Costco membership--worth it?

[2littleprincesses]

HI! THere is a deal on Zulily today for a costco membership for $55 with a case of water bottles, a 48 pack of batteries and a rotisserie chicken. Wondering if it is worth it? We are a small family with my dh and dd being vegetarian. It is also about 20 minutes away vs. normally just shop at supertarget which is 10 minutes away. THoughts?

 

[wiigirl]

Yes, totally worth it!

 

[LJSquishy]

We love our Costco membership. We are just 2 adults, no kids.

We are healthy eaters and buy mostly organic and not a lot of processed foods and still feel it's worth it. The biggest items we purchase are Kirkland toilet paper, Kirkland paper towels (which now come in the select-a-size sheets, yay!!!), Tide laundry detergent, and Finish dishwashing tabs. Oh, and organic brown rice is a big item I buy. I also stock up on organic canned tomato products (sauce, diced, and stewed) and I just noticed the other day they sell organic canned black beans so I buy those now also.

Foodwise, I buy pretty much any and all organic produce they have. They are slowly offering more organic. I just purchased 10lbs of organic sweet potatoes/yams for about $7.50. I also buy organic butter, organic greens, etc. I do not purchase organic milk at Costco or eggs because I buy Organic Valley milk (which comes from locally sourced farms) and we get our eggs from my husband's coworker who raises organic chickens that are essentially free range.

I buy some supplements at Costco as well as allergy meds. They have good quality meat (although their salmon is farmed so I don't buy it)...even have organic chicken and organic ground beef.

It looks like a lot of people buy everything at Costco...since I only buy mostly organic, my cart is never full but I definitely save a lot of money versus buying at Walmart, Target, and grocery stores. They also have great prices on small appliances or other "stuff" for the house you may (or may not) need! And, you can't beat their money back guarantee on almost everything.

 

[bedogged]

HI! THere is a deal on Zulily today for a costco membership for $55 with a case of water bottles, a 48 pack of batteries and a rotisserie chicken. Wondering if it is worth it? We are a small family with my dh and dd being vegetarian. It is also about 20 minutes away vs. normally just shop at supertarget which is 10 minutes away. THoughts?

I LOVE Costco and the deal sounds great! Only you can decide if it makes sense for you. I do think that if you are not satisfied, they will returned the unused portion of your membership to you.

 

[crisi]

It really depends on what you buy. We do pretty well at Costco in just half and half - which the family goes through a ton of. We also have one big party a year, and Costco is good for that.

Most of their produce is supersized - so for a family with several vegetarians it might be a good deal because you'll actually go through eight peppers or twenty pounds of sweet potatos. For us, produce is better bought in smaller quantities.


Ours is about twenty minutes away, so its a once a month stop.

 

[irishsharon]

Yes

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Love Costco. They have a great return policy. I bought something 8 months ago never used it and was able to take it back!

If you don't like the membership they will refund it to you no matter how long you have had it! And they will refund the full amount of your membership no matter how many months you have had it. Here is the wording from their webpage. We will refund your membership fee in full at any time if you are dissatisfied. So you have nothing to loose by giving them a try.

I get my printer ink for $10 less for a combo pack than I can get at Target or Best Buy.

 

[barkley]

HI! THere is a deal on Zulily today for a costco membership for $55 with a case of water bottles, a 48 pack of batteries and a rotisserie chicken. Wondering if it is worth it? We are a small family with my dh and dd being vegetarian. It is also about 20 minutes away vs. normally just shop at supertarget which is 10 minutes away. THoughts?

costo has a good selection of vegetarian items so you might give it a try and stumble across some things they like or might not have tried before.

we only go every couple of months but when we do I'm able to save by virtue of items like batteries, some produce (baby bells and baby toms as well as salad greens are cheaper/last longer than local stores). if you're not vegetarian you might still find out that you would save by virtue of some of the meat items that are packaged in bundled 'packs' (chicken breasts which come in a 6 pack with 2 in each individually sealed envelope, bison-packs of 3 with 1 pound each...).

 

[jdcthree]

Definitely worth it for us! If you decide you don't like it, you can cancel and get a refund for any reason.

 

[tvguy]

Now that we have Super Walmart here, I see no reason for a membership. And as far as big ticket items like electronics, we're at the point of our lives where we are getting rid of stuff, not buying more. I mean, do 2 people really need 4 TV's when we only watch one?

 

[jgive]

We love Costco as well. We buy our paper goods, bananas, snacks, gatorade, and milk there on a regular. I like that you no longer have to take the paper coupons in. You can use the phone app.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our Costco opened just over a month ago. We practically live there now. We are 20-25 minutes away.

Gas is cheaper, they don't play the up and down games like Speedway does. If it's 2.99 one day, it's not 3.39 the next, it might be 3.05 instead.

Printer ink is much cheaper, we are trying the refill program next time.

