Costco needs to offer personal tours for new members!

[SEA333]

Holy cow!!! I have been in Costco's before tagging along with other people, but I won a Costco membership from work, so DH and I went to redeem it yesterday and shop there as members for the first time ever.

I was so overwhelmed! I consider myself a thrifty shopper - my meals are planned around what is on sale for the week, I use a coupon here and there, and I buy store brands religiously. I try to spend under $100/week on groceries per week on my family of five - one being a teenage football player. I spent $92 yesterday at Costco and only got about 10 items!

So, I was having a really, really hard time reconciling that I have to spend more money to buy in bulk once a month rather than my habitual shopping for "only what I need for the week" method. I was also trying to walk the aisles (very hard to do with DH and kids going in 15 directions in awe over the free samples everywhere you look! ) trying to memorize what is cheaper at Costco vs what I usually pay at Target or Marianos for the same item.

How do you all do it???!!! Any tips for Costco newbies? All advice welcome, but I would especially love to hear how you transitioned from being a weekly "just what we need for now" to a Costco supershopper!

 

[2Kds2K9]

You'll learn. I buy all my paper products and cleaning supplies there. Once a month they do send out coupons and I'll restock using those. If you're on a tight budget, the food items can be tricky, especially if you use coupons and shop the sales at the grocery store. However, I don't think it's a huge savings over Costco. I personally don't think you can beat the added value of Costco. Plus, I hate to run out of things. About the only thing I don't buy is a lot if fruit, especially if I don't think we will consume it before it goes bad. Enjoy!

 

[SEA333]

You'll learn. I buy all my paper products and cleaning supplies there. Once a month they do send out coupons and I'll restock using those. If you're on a tight budget, the food items can be tricky, especially if you use coupons and shop the sales at the grocery store. However, I don't think it's a huge savings over Costco. I personally don't think you can beat the added value of Costco. Plus, I hate to run out of things. About the only thing I don't buy is a lot if fruit, especially if I don't think we will consume it before it goes bad. Enjoy!

Thanks! My kid actually love fruit and we literally have several options available at all times - I was sad this year that strawberry prices were so awful at the grocery store so I haven't been buying them, then at Costco yesterday I got the 4 lb carton for something like $5-6. my kids were in heaven! The berries seemed like they were in pretty good shape, but then again, we would only need the 4 lb box to last about 4-5 days in my house!

 

[justlook3]

Since there's only two of us, there are alot of things I don't buy. Obviously we'll never use produce or those big cans of anything before they go bad. Meat is regional and to be honest cheaper at the grocery store on sale (different in other places). About the only meat I buy is lamb on occasion and chicken breasts (if there haven't been a lot of sales recently). I buy paper products (although again Target can be cheaper), dishwasher tabs, K-Cups, shampoo/conditioner, allergy medication, Gatorade and canned tomatoes. Those are my usual purchases. I bought my Keurig there and I buy other appliances occasionally. I've bought clothes there and some DVD/Blu Rays. New releases are usually the same price as other stores but you get a better deal on older titles.
I don't find the beer/wine to be good deals though I've heard that in states that allow hard liquor sales you can get some good deals. The rotisserie chickens are also a great deal.

 

[havaneselover]

We're a family of three and I shop at Costco about 2x per month.

I usually buy:

12 lb. bag of brown organic rice
Dog food
Vanilla (16 oz for < $7!)
Pam (usually when it's on sale)
Ragu
American cheese
Gogurt (It was on sale recently--I think I got about 32 for < $4)
Scrubbing bubble and windex (again I buy these with a coupon)
Kirkland HE fragrance free detergent (with coupon it's about $12)
Cascade
Ziploc bags (I buy a big box of sandwich and a big box of freezer bags about once a year)
Kirkland oven roasted turkey lunch meat (comes in a three pack at about $3.50 / lb and it's pretty good)
Rotisserie chicken ($4.99!)
Whipping cream (I'm in ice cream making mode right now--I think it's < $4 / quart)
Fried shrimp
Pet medicines (eye drops, antibiotics, Heart gard, Frontline plus)
Pickles (huge jar that lasts a few months for < $4)
Ketchup (3-pack)
Sometimes I'll buy individually packaged snacks for the kids (cheez its, goldfish, pringles)
I also buy a box of Milky Ways because I take one to work with me everyday
Cetaphil (cleanser and moisturizer)
Oil of Olay body wash

Also, I got a photo on canvas once that was great (had a coupon) and I've had them transfer home videos to dvd (again with a coupon).

I study their coupons very carefully.

 

[2Kds2K9]

You can't beat the prices in the photo lab. Prints are .13.each and they can do posters for about $6-8 each. The prices on their other services are extremely competitive. Ok, I'll confess, DH works at Costco so I get the heads up on the sales. However, we don't get additional discounts, only a free membership. We also have the Costco Amex which gives us a fantastic cash back sum every year.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

An interesting Costco fact; they make their profits mainly through membership fees, not merchandise sales.

