Costco membership

[lindag]

My membership is up for renewal and I'm thinking that after 20 years It may be time to let it go.  I see it's now $60 for the basic annual fee.  

The mister and I used to really enjoy our occasional trips there and it was always an adventure to find new and interesting food items.

Now that he's passed away I find that the quantities are just too big for one person's needs.  Often it feels like too big of a hassle to drive over there and shop and then have to unload everything so I rarely go anymore; I think last year it was only two trips the entire time.

However, if I do quit I will miss many of the great offers there are.

Such as:  their meat and seafood are the best the city has to offer.  Their beer and wine (no liquor in Montana) selections are better than anywhere else (and priced better, too).  I love their bagels, cashews, p-b filled pretzels, empanadas, egg rolls, tissue, kitchen wrap and bags, etc.

Oh wait!  I may have just convinced myself to continue my membership...there are so many things there that I really enjoy!

Edited June 21, 2017 by lindag (log)

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, lindag said:

My membership is up for renewal and I'm thinking that after 20 years It may be time to let it go.  I see it's now $60 for the basic annual fee.

The mister and I used to really enjoy our occasional trips there and it was always an adventure to find new and interesting food items.

Now that he's passed away I find that the quantities are just too big for one person's needs.

However, if I do quit I will miss many of the great offers there are.

Such as:  their meat and seafood are the best the city has to offer.  Their beer and wine (no liquor in Montana) selections are better than anywhere else (and priced better, too).  I love their bagels, cashews, p-b filled pretzels, empanadas, egg rolls, tissue, kitchen wrap and bags, etc.

I think I just convinced myself to continue my membership...there are so many things there that I really enjoy!

Like you I am now a singleton but I am fortunate to be able to piggyback on the memberships of two other people, one relative and one a friend.  What I like the most I think is the ability to stock up on paper products only once or twice a year!  Their meat is certainly worth a membership  but so much of what they sell is in quantities that make no sense for a singleton.  I don't know if I would be prepared to pay the annual membership for the amount of use I would make of it.

[dans]

My household is only two people, but I still find the membership worth it. I stock up on things that don't spoil and regularly shop for foodstuffs and freeze portions of them.  It is a great place to get things for family gatherings and holiday events, etc.

 

Also,  we recently booked a cruise through them and saved quite a bit of money. We wound up with an upgraded dinging plan which we through well worth it.  When we got home, we got a gift card as a rebate or something.

[gfweb]

The $60 is still really worth it for us. The meat is way better than at any local market. Henry goes through dog biscuits and bully sticks at a great rate and Costco is cheap and his favorite. I'll buy a couple slabs of salmon and freeze it in dinner portions....and the savings on holiday dinner meats is enough to justify it alone for us.

[Darienne]

We are only two and have an executive membership and find it worthwhile.  DH gets our gas through their outlet.  And we have lots of storage space which means paper products, etc, can be stored easily.  And their cheese is good.  Cream, whipping cream.  Ed's favorite things...my favorite things....  Meat, although we eat very little...but then the dogs eat a huge lot.  Seven years membership for us.  It's been good.  

 

My biggest complaint (really?) is that as soon as we find something we really, really, really like...they stop carrying it.  

[boilsover]

1 hour ago, dans said:

My household is only two people, but I still find the membership worth it. I stock up on things that don't spoil and regularly shop for foodstuffs and freeze portions of them.  It is a great place to get things for family gatherings and holiday events, etc.

 

Also,  we recently booked a cruise through them and saved quite a bit of money. We wound up with an upgraded dinging plan which we through well worth it.  When we got home, we got a gift card as a rebate or something.

 

We're also a twosome, and it's still worth the membership price, IOO.  No one has mentioned gasoline, which here is priced dependably below average.  Staples, things we can break down and freeze, everyday clothes, etc.  I'm getting their house-brand hearing aids this week, and the low price and 6-month no-hassle return/refund is worth a decade of membership fee.  Likewise some over-the-counter meds, e.g., 5 bottles of Kirkland Aller-Flo for 1/2 the price of 3 bottles of Flonase.  Interestingly, Costco is no real bargain for booze in my state, and the selection in virtually all items is poor. 

