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Costco Versus Trader Joe's Article

Porthos

By Porthos
in Kitchen Consumer

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Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted

https://www.thekitchn.com/costco-trader-joes-price-comparison-251962?utm_source=k_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01302018&recip_id=869165

 

It's just my bride of almost 40 years and myself these days, and with her eating requirements her portion of a meal is about 1/3 to 1/2 of a typical portion, but since we have room to store food we buy a lot of basics from Costco: Cheeses, sausages, bread, coffee, and paper goods come to mind.

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted

I read that article the other day. I was a little surprised how close many of the prices were.  I expected the larger sizes at Costco would have much, much lower than the smaller TJ's sizes. 

 

Smokeydoke

Smokeydoke

Posted
Posted

It's just the two of us too but I could never give up my Costco membership, I doubt I save any money, I just love that place so much!

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Darienne

Darienne

Posted
Posted

We are just two also...wait, no four...our two 100-pound dogs sometimes eat pork and lean ground from Costco...and find Costco very useful for a lot of basics.  And we have the space to store large amounts in our cellar.    

 

And I love the snacking aisles.  We've found a number of useful items in these freebies that we would never have tried otherwise.   Most of our food is from scratch...but oh, those artichokes in oil I do love.  

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Porthos

Porthos

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

@Smokeydoke because of the volume of buying for my involvement in renaissance faire my executive membership is covered and then some from the yearly rebate. I let my Sams Club membership lapse because it was no longer cost effective.

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

Interesting. There are no TJ's here, of course, but I find Costco to be a pretty mixed bag. I tend to go there for specific items such as OTC meds - the back pills I buy are well over $20 in the brand-name version but just $7.99 in their Kirkland iteration, and my GF's tummy pills and antihistamines represent similar savings - as well as big bags of raisins and walnuts, and those of my spices I use in quantity. Fruits and vegetables are sometimes worth buying, but usually not unless there's a big occasion coming up that involves a meal with the extended family (the quantities are often too large for my GF and I, and spoilage negates any savings). 

 

Butter, cheese, milk and eggs are all available at comparable or better prices at my local supermarkets. Meats at Costco here are slightly lower-cost than regular pricing at the supermarket, but are typically higher than the supermarkets' weekly specials. Since I *never* buy a package of meat at the supermarket unless it's a really good sale, and since I've been underwhelmed the quality of Costo's meats (can't answer for the US stores, of course), that's not a draw for me. I do occasionally buy the big pack of ground beef there. It's not subdivided into one-pound packages in our store, but that's only a couple of minutes' work when I get home. 

I buy my dog food there, and my cat food if I happen to be in the store when we need one. A package of their TP lasts us four or five months, so that's something we get consistently. Some of their frozen stuff is a good deal, but there aren't many things I buy frozen so it's not really a reason to go to there. I dunno, I think that's about it. 

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

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"My imagination makes me human and makes me a fool; it gives me all the world and exiles me from it." Ursula K. Le Guin

lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted

After a bit of consideration I finally decided to give up my Costco membership.  It's just me here now (with the two dogs) so I can't really justify the big sizes.  I will miss the wonderful Costco meat and seafood ...it's better than anywhere else around here.  I'll miss a lot of their other items too...too many to mention.  TJ's is nowhere in this state and may never be.  

I now buy the smaller quantities from nearby groceries and find that works better....no more hauling big loads of food home, re-packaging the meats and putting it all away.  My freezers are full anyway.

When we moved to this state I couldn't imagine living anywhere that wasn't reasonably close to a Costco but life changes.

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palo

palo

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, chromedome said:

Interesting. There are no TJ's here, of course I dunno, I think that's about it. 

Why don't you add a location to your profile, even just the province, so that we have a better idea of your culinary experiences might be like.

 

p

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

somewhere on the web there is a page explaining what not to buy at Costco

 

I recall Soda was mentioned , as were paper goods and brand named clothing as its not said to be made the same as

 

that same brand elsewhere.

 

for me   its 30 min in each direction to a Costco  , and 10 to Tjh's

 

I had planned on getting a gift certificate for some prime meat some day ...

 

however they seem to have a car buying service and claim, a hassle free best price deal for the car of your choice

 

any ideas if this service really gets a good deal ?  its a car buying year for me but Im in no hurry.

 

a savings for that would gobble up the single yearly fee

 

and Ive have one year to get Freezerc  and fill it up w some Prime Meat

 

that's the tie in to eG :  the Meat

 

Id get there in My Brand New Hassle Free Car !

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Joe Blowe

Joe Blowe

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 2/4/2018 at 7:02 AM, lindag said:

After a bit of consideration I finally decided to give up my Costco membership.  It's just me here now (with the two dogs) so I can't really justify the big sizes.  I will miss the wonderful Costco meat and seafood ...it's better than anywhere else around here.

 

It's been mentioned on eG a few times now, but it is possible to shop at Costco without a card. Might be worth your while to investigate.

 

P.S. Be sure to read that Snopes article, though!

Edited by Joe Blowe (log)
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So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

IndyRob

IndyRob

Posted
Posted
  • WINNER! Costco: $1.39 for 3 pounds, or about nine bananas ($0.15 each)
  • Trader Joe's: $0.19 each banana

 

Oh gosh, I could have saved 4 cents per banana if I bought a $60 membership at CostCo and then bought more bananas than I could eat.

 

Nice comparison.

 

 

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Porthos

Porthos

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I spend a lot of money at Costco.  Their prices on gasoline are about  10 cents a gallon less than gas stations in my area. I buy tires there. My wife and I have reached that point in life where we both take multiple maintenance meds and we use their pharmacy for them. Butter is less expensive there, sour cream is less expensive there,  coffee is less expensive there,  I find good sales on hard liquor, and so on. For me it is worth the membership,  especially since we spend enough - having the executive membership - that our yearly rebate covers the cost and still leaves us with about $100 beyond the membership fee.

 

I am clear on the fact that Costco doesn't work for everyone,  but it certainly works for us. 

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Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Costco is a big win for us. Christmas dinner alone with two beef tenderloins pays for the membership. Lamb chops are less than half the supermarket price.  Sirloin is still high quality even If strip steaks have gotten crappy.  Salmon is almost cheap. Henry's dog biscuits and bully sticks are half the going rate. Golf balls good enough for the early rounds are better than half price.  Then there's all the other stuff. 

 

If only they still had aged Gouda 

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IndyRob

IndyRob

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Christmas dinner alone with two beef tenderloins pays for the membership.

 

You didn't provide any specifics. I'm going to guess it wasn't less than $9.99 a pound.  That's what they can be had for without memberships.

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, IndyRob said:

You didn't provide any specifics. I'm going to guess it wasn't less than $9.99 a pound.  That's what they can be had for without memberships.

I have no frigging clue what it cost/lb two months ago. A big ass tenderloin was about $95. It was tasty beef and not the dreck that the local supermarket charges much more for and much much less than the extortionate local butcher. Sorry for the imprecision, I wasnt taking notes. 

IndyRob

IndyRob

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I have no frigging clue what it cost/lb two months ago. A big ass tenderloin was about $95. It was tasty beef and not the dreck that the local supermarket charges much more for and much much less than the extortionate local butcher. Sorry for the imprecision, I wasnt taking notes. 

Sorry, didn't mean to bring all that into a price comparison thread.

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