Does Sam’s or Costco Warehouse Shopping Really Save you Money?
Today we have a guest post from Jill Cooper. She is sharing about Sam’s or Costco Warehouse Shopping. Our larger family does benefit from shopping at Sam’s Club and Costco – but I do for sure double check prices and package sizes to make sure it makes sense before I purchase.
Christine
“The Menu Mom”
Are Warehouse Stores Wearing Out Your Wallet?
Do they save you money or just create more work?
by Jill Cooper
Living On a Dime
It’s Saturday morning. With grocery list in hand, you drag a very unwilling family out to the car where you proceed to take them on a mega shopping spree at Sam’s or Costco.
Marching down each isle you tell your family members “We need 3 cases of corn, 4 cases of green beans and — Oh! That’s a good deal on peanut butter so let’s get 3 gallons. Of course Susie, your can get a bag of cookies. They are so cheap! …and Billy you can have a few bags of your favorite chips! Yum! Oh look — samples! These taste great. Let’s get some! What a great buy on chicken – we need 20…”
At the dog food aisle the excitement mounts as each member of the family grabs a corner of the 50 lb. bag of dog food to stack on top of the basket. (We won’t mention you only have 1 toy poodle at home.) After waiting in line and waiting in line and waiting in line you push your agonizingly heavy and overloaded baskets out to the car. Getting everything into the trunk of the car makes putting together a 1,000 piece puzzle seem like a breeze but, finally, home you go.
After you lug everything into the house, it’s time to spend the next few hours repackaging things for the freezer. You double wrap your 20 chickens (they could be in that freezer for quite a while) and frantically try to find places for everything else in your cupboards and pantry. By the time you are done, you are so exhausted that you couldn’t begin to lift a finger to cook, so you all go out to eat.
A few weeks later you gingerly sniff the gallon of half used peanut butter as you try to decide if that strange taste is because it has gone rancid or simply because you are sick of peanut butter. You threw out that partially used gallon of maple syrup yesterday because it had sugared and was looking really strange. You still have ten of your chickens left but if you
bathe them in some spicy sauce you are pretty sure your family won’t notice the freezer burned taste. In spite of having to throw out most of the 50 lbs. of dog food (after a growing family of mice had invaded it), you’re sure you saved money because “they” said you would.
People constantly ask me, “Can you really save more money at warehouse stores?” I usually answer, “Not any more so than at other stores.” I have checked prices at various stores on many different occasions and factoring everything in, I haven’t found any exceptional savings at warehouse stores.
Here are some tips to help you decide if a warehouse store is for you:
- Do your homework and compare prices. Buying in bulk is not always cheaper. You can really save by checking and comparing prices. I was at Costco one day where there was a display of two Clorox one gallon bottles for $1.98 AFTER rebate. I stood there amazed as people frantically grabbed this “great deal.” I knew I could get that same
Clorox for $.98 a gallon at my regular discount store and I didn’t have to mess with a rebate, pay postage or lug two gallons of Clorox shrink wrapped together to my car. - Don’t buy impulsively just because it sounds like a good deal. Say you can get 12 bottles of sunscreen for a great price. Think it through before you buy. If your family only uses one bottle of sunscreen a year, that means you will be storing sunscreen for 12 years, not to mention that most of the sunscreen will expire long before then.
- In most homes, one quarter of the food people buy gets thrown away. If your family of four eats pancakes once a week, that gallon of syrup is going to last you a VERY long time. You might also consider that unless dry goods and freezer items are very carefully stored, they will go bad or get bugs in them. Remember to buy the size that is appropriate for you.
- You need to be very well organized to buy in bulk. Finding places to store everything and then carefully keeping track of what you have is critical if you want to use it all before it spoils.
- Most people usually spend more than they originally planned on things they don’t need. This never saves money. We taste samples and so often end up buying. If this is you, be careful. Maybe sampling is a bad idea (unless you’re making lunch of it)!
