Do you find you save money on groceries shopping at sams club or costco??

[mom2my3kids]

Thanks everyone, I made a list and a menu for the next two weeks..I went today and bought just what was on my list minus mozz cheese because Kroger has cheese on sale this week and the cheese was really broken up at sams club..

 

[tcarr5]

I shop Costco, Bj's and Amazon

 

[honeybunches]

We shop at Sam's Club about once a month. We buy the salt for our pool there, which is only $5 a bag compared to almost $20 a bag at the pool store!! We also get the precooked bacon which is HUGE savings. It's around $5 or $6 per 3 ounce box in the grocery stores here. A bag of 72 slices is $9 at Sam's. It lasts us over one week and saves me the time/hassle/mess of cooking it myself. We used to eat out for breakfast several times per week (drive thru) because we were so short on time. No need to do that anymore, and it takes me only seconds to fix breakfast.

DD has to take prepackaged snack for the class a couple of times a month and it's cheaper for me to buy it in bulk. We also get a lot of our clothes there. DH has to wear dress pants to work each day. They are around $60 retail at the dept store, but only $20 or less at Sam's. If I shopped around and looked for sales I could maybe find them at that price elsewhere, but I think the time savings is worth it to just buy at Sam's.

 

[jjiillee]

I shop Costco, Bj's and Amazon

Do you did deals on grocery items on amazon? Would know about this because I have amazon prime. Only bought k-cups on there so far.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I don't shop at Sam's necessarily to save money. I shop there because they carry products and brands that I can't get at my local Walmart or Kroger.

But on most things I have found buying in bulk you do get a better price per unit.

I spend about $500 a month on groceries and then about once every other month I go to Sam's and spend between $300 and $400.

I also buy the pre-cooked Bacon which is only $9 for a package of 72 pieces. This is about 150% less than what you pay in the grocery stores.

 

[taaren]

We do save quite a bit on the frozen stuff, or canned/boxed goods (jams/PB/Bisquick/soups/etc), or paper/cleaning products.

As a family of 3, we don't go through fresh/perishable foods fast enough for those to be worth buying in bulk most of the time, though we do like buying the rotisserie chicken a few times a month then using the leftovers in various meal ideas. And if we're having guests its a substantial savings (we like to entertain).

As far as the price of the membership ... for us the savings in gas alone at the Costco gas stations means we get the price of the membership back at least double (we're commuters, and Costco is usually at least 10 cents cheaper per gallon than any other stations nearby). Add to that 3% back cash back from Amex and its a no-brainer.

 

[luvmy3]

I definitely save at BJ's. Their deli alone is worth the membership costs. Land O Lakes American cheese is $3.49lb, their oven roasted turkey is $5.69, and their roast beef is $6.99. Compare that to my supermarket and I'm saving like $7 each time I go there.
Also, I buy my K-cups there, $27.99 for 80. That is the cheapest I can find them anywhere, even when a store has a sale.
They also have their own coupons that you can combine with manufacturer coupons. If a package comes with 2 (or more) items and they each have a UPC you can use as many manufacturer coupons as there are items. Love it!

I just recently became a Sam's member using that Groupon deal. I let my BJs expire because I didn't feel I need both. I was wrong, I definitely do better at BJs so I did end up renewing.

I cant comment on Costco, we don't have one.

 

[mhsjax]

Been trying to get our grocery bill under control, been shopping twice a month..We usually do a big shop at Sams club and then the rest at either walmart, Kroger or aldi...Would love to keep it at 400 a month but still spend around 500 to 550 after small trips here and there..

A little off topic, but I would be doing the happy dance if I could get my grocery bill to $500.00 a month. I see you have teenagers, so do I and they eat. Can I ask what you are buying them? We don't have an Aldi's anywhere near us, but I only purchase what is on sale and I spend that much almost every 2 weeks, and I don't buy anything extra.

ETA We do save a Costco. Chicken is usually cheaper and bread is cheaper unless our store has it on BOGO. We also use egg lands eggs and they are cheaper at Costco.

 

[shortbun]

I think $100 per person, per month is a good budget. You say you usually end up spending $500-550. Personally, I'd try to stay at $500 for a while and then try to reduce by $10 at a time. Big reductions are too hard to accomplish and sustain. Our budget is higher than yours but not much. We are benefiting from our garden right now and I love that!! I'll be freezing tomatoes, making and freezing pesto, Canning beans and making pear jelly next week. I dry most of the herbs at the end of the summer so I have fresh til the following spring. To cut costs, we have been drinking iced tea made from cheap Lousian tea and mint sprigs or water. No soda, no juice. Drinks are expensive!!! I buy milk only for coffee but we splurge on Almond Breeze for our cereal because Dairy just isn't healthy for anyone in my family. Make our own pizzas, buy a steak-grill it and slice it for smaller/healthier portions. I buy chicken thighs instead of breasts-cheaper and more moist. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals-beans and rice, veggie burritos or enchiladas, baked potatoes with salsa and asparagus with lemon. DH makes delicious tofu in sesame sauce with coconut rice and ginger-love ginger with almost everything. Even make ginger tea sometimes, so good. The key is to use everything you buy. Once a month, I make soup from leftover veggies, whatever is in the frig. Sometimes I add pasta or rice and I often add some leftover chicken. It's a good way to clean out the fridge and waste nothing. We have eggs from breakfast or dinner a couple times a week(usually breakfast). Omlets are another good way to use small amts of leftovers. Chop some tomatoes, throw in a little cheese and last night's pork chop diced or the tofu or chicken maybe with the peppers out of the salad sitting in the fridge. This is making me hungry.

