We are finally getting a Costco relatively near us today - a 20 minute drive. Do you think it's worth it to join if it's 20 minutes away? We have all the grocery stores and big boxes closer to us (and Amazon prime) but I keep hearing how Costco is awesome.
Do you think the basic membership is enough for a family or do you save money with an executive membership?
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@autumnleaves: FYI we don't have a Costco but I have seen deals for memberships a lot lately. So definitely keep an eye out!
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I love Costco, but for things like the vacation packages and eye glasses, which are things people never really mention.
The last 4 trips we've been on we've used Costco's vacation packages and the prices have been nothing short of phenomenal. We also considered using the car purchasing service, but we got a local dealership to match the Costco price.
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I think it's worth it- but to be fair my membership is free for me (my friend has the executive membership and added me as a household member). I go maybe once a month and stock up on things that don't go bad. And we got our tires replaced there for a very good deal.
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We don't have a Costco but I have a Sams Clib membership. The money we save by buying our OTC allergy medicine there pays for the membership. I probably shop there once a month. I know that's not exactly the same but thought I would chime in since they are somewhat similar stores.
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@regberadaisy: Thanks! I was wondering if they offer deals/discounts on the membership - do you see them online or as a coupon in the mail/newspaper? Of course they have encouraged everyone to go ahead and buy the membership before the store opened to avoid the long lines but we missed that.
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@autumnleaves: it was on living social most recently.
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@autumnleaves: Keep an eye out online and then you have to go in stores to claim the deal. Usually its still a full membership price (I think $55) but then you get back like $40 in coupons.
We live right around the corner, but yes, i would still drive 20 minutes to go to costco. We dont use it as much as others do, but still we buy:
Papergoods (inclu. diapers and wipes)
Cleaning products
Organic meats ($5.50/lb organic ground beef versus $5/lb regular at the grocery store).
Yogurts, cheeses, chicken nuggets and other frozen foods
Healthy snacks (almonds, cliff bars, etc)Plus then they do a good job rotating other seasonal products. We recently picked up a bag of fertilizer/weed killer for the grass about half price what it was at Lowes.
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Definitely. But I think 20 minutes is short! I currently drive around 30-35 to get to ours (though one is opening much closer to us soon). Aside from shopping at the warehouse I've used them for vacation packages, I used the Costco Auto Program to buy our car, and I just recently switched to home insurance through Costco (it's saving us almost $600/year).
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We drive about 15 minutes to our Costco. We've only been members a few months. Things that I find to be a good deal
Their brand Zyrtec. I take it (less than $20 for a full year supply). My girls both use the liquid and I just got it for less than $10 for 16 oz. I can't get it close to that price at any store.
We also love their fresh produce. My kids are berry lovers so we always get some there.
I will say that I find the store to be very crowded and overwhelming and I typically leave with a headache
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I love it and only see it getting more useful as we add a LO to our daily lives in August. That being said, I try with all my might to go exactly when they open and with a very specific list to ensure I am limiting my crazy crowd exposure because it does get totally crazy and overwhelming.
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We heart Costco. (And we love Prime and use it daily).
Besides the groceries and household supplies, we use membership for:
Pharmacy
Tires! (Plus free rotation and flats)
Glasses
PhotosWe also bought a lot of our furniture through Costco.com.
I would avoid weekends but during the day is not that bad. Also be aware they have monthly sales and I've noticed the weekend the sale ends is when it's always craycray.
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I think it's worth it for the hot dogs and pizza alone
But for real, worth it. We share an executive membership with my mom and the check we get back every year pays for the membership fees
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Yes, it is worth it. My Costco is about 15-20 minutes depending upon traffic. Gas is cheaper. I used to go once a week. Clothes, liquor, and home goods.
There was a time where I stopped going to Target because Costco was my shopping fix.
