19 responses to “Can you save money on your warehouse club membership?”

1. 

   Fabulously Broke February 24th, 2009 at 12:19

   I actually did a cost comparison of items at Costco vs. Walmart (yes I know, the devilmart)

   Anyway, buying in bulk of 100 toilet paper rolls (for example) is just convenience because for the same product at Wal-mart, it was actually around the same price, you just couldn’t buy 100 rolls, but let’s say only 48 as a max.

   Costco is really great for small businesses or convenience stores, but the savings at Costco are few and far between vs. Walmart or other areas if you use coupons (like you) or other saving tactics when sales go on.

   Small businesses like Costco because of the bulk factor. They can’t exactly go to Wal-mart and buy out an entire stock the minute it comes in to meet their quota because other people are buying the goods there too.

   I do admit though, Costco has a great sale on technology most of the time, and I found external cheap hard drives there. But for general shopping, the membership is not worth it (went on a friend’s membership).

   Besides, she has to also make a note to deduct the cost of the memberships from the ACTUAL SAVINGS vs buying goods at Wal-mart or other places with coupons (which were minimal in my area).

   I think she’d have to buy a TON of things that have actual cost savings on them before she paid off the cost of the membership and then the savings would begin from that point onwards.. if that made any sense.

   We always seemed to buy and eat more when we shopped at Costco as a family, so once we stopped we just stopped silly luxuries because we found it unnecessary, but tempting when you see it in a huge box “on sale”..

   Sorry for the long post

2. 

   Saver Queen February 24th, 2009 at 12:41

   FB, don’t apologize - that is great information to have. I wondered the same thing about consuming more than you need and buying more luxuries because the temptation is there. Thanks again for this excellent comparison - could be a whole post in itself!

3. 

   Magical Mischief Maker February 24th, 2009 at 12:50

   Not a savings for us because our business memberships are tax deductible and we only shop at Sam’s, Costco, BJ’s and Big Lots.Also Sam’s Makers Mark brand is always cheaper.

4. 

   Erran February 24th, 2009 at 13:03

   Quoting myself:
   “buying something on sale when it’s not needed is still an item unneeded!” and there are certainly lots of bulk items there. In my opinion, it just doesn’t seem worthwhile. Maybe if you know someone, tag along once in a while. I do notice though that they have brands/selection not found in other places, like Costco carries this package of vegetable gyozas which in general I don’t think is carried by other stores, so I’ll go with a friend if I want some.

   Don’t know about you, but the thought of having to pay a place just to shop there and spend money seems ludicrious to me. But what do I know? I understand the co-op system for businesses, where you buy a membership that usually provides some money back or kick-back on future purchases (Red River Co-op gas here in Manitoba, or MEC), but Costco is not one (so I believe). What’s next? Best Buy charging money to shop there??

5. 

   Saver Queen February 24th, 2009 at 13:08

   Erran, you always make me laugh. Shopping with a friend and using their membership or even just noting the prices is a good idea.

6. 

   Kate February 24th, 2009 at 13:19

   There’s only two of us but I find the Costco membership is worthwhile.

   We don’t buy the 100-packs of toilet paper, but they have great prices on both eyeglasses and prescription meds. Books, magazines and clothes are also great deals (not as cheap as the library, but great for taking on vacation).

   We also get decent deals on fruits (especially strawberries and blackberries), veg (especially fancy mushrooms), and Balderson cheese. Our Wal-Mart doesn’t sell any of those reliably, and I’ve found a big difference between the Loeb/Loblaws prices and Costco’s.

   When we’re in TO we sometimes do a Kosher Costco run. The one up by Avenue Road has a kosher meat section. We’ve found the prices on beef are generally good, but the prices on chicken are virtually the same as TK.

7. 

   Erran February 24th, 2009 at 13:31

   Kate, if you’re in Toronto, check out the Sobey’s up in Thornhill/North York (on Steeles I believe). Is it cheaper? Ha, probably not, but seems to have a good selection of Kosher goodies (bakery, meat, Israeli products). They know their clientelle well. Haha I just say that because I don’t know how Ottawa is like. In Winnipeg, we get charged up the wazoo for those specialty goods, but I must say that one Superstore here, for the past year, seems to be stocking up on the NY/Israel products.

8. 

   Money Minder February 24th, 2009 at 14:21

   I love my Costco membership. The membership is free for us because we use the Amex Costco cash rebate card and the rebate covers the membership fee and most of our Christmas expenses.

   Before we started using the casback card, our membership was still worthwhile because we use the optical department - which is cheaper than our Optometrist and any retail optical departments we’ve used - and saved us at least the equivalent of our membership fee each year.

   The prescription dispensing fee at Costco is cheaper than Walmart (in our area) so if you do not get re-imbursed for these expenses, it is a good deal.

   To avoid the trap of overconsuming by buying in bulk, I meal plan monthly, go to Costco monthly and stock up for the month (except for fruit, veg and milk, which i purchase weekly). Monthly meal planning and doing a big Costco shop saves me heaps of time - which is just as important to me as money.

   I still follow the flyers, use coupons and capitalize on great deals at other stores, I just work them into my next meal plan or re-jig a few things to take advantage of a great deal.