 

When we know we need selection, we go elsewhere.  Our approach is to go only whenever we need something like gas, TP or paper towels, and then peruse the other stuff.  We also have a rule to put at least 2 impulse items back on the shelf before checkout.

[Anna N]

25 minutes ago, boilsover said:

We also have a rule to put at least 2 impulse items back on the shelf before checkout.

 Well that takes all the sport out of it.  

[Porthos]

We have the Executive membership. If I didn't do so much ren faire shopping at Costco we would probably go back to a regular membership, but in the spring I spend around $5,000 there and that alone mostly covers the membership fee. We buy our tires there, we get our meds from their pharmacy (a lot of meds - they know us by sight), and it is generally our first stop for our semi-monthly grocery shopping. They consistent.ly have the best prices on gas.  It also helps that being in the (very) greater Los Angeles area there are 5 different Costcos that I shop at depending on where I am at and what I need; Faire figures into that.

 

The card we are getting ready to drop is Sam's Club. It has never really paid for itself and now that we're living on less income it has become an unnecessary luxury.

[Chocolot]

Another option for you is to use Costco gift cards. You don't have to be a member to use them. If you have friends or family that are members, have them buy gift cards for you. Also, my membership allows me two others to join for free.

[lindag]

5 minutes ago, Chocolot said:

Another option for you is to use Costco gift cards. You don't have to be a member to use them. If you have friends or family that are members, have them buy gift cards for you. Also, my membership allows me two others to join for free.

So what happens if you use a gift card (say for $100) and you go over that!  How do you pay the balance or do you have to drop items?

[Chocolot]

1 minute ago, lindag said:

So what happens if you use a gift card (say for $100) and you go over that!  How do you pay the balance or do you have to drop items?

No idea:)

[Jacksoup]

It's just my adult son and myself but I find my Costco membership worthwhile.  I get gasoline, paper towels, toilet paper, chicken, salmon(both get frozen into smaller portions), wine and other booze.  Their Kirkland vodka is $16.99 for the large bottle and since I'm not overly picky, it's fine.  Also, bacon and Greek yogurt.  Lately they've had a 2.25 lb bag of asparagus for $6.99.  

[Lisa Shock]

I find it worthwhile here's a list of basics I buy with significant savings:

gasoline

butter (HUGE savings on this! 4lbs for $8! I freeze it and pull out a stick at a time as needed)

ibuprophen

bread flour

sugar

cinnamon (I make a lot of cinnamon rolls)

jasmine rice (I split a 20lb bag with a friend)

dry cat food

plain Benefiber for my cats

dry cat food (good stuff, almost half the price of pet stores)

TP

nuts for baking

nuts for snacking

cheese

 

Having a vacuum sealer helps me process items and keep them fresh. I use bags and I also use wide mouth canning jars, there is a FoodSaver attachment for both types of jars. I also got myself some Cambro containers as well. I guess it helps that I cook for a crowd of dissatisfied senior citizens about once a month, though.

 

Honestly, I dropped my membership for a year a little while back and was surprised at how much some things cost at regular stores. For example, Costco has 1,000 ibuprophen (200mg) for $8.69 here. The cheapest discount store in the area charges about $12 for the same number of tablets.

 

The one liquor purchase that I know I save $ on is the Kirkland brand spiced rum for $14.99 for a 1.75L. It's actually Sailor Jerry's with about a $7 savings per bottle. (sure it's not the classiest booze, but, it's popular at parties) I was getting 1.75L bottles of Hendricks' Gin for $49, but, they have disappeared.

[Porthos]

24 minutes ago, Lisa Shock said:

For example, Costco has 1,000 ibuprophen (200mg) for $8.69 here.

 

I use 8 to 12 pills a day, under a doctor's care, for my arthritis. The cost is comparable to filling scrips for presciption Motrin without having to worry about getting new scrips every few months. And if I run out, I can buy ibuprofen anywhere.

[Porthos]

The one thing I don't buy there is TP. I am not a fan. Scott tissues or nothing. I will lose the good price on 36 rolls bales when I let my Sam's Club card expire.