 

[Judique]

I save a lot of time at Costco.

I know I'm usually getting milk cheaper.
I know the gas is usually cheaper.
Chicken breasts and top round or sirloin is at a competitive price - usually cheaper if other stores are not offering sales.

Someone mentioned the Kirkland detergent - I gave up Tide in favor of this - that saves a lot on the big jug.

My local Safeway just sent me 2 $10 of $50 coupons. I dropped in to Safeway and bought a lot of snack items I didn't need but we did enjoy the variety. I realized there that bacon is a really expensive item sometimes. We buy it at Costco for a lot less, and I freeze it until needed. I spent almost 2 hours browsing through Safeway. So many 'little' things!
I can be done at Costco in 30-45 minutes, zipping through and picking up my staples. And, because the snack items are so large, I rarely do snacks anymore unless it is something individually wrapped like granola bars.

 

[SEA333]

An interesting Costco fact; they make their profits mainly through membership fees, not merchandise sales.

Haha...good thing mine was a "gift" from work!! The customer service rep did try to strongarm me into their executive membership, though, which I refused.

On another note, however, the company that I work for is a Strategic vendor to Costco (I actually handle Costco's main competitor's account, who shall remain nameless...lol, but one of my favorite coworkers handles costco), which means costco is one of our top $$ accounts...that's a whole lot of our product that they sell yearly, and the pricepoint of our products is relatively very low compared to most costco items due to what our product is, so their profits are not *all* mainly from memberships!

Did you have any tips about costco, other than "don't get suckered into a membership"?

 

[SEA333]

.

 

[OhMari]

My daughter gave me a membership for Mother's Day.

I like the strawberries and rasberries. Costco can purchase the fresh produce directly from a warehouse. Groceries stores have to wait extra days for the produce to go to the warehouses and then to their stores distribution centers before it gets to the stores. This is why I love Costco produce, it literally taste like it was just picked. I buy the salmon when it is $7.00 a lb. Our grocery stores will put it on sale for that price, but lately it has been in the $9.00 range. I also buy the chicken breast for $2.50 a lb. I think there are 12 in a pack, and all individual sealed. So when you want 1 or 2, it can be easily taken off from the rest of the pack without tearing into another pack.

We also buy paper towels, paper plates which last us a month. I am glad my Costco is over an hour away. So I go once a month and my bill is always close to $300.

 

[SEA333]

My daughter gave me a membership for Mother's Day.

I like the strawberries and rasberries. Costco can purchase the fresh produce directly from a warehouse. Groceries stores have to wait extra days for the produce to go to the warehouses and then to their stores distribution centers before it gets to the stores. This is why I love Costco produce, it literally taste like it was just picked. I buy the salmon when it is $7.00 a lb. Our grocery stores will put it on sale for that price, but lately it has been in the $9.00 range. I also buy the chicken breast for $2.50 a lb. I think there are 12 in a pack, and all individual sealed. So when you want 1 or 2, it can be easily taken off from the rest of the pack without tearing into another pack.

We also buy paper towels, paper plates which last us a month. I am glad my Costco is over an hour away. So I go once a month and my bill is always close to $300.

I wouldn't mind spending $300 of my normal $450-600 grocery budget at Costco if the total food/paper goods bill will last the whole month. Do you find that you are spending over what you would if you just shopped weekly at a grocery store, or do the products you purchase at Costco last the whole month?

 

[Spoony Bard]

We have memberships at both Costco and Sam's, and we definitely find good deals at both - but we've become big fans of Aldi. The price differences between Aldi and a conventional grocery store (Kroger, Publix) are amazing, so long as you stick with the Aldi-based brand. For most items, there isn't any perceptible difference in taste\quality. There are still a few things that we stick with name brands for (Ketchup, Soda, a few others) but our fridge, freezer, and cabinets are stocked full of Aldi-based brands.

 

[LJSquishy]

It's just my husband and I and we still manage to buy a lot at Costco while staying in our budget. When I first started shopping there, I just added in a couple of bulk items at a time instead of spending $400 in one trip. If you slowly add items into your rotation, you won't need to adjust your budget.

Really the only expensive items I buy there are toilet paper, paper towels, and laundry detergent. They are expensive because the packages are huge of course. I try and space each of those items out so I'm not buying one of each during one trip.

Even being a family of 2, I still buy produce there (only some...their organic selection is decent but not huge). We don't have trouble going through it before it goes bad.

I love browsing the aisles but I'm very disciplined so I'm not usually tempted to buy something we don't need whether it's food or household items. My advice is to shop alone, not with your family...otherwise you'll end up with items in your cart that you don't really need.

I buy bread there (Dave's Killer Bread) but keep it in the freezer since I eat mostly gluten free and paleo, and my husband doesn't eat a lot of sandwiches.

I buy plain Greek yogurt there and use it as yogurt as well as use it as sour cream so it never goes to waste.

