Costco, Sams or Skip it?

[Southernmiss]

In the long run, eating healthy is much cheaper than health-care.

So I resolved that if I spend more on groceries to be healthier, so be it. I'd rather teach my kids to eat well to be healthy than live on ramen, pasta, etc.


Eta:
We have 4 kids. 1 is married. 2 are in college, but home for the summer.

When it's just 3 of us, I do better at Walmart-hate their meat, though. I always go to Sam's for meat. Better quality and less expensive. Wal-Mart does not have on site meat cutters.

But for feeding 5 or more, Sam's is a better choice. Saturday, I spent $350 at Sam's and $150 at Wal-Mart. This should last us abt 2 weeks.

 

[Best Aunt]

We have a Sam's Club. There is a small selection of fresh produce, and it is all pre-packaged in large quantities. You can't choose a few apples, for example, and put them in a bag they way you do at the grocery store. Either you buy the pre-packaged size or you don't buy at all. And the pre-packed size is big.

I find that their grapes are better than what is sold in the local grocery stores.

Are you able to go in and look around? At Sam's Club, they used to check for your membership card at the door but they seem to be less strict about that now. (You still have to give the cashier your Sam's Club card when you make a purchase.)

 

[unrequited23]

If you go to the customer service area at Costco, you can register as a guest to check it out prices, but will not be able to purchase anything. If you know what your go-to items are and the best prices from your local stores are you will be able to see if you will save money. The prices on grass-fed organic ground beef are some of the lowest I've seen and the item is always in stock unlike other stores in my area.

If you are still figuring out what you like I would suggest you check out Aldi before committing to the larger quantities at Costco, especially for your cooking fats. Aldi has much smaller amounts of coconut oil, olive oil and sometimes avocado oil for reasonable prices. Plus their organic produce section has greatly expanded.

When my family focuses on eating healthier it seems really expensive at first, but then we get into a groove and realize we are eating out less, so it all sorta works out for us.

 

[RangerPooh]

We're a large family so our grocery bill is high, and I split our shopping between Costco, Kroger, and Sprouts. Occasionally Sam's Club if I'm looking for something specific (Got the membership through a Groupon special). You just need to know what you would buy at each location to determine if a membership works for you. We ahve the executive level membership at Costco and get a rebate yearly. But we also spend a lot of money there on food, automotive, and seasonal items. Including kids shorts, summer sandals, office supplies, swimsuits, and recently 6 pairs of convertible hiking pants that we use for Cub Scouts (DH and I love them).

Costco- meats (unless Sprouts has ground been on sale at $1.99/pound or bagged frozen chicken on sale) kids snack items for lunches (chips), bread, tortillas, large bags of carrots, mushrooms, onions, potatoes, milk, juice boxes, shredded and string cheese. Dog and cat food, kitty litter, tp, paper towels, bottled water.

Kroger- cereal, eggs, specific items that I cannot get at Costco or last minute meal needs as it's closer than Costco.

Sprouts- the rest of our veggies! Sourdough, occasionally meat if sale price is better than Costco.

 

[Luvdancink]

Huge deal on costco memberships today. Available on groupon. Membership is $60 and you get a 20 gift card to costco and a bunch of other free stuff. Don't forget to go through your favorite cash back site to save even more.

 

[NY Pirate Princess]

I enjoy the bagged salad mix from costco. I eat one myself in a week and it costs the same as a bag from wegmans of the same veg (shaved Brussel sprouts, broccoli, kale, and cabbage) that is one quarter the size. I also save on organic frozen blueberries, giant bags of organic quinoa, and organic olive oil. The rest of my shop there is related to the bathroom, so it may not serve all you are looking for.

 

[cel_disney]

Thought of this thread today..Costco is on Groupon, still $60 which I believe is same price for yearly but had some additional coupons with the purchase - $10 off meat, a case of AA batteries and a case of disinfecting wipes or something like that...anyway - might help defray the membership costs!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Now that we are coming into the growing season, you might be better off getting veggies from a local road side stand. Check to see if there are farmers markets in your area

 

[WaltsMartini]

I have been on maternity leave and counting pennies - have compared Aldi to Costco on the items we buy most. Long story short, produce and meat prices are similar.

For produce, Aldi has about the same price as Costco items - I’m thinking large clamshell containers of organic greens, price per lb for blueberries, apples, etc.

For meat, they again offer very similar pricing - Aldi had chicken thighs for $1.29 a lb but they were .99 a lb at Costco; skirt steak was the same price at both.

For the rest, some items are cheaper at Costco and some aren’t. Dates, organic eggs, and oatmeal are cheaper at Costco than Aldi. Orange juice, organic bread, and hummus are cheaper at Aldi.

Both stores offer items that are unique to them. For example, I can buy a 20 pack of little 100 calorie servings of guacamole at Costco; Aldi offers small bags of quinoa and bean blends in the freezer section.

Finally, I LOVE Costco, but we discovered that we were impulse buying. They’ll often offer special deals on items we don’t need but it’s such a good value that we justify buying it (for example, they had a deal on $15 cropped pants and I ended up buying 2 pairs because I needed work clothes. A good value? Sure. Did I enter the store intending to buy them? Nope). This has led us to limiting Costco to an every other week place to avoid temptation.