Many pharmacy items are cheaper. My wife's ambien prescription is 20.00 a month cheaper, our dog's seizure medicine is nearly $50 a month cheaper.

Milk is 2.34 a gallon, most other places is 2.99 now.
We get 24 Kings Hawaiian rolls for 3.89, close to what the others charge for 12.
Their prepared food selection is great-it can get pricey and you have to eat a lot of it but it is worth the money.

The money back guarantee makes it a slam dunk. If you don't like it, you get a full refund.

 

[barkley]

Now that we have Super Walmart here, I see no reason for a membership. And as far as big ticket items like electronics, we're at the point of our lives where we are getting rid of stuff, not buying more. I mean, do 2 people really need 4 TV's when we only watch one?

I felt the same way with super walmart-until I started comparing prices on some things we consider 'staples'.

for us (non consumable wise) it's for the most part-batteries, printer paper, ink jets, and Clorox (or Lysol-whichever is on sale) wipes which I've priced out at both and always save on at Costco. even if it were just dh and I at home, I would still go to Costco for meat. despite walmart's recent ad blast about their meat's quality it's still not the best, and when we've price matched Costco's superior meat beats their prices pound for pound.

we basically split our shopping between both (with dairy and produce at local stores b/c they are geographically closer). until tonight I was using walmarts online services to an extent, but I noticed when I went to make an order that they are now contracting out a large number of their products such that the fine print indicates as much as additional $9.95 in shipping for each item

the cost of membership is a non issue for us-our primary credit card is amex (don't use it for credit since we pay in full each month, use it for double warranties/theft and damage coverage which we've used to our benefit) and with the Costco amex there's no yearly amex fee so it pretty much balances out.

 

[tasha99]

Now that we have Super Walmart here, I see no reason for a membership. And as far as big ticket items like electronics, we're at the point of our lives where we are getting rid of stuff, not buying more. I mean, do 2 people really need 4 TV's when we only watch one?

The quality of the meat and produce at Costco is a lot higher than Walmart's, though. My Costco has great produce. I haven't been to a Super Walmart in a year or so, but I had to quit shopping there because the meat was pumped full of sodium and extra water (to make it heavier and extend the shelf life). Can't stand that stuff.

 

[Ashlotte]

It's absolutely worth it! We actually use it less for food and more for all of the other things: clothes, books, towels, boots, electronics, kitty litter and food, furniture, gift baskets (just sent some great ones to out of state family for Christmas), car rentals, Disney Cruises .... I LOVE Costco! Their return policy is the best, too. It's like getting a free warranty. We always buy Costco first.

 

[msteddom]

Costco also has outstanding deals on eye glasses and contact lenses. I saved enough money on a year's supply of contacts to pay for my membership and then some!

Melissa

 

[cjnix29]

"worth it" is highly subjective. But I LOVE Costco. There are certain things I always buy there. Baby Bell cheese, k cups, breathe right strips, paper towels and toilet paper, dishsoap and laundry detergent....all much better deals. Last year, I got a deal on a Sam's Club membership when our Costco one was expiring. So I figured I would try it. Nope, when I got done with my first shopping trip, realized that they didn't carry half the stuff I normally buy at Costco, and the things they did have were actually not cheaper. I had to really compare, as the product sizes at Sam's were Smaller, but not that much cheaper. It was deceiving at first. The other thing I like...their in house brand, Kirkland, is actually high quality. I generally don't hesitate to buy their brand of products. Also, I just love to wander around Costco, which isn't always great for my budget. Books are generally a good price there too. Got DS's snow pants for $15. Love Costco, but some people don't. Give it a shot, you don't have anything to lose, as people have said, they will refund your membership if you don't like it.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

Costco also has outstanding deals on eye glasses and contact lenses. I saved enough money on a year's supply of contacts to pay for my membership and then some!

Melissa

^^^ THIS ^^^ I was going to post the same thing. We love Costco for many reasons but the savings on contacts for my DH & I more than covers our membership fee!

Heather

 

[Megkel]

I love Costco. There are only three of us and I have driven 40 miles before to go to Costco. Granted the times I had to drive further I shopped less often however it was worth the drive. Some things I buy only at Costco like paper towels, toilet paper, and water are our staples. When the commissaries all shut down we went to Costco to buy our meat. I recently bought new tires for the car from Costco and books are usually a great deal. Their return policy is unmatched anywhere else. I do not have an Amex card even being a member for over 7 years now and I've never had one. I always use debit for my purchases. Oh gas is another great deal. Recently for thanksgiving I went to visit my parents. Gas at the 7-11 was $3.30 and at Costco it was $2.99. I was super happy to have that savings needing a full tank of gas after the drive!

 

[usnuzuloose]

I love Costco for stocking up on certain things. It is just me and DH but it works for us. Sometimes I like going in and seeing the different things they have.