Is Costco really cheaper?

[GoCubsGo]

-Orgain Vegan Protein Powder (my family goes through pounds of it a month) -even Amazon comments say buy it at Costco (goes on sale every other month or so)

-OTC allergy products (yearlong environmental allergies for 2 family members) save $15 a month alone on that

- Sales on consumer products (Olay regenerist, Venus razors, Honest Company body wash, Breath Rite Strips,etc).  If you wait to buy these type of items when they go on sale 4-5 times a year I haven't been able to come close to beating those prices.

-Rao's tomato sauce.  Basically my favorite food item every brought to Costco ( I had been buying it for 10 years at 60% more than Costco prices)

Aldi and Amazon beat most of the food type items (although produce at Aldi is very hit or miss and I have 3 within 4 miles of me)

[Dicey]

On the other hand, there is currently ZERO ice cream in the freezer right now, but a whole bunch of Talenti ice cream containers with various nuts and seeds stored in them.

Lol, I found some good flavors on sale at Target (Where I rarely shop) for 1.98 last Christmas. I bought a bunch and saved the cute containers. I now have about a dozen and a half or so. I use them to batch prep my husband's breakfast oats. I buy the oats and dried blueberries at Costco. The rest of the goodies come from the bulk section at Winco.

Here's a deliciously horrible tale: when a tenant moved out a couple of years ago, there were dozens upon dozens of these containers on a shelf in the garage. He left a mess and we were in such a hurry to get the clean-up done that I noticed how cute they were, but didnt recognize them otherwise. We pitched them into the recycle bin. Now, I could kick myself. OTOH, the ones I have now have memories of delicious ice cream consumed by me and my loved ones. I hear you can sell them on eBay for a buck apiece!

[Cressida]

6) Organic Peanut Butter- ingredient: peanuts. That's all we want in it.

No salt?! What is this madness?

[sorry, necroposting]

[OtherJen]

6) Organic Peanut Butter- ingredient: peanuts. That's all we want in it.

No salt?! What is this madness?

[sorry, necroposting]

Not sure. I'm looking at a jar of organic peanut butter from Costco and the ingredient list is organic peanuts and sea salt.

[GrumpyPenguin]

I feel like every grocery store (or retailer) plays a game of "lets keep reasonable or low prices on a bunch of products, but lets see how much can we get away with charging for the rest of these items".   That's how they make their money, from the complacency of suckas.  Costo is great on a number of items, but absolutely terrible on others.  I buy strawberries from costco and occasionally bananas.  The rest of the produce is high way robbery.  $5/lb for asparagus when it's in season?  I'm sure it's high quality, but it's almost entirely profit for them at that price and they are making money off lazy consumer suckas that aren't aware the local grocery store has asparagus for $0.99-2.99 depending on the season.   Most of the produce never goes on sale either, it's just a set price year round.  Conversely my local kroger ALWAYS has some kind of in season fruit and vegetables on sale. 

Huh, this is interesting. My Costco will sell 2.25 lb bags of asparagus usually for around $5-6, and it is typically of high quality.  I have never once seen asparagus sell for $5/lb at Costco, while at the same time I have never seen any other local grocery store sell it for <$2/lb, and it's typically $3.5 to $5/lb at the grocery stores, and usually of lower quality.

I think a lot of the produce comparisons here are probably worthless/does not apply to others, since local/regional markets vary a lot.  Grocery store produce in my area is usually expensive and of low quality... there are occasional sales but taking at extra 20-30 minutes or more in transport time (round trip) for a single sale item is hardly worthwhile.

[Cressida]

6) Organic Peanut Butter- ingredient: peanuts. That's all we want in it.

No salt?! What is this madness?

[sorry, necroposting]

Not sure. I'm looking at a jar of organic peanut butter from Costco and the ingredient list is organic peanuts and sea salt.

Thank god, I was worried there for a second.  :)

[Dicey]

However, Winco has a cool machine that grinds peanuts into peanut butter at the touch of a button. That's all, just peanuts. It's amazing.

[wbranch]

However, Winco has a cool machine that grinds peanuts into peanut butter at the touch of a button. That's all, just peanuts. It's amazing.

And its warm! We have bought that a couples times, but I eat it too fast so not a good buy. Not sure if it is more expensive than the Adams 100% natural peanut butter we buy otherwise, but it does seem more luxurious.

