Tell me about Costco

[simpleyme]

we have 3 costcos within 15 minutes of us

[Snave]

We are members at both Sam's and Costco. We have been at Sam's for years as my dad had a corporate membership, so we had a card as a part of that. We joined Costco this year b/c my wife liked it better. They will let you go in and look around if you ask. We had been to a Costco with a friend and then decided to join. The $50 membership was worth it on our first purchase and that is why we even joined. Asked to go in and look around and found a couple rugs for our new house for the dining room and a couple other places. We had priced them at Lowe's, Home Depot, Sam's and everywhere else and we liked a couple they had a Costco. Even with teh $50 membership cost, we walked out with a better deal than anywhere else welooked for rugs. So, it was worth it - at least for this year.

Aside from that, my wife likes there produce section best. They had some good deals on outdoor patio furniture that was really good as well. We will probably need some of that this summer.

[moneybags]

Milk for less than $3.00/gallon. It is not organic, but is produced without artificial growth hormone. I also like the rotisierie chicken, strawberries, and lettuce.

[Spud]

We had our daughter's 1st birthday today, "catered" almost completely by Costco. 25 people fed at about $70 -- croissant sandwiches, veggie tray, strawberries, hummus, chips.

We buy almost all our produce at Costco. Big bags of frozen organic veggies, some fresh stuff too - we eat a lot of veggies though. Bananas are about $0.33/lb, and husband eats 2 bananas/day; baby and I usually share a third. Their strawberries are awesome right now, and the Cara Cara oranges they had for a while were sooooo good. Now they are back to their regular Navals though.

We generally don't buy their snack food (who needs BIG bags of high-calorie items?? ), but baby loves the organic animal crackers. I buy whole wheat spaghetti there, big jars of sun dried tomatoes (yummmm), healthy choice fudgecicles (my indulgence), super good whole wheat bread. Deli sliced lunch meat is half the price at Costco as it is at the grocery store.

I bought some yoga pants for lounging last week - two pairs for $16 and they are soooo soft.

[Compulsive Debtor]

I go for milk and bread and that's about it. In the end, it's probably not worth it because I spend about $100 there a month, so I'm obviously buying more than just milk and bread. I think you can do better by just shopping the sales and using coupons.

[scfr]

Almost forgot to mention that our Costco had Disney passes ... Not sure if it was Disneyland or Disney World and I don't remember how much it was and I have NO CLUE whether or not it was a good price ... But if you decide to go check Costco out, I'm sure you'll want to wander over to the "gift certificates and passes" section to check that particular item out.

My suspicion is that since you're such a "Disney pro" you probably already know how to get passes for even less than the Costco price, but it couldn't hurt taking a look.

[aevans1206]

Disneysteve, we use Costco as part of our regular shopping routine. The products there are pretty great in quality and in general are cheaper than buying at local grocery stores (especially because we live in an expensive area). We have an executive membership because we buy enough, having two stepdaughters and a son, that we end up paying for our membership averaging a $100 return per year (which is the cost of the executive membership). Just some food for thought. You do, however, have to be strong in curbing your desire to purchase lots of stuff you don't NEED.

[SnoopyCool]

I love Costco, but that's mostly because we have a free membership through DHs work. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. I'll tell you what we buy there, though.

Diapers, diaper wipes
Milk ($3.98 at Wal-Mart, $2.97 at Costco - and we drink 4 gallons a week).

DH and I will sometimes take a cheap date there and get a hot dog & drink for $1.50 for each of us. They also have churros for a buck.

If you go on a Saturday, you can graze throughout the store on the free samples and not have to eat the rest of the day. Now that is cost savings!

[atomicrc11]

Our family shops at Costco once per month, and we've definitely made the $50 membership worth it. We go and buy all our meats for the month, and freeze most of it. Not only does this reduce costs in terms of the meat, but we go to the store less each week. If we need something, we can just walk to the Shaws near our house for it. It also helps that the Costco is 6 miles away from our house in the same plaza at Target, so it is always a monthly trip with quite a haul. Depending on what you buy it can be quite the deal.

Right now the biggest deal I found is OJ. Shaws has it for $4.29, CVS charges $3.99 for a half gallon. At Costco we get 4*1/2 gallons Tropicana OJs in a pack that costs $10. So essentially we buy it once per month and it costs us $2.50 per 1/2 gallon OJ. That right there pays for the membership saving us over $80/year.

[disneysteve]

So far, I haven't read a single post that would encourage me to join. Thanks for all the opinions. I realize prices vary regionally, but the prices you've listed aren't any better than what I can get on sale at Wegman's (or even not on sale). Milk is always $3.05/gallon, for example. OJ regularly goes on sale for under $2.00/half gallon and I stock up when it does. Otherwise, I buy the store brand for $2.25. Our Costco doesn't have a gas station and even if it did, it wouldn't help me because it is too far away. We don't buy meat, so no interest in those prices. And we aren't in the market for a big screen TV.

I'll keep on shopping sales and buying store brands and save myself $50.

[sweeps]

That's the key, Steve. If you're a conscientious shopper -- stocking up on sale items, buying store brands, shopping more than one store, etc., 90% of the time you'll do better without a warehouse club membership.

It's not a fair fight if someone compares the Costco price with the regular price at an expensive grocery store if they never would pay that price to begin with.