Costco Worth It?

Love Costco. The things I buy often for a family of 5 are: milk, produce, toilet paper, paper towels, water, coffee, alcohol and meat. Their meat is a great quality(the best I have found around here) and cheaper than anywhere else. Their cakes are also awesome and very cheap.

I honestly don't shop at either one - we did shop at Sams Club but really didn't have room for all the Bulk items. If you are looking for convenience by shopping at home, saving money by getting products that are extremely concentrated and getting products that are all green and environmentally responsible I'd love to share more information with you! You can visit my website at www.livetotalwellness.com/jodihorsley, call me at ###-###-#### or message me!

Yes, cosco does have its downfalls. What I like most about shopping in bulk is that I am not always at the store! I agree with you about pampers, theyre my fave too, and I was never brave enough to try their brand of diapers because the package is so huge! I do like their wipes though.

In my opinion the biggest perk of all is being able to buy large quantities of things that you use everyday. I would say that the absolute best way to save money on groceries is to get a deep freezer. You can buy large quantities of meat and portion it out, then freeze it. You can buy bread and milk, which afre two other things you probably go through fairly quickly, and both can be frozen. I found this site helpful, I had no idea some of the things that can be frozen and for how long! Stilltasty.com

In short, the best way to get your moneys worth out of shopping in bulk is to have a big freezer. It will pay for itself very quickly.

I don't know much about costco, but I am happy with my sam's club membership. I would also encourage you to find a way to shop without kids...even for regular grocery shopping. the more people you have with you while shopping, the less you can pay attention to coupons, sales items etc.

MILK Costco's Kirkland brand of milk is one of the lowest priced on the market -- plus it is hormone-free!

BREAD I get two loaves of SaraLee bread at Costco instead of one at Jewel for the same amount of money.

KIRKLAND DIAPERS & WIPES I think the Kirkland Brand is an outstanding value with highest quality. It's the EXACT same diaper as the Huggies Supreme (much nicer than the regular Huggies). So you are paying for the "upgraded" diaper at the regular Huggies price. It is definitely worth a try. There certainly are cheaper diapers on the market, but I don't mind paying a bit more to get the significant increase in quality.

ENFAMIL Formula, if you use it. It's the best price I've found. Plus, they used to take my Enfamil promotional checks that Enfamil sends...because they are not coupons. Those checks are legal tender.

KIRKLAND PAPER PRODUCTS Toilet paper, paper towels, tissues and napkins. Very high quality.

KIRKLAND LAUNDRY & CLEANING PRODUCTS Detergent, fabric softener, cleaning wipes, etc. Again, very high quality

Pretty much anything Kirkland brand! You may be able to find really cheap alternatives (if you shop Aldi brand, etc.), but you cannot find anything as high quality for the price.

CARTERS BRAND PAJAMAS FOR KIDS Better pricing than the Carter Stores. Usually *more* than 50% the tag price at the Carters Store (even though you rarely pay tag price at Carters of you have coupons, sales, etc.)

YOUR BIGGEST THREAT Stick to your shopping list -- don't buy extras that you may not end-up using. It can be tempting to throw something "fun" into the cart!

One note for the future: As you start ramping-up your shopping at Costco, they might suggest you pay an upgrade for an "Executive membership." Regular membership = $50 and Executive = $100. However, Executive gives you a 2% rebate per year...and if it does not cover the cost of the extra $50 they will give you a refund of the difference. I mention this because I do so much shopping at Costco, my annual rebate is much more than $100...so it always covers the upgrade AND the basic membership fee.

We decided not to renew our membership to Costco years ago when our oldest son was little. You'd really have to buy a lot of stuff to make up for the $40-45 membership fee alone. Also I found that target prices on bulk items like papertowels were the same as costco. For kids, they don't carry anything organic. And you have to buy such large quantities of some things, that I would spend my entire weekly budget and only have a fraction of what I needed. On things like diapers and wipes, you have very limited choices. If you use the brands they carry, then the prices are good. But target prices are very comparable without the membership fee. If I lived in Minnesota where there's no yearly fee, I'd still shop there occasionally. And when we lived in Colorado we bought a lot of groceries there because the grocery stores were kind of aweful and very expensive. It's just not a one stop shop.