[Dicey]

However, Winco has a cool machine that grinds peanuts into peanut butter at the touch of a button. That's all, just peanuts. It's amazing.

And its warm! We have bought that a couples times, but I eat it too fast so not a good buy. Not sure if it is more expensive than the Adams 100% natural peanut butter we buy otherwise, but it does seem more luxurious.

I love that It's warm, too! It's always cheaper than Adams, when I bother to check, because...fresh, warm peanut butter!

Alas, the nearest Winco is far away, in a direction I rarely go now that I'm FIRE. Boo-hoo.

[GuitarStv]

I want to get in on this fresh, warm peanut butter action. . . Never seen one of these magic peanut grinding machines though.  :(

[OtherJen]

I want to get in on this fresh, warm peanut butter action. . . Never seen one of these magic peanut grinding machines though.  :(

I've only ever seen one at a Whole Foods (no Winco), but it also seems like something a health food store might have.

To combine two recent topics, I highly recommend melted peanut butter as a topping on chocolate ice cream. I mean, if you're going to indulge in a luxury anyway.

[Dicey]

Our Fred Meyer (Kroger chain) has a peanut butter grinder in the organic/whole foods section -- near the bulk foods area.

I had heard so much about FM over the years that I wanted to check them out on our trip to Spokane a couple of years ago. FM did not disappoint!

[pdxmonkey]

I want to get in on this fresh, warm peanut butter action. . . Never seen one of these magic peanut grinding machines though.  :(

I've only ever seen one at a Whole Foods (no Winco), but it also seems like something a health food store might have.

To combine two recent topics, I highly recommend melted peanut butter as a topping on chocolate ice cream. I mean, if you're going to indulge in a luxury anyway.

They also have almond butter at my WinCo.

[Dicey]

I want to get in on this fresh, warm peanut butter action. . . Never seen one of these magic peanut grinding machines though.  :(

I've only ever seen one at a Whole Foods (no Winco), but it also seems like something a health food store might have.

To combine two recent topics, I highly recommend melted peanut butter as a topping on chocolate ice cream. I mean, if you're going to indulge in a luxury anyway.

They also have almond butter at my WinCo.

Lucky you!

[NorthernBlitz]

I want to get in on this fresh, warm peanut butter action. . . Never seen one of these magic peanut grinding machines though.  :(

They also have them at Wegman's stores in upstate NY if that helps.

[moneymamas]

My experience is that it's not really worth it.  There are a few low price items we buy like oatmeal ($0.95/lb), coffee ($3.66/lb), coffee creamer, toilet paper, and paper towels.  It was also very handy when we were furnishing our house: We got a great deal on a couch and a mattress and a few other items.  Most other items we buy are regular price or higher in price.  Honestly, if I was paying for the membership myself I'd cancel it.  Currently, I'm on a plan with my mom and she likes to pay for my portion of the plan as a Christmas gift each year (I prefer this over useless stuff she might purchase for me otherwise).  I've found most other items are about the same as everywhere else.  If you're looking to save money I highly recommend checking out Living on a Dime on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRa5x3hEOmufj1P1jafv-Cw). We already had a low grocery bill for DW and I (about $300-400 a month) and have managed to cut it in half with their advice. They just had a video on what a good sale price is for various items & have some great gems like their Penny Pinching Mama series and articles on their site (like this one: https://www.livingonadime.com/saving-on-groceries-make-do/) with some great advice.  I highly recommend them and really like their attitude of making it easy on yourself while still saving money.

Also, just a note: If your Costco has their own gas station, it's often worth the membership in gas savings.

[HBFIRE]

We've found Costco is a good value for only certain things.  It's great for some meats, cheese, paper towels/toilet paper, bread, coffee, cereal.  Occasionally I'll even buy some clothing items there, they are a pretty solid value.   It's especially superb for wine (and beer/liquor), Costco is the best wine retailer in terms of $:value ratio (their Kirkland brand primarily, as you're buying top quality brands at a drastically reduced cost --  but also the brands can be excellent value.  Good resource for their wine:
 https://www.reversewinesnob.com/search/label/costco/  ).   One thing I like about Costco is that it has the best return policy I've ever experienced.  After trying all sorts of different wines from all over the world, at the end of the day we have found that Kirkland is the best value in terms of cost:value.

