not cheaper than most Home Depots etc.

Milk alone is .80 to $1 cheaper per gallon.

It depends. Do you cook from scratch or meal plan? Do you have time to watch sales at other stores?

Cleaning supplies and paper goods. Costco is usually the best value but when Target has sales these can be better. I always wait for the sales at Costco and then buy enough to wait for the next sale cycle. Charmin, Kleenex, laundry detergent etc.

Milk and eggs, hands down Costco is cheaper. I have a teenage son that drinks almost a gallon a day.

Cereal , no, grocery store sales, target sales or Amazon subscribe and save is cheaper. Same with pasta.

Beef, pork, poultry, bacon is a better deal but you’ll have to freeze some as the packages are huge.

Fresh fruits and veggies. No too much volume.

Anonymous wrote:Single mom with elementary aged kid here, debating if a Costco membership would be worth it. I used to have one when married and enjoyed it but our household needs are much different now. I miss it but just don’t know if it is worth it and if I’ll wind up overbuying and wasting food.

I could see using it mostly for cleaning supplies, sparkling water, and stocking up on kid snack foods for lunches. We used to plow through fruit and steak and get ready to cook salmon when married and had a membership but my kid and I can’t eat those quantities just the two of us before it would go bad (and she is picky about some foods still).

Worth it or no? Our closest store is about 20 min., not in DC area. Probably would go every 6-8 weeks, likely on a Sunday morning.

Disagree. When you get a membership, you are allowed to get a second card on your account. Find someone else and share the account. You each pay half the membership fee and you each get a card. Not only paper goods, but meat, bottled drinks (if you do that) and nuts and dried fruits. Plus contact lens solution, and other toiletries.

Totally worth it

The answer is probably yes but it depends on your shopping habits.

For staples like pasta and canned beans etc it will not be cheaper than the store brands at grocery stores and probalby not cheaper than the sale prices at grocery stores.
For items that are expensive everywhere (pesto, premium ice cream, nuts, organic whole bean coffee, raspberries, fresh cherries, organic strawberries, organic eggs, they are undoubtedly cheaper. We go through most of tjose items pretty quickly but otherwise I just freeze (chop berries and have them frozen ready for smoothies).

I really don’t buy a lot of prepared frozen food (like frozen pizza) so not sure how that compares but when they do have the organic bean burritos (rarely) it is a third of the price of the same product at giant.

There are also some things that aren’t worth it because of the way they mix the packaging — we don’t buy yogurt there even though it’s a lot cheaper just because they always put in one flavor no one likes. But sometimes it makes sense to donate the other flavors if it’s a non perishable — Rx bars at target are 5 for $9, but I got 14 at Costco for $12 I think so even if I donate half of them it still comes out about the same. We used to do that with the Annie Mac and cheese — there was one type my kids didn’t like in the mixed pack so I would just donate those boxes.

When we first belonged there, as just two adults no kids, the savings just on milk basically paid our membership. My husband and I both like milk and would go through a gallon a week—we were saving about a dollar a eeek and the basic membership price at that time was about $60. I haven’t updated that math in the 20 years since.