Hello-

I think Costco is worth it and enjoy shopping there. Make use of the coupons they send you. Things we like to purchase at Costco are the take and bake meals (very nice pieces of chicken) and they feed several people, dairy, organic frozen veggies, coffee, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shaving cream, soap, spices, books and really I walk around and look what new items they have because they do change. We don't buy much produce or veggies because there aren't enough of us to eat all that before it goes bad. You are right, they do not carry Pampers which is a shame. I have friends that buy the Costco brand diapers. I am a Pampers fan and wasn't too thrilled with their brand. You do need to know your prices to make sure you really are getting a good deal. Happy Shopping!

Yes, it is totally worth it. Things like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, diapers, wipes, etc are so much cheaper. We buy their brand in all of the above. I was a huge pampers fan and wouldn't use anything but with my first two, when the third came along, we needed something a little less pricey. They did take some getting use to because they aren't pampers, but I really like them, they don't leak, they fit well, etc...which really is all you need from a diaper, and it saves us money. We also buy our produce from them. We go through a ton of fruit and def save buying in bulk from costco, we never have a problem finishing it. I also like that they carry a lot of organic things, I like to buy organic as much as possible, I get their organic peanut butter and fruit spread and snack things for the kids. Overall, i say it is definitely worth it.

We love Costco! You do have to pay a bit of attention b/c some of the household products are not really any cheaper then a grocery store. We used Pampers, then switched to Huggies then went to Costco and really like them. We also use their wipes.
The nice thing about Costco is that if you don't like something they will take it back. I've even returned some dried fruit that I opened, tried and didn't like.

I priced out many things recently and found the following products are all cheaper by far than all grocery stores, even Aldi. You just have to be able to store double the sizes! Cereal, flour, sugar, brown sugar, powdered sugar, butter, batteries, brownie and pancake mixes, dried fruit, flowers. They send out coupon books every month or two that I count on to make these products well worth it - toilet paper, paper towels, coffee, swiffers, ziploc bags, vitamins (kids and adults). Plus the pharmacy is said to be the cheapest, but you DON"T have to have a membership to use the pharmacy. Their photo prints are the cheapest but walmart tends to have the best quality prints. As for the carters clothes - they do have prices cheaper then stores, except for the carter's outlet (they have even lower prices then costco). And lastly my favorite, Costco has a couple brands of kids clothes that are very high end - stuff you see in boutiques and Nordstrom, that are extremely low price (holiday dresses) and my favorite to find...
Oh, and kirkland diapers are amazing. I only liked pampers before, but these are just as good and way less money!!!

We have found that their electronics prices usually can't be beat. I've gotten great deals on kids' clothes, toys and books there, and we love their birthday cakes, which are a great deal! They send out coupon books every so often and we use those to buy toilet paper and stuff like that. I like their baby wipes a lot (non-name brand). We don't buy a ton of food there, but the milk is cheap. Happy shopping!

We like Costco too .. way better than Sam's club. The only drawback is that you don't get all the brands. So some of the brands that we really like ,we end up going elsewhere as I really don't want to buy big boxes of things at Costco that I have not tried before.
Electronics are at unbeatable prices at Costco. But then they don't have the latest models.We once ordered our HDTV a Costco. We had to order online and ship it to our house as that was the only option, the package came in damaged.TV was fine but we decided to return it.No problems returning. Actually you can return anything anytime. We have returned some PJs after washing them as they shrunk.You tell them the reason and they will take it back.No need to have the bill too.
Also, another thing I like is photo printing esp if you are printing in bulk.Very cheap and they give it the same day and photo quality is good.
You also get branded clothes for less too - worth every penny.
I don't buy groceries there.Prefer to buy it fresh than freeze but it's just M..
Hope this helps.

Great responses! I didn't see anyone mention the free samples! We go at lunchtime and my kids love it. It's easy to fill their little bellies! If your watching cost, just don't be tempted to buy whats on sample. Our family on milk alone makes the membership worthwhile. Their take and bake pizza is not nearly as good as what they sell hot. It's a different recipe. Their hot pizza is pretty good. I can feed three of us with 2 slices. Beats Mc'D's. The poster that said to upgrade is right. I would have gotten a check back last year, but didn't. So this year I upgraded. They give you the $50 difference if you don't hit it.