[rulesforrebels]

I do most of my shopping at Aldi and Costo. Costco isn't always the cheapest and with many perishable items I don't need them in bulk but I do love Costco.

Recently for example I got something like 120 Keurig pods for like $23. At Jewel Osco I'd pay $6 to $10 for 12 pods. Other snacks and things that last a long time are a great bargain.

Costco's clothes are good quality and cheap, just got a pair of fleece lined jeans for under $20. Costco also has awesome return policies you can pretty much return anything for any reason.

There's also a lot of other cheap perks, cheap great america tickets, movie tickets, water park tickets, cheap gas, often get deals on rentacars and other services.

[FIREball567]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

[TomTX]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

[Dicey]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

[HBFIRE]

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

not sure what you mean.....the costco card only gives 2% back. 

I don't even use the Costco CC because my Alliant CC gives a better %.

edit:  Oh i see, maybe the exec membership card doesn't give a rebate on the gift cards as payment.  Not sure on that.

[Dicey]

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

not sure what you mean.....the costco card only gives 2% back. 

I don't even use the Costco CC because my Alliant CC gives a better %.

That's what I was getting at.

I'm fuzzy on the details, but isn't there a rebate from Costco and a rebate from Citi when you use the branded credit card? I'm referring only to purchases made at Costco. I don't use it anywhere else.

[HBFIRE]

I'm fuzzy on the details, but isn't there a rebate from Costco and a rebate from Citi when you use the branded credit card? I'm referring only to purchases made at Costco. I don't use it anywhere else.

The costco rebate is tied to the executive membership.  You don't have to use the Costco CC to get this rebate.  What I'm not sure on is if you get this rebate if you pay with a gift card.  I'd imagine the answer is yes, but no idea.  Anyone who does a lot of Costco shopping should look into getting the Alliant credit card.

[OtherJen]

The comment about using your Discover card was in reference to this quarter’s 5% cash back offer on all purchases at warehouse clubs and Amazon. Costco stores don’t take Discover, but Costco.com does. Thanks for the reminder to order my Costco cards, @degrom7 .

[TomTX]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

Well, since I have top tier status at BoA due to transferring IRAs over to Merrill Edge (and getting paid $600 for doing so) - I get 3.5% back on all Costco purchases using my BoA Cash Rewards credit card (Normal 2% back, plus an additional 1.5% for status.) Year round.

And the reward is paid out monthly directly into my checking account (got paid $100 to open it) not waiting til the end of a year and futzing around with a paper check that you can only cash at Costco.

[FamilyGuy]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

[mountain mustache]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

See I am single, and live alone, and I feel the opposite. I love knowing that I don't have to think about running out of toilet paper, or eggs, or aluminum foil, etc. My schedule is really hectic, and I hate the feeling of waking up in the morning and realizing I'm out of toilet paper, or coffee, or whatever else I require to function outside of my bed. I also have a large garage that has ample room for storing things like that, so maybe I am biased.

[Dicey]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

Well, since I have top tier status at BoA due to transferring IRAs over to Merrill Edge (and getting paid $600 for doing so) - I get 3.5% back on all Costco purchases using my BoA Cash Rewards credit card (Normal 2% back, plus an additional 1.5% for status.) Year round.

And the reward is paid out monthly directly into my checking account (got paid $100 to open it) not waiting til the end of a year and futzing around with a paper check that you can only cash at Costco.

Sweet! Thanks for responding.

[TomTX]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

Well, since I have top tier status at BoA due to transferring IRAs over to Merrill Edge (and getting paid $600 for doing so) - I get 3.5% back on all Costco purchases using my BoA Cash Rewards credit card (Normal 2% back, plus an additional 1.5% for status.) Year round.

And the reward is paid out monthly directly into my checking account (got paid $100 to open it) not waiting til the end of a year and futzing around with a paper check that you can only cash at Costco.

Sweet! Thanks for responding.

Sure thing. I forgot to mention getting paid $200 for opening that credit card and spending $500 on it.

[FIREball567]

Don't forget to use your Discover card to buy Costco gift cards online to get 5x cashback.

Or Chase Freedom in-store.

