Costco or Sam's Club shoppers- do you really save money?

Question

I am considering buying a membership to a warehouse store. If you are a warehouse shopper, do you find that it saves you money buying in bulk, or do you wind up throwing food out because you cannot consume it quickly enough? My fiance and I are a childless couple with a dog and spend about $230 a month on all Walmart items which includes the occasional belt/ socks, etc. Do you think we could do better at a bulk buy store?

Answer 1

Bulk stores are great for large families, businesses or organizations. Small families usually dont benefit from buying in bulk. You also have to take into consideration the cost of the membership, the limited choices, the large packages, you cant use coupons, they dont have as many loss leader specials to get you into the store and some of the prices are actually lower at other stores. You really need to know the price you are paying now for items to see if it's a deal. I would go to your regular store and list the prices for the items you buy regularly. Go as a guest with a friend to a local warehouse store and compare prices. You could also make a deal to share bulk purchases with other couples but by the time you divide up the things and repackage, you will probably have lost any savings. The one thing my family does is take advantage of the bulk savings for christmas baking. We share the large packages of chocolate chips, nuts, flour, sugar etc.

Answer 2

I have a Costco membership and we spend $300-$500 every 6 weeks or so, we have a dog and cat and baby on the way. It has saved us a lot of money, especially on dry and wet dog/cat food. It is defenialty worth while and we have an executive membership which gets us money dividends back at the end of the year. The bulk stuff we buy is usually dry goods so it lasts for a very long time. (You can also get good priced electronics and house items at a decent price) For the minimal annual fee, we find it very worth our while.

Answer 3

Costco was great for toilet paper, cleaning stuff, and there's a few other things I get from their freezer. I let my card expire because I only needed to go 5 times last year. One giant thing of TP wasn't needed every month. When buying things like soda it just get consumed in the same amount of time. Bad for weight gain. They have great deals on cheese, some jewelry, cloths, and some furniture.

Basically the only way this would be worth it is if you have a big family or you and a friend went in on a card and went shopping together and split things as far as proportions. But for just two people it's not worth it unless there's something there you really like.

Answer 4

Yes.
I used to go to BJs when I lived in New Jersey.
I had a dog and save tons of food on her canned stuff.
You also can save lots on clothing but have to really search.
I go some real nice Ralph Lauren Polo shirts chear. I got an area run under $100. That would cost $300 in a retail store.
And with coupons you save even more

When I get a new house in Nevada will join a club again. Only the apartment is small and no real storeage place.

Answer 5

If you're not seeing the benefits in buying bulk, you probably shouldn't try it.

Only switch over to buying bulk when you're starting to see "I'm buying this eventually anyway, why didn't i buy a bunch at a time?"

Buying bulk is GOOD, and it works for me, but you're right, unless you know you'll actually use and eat the stuff, it could very well go to waste. So consult your friends and see if they'd benefit from sharing the expenses and savings, it can be a very smart move, BUT it can be a very bad habit if you don't know what you're doing.

Answer 6

I have went shopping at Sam's Club and I really liked it there having to buy in bulk. I especially like to buy the shampoos and conditioners there. We have bought food and we never had to throw anything out. If you are wanting to throw it out try donating the food to different places or give to friends if you have too many items. It is also a good place to save money on furniture.

Answer 7

It really depends on what you buy. I shop at both each month.

I do not buy a lot of fresh foods there, dog food is much cheaper, Costco's whole bean coffee is worth the membership itself, lots of things are good deals and will save you money in the long run, but you have to know what you pay now and compare because everything is not a great deal.

I buy lots of frozen things at both, LOTS cheaper that wal-mart or the grocery store.

Answer 8

It depends... generally, what's good for bulk products is that they are cheaper than individual products. Another factor to consider is when you buy perishable items (by bulk of meat/vegetable or individual packing of meat/vegetable).

I do save money when purchasing in Costco or Sam - whiever has a good sale. But why buy a 10-liter orange juice in these stores whose expiration date is the same as buying a pint-size juice in Walmart?

Answer 9

i use to shop the club stores and i use to spend quite a bit at them really more than i should have so i started compairing prices. i found that you can do just as well if not better with sale prices and you don't have the storage problem as you do with bulk items. i also found that my husband and i would get tired of the same cereal or what ever it was that we would buy in bulk. look for sales and stock up then i think you do much better that way.

Answer 10

you can only join costco if you have a company or know someone who is a cardholder and go with them. im off there today as a mate has a card ...i did look into getting one for me but was the rules are you must be from a company..you have to prove this my showig them a bill from said company, letterheaded paper of the company and a wage slip..tut. if you do have your own company its 20 quid.