 

[mhsjax]

I think $100 per person, per month is a good budget. You say you usually end up spending $500-550. Personally, I'd try to stay at $500 for a while and then try to reduce by $10 at a time. Big reductions are too hard to accomplish and sustain. Our budget is higher than yours but not much. We are benefiting from our garden right now and I love that!! I'll be freezing tomatoes, making and freezing pesto, Canning beans and making pear jelly next week. I dry most of the herbs at the end of the summer so I have fresh til the following spring. To cut costs, we have been drinking iced tea made from cheap Lousian tea and mint sprigs or water. No soda, no juice. Drinks are expensive!!! I buy milk only for coffee but we splurge on Almond Breeze for our cereal because Dairy just isn't healthy for anyone in my family. Make our own pizzas, buy a steak-grill it and slice it for smaller/healthier portions. I buy chicken thighs instead of breasts-cheaper and more moist. We eat a lot of vegetarian meals-beans and rice, veggie burritos or enchiladas, baked potatoes with salsa and asparagus with lemon. DH makes delicious tofu in sesame sauce with coconut rice and ginger-love ginger with almost everything. Even make ginger tea sometimes, so good. The key is to use everything you buy. Once a month, I make soup from leftover veggies, whatever is in the frig. Sometimes I add pasta or rice and I often add some leftover chicken. It's a good way to clean out the fridge and waste nothing. We have eggs from breakfast or dinner a couple times a week(usually breakfast). Omlets are another good way to use small amts of leftovers. Chop some tomatoes, throw in a little cheese and last night's pork chop diced or the tofu or chicken maybe with the peppers out of the salad sitting in the fridge. This is making me hungry.

Me too. lol Seriously, 100 a month per person just doesn't work for us. We don't waste, we don't drink soda and I buy what ever tea is on sale or cheapest, including the store brand. Milk, we vary rarely use. My one son could eat about 5 chicken thighs and before anyone tells me that is too much, his pediatrician and his trainer says that he needs more food. More protein. He is an eating machine that burns just as much as he takes in.

My other son can't eat anything dairy and hates and I do mean hates beans, although the rest of us like them. I also only purchase what is on sale. Oh well, I guess I will just have to continue to watch sales and do the best I can. There is just no way that I can get my food budget to even $500.00 a month. OH yeah, my DD is also very active and requires quite a bit of food, plus she is a diabetic and eats mostly protein and trys to stay away from carbs, even beans. Even without that baked potatoes are just not an option. She just feels so much better with out carbs. My life is just expensive.

OH yeah, Lucky you growing tomatoes, we love them, but we have had no luck in growing them. I can kill anything that I even so much as look at. Also with 3 teens in the house, we don't have this thing called leftovers. If they don't get eaten the first night, by the next night they are long gone.

 

[TravelMommy]

We save hundreds of $$$ a year on the gift cards we purchase for Christmas, birthdays, anniversary gifts alone! LOVE COSTCO!!! and you can't beat the rotisserie chickens, seasonal items like gift baskets, truffles... I am selective about what we purchase food wise, if you know the prices of what you usually buy you can pick up some good deals and steer clear of the not so good deals

 

[Donnainnj]

I think we save money by shopping Costco by having some easy meals around to prevent us from eating out as much. As a meal a lot of them cost more then my normal grocery store meal, but much less then the meal out would.
Donna

 

[FamilyGuy]

I find Costco to have great prices and often superior quality products. I once saw a special on warehouse clubs and Costco stated point blank no item in the club is marked up greater than 15%. My biggest issue is that I always pick up items I didn't intend to and end up spending a lot more than I should there!

 

[ski_mom]

We save hundreds of $$$ a year on the gift cards we purchase for Christmas, birthdays, anniversary gifts alone! LOVE COSTCO!!! and you can't beat the rotisserie chickens, seasonal items like gift baskets, truffles... I am selective about what we purchase food wise, if you know the prices of what you usually buy you can pick up some good deals and steer clear of the not so good deals

Do they sell discounted gift cards? The closest Costco is about an hour from us, so we are not members, but it might be worth it (and the drive) if there is a discount on gift cards.