Bad things about Costco... parking is a pain sometimes. Mid-day during the weekend is insane. I would try to avoid it. Since my Costco is closer (15-20 mins), I go 30 minutes before they close... much much less people. Oh, for my Costco, they open til 8:30p, but that when they stop letting people in. You can shop until 9p. So even if you get in at 8:30p, you still have 30 minutes to shop. 9pm is when they start turning down the lights.
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So worth it! We go twice a month and spend about $150 each time so we have the executive membership. The check we get back at the end of the year pays for the executive membership + a tank of gas usually.
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@jill_a55: Yup, I got executive membership, too. 2% back on purchases is nice. I got the AMEX Costco card two years ago and I always get at least $300 back.
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We use ours about once a month, and I feel like it is worth it. We save plenty of money on things like paper goods, canned goods (tuna, olive oil, honey, maple syrup) and some fruits and veggies like avocados (5 avocados for $4.69 is a great deal!) It justifies the membership cost for us.
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Yes, for all of the reasons mentioned above. My Costco is 20 minutes away, and that's very close for us. We travel 30-45 minutes to do our regular grocery trip.
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@MamaG: I think once you get the hang of the store layout and products/pricing it becomes much easier. We can zip in and out pretty quickly although we do still try to go on week nights.
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It's worth it for us. We share an executive membership with DH's best friend and the cash back pays for the membership.
We signed up when Costco came to my work and had a booth in the lobby. If your office has a lot of people, you can call them to come out and anyone who signs up that day gets a bunch of coupons and gift cards, etc.
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I love Costco! I live less than 10 min away from one so we go often. The savings on gas make the membership worth it for us.
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So worth it! Even just for produce for our family of 4 it's good. I like that they have a lot of organic ingredients. Price per lb is usually same as Trader Joe's which is the cheapest place around us. Then some other random things that people have mentioned- cleaning products, contacts, toilet paper and the occasional seasonal items.
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I love costco, especially their return policy! We shop there for bulk household items and miscellaneous seasonal stuff. We have the basic membership and it works well for us. We ALWAYS get asked if we want to upgrade to executive but it's just not worth it for us. To break even at the executive membership, you would have to spend $2750/year. To get your executive membership for free, you would have to spend $5500/year, which averages to $459/month you're spending at costco. Executive only makes sense if you plan to split the cards between two families, which most of my family members do.
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I used to have a basic membership for just me and DH. I now have the executive. Its so worth it.
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I just have a basic membership but it is so worth it. I love going and getting inexpensive but great produce and meat (among many other things).
We don't spend nearly enough there to make the executive membership cost effective though.
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So worth it. I'll actually be headed to ours in a bit.
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I cannot imagine my life without Costco, although I'm sad they are doing away with accepting Amex. We definitely spend enough to make the Executive Membership worth it, but a regular membership is just fine for most folks.
The gas, the chicken, cheap clothes, fruit, baked goods, organic food, spices, generic OTC medication, the booze, all our Christmas shopping - its like SO, SO convenient. We get our photo canvases done there, our Christmas cards, I get my sunglasses, glasses, and contacts there. Our sheets, towels, kitchen gadgets. Sigh. I heart you.
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@gingerbebe: the chicken alone!!!
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Totally worth it! Many things are cheaper, especially the prepared food, fresh food (eggs, bread, milk), produce, and according to DH their beer selection. They also make a lot of Costco (Kirkland) branded products, and those are also cheaper (K cups, laundry pods, baby products). A lot of things are also normal priced too (like a 3 pack of ziploc baggies is the same as if you bought 3 packs at Target), but the convenience of buying all at once sometimes wins out.
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Also the gas! We live in CA and gas is 2.50-3.00 a gallon, but at Costco its 1.89!
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@regberadaisy: @T.H.O.U.: thanks - I will look online for a deal before heading there! I'll probably wait at least a few weeks for the craziness to calm down.
@chopstixwife: thanks! I haven't done the math yet but if the membership costs are the same here - I think basic is the way to go for us. If we lived closer to Costco than target and all of the grocery stores I might say the executive membership could be put to good use.
