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Our Saturday Plan
I have always bristled at the thought of paying a store for the privilege of shopping there. You know, Sam’s and Costco. I never have done it. However, yesterday my real life BFF KimC at Life in a Shoe did a Frugal Friday post about her experiences shopping and saving at Costco. She’s such a clever gal that she left an open question at the end, asking all of her readers who have experience with both stores to compare Sam’s with Costco. She got great response to her question and I learned a lot about both stores.
My DH and I had been talking about joining one of the “clubs” as a way to manage the rising grocery costs. Still, I just hate to pay a store for the right to give them our money to be able to shop there. But, hallelujah, there is a way around it! We will still have to pay for the membership up-front, but we won’t have to pay for renewals.
Costco has an executive membership for $100 that earns 2% cash back on most purchases except for gasoline. So, if we stop shopping (mostly) at the HEB and start shopping (mostly) at Costco, buy the time a year has passed we will have earned enough cash back with the 2% deal to buy an ocean-side, split-level, vacation getaway in Italy pay for next years membership and then some.
Since we like to eat cheese and drink milk and butter our bread and just eat food in general EVERYDAY, this seems rather do-able. When you do the math (yeah, I can do this kind of math) it works out to $96 per week. If I spend $96 per week at Costco, I will get enough cash back at the end of one year to cover the $100 membership fee for the next year. I don’t know about you, but I can spend $96 on groceries with one arm tied behind my back and blind folded for half a week’s worth. I think I can make this work for our family.
And now, I will boldly copy from Kim’s post. She won’t mind, she’s nice that way. Which do y’all like better? Sam’s or Costco? Why? Even if you only have experience with one or the other, spill it, let’s hear it. Tell me the good and the bad. What products do you like to buy at either store?
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Hey Michelle, thanks for all the info on Costco. I put that blog on my bloglines already.
This is exactly what we do. I think you have made a wise decision. We have been members of all three stores at one point or another…BJ’s, Sams, and Costco. Costco by far reigns supreme. I have read other blogs that compare the stores, but I can’t recall just where at the moment. A search online for Costco comparison or something may turn up what you are looking for.
Costco treats their employees very well, which is one of the reasons why we like to shop there. If anybody in your family needs eyeglasses, they are SO MUCH CHEAPER at Costco, for the same name brands that you can purchase at the major eyeglass stores for twice as much. We purchased our car through Costco, which was the best car-shopping experience I have ever had…no haggling…we just told the guy we had our Costco membership, and he wrote the price on a piece of paper.
We purchase so many things from there…meats, shrimp, cheeses, organic spices, milk and eggs, cereal, fruit (huge bunch of bananas for 99 cents) TV’s, name-brand clothing, great books for kids, movies…I could go on and on. I hope you really enjoy your experience. If you want to see all that you can get from Costco and more, there is a blog called Addicted to Costco that might give you some inspiration. http://addictedtocostco.com/
The thing that I have found with Costco is that you always get pretty much the best price for an item, plus usually something extra. For example, if you were to buy a gaming system that retailed for $300, you could likely get it at Costco for $289, but it would come with extra games or controllers, or whatever, making it an even better deal. (That example was pure fabrication. You will see what I mean once you start shopping there.)
Since we do almost all of our shopping at Costco, including meat, and end up making at least one sort of big purchase a year, like a TV, computer, Kitchen Aid mixer, etc. we always make back our full membership fee, and usually a bit extra besides. I am pretty sure that you will be happy with the savings you receive by shopping there, especially when feeding a band of roving pirates.
If you really want a detailed list of the items I most commonly purchase, email me, and I will be happy to send it to you.
Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.