 

[tasha99]

I think Costco saves us money. It's not cheaper than the cheapest stuff, but if you want good quality for a reasonable cost, it's great for meat, fruit, veggies, wine, medicine etc. I know I could pay less, but (I know I'll get slammed for saying this on the budget board): to some extent, you get what you pay for. The cheapo meat at Winco or Walmart isn't the same as what Costco sells.

 

[plumsiren]

Do they sell discounted gift cards? The closest Costco is about an hour from us, so we are not members, but it might be worth it (and the drive) if there is a discount on gift cards.

Yes, specific ones on (AFAIK) a rotating basis. Though by us they always have AMC Theaters, SpaFinder and a few others, I know I've seen some others like Cold Stone Creamery there in the short-term. They're all usually decent deals - not just, say, 1% off or something dumb. I have to go there this week - want me to report back?

 

[ski_mom]

Yes, specific ones on (AFAIK) a rotating basis. Though by us they always have AMC Theaters, SpaFinder and a few others, I know I've seen some others like Cold Stone Creamery there in the short-term. They're all usually decent deals - not just, say, 1% off or something dumb. I have to go there this week - want me to report back?

That would be great! We go to AMC Theaters way more than we probably should lol!

 

[plumsiren]

That would be great! We go to AMC Theaters way more than we probably should lol!

Going Tuesday; will report back!

 

[mrsclark]

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, but the Costco pharmacy offers great savings on prescriptions. DH and I have a high deductible insurance plan, so I have shopped around a lot for medication. Costco's pharmacy prices are awesome - one of my prescriptions for a generic drug is cheaper through Costco for a 90-day supply than through my mail order pharmacy and is much cheaper than other pharmacies. We also get our OTC medication at Costco as well as prescriptions for our two dogs from the pharmacy all at great savings.

We have also purchased electronics from Costco - two TVs and a digital camera - we compared prices and Costco came out on top. I also LOVE Costco's return policy - electronics is 90 days way better than anywhere else. I didn't like the first camera I bought and I was easily able to return it.

The return policy on everything other than electronics is basically just a satisfaction guarantee - I bought a pair of shoes that then sat in the box unused for 5 months - they took them back no questions asked!

Finally staples like milk, eggs, cream cheese (which we use to stuff Kongs for our dogs), and toilet paper (Costco toilet paper is well rated by Consumer Reports) are really good deals.

For books and DVDs, sometimes Costco has better prices sometimes not.

Prescription glasses have excellent prices at Costco - high quality at low prices.

Produce and bakery items tend not to be a good deal for us because we can't eat them fast enough before they spoil, but we do take advantage of those departments at the holidays when we entertain a lot.

As others have stated, gas is usually 5-10 cents cheaper than other gas stations.

There are some items like Diet Coke that, comparing at a price per can level are not that much better than Wal-Mart, but overall we are very happy Costco members!

 

[averysmom]

I don't think anyone else has mentioned it, but the Costco pharmacy offers great savings on prescriptions. DH and I have a high deductible insurance plan, so I have shopped around a lot for medication. Costco's pharmacy prices are awesome - one of my prescriptions for a generic drug is cheaper through Costco for a 90-day supply than through my mail order pharmacy and is much cheaper than other pharmacies. We also get our OTC medication at Costco as well as prescriptions for our two dogs from the pharmacy all at great savings.

We have also purchased electronics from Costco - two TVs and a digital camera - we compared prices and Costco came out on top. I also LOVE Costco's return policy - electronics is 90 days way better than anywhere else. I didn't like the first camera I bought and I was easily able to return it.

The return policy on everything other than electronics is basically just a satisfaction guarantee - I bought a pair of shoes that then sat in the box unused for 5 months - they took them back no questions asked!

Finally staples like milk, eggs, cream cheese (which we use to stuff Kongs for our dogs), and toilet paper (Costco toilet paper is well rated by Consumer Reports) are really good deals.

For books and DVDs, sometimes Costco has better prices sometimes not.

Prescription glasses have excellent prices at Costco - high quality at low prices.

Produce and bakery items tend not to be a good deal for us because we can't eat them fast enough before they spoil, but we do take advantage of those departments at the holidays when we entertain a lot.

As others have stated, gas is usually 5-10 cents cheaper than other gas stations.

There are some items like Diet Coke that, comparing at a price per can level are not that much better than Wal-Mart, but overall we are very happy Costco members!

ITA- the price difference on prescriptions between Costco and our local chain pharmacy is huge! For years we paid 5 dollars per prescription, not matter how much, so we just went to the pharmacy at the top of the street. When dh switched jobs, our insurance changed to a 10% co-pay, but they will also only cover up to a certain portion of the dispensing fee. Dh's singular was costing us something like 30 dollars a month- we tried Costco and it dropped to less than 10! What a difference! And I don't know about other provinces / states, but here you don't need a membership to use the pharmacy- I guess it's against the law. Worth checking into!