I think it depends on what products you use. I Loved Costco and moved away to an area that did not have one so we began using Sams which I was never too impressed with. However, when we moved back to an area that had Costco we went and did a price comparison with the products we used. Costco did not carry the brand of items that we wanted and Sams did. Of the products that were the same Sams cost lesss. I literally made a list of the price of each item and compared to Walmart, Target and Jewel. (I did not have a baby at that time :) The clothes at Sams is not anywhere near the quality of Costco so we just don't buy that.

What we buy is: paper towels, toilet paper, cheese, diapers (Pampers), wipes, canned products (ie: tomotoe sauce, green beens, etc), cereals, frozen food, garbage bags, dish washer soap, meat. Just things that came to mind.

We definetly save a lot of money but it is because they have the products we prefer.

Good luck!

As a former Sams Club member, I like Costco much better. I agree with the other posters that their diapers were not my favorite, as I do like Pampers too. But their wipes are just fine. I will also agree, that pricing is all relative and that with coupons, you can probably get a better deal at Target/Walmart per unit than Costco. I know you don't have time to whip out the calculator and figure out the best deal, but that is really what you need to do with the most frequently bought items. If you get a chance to go by yourself, just on a fact finding mission, you will feel more confident about your purchasing power.

We find it to be worth it, but not for diapers. Diapers are an interesting subject - I learned from a friend who works in retail that the prices vary by geographic region, so in some areas you can save $$$ at Costco on diapers, but in other areas, not so much. I found that Target or TRU had good prices. Although the Costco-brand diapers are pretty decent as off-brands go.

Most of our Costco savings come from fresh produce - again, I think it depends on where you live. Our local markets have expensive, poor quality produce. We also buy things like canned goods (diced tomatoes), juice and snacks during the T-ball and soccer seasons, cleaning products (their dishwasher soap is super cheap), batteries, and soy milk by the case. Their regular milk and eggs are also a good deal (their milk is hormone-free.)

You have a lot of great ideas from these moms!

Two quick things that we always get at Costco: bananas and batteries.

Everything is party-sized, so if you have gatherings, you'll find this place great! Also, if you have a juicer -- lots of produce to use! We buy meat, seafood, cheese, fruits and vegeatbles, vitamins, snacks, and breads. I've even bought gas, electronics and had my photos developed. Purchases you make will probably require storage (frozen and pantry), so make room before you leave!

My favorites that I buy regularly:
Filet mignon loin
(Already pulled from the bone) Rotisserie chicken
Sliced cheeses
Bagels
Fruits for juicing
Kids juice boxes
Sun dried tomatoes
Canned tomotoes
Tomato sauce
Cereal
Organic milk
Yogurt
Seafood
Wine
Lettuce
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Carrots
Detergent

We spend about $300 per visit per month (this varies), but find that our basics are always in our house. We have the executive membership, which costs $100/year. We get 2% back on our purchases, so over a year, we usually cover our membership fee. :)

Oh, and bring your own reuseable bags so you don't have to look for boxes and checkout.

I hope this helps!

My family really loves Costco. My allergy medicine (Zyrteck) is $15 for an entire year's worth. For $15 I can get about 1 month's supply at Walmart. The food is fantastic and on the weekends they give out food samples which keeps the children occupied. If for nothing else, I shop there for baby formula. I don't know if any of your children are still on formula but their brand, Kirklands, has an excellent product that's basically the same exact thing as Enfamil Lipil but you get 2 large cans for $19. Shopping there for that 1 product alone is worth the membership fee for me.

i have had a card at Sam's and Costco. Still have Sam's but not Costco. It is worth is if you want to buy name brands in bulk but I have found that Sam's is less expensive but Costco carries some different brands of packaged frozen items that Sam's does not.
I just like Sam's.

I wonder the same thing. I have never purchased diapers there. I buy the Target brand diapers to save money. They are very cute blue and green dots. Milk, eggs, meat, T.P. paper towel, dishwasher tablets, carters clothing, bagels, and cheez-its are our favorite purchases every month. We have also purchased a Vizio Tv 2 years ago. They have a money back no questions asked policy. I have returned moldy bread half eaten before. The meat is GREAT! Oh, do not forget to fill up on samples.