[rotuts]

its my understanding that you can go over the gift card.

 

i dont know by how much or if there is a restriction

 

I have twos friends that are willing to send me GC.'s

 

when my SV freezer A and B start to get low in the fall Im going to try that

 

Id say 25 $$ / card   and see

[Darienne]

Reading this thread sure reminds me over and over that we don't live in the USA.  American prices on some items are just SO much less expensive than in Canada.  

[chromedome]

Yeah, it's rare the butter here goes on sale for less than $3.98/lb, which is about what I pay anyway (regular price at the supermarket is roughly $1 more, but there are two retailers that regularly sell for around $4/lb). Costco puts it on for less once or twice a year, but the other places I buy butter do so more consistently. When it gets down to around $3/lb I'll typically pick up 20 lbs or so and stock up my freezer. 

 

Costco's meats here haven't impressed me especially with their quality, and unless there's a spectacular sale their prices don't come close to what's on special in a given week at my local supermarket. Their rotisserie chickens are a steal, though...they sell here for $7.99, which is usually cheaper than buying an uncooked chicken. 

[lindag]

I remember a years or so ago I was in one of our better supermarkets and there's a guy standing next to me next to where the fresh whole chickens were displayed.  He started ranting in my direction about 'how come a chicken costs $8 when I can buy a whole rotisserie chicken for $5.99? (Coscto price)"

I'm thinking, what?  do I look like I work here?  Am I responsible for the price of a farking chicken?  I just edged away from him and moved on.

[boilsover]

On 6/21/2017 at 9:25 AM, Anna N said:

 Well that takes all the sport out of it.  

 

Not if there are more than 2 impulse items in the basket--or on the giant flatbed cart!

 

When I find someone to share it with, I'll buy one Serrano ham...

[Porthos]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

Yeah, it's rare the butter here goes on sale for less than $3.98/lb, which is about what I pay anyway (regular price at the supermarket is roughly $1 more, but there are two retailers that regularly sell for around $4/lb). Costco puts it on for less once or twice a year, but the other places I buy butter do so more consistently.

 

4 lbs of butter at Costcos in our area fluctuate between $8 and $10 for the package. Local supermarket prices for butter starts at $3.50/lb and goes up rapidly. Our household of 4 adults and an (adorable) three-year-old goes through a pound to a pound and a half a week. It goes into the freezer. I pull out a pound at a time and the cubes go into the butter compartment of the refrigerator. We keep our butter on the counter so one cube at a time comes out of the refrigerator. I m the biggest user; I cook almost all of the dinners.

 

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

Costco's meats here haven't impressed me especially with their quality, and unless there's a spectacular sale their prices don't come close to what's on special in a given week at my local supermarket.

 

Here in southern California we have a grocery chain by the name of Stater Bros. Their positioning statement is "It's our meat that made us famous."  They still have a real butcher's counter. They do have pre-packaged meat if you want. One of the things that shows just how good the customer service is is when I am buying beef that is on sale, in aprroximately 22 lb quantities, for use at ren faire. They will offer to custom cut the meat for me if I want a different thickeness.

 

Before I got my large event grill I did buy 11-12 lb roasts from Costco. But I really prefer, as do the ren faire people I feed, grilled steaks over beef roasts.

[gulator]

This is an interesting topic, this membership fee obliges you to buy from them as much as possible. So, the savings you make purchasing from Costco will reimburse the membership fee. So, the more you buy, the more you re-pay the membership fee. And yes, you have to purchase big quantities, not one pack of 10 toilet paper rools, but much more, not one small bag of rice but 20 lbs, etc.

On the other hand instead of going every week, going once a month for me, being single is enough.

Plus, there is something else, I would like to add, is that I have notice, in terms of quality and price, Costco offers more and more organic produces, fruites, vegetables, etc. at a competitive price.

[slschnur]

Costco is now the biggest seller of organic groceries.

[gulator]

Wow ! Interesting ! So, Whole Food and Trader's Joe way behind ?

Edited June 24, 2017 by gulator (log)

[rotuts]

Maybe

 

but maybe not :

 

https://www.thebalance.com/organic-retailers-in-north-america-2011-2538129