Sams Club

[RobinFabulous]

How much is the Sams membership?

Is it worth it? We had one when I was a kid, but I haven't been in years.

Is there a free summer membership?

 

[fredflintstone]

I think it is around $35-40 a yr for the membership. The summer deal is $15 for a summer membership...100 days...I never did see the exact dates that they considered their "summer membership" though. I do think it is worth it personally. I get my gas there a lot and there is a salad dressing I get there that no one else carries..haha gum, porkloin, crackers, gum....laundry detergent...I go once a month to get the big stuff and that is around the 1st...so I will be making my list soon! It is worth going to check out now to see if it is something you would be interested in doing. They also have coupons in the Sunday paper throughout the year that gives a free day membership...usually only like twice a year. But for $15 I would go check it out!

 

[mickeys friend]

They are having a special for the summer months.It's limited to join May 20-June 7th,it's called 100 Days of Summer and cost $15.00 to join for both my husband and myself.You can go to their website and print off info on it and take it to Sam's club.They already knew about it when we went yesterday and signed both of us up fast and easy.We had a card a couple of years ago,but didn't use it much and then with money tight we didn't renew it.Seems like when we didn't have it,we were always needing something from there and had other family members pick things up for us when they were going.We didn't buy anything yesterday when we got our new cards,but looked around and found that they had alot of good deals and some things were cheaper at Wal Mart.So when we get paid again,we will have our list of thing we need (and only need) to pick up.Two people for $15.00 fit our budget,and even if its not for a full year,it still works out better for us.Hope this helps you.

 

[goofy5]

in the Kraft food magazine the one they send you free there is a free visit to sams then they offer you when you get to sam's the $15.00 for 100 days I signed up for it. seemed reasonable enough

 

[Soon2B4]

Just beware when you do a single day visit for free, they charge you an additional non-member fee. I think it is 10% of your bill. If you look at the fine print, it says exactly.

I LOVE Sam's Club. We live 1 minute away and treat it like our normal grocery store. The milk here is $1.80 and we use a ton. I usually buy 3 at a time. Also, there hamburger in the meat case is great and you can't beat the hamburger patties that they make up fresh.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

for us it is worth it...we eat a lot of boneless skinless chicken breasts and we think it is worth it just for those... at Sam's we spend about $12 for 6 pounds of breasts and then are able to come home and portion them out in freezer bags for later meals...this is for a 2 person household, so we usually get about 5-6 meals out of each 6 pound package bought...I looked at the regular grocery store the other day, it was almost $8 for only 3 chicken breasts!!! so for us it is worth is just for that...
Sam's also has GREAT produce and HUGE rotisserie chickens for a little under $5 each!

 

[JoanneNC]

We used to love using SAM's but now we are 30 mins away so its less convenient

 

[pilesoflaundry]

If you have a bj's nearby, no it's not because bj's takes coupons and is generally cheaper. If you have no bj's and buy meat in bulk then yes. HTH

 

[Leleluvsdis]

We are only a family of 2 DH and I, but we LOVE it!!! We got a lot of stuff there and it last us a couple months. They also have cheaper prices, I guess b/c you are buying in bulk. The main thing you have to remember is b/c of buying in bulk you have to have somewhere to store everything until you are ready to use it.

 

[Luv2Scrap]

DH and I feel it is absolutely worth it! I can't imagine not being able to shop at Sam's Club! I know there is Costco too, but we don't have one in our area.

Here is just a partial list of things we buy on a regular basis at Sam's that are nearly always cheaper than other stores - sometimes MUCH cheaper.

Milk
Vanilla Silk Milk
Naked Juice
Frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
ground beef
ribeye steaks (under $7 a pound and so yummy!)
Splenda
coffee creamer
paper plates, styrofoam cups & lids, dixie cups, plasticware
cans of Progresso soup
Zyrtec/Claritin
Tylenol/Excedrin/Ibuprofen
Iams dog food and doggie treats
Frozen strawberries and other frozen fruit
fresh fruit and veg's - lots of variety and overall good quality
Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
Light whipped cream
beer/alcohol
bakery stuff is usually pretty awesome for a great price
and last but not least....
their hot ready to serve rotisserie chicken is awesome and a great dinner starter for just $5.

Wow, I think I just made my next shopping list!

we have also bought a 50 inch tv there that was normally at least $1500, on clearance for $600, an elliptical machine on clearance, a GPS unit, tires for the cars, etc... and several other bigger ticket items.

 

[weHEARTmickey]

If you buy the summer membership for $15, do they offer a discount/credit if you decide to upgrade to a full membership(after the 100 days) ?

 

[RobinFabulous]

If you buy the summer membership for $15, do they offer a discount/credit if you decide to upgrade to a full membership(after the 100 days) ?

Thanks for that I wondered.

We do have a deep freezer and I'm thinking of doing Nutrisystem, so I'll want more frozen stuff for the kids, and more produce. My cousin buys the benadryl for us there very cheap, and I thought it was something to look into

 

[PHXscuba]

When I was deciding whether to switch from Costco to Sam's Club a few years back, I went in to ask some questions. After they answered them, I asked if I could take a look around and they said no problem. I couldn't buy anything that day, but I did verify that they had the things I was most interested in.

I also believe that when I went back to sign up, they told me that if I was unhappy with the membership, I could come in and cancel and get a pro-rated portion of my membership fee back.

Obviously you would want to verify all this with your local Sam's, but if it's true you could check it out and decide for yourself.

PHXscuba

 

[PinkRhombus]

I buy our bread, chips, salad lettuce, other produce, milk, butter, fresh chicken breasts, deli chickens, cakes/cupcakes, and lots of household and kid clothing there. Gas. Photo center. Tires. Lots of books.

Jewelry and watches. Haven't bought handbags yet

All of our new flatscreens have come from there.

Can't beat the pizza and hotdog dinners out with the family! Cheapo!

They have a lot online, too. If you want to return things, then they just send the fedex man back to pick it up.

 

[goofyisinphilly]

I dont' use my membership like I used to but it more than pays for itself. Our Costco here is really snobby. They acted like a trial membership was a huge deal but Sam's always has really good customer service.

 

[Piecey]

I love our Sams Membership.

I buy the bulk boxes of chips, trail mix, Slim Jims and Peanut Butter M&M's for DH's lunches.

I buy almost all of our meat there- we have a deep freezer and I go stock up when it gets low. Produce is hit and miss, I can sometimes find their bell peppers at phenomenal prices and I buy lots and chop them up and freeze them when I do. I buy ALL of our apples there and strawberries/blueberries when they're good prices.
DH loves to get the peel-n-eat Shrimp.
I call in special orders of the muffins-- we LOVE the Apple Cinnamon ones. I freeze them in sandwhich bags when I do this and thaw them 1-2 at a time.

I get milk there. Laundry detergent, fabric softener (odd, but it's not cheaper to get dryer sheets there) and we roam through the books/dvds/video games when we go. I bought our digital camera there and get most of my pictures developed through their photo center.

I think it's totally worth it! We get our membership through DH's office and it was $31 I think.