BJ's Club for 2?

[Octoberbride03]

Is BJ's Club worth the membership price if you are a household of 2 humans, 1 cockatiel and a dog?

Just got a card for a free 60 day trial and we're trying to pare expenses down. There's really not a lot of extra storage space here, so I'm wondering if it would be worth it to take a look around in there. Most things we don't need giant sizes of, but some things are getting harder to find that we use all the time. I freely admit we do need BIG sizes of parmesean cheese cause we use it ALL THE TIME. Its not just for spaghetti in our house And sure can't find 1 in our grocery stores.

I really don't want to waste my time looking around in the store if its not going to be worth the price of membership in 2 months though. So off to the DIS I go for advice.

So please share if you like the club and would be worth it.

Not interested in Sam's Club though. Not a walmart fan at all.

Thanks

 

[bicker]

We found it useful, here. It isn't just a matter of money - we may or may not save money with BJ's. Rather, BJ's offers a number of items that we cannot obtain any other way. For a while, it was the only source for reasonably-priced cat food that met the specifications of our cat's myriad allergies. Now, its the only place that has really good coffee that we like. They also have this incredible vegetarian ravioli that we can't find anything comparable elsewhere. It's a great place to pick up snacks for coffee hour after church, on the weeks that my wife and I volunteer. We also got really decent deals on eyeglasses.

 

[MM27]

It really depends on what items you use. Perhaps you can get one of the one day passes that they offer and see if there is enough that would make it worth it for your family. You may even be able to ask at the door if they could give you one. We get them in the coupon books that they mail out.

There are some things that BJs is definitely cheaper on than a regular supermarket and ours is close enough that I don't mind going in there for just one or two things to save some money.

 

[Octoberbride03]

Well, they just mailed us a 2 month free pass. I just don't want to be using it for 2 months, get hooked on it and then realize later on that its not worth it.

Do they card us on the way in? Or can we just go look around the place before hitting the member services desk to activate the pass?

 

[bicker]

They used to card you on the way in, but it was mostly to ensure that you understood, before you filled up a cart, that they'd charge you 10% more if you tried to check out without a membership card. These days, they don't even bother, at our store.

 

[HamTown]

I've never been carded at the door at any of the Tidewater stores.

Milk is cheaper than Farm Fresh, dog food is cheaper than Wal-Mart, coffee is cheaper than the grocery stores.

My general opinion is that they have a few more "regular" sized items than Sam's or Costco.

I like that you can use coupons and stack manufacturer coupons with the ones BJ's sends in the mail or has at the door.

 

[Octoberbride03]

I've never been carded at the door at any of the Tidewater stores.

Milk is cheaper than Farm Fresh, dog food is cheaper than Wal-Mart, coffee is cheaper than the grocery stores.

My general opinion is that they have a few more "regular" sized items than Sam's or Costco.

I like that you can use coupons and stack manufacturer coupons with the ones BJ's sends in the mail or has at the door.

Thank you.

This was going to be my next question. Because we just got finished grocery shopping at Farm Fresh, which we used to love. We're over that now. And milk used to be cheaper there. Sure wasn't today and I am a milk addict. Dh is the coffee addict and he complained about that. And he's willing to go off brand to get the good deals too.

We are forever grocery store hopping to find what we buy at lower prices, and it is just getting so hard. I told Dh on the way home, that we are going to try BJs and bring the grocery store receipts and compare the 2.

We bring a list to the store, stick to the list. Look for deals, use coupons when we have them for the stuff we regularly buy and its just nuts.

 

[npmommie]

I think its worth it.

we use it for
paper goods
dog food
cat food
dairy
the gigantic parm cheese
annies macaroni
they also have the gardein veggie "chicken" nuggets at ours and they are sooo good and soo expensive at our stop and shop.
i also get the huge tubs of organic mixed salad
movies are priced good too
I am sure there is more but that is what comes immediately to mind

 

[itsheresomewhere]

Fantastic deals on the organic foods and toy specials. Just went today and picked up the mickey dance thing for the kids that is sold out and pricey. They had it for 59 where as everywhere else here wants 70 for it.

 

[monkeyboy]

It's a club?

That may explain it.

 

[shelly3girls]

I found that BJs actually carries many items in normal grocery store sizes including fresh fruits, veggies, milk, eggs, bread and lunch meat. We do not eat much lunch meat but I bet what we do buy pays for the membership itself. Land O Lakes cheese and Purdue turkey are half the price of the grocery store. Milk is about $1/gallon cheaper. Not everything is cheaper compared to a sale price at the grocery store but in general we save a great deal.

Items we buy at regular size:
lunch meat
veggies (asparagas, corn, lettuce, spinach, potatoes)
fruit (bananas, cantaloupe, pineapple, watermellon, blueberries, strawberries)
milk
eggs
orange juice
ice cream
sugar
spaghetti sauce (but 3 jars in a pack)
books
printer toner
laundry detergent/ fabric softener
juice
fresh seafood
bread
cheese