   My monthly shopping costs have been the same using the monthly meal plan and shop at Costco as when I planned meals weekly based on flyers and coupons - but the time savings is significant.

   And, fyi, at Costco if you let your membership lapse for 3 months, you will only pay for the remainder of the year when you renew - so there would be a savings.

9. 

   Betsy Bargain February 24th, 2009 at 15:07

   I used to belong to Costco, but right now it doesn’t make since for me. The things I used to buy in bulk there I’ve found cheaper at Winco and Smart and Final, and at the regular grocery stores if they’re having a sale and I have a great coupon. However, I will visit from time to time with a friend who has a membership and see if anything changes price-wise. I think the tip about stocking up, letting your membership lapse, then renewing in a few months is a good money-saving tip. I don’t think there is any financial penalty for doing so.

10. 

    Erin February 24th, 2009 at 16:20

    It’s hard to beat Costco’s price for diapers and formula - the Kirkland diapers are made by Huggies and the formula is the same formulation as Enfamil. The membership was well worth the money when our child was under 2.

11. 

    Melaniesd February 24th, 2009 at 20:51

    I love my Costco membership. I find it more beneficial now that I have a family. In Nova Scotia we dont’ have as much choice for big box chains. Walmart has a food section, but not near as large. The produce at Costco is much fresher and seems to last longer. Milk is $2 cheaper per gallon than the competition. The meat selection is far superior as well. There are many perks to the membership. For instance, being able to buy ink for my printer in bulk saves me a lot of money, and fresh flowers are very affordable there.
    I use my Amex and get a rebate too. This year it didn’t add up to enough to cover the membership fees, but it helped.

12. 

    noble pig February 25th, 2009 at 02:22

    Wow, that’s funny but it would stress me out knowing it’s not paid. I like to pay.

13. 

    Saver Queen February 25th, 2009 at 12:16

    Thanks for weighing in, everyone. Sounds like if you want to save on your membership then letting it lapse is a pretty good tip.

    Nobel pig, why would it stress you out? Do you visit the warehouse monthly?

14. 

    Jenny Lynn February 25th, 2009 at 13:14

    We love Costco. It’s just the two of us but fruit is always cheaper and Costco sends out coupons that you can use. They’re always great. We try to wait to buy things like paper towels, toilet paper, ziploc baggies, etc. when a coupon comes out. We go typically at the beginning of the month and then go to the grocery store halfway through the month. This way we buy the things that we eat a lot of at the beginning to last us the entire month and the grocery store run is for things I might need for a reciepe or milk and other things that we might need. Also, planning to go to buy groceries only twice a month is a HUGE savings for us. Before it was always $20 here and another $40 there. This helps us eat what we already have there rather than continually buying more groceries.

15. 

    Wani February 25th, 2009 at 14:45

    An idea of my mom’s was published in the Tightwad Gazette back when it was a newsletter and not yet a book! There are lots of great tips in there!

16. 

    Chicky Mama February 25th, 2009 at 14:56

    We find Costco to be a money saver at our house, too. I regularly buy milk for $2 less a gallon than the supermarket. Onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, and apples are almost always cheaper than the grocery store, too. I buy canned wild salmon, frozen gardenburgers, and organic chicken stock there as well.

    Diapers and formula are a great bargain as someone mentioned above. Plus, they have good pizza, and that $10 makes 2 meals for our family. Good deal for us!

    Our membership is covered and then some by the Executive membership. We also get a discount on business services.

    I don’t shop at Walmart because I disagree with many of their business practices, but Costco has business practices I like so I would prefer to spend my money to support them.

    We’ve never gone 3 months without a Costco trip so that wouldn’t save us money, but it might for others who go less frequently.

17. 

    Saver Queen February 25th, 2009 at 15:18

    Wani, what was the tip that they published, do you know? That’s really cool!

18. 

    Judy February 25th, 2009 at 17:44

    i regularly shop at costco, not only for the baby goods but for food as well. and as an avid baker i’ve discovered that on basic baking items you pay about 2/3 the cost at cosco per unit that you would at no frills (my regular grocery store). the downside, as we all know, is having to buy bulk at costco, so if you haven’t got space this won’t work for you, but here’s what i found (unit in brackets next to listing):

    Eagle Brand condensed milk (can)
    costco = 2.66, nf = 3.39

    all-purpose flour (kg)
    costco = 70c, nf = 80c

    white sugar (kg)
    costco = 80c, nf = 99c

    brown sugar (kg)
    costco = 1.59, nf = 2.27

    sunmaid raisins (kg)
    costco = 3.75, nf = 5.61

    these are just a few of my baking staples, but over the course of the year it’ll definitely be worth my while to go to costco, since i don’t mind storing 20lb bags of flour in my kitchen.

    i saved my last costco receipt for cost comparison on other common items on our grocery list (yogourt, breads, etc etc), so i’ll post those as soon as i figure them out, too.

19. 

    Saver Queen February 25th, 2009 at 17:50

    judy, thanks so much for this break-down. It’s incredibly helpful. I don’t mind storing large quantities of baking supplies either. i found a great big tupperware kit from zehrs (well, not tupperware, generic brand) with great big containers that fit those large sizes of flour - they work great. can’t wait to see your other price comparisons too.