If you have ten kids, run a day care or are buying for an organization then you almost have to buy in bulk. If you have a small or average sized family, you will probably save as much shopping for sales at your regular grocery store or discount store. The key is to do the math and evaluate your practical needs. You have to decide for yourself if buying at warehouse stores actually saves you money or just creates more work.
-Jill
For more easy and practical ways to save money and get out of debt, check out Dig out Of Debt and learn more about how to keep more of your money!
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit Living on a Dime, sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more!
So how about you? Do you shop at warehouse stores? Do you feel it is beneficial or do you feel like they are wearing out your wallet? Let us know in the comments area!
I haven’t entered a Sam’s Club store in over a decade. After I did the math, I realized that I would have to spend nearly TWICE my normal annual food budget to break even on the fees to be in the club! Not to mention having to deal with repackaging some of the larger packages of meat. (We were a family of only 3 people back then.)
If there were no membership requirement, I think that we consumers wouldn’t feel so pressured into buying more to make the membership cost-effective. I’d LOVE to be able to go into the Sam’s Club store and buy ONLY the bulk items I want, WHEN I need them. But if I pay an annual membership fee, in addition to the transaction fee at the checkout, I’d be inclined to shop at a big-box store more than necessary.
Just my 2 cents worth.
I do have a membership to Sam’s. However, I live in a rural area where the closest discount store is an hour away. When I shop at Sam’s on our trips to the city, and buy in bulk, it helps because we don’t have stores nearby. Also, things like diapers and clothing are very good deals. And, yes, we do use those diapers! One of the staples in my house, a breakfast item, almost pays for itself with the membership fee. At the local grocery store it is $6 for 8. At Sams it is $7 for 22. I can see that if I lived nearer and purchased there frequently, it might not save money, but as for rural area living, factoring in gas to even the local grocery stores, buying in bulk saves time and money.
Different Perspective.
I just shopped at Cost-co this morning:)….so have to chuckle at this. I agree that you have to be very disciplined to shop there, and check your prices as well. I shop for 4 kids, my husband and myself, and have so far, found that my membership dues are more than given back to me on what I save by shopping there. Costco is also nice when you buy gifts for others. I’ve usually found that I can get a nicer $20 gift at Costco, then spending $20 elsewhere.
Perhaps it depends on the type of groceries you buy. I try to bake everything myself, Costco has the cheapest flour and sugar. With a family of 6, it’s not hard to go through a lot of meat…again, Costco has far cheaper meat than our local grocery store. But…….I have to discipline myself to stick with that grocery list!!
My Sam’s membership is recouped by what I save on medicines and supplements alone and I’m only buying for me. I also save on magazines and cookbooks there. Nice way to try them at a discount before committing to a subscription.
I agree that you have to know the prevailing prices of what you’re purchasing.
I agree that a warehouse club membership can be a money drain when not used carefully. I know several people who make many impulse purchases and over-purchase on items that they will likely not use.
However, by keeping a pricebook so that there is no guesswork involved with buying only items which present a real savings; purchasing only what you will actually use; and then storing it appropriately, even a small family can experience significant savings. Notable are the typically better prices on bulk baking supplies, rice, and dried beans which store for long periods when packaged properly. Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs are usually much better priced. And meats are frequently of higher quality and competitive pricing and knowing how to package it for freezing will result in better end products weeks down the road.
Building a pantry and learning to cook from your well-stocked pantry can be a great way to cut food costs while still providing tasty and nutritious meals.
If you can plan and stick with your plan, you can experience genuine savings. If you can’t be that disciplined, then you are probably not saving and may even be increasing your spending.
Jill’s scenario is unfair from the very start.
First, don’t go on a Saturday morning. You’re guaranteed to meet with crowds. Shop at Costco on Tuesday or Wednesday and you’ll be done much more quickly.
Second, every good article on saving money tells you not to shop with the kids (or husband) because they increase the number of impulse purchases.
