True Costco bargains.......??????

[pearlieq]

The snack bar! You don't have to be a member to eat there. A giant, tasty pizza is $10, and DH and I can eat a generous meal with dessert for under $8.

Their organic ground beef is about $4/lb, which is the best price I've seen anywhere.

Hebrew National Hot Dogs are about $2/pack, which is almost half of what they are in the grocery store.

The produce is of better quality and often cheaper.

The cakes are great for parties--huge, inexpensive, and quite tasty!

Dangit...now I want to make a Costco run...

 

[Nette]

But did you price out their brand TP and paper towels? I like their brand better than name brand and it's much cheaper. When they release the coupon on them, they are even cheaper.

No I didn't and that is a good point. I usually do like their brand. However, because I have to buy so much at once, I'm hesitant to try a "generic" TP. They should give samples on that in the store too.

 

[Aimeedyan]

No I didn't and that is a good point. I usually do like their brand. However, because I have to buy so much at once, I'm hesitant to try a "generic" TP. They should give samples on that in the store too.

Hey, they'll give you a full refund if you get home and hate it.

Your post has me missing HEB.

 

[MEM]

The membership is worth it to us if only for skim milk, bread flour, frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts and Kirkland toilet paper. DH loves Scott tp but to me and DD its like sandpaper.

 

[mward73]

Baby formula, wipess, meat, milk. When I made our wedding (cheesecake) I bought the cream cheese there. Dog biscuits, printer paper, wine, toilet paper (our grocery store is really expensive), DH buys his jeans there, motor oil - they have a coupon for it every few months and we stock up - it's the only type DH will put in the cars.

 

[lukenick1]

OP here.....
We have a business membership and we go all the time but i never buy things other than food items. We love their bagels....cant beat 1 dozen fresh baked bagels for $4. Also the rotisserie chicken.....$4.99 It sells for $13 at my local supermarket. We also buy sodas and chips for our business. I was just looking to see if buying TP, PT, cleaning supplies, etc in bulk would really save money. Thanks for everyone's input!

 

[lukenick1]

PS........ Saw a beautiful tv console today that is $399 with an additional $100 off bringing it to $299. Solid heavy duty wood, can't beat it! We're going to buy it tomorrow!

 

[HaleyB]

.

The Gold Star (regular) membership is $50. The executive is $100 and you'll get a 2% rebate for all purchases at Costco (not pharmacy or gas, though) 2 months prior to your membership expiring. so if you spend enough to cover the $50 difference, it's worth it.

If you do not earn back a $50 rebate on the upgraded membership they refund you the difference, so you can not lose on the executive membership.

We save the most on one time big ticket items. Their furniture and electronic prices are good-great. In part, though, you have to be looking for more than rock bottom prices. Costco sells a lot of higher priced brands at their rock bottom price, but you may be able to find a cheaper brand for less. Clear as mud?

I buy yogurt every time I go. It is expensive yogurt and is twice as much as the least expensive yogurt at my grocery store, but it is a great price for the brand I like.

I have heard their diapers and wipes are a good deal and I know they are good diapers (I used to work in childcare).

 

[disneygoof]

Costco had the WiiFit Plus with Balance Board for $85 this Christmas; $15 less than I saw it anywhere else.

Our BJ's has a better grocery department and loads of items not sold in bulk. Head of celery for .20 less than the grocery store, purdue chicken nuggets three packs for $8, like getting a pack free from the grocery store. Pair of men's Nautica jeans for twenty bucks. I agree that the paper goods prices may not be huge deals, but they are competitive from a day to day perspective, and when you need TP, you can't wait for a sale or a coupon!

Costco baby wipes are great quality and price. When you need things like diapers and wipes, it's worth it to buy in bulk. Never tried BJ's.

 

[lukenick1]

I forgot.....we buy their wipes too!

 

[efoote01]

We buy milk, half & half, eggs, the cooked rotisserie chicken, & stacy's pita chips...tide, bounce, bounty & scott when we have the coupon. Sometimes we get cheese (finlandia swiss & gouda) & the cherries in summer. Also we always eat dinner there when we go super cheap.

 

[Kirby]

Do you have to have a Costco credit card to purchase gas or will a plain Costco card do?

 

[Aimeedyan]

Do you have to have a Costco credit card to purchase gas or will a plain Costco card do?