@mrs.shinerbock: that is a great idea - we had Sam's club come to our work a long time ago - I should ask HR if they'll consider having Costco come.
@bluestriped bee: @MrsKerch: thanks for the recommendations of when to go. I hate crowds and usually try to hit Target first thing in the morning or late in the evening - I should use that approach with Costco too.
@looch: @lawbee11: thanks for letting me know about the car purchasing program and insurance options - those are services we would definitely be interested in (as well as all the food, paper goods, etc).
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We buy a TON at Costco, and go maybe once a month. Diapers, wipes, almond milk, eggs, all sorts of granola bars, frozen fruit- even their prices on kids Tylenol and Advil are great!
We have the executive membership, and it's worth it for us, but only because we signed up for the Costco MasterCard. So because of the executive membership, we get extra cash back yearly when we use the MasterCard. I think we got back over $250 this year, which more than covers the price of the executive membership!
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Ours is 30 away and totally worth it. We go every 3-4 weeks. Weekday evenings are a good time to go.
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Love costco! I'm surprised no on has mentioned the clothes. I buy a lot of my kids clothes there, great deals on snow suits, jackets, rain boots, crocs, pajamas, lots of carters sets. You have to buy it when you see it but so worth it. My mother in law,and sister in law get a lot of great clothes for themselves unfortunately I'm petite and not much fits me. We also buy a lot of our electronics there. Sporting equipment too. Great return policy. My sister in laws paddle board broke after 3 years and they took it back no questions. Also bought our cell phones there. As you can tell I'm a fan! Oh and photo center is great always do costco photo Xmas cards.
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This thread is super interesting. I have about 5 Costcos nearby me and the closest one is down the street about 3-5 minutes away. After reading this thread I feel like I’m not fully taking advantage of my Costco!
Before reading this thread I would say I could take it or leave it. I feel maybe since it’s so close to me (as are many of them), it’s just something I “have” to go to get some items and not “get” to go to. I go one or two times a week to pick up milk or veggies (veggies are pretty cheap here) but it feels like I have to battle through a ton of people, find parking and tote around such a big cart for a few items. For some reason no matter what Costco is always packed! I do live in a highly dense area though.
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I love costco. I like that they switch up their products every now and then. We buy eggs, fruit, vegetables, meat, wipes, clothes. I like their athletic wear. They're holiday and seasonal stuff is fun.
The executive membership is worth it. If you don't get enough cash back, they will credit you the difference between the regular membership and executive membership, so its like getting the executive membership for the price of the regular membership.
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I think there is a Groupon for Costco out right now. Also my mom worked for years at Costco and it was free for me but then she retired and didn't purchase a membership for 6 months. So I lived without for six months and it was hard! We are very close to Costco and go twice a month because I don't want to spend so much. I try to go without DH because we spend more when he comes with me!! Anyway, yes it is worth it!
Eta: sorry, it was living social and it is expired now
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We are 5 minutes away from Costco & we go once per month. I don't know how we would survive without Costco. It's by far my favorite store! We get everything from there! Our executive membership pretty much pays for itself.
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We drive 20 minutes to our Costco- at least once a month. We get wipes, dog food, frozen fruit, hummus.... and a bunch of other stuff. We split the executive membership with my mom last year and didn't make enough back for it to be worth it, so will be doing a basic membership this year.
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http://www.beautifulfrugallife.com/category/grocery-store-deals/costco/
She does good break downs of the costco monthly coupons (although they aren't really coupons just sales). We try to follow this and stock up with something is on sale. Because they are high dollar sales. It can mean the difference of getting an ok bulk price on detergent (but really similar to the price you would pay on a B1G1 sale at the grocery store) or getting an awesome sale because there was a $5 off coupon.
http://www.beautifulfrugallife.com/melodys-favorite-things-to-buy-at-costco/
http://www.beautifulfrugallife.com/pantryhousehold-stock-up-price-list/
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