Third, why would you need cases and cases of each item? Of course you will have trouble finding storage if you buy numerous cases. Of course kids will get tired of peanut butter if you buy three gallons. Why not just a sensible amount: one?
Fourth, WHY would anyone buy 20 chickens? The price will be the same when you come back next time. The only reason to buy a larger number would be if there happened to be a coupon for a dollar or two off that month. However, it’s still silly to buy more than you can reasonably use or store.
Fifth, buying a 50-pound bag of dog food is sensible even if you have a toy poodle. Actually, I buy Costco’s 40-pound variety called “Nature’s Domain” because it’s a super high quality food. http://www.naturesdomainpetfood.com/why-grain-free If I bought a similar product (such as Orijen or Blue Buffalo or Taste of the Wild) in other stores or online, it would be 3-4 times the price. The 50-pound ones at Costco are also better quality than you find in most grocery stores, at a much lower price. You just need to have a decent container for storage to protect it from mice or bugs. Buy the container once, and it lasts you through many dogs’ lifetimes.
Sixth, as for being too tired to cook after you’ve put things away, yes, that’s often the case. That’s why we ALWAYS buy a hot, freshly roasted chicken at Costco. You just can’t beat paying $4 for dinner — a whole chicken that’s not only ready to eat but also juicy and healthy.
Seventh, peanut butter is virtually indestructible if you keep it in the fridge. I’ve kept maple syrup for over a year without it crystallizing. And, the maple syrup now comes in package that’s smaller than a gallon.
Eighth, earlier, the article said that she double wrapped the chickens. If they get freezer burned in just a “few weeks,” then it was due to her own negligence in both bad planning and poor wrapping.
Ninth, every once in a while an item at Costco is too large for us to use before it goes bad. One example is their huge bottle of hydrogen peroxide. But, the original price is only about the same as I’d pay at a different store. So, I don’t mind throwing it out after a year and replacing it with a fresh one.
Tenth, even if the prices on the food in the grocery store is the same as at Costco, the quality is NOT. Costco’s pork chops are much thicker and more flavorful than grocery store variety. The same can be said for the chicken and the beef. The fresh produce cannot be beat! The bakery at Costco, too, outshines grocery store versions (and the grocery store cakes cost about twice as much as Costco’s).
Eleventh, due to coupons or a sale, there are some times when a single item (like Jill’s bleach) at a grocery store is less than at Costco. But, the savings from an overall shopping trip at Costco more than makes up the difference. AND, you don’t have to spend the time and energy watching for grocery store sales, clipping coupons, rushing to the store before they expire, etc. Or, you can do the majority of your shopping at Costco, and then pick up your bleach (or whatever) at the grocery store.
Twelfth, Jill’s comments regarding tasting samples, buying the product, and increasing your weekly expense are only valid if you’re looking at your budget from a short-term perspective. Sure, you might spend more that day if you add a few things to the cart. But, you’ve gotten something that your family will enjoy. Next week’s expense will be a bit lower because you’ve already got one extra meal. So, over time, the amount averages into the budget.
Besides that, samples are a great way to find new foods. Last week, I sampled the lean sliced ham and found that it is only 25 calories per slice. I’m thrilled to have a tasty, low-calorie (and inexpensive) addition to many recipes.
Finally, as Jill says,”The key is to do the math and evaluate your practical needs.” Too bad she was not “practical” in her examples. For my small family, the savings dictates that we only shop at Costco, with a few grocery store trips for little things that Costco doesn’t carry.
I do not agree with this. I shop Sams Club very carefully and do not lose track of what I am buying. I also am a once a month cooker so the bulk items when compared per unit as is always listed on tags, I do save over regualr stores at least in my area.
Here is an article that will show you how to save money at Costco by understanding their secret price codes.
http://lenrapoport.hubpages.com/hub/Secret-Codes-Will-Save-You-Money-At-Costco