Just a membership card - I just use my Visa debit at the pump

 

[KarenAylwood]

We've been using DBF's parents membership sometimes but plan on getting our own.

We get paper towels, allergy meds (you can't beat their generic Zyrtec!), acid reducer meds and toilet paper. Also stuff for the house- his parents just bought us a really nice brushed nickel kitchen faucet for about half the price we'd find in Home Depot or Lowes.

You also can't beat their photo processing. I'm really into photography and even my photography teacher (professional) noted the quality of my prints for class. I've run into quite a few professional photographers that use costco for prints up to 8x10. Anything larger and they will roll it up in a tube to send it- which isn't as good for framing. I will sometimes use them for large prints though as they are less than half the price of mpix for similar quality. I'd have a membership just to be able to get prints done there.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Do you have to have a Costco credit card to purchase gas or will a plain Costco card do?

As an aside, for those in NJ you don't even need a membership card to buy gas as NJ law doesn't allow "members only" discounts so the great prices are open to everyone. I have lots of friends without Costco cards who get their gas there.

Back to the original question - we get great savings on things we usually do buy in bulk like eggs, milk, produce and meats (3 growing boys... need I say more). The Kirkland brand diapers and wipes are excellent, very similar to Huggies, and significantly cheaper. Their photo processing prices are also very reasonable and wonderful quality.

We have an Executive membership and an AmEx true earnings card and I love that check that comes every year!

 

[bumbershoot]

Twice now we've bought a pack of either 10 or 12 (can't recall which one) Brita filters for under 40 bucks. Since we change it every 2 months, that's nearly 2 years worth of filters (or 2 years, if it's 12). NICE.

Large container of organic salsa for about 4 bucks. Huge jar of marinated artichoke hearts (a fave of mine and DS's) for about 7 (small jars often cost 4). 12 cans of olives for much much less than at the store. Beer. Morningstar Farms veggie sausage patties for about 8 (big pack). Various veggie burgers in quantity for not much. Big box of granola bars for much less than buying small boxes to match the total amount. Recently they've had 24 packs of Clif brand Z-bars at 45 cents each, when the cheapest we can find elsewhere are 79 cents apiece.

We do well there!

 

[Kirby]

Just a membership card - I just use my Visa debit at the pump

Thanks! My husband had heard that you had to have a Costco credit card. Glad to hear that he had heard wrong.

 

[NHWX]

Milk : $1.99 at Costco, $3.29 in town, $2.59 at a grocery store 20-25 minutes away.

Bagels: $4.99 for 12 here - interesting that it's lower in other areas but still cheaper than buying them at a good bagel shop. Walmart bagels are a complete waste of money here. We have literally thrown them out rather than eat them.

Bread: big loaf, no HFCS, whole grain, $3.29.

The organic salsa, the mango salsa, the $4.39 big box of organic salad greens, etc. Giant bag of grapefruit for $9 - it was the size of a toddler.

Some things can be more expensive - soda without a coupon is more expensive.

Contacts and eye exams are consistently less expensive than even using our eye insurance. (I think we may have dropped it this year but I'm not sure.)

Spices are a great price!

I do wish our Costco carried more veggie burgers but they only carry the Boca Burgers in one flavor.

We are 4-H leaders and so when the club is at an event and selling snacks & drinks as a fundraiser, those giant packs of snacks are always a deal.

My husband has business that frequently requires new computer equipment, ink, phones, etc. and Costco has great prices. When they have a coupon, they're even better. He just picked up a handtruck that he's really happy with.

Oh, and I love their Christmas sale on iTunes cards. I checked everywhere this year. I think they were something like 26% off.

It does help that we have two teenage boys who eat, well like teenage boys, and are happy with new headphones and itunes money.

NHWX

 

[dansamy]

My gasoline savings alone pay for my Sam's Club membership. I wish we had Costco and/or BJ's, but we don't. Just Sam's. However, Sam's is almost always 3-5 cents per gallon cheaper on gas.

 

[bumbershoot]

I do wish our Costco carried more veggie burgers but they only carry the Boca Burgers in one flavor.

Be sure to check every time! They almost always have the Gardenburger brand of veggie burger, then about half the time they have the "meaty" Boca. But this last trip the other day, they had a Morningstar Farms spicy chipotle veggie burger as well. And they move things around.





The only thing with gas is NO CASH. Has to be a card.