I don't buy milk there but I've heard it isn't cheaper than the grocery store. I only buy local 100% grassfed milk.

My Costcos only carry farm raised salmon, NOT wild salmon so I stay far away from that. I occasionally buy their organic chicken breasts and organic ground beef if I can't get locally raised meat but for the most part I avoid it because it's not pastured.

We don't really buy candy and Snacky items which I'm sure saves us a lot of money! Pretty much I stick to perishable items, coconut flour, organic maple syrup, almond flour, organic brown rice (have only bought it once because we hardly ever eat rice), organic coconut oil, etc. I don't buy cleaning products there because I use vinegar and water (I do buy Four Monks vinegar there!) so I don't know if those are priced well or not...and I wouldn't want a 2yr supply of toilet bowl cleaner or whatever. Lol

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

....
On another note, however, the company that I work for is a Strategic vendor to Costco (I actually handle Costco's main competitor's account, who shall remain nameless...lol, but one of my favorite coworkers handles costco), which means costco is one of our top $$ accounts...that's a whole lot of our product that they sell yearly, and the pricepoint of our products is relatively very low compared to most costco items due to what our product is, so their profits are not *all* mainly from memberships!

Did you have any tips about costco, other than "don't get suckered into a membership"?

Costco's profits are mainly made from membership fees. Just one source:

http://beta.fool.com/edliston/2013/03/18/membership-fees-costcos-main-usp/26478/

I'm not sure how you think my post translated into a warning about being "suckered" into a membership? I've been a Costco member for years, with an Executive Membership, whose dividend always covers my membership fees.

 

[SEA333]

Costco's profits are mainly made from membership fees. Just one source:

http://beta.fool.com/edliston/2013/03/18/membership-fees-costcos-main-usp/26478/

I'm not sure how you think my post translated into a warning about being "suckered" into a membership? I've been a Costco member for years, with an Executive Membership, whose dividend always covers my membership fees.

Without any advice or tips or further insight into walking through a Costco on a Saturday and buying some groceries, which is what I was asking for, your post about profits coming from membership fees sounded like a negative feeling toward Costco in general.

Without your subsequent information, not knowing you at all other than what your first post read, I assumed that you had an aversion to paying for a membership to Costco. I'm glad I was wrong.

Soooo....any tips or advice??!!

 

[ptlycloudy]

I find good deals on car rentals for my DH.

 

[ChristmasElf]

I can't ever make it out of Costco for less than $1200 each trip and about double that if DH goes with me as he always manages to find something we can't live without if we don't buy it right then and there.

They have the best meat and produce. And milk and eggs are much cheaper than the grocery store.

Cereal. spices, laundry detergent and flowers are also all good deals

 

[bumbershoot]

Don't bring the family.
Don't bring the husband.
If the family is old enough to wander on their own and you have to bring them, let them wander on their own, while you do your shopping-work.

trying to memorize what is cheaper at Costco vs what I usually pay at Target or Marianos for the same item.

Don't memorize, write it down. I had a book for prices that I kept for 2 years. I knew what the normal costs were for any of my staples, and could look at it to see if a sale price at x place was better than a normal price at y place. No need to remember it!


BIGGEST TIP? Do not go hungry! Feed and water everyone shortly before going. We don't even eat 99% of the items they sample, but hunger can still cause our grocery cart to have more items in it than it should.

Haha...good thing mine was a "gift" from work!! The customer service rep did try to strongarm me into their executive membership, though, which I refused.

Even if you did get the exec membership, if, at the end of the year you didn't make back the amount it cost to buy it, they would give you your membership fee back. There's no strongarming. They were actually trying to help you, because there's absolutely NO downside to it.

... so I don't know if those are priced well or not...and I wouldn't want a 2yr supply of toilet bowl cleaner or whatever. Lol

On the other hand, it's kind of nice to not have to have to go out to buy those products for two years... One big bottle of Dawn lasts us for over a year (I actually draw a line and date it every time I refill our smaller bottle from it, so I KNOW) and it's lovely to not have to buy something like that all the time.

But it sounds like our grocery trips are getting more like yours, so I'm not actually sure how much longer we'll keep the Costco, since we go through food slower than we used to, and eat different things.

Without any advice or tips or further insight into walking through a Costco on a Saturday and buying some groceries, which is what I was asking for, your post about profits coming from membership fees sounded like a negative feeling toward Costco in general. /QUOTE]

FWIW, not everyone thinks that profits are bad.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Without any advice or tips or further insight into walking through a Costco on a Saturday and buying some groceries, which is what I was asking for, your post about profits coming from membership fees [] sounded like a negative feeling toward Costco in general.

Without your subsequent information, not knowing you at all other than what your first post read, I assumed that you had an aversion to paying for a membership to Costco. I'm glad I was wrong.

Soooo....any tips or advice??!!

Don't go on Saturdays!

I think profits are good.