I tried buying a $25 gift card from Costco.com with my Discover card but it wasn't listed as "Wholesale Clubs". I sent a secure message to Discover and the agent said it would count at 5% but I'll have to wait a few months. Anyone can confirm this? Since I shop there so much, I want to buy a larger gift card from their website.
Does anything consistently exceed the Costco/Citibank combination of rebates enough to be worth the additional hoops?

Well, since I have top tier status at BoA due to transferring IRAs over to Merrill Edge (and getting paid $600 for doing so) - I get 3.5% back on all Costco purchases using my BoA Cash Rewards credit card (Normal 2% back, plus an additional 1.5% for status.) Year round.

And the reward is paid out monthly directly into my checking account (got paid $100 to open it) not waiting til the end of a year and futzing around with a paper check that you can only cash at Costco.

Sweet! Thanks for responding.

Sure thing. I forgot to mention getting paid $200 for opening that credit card and spending $500 on it.

[OurTown]

For the bulk paper products, I have a long shelf in the garage which I, myself, put up in classic DIY fashion.  Since I installed it, I don't trust it to hold anything heavier than paper products, so all the Costco bulk t/p, paper towels, and tissues go up there.

I also have a small chest freezer in the garage.  You can divide up most of the Costco meat packages and store portions in the freezer.  We also have a local meat market in the next suburb over, and, OMG, I freaking love it.  Ribeyes, pork steaks, lamb, sausages, sweet Jesus it's paradise.  So between Costco and the meat market, my chest freezer is usually full to overflowing. 

[Roadrunner53]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

[Dicey]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

Me, too!

[TomTX]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

https://www.thespruceeats.com/scrambled-eggs-with-spinach-481680

[mountain mustache]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

https://www.thespruceeats.com/scrambled-eggs-with-spinach-481680

I love the giant bag of spinach! In the Fall/Winter, I make homemade Ramen for dinner, with homemade broth, diced chicken, noodles, and then I put huge handfuls of fresh spinach in the pot to wilt. One bag lasts me about 5-6 meals of Ramen. I also throw it in big pots of Minnestrone soup, make frittatas, and spinach salad!

[Goldielocks]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

https://www.thespruceeats.com/scrambled-eggs-with-spinach-481680

I love the giant bag of spinach! In the Fall/Winter, I make homemade Ramen for dinner, with homemade broth, diced chicken, noodles, and then I put huge handfuls of fresh spinach in the pot to wilt. One bag lasts me about 5-6 meals of Ramen. I also throw it in big pots of Minnestrone soup, make frittatas, and spinach salad!

Why use fresh to cook with when you can use much cheaper frozen spinach?   This sounds a bit backwards on a "is costco cheaper" thread.

[mountain mustache]

The problem of buying in Costco for me is the bulk quantities that they sell. Stuff like Toilet papers, Kitchen towels will sit for months taking up space. Their spinach bag is huge, eggs come in like 24...It might be a big advantage for big families...but not for singles or family of 2. (my opinion :))

Family guy, you gotta think outside the box. A giant bag of spinach can be sautéed down with garlic to make some great side dishes. Can be portioned out and frozen. 24 eggs can be used in various ways. Boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, you can even freeze them: https://nwedible.com/what-to-make-when-you-have-too-many-eggs/

I like to be stocked up at all times!

https://www.thespruceeats.com/scrambled-eggs-with-spinach-481680

I love the giant bag of spinach! In the Fall/Winter, I make homemade Ramen for dinner, with homemade broth, diced chicken, noodles, and then I put huge handfuls of fresh spinach in the pot to wilt. One bag lasts me about 5-6 meals of Ramen. I also throw it in big pots of Minnestrone soup, make frittatas, and spinach salad!

Why use fresh to cook with when you can use much cheaper frozen spinach?   This sounds a bit backwards on a "is costco cheaper" thread.

Honestly, because I think it tastes better, and it's nice to be able to have it on hand for salads as well. I eat a giant salad at least once a day, so I mix fresh spinach with fresh baby greens, and it's a nice variety. I know it's more expensive than frozen, but I grew up eating tons of frozen spinach, and I don't know why, it just doesn't taste as good to me.
Also for the sake of this thread, just comparing apples to apples...If we are comparing the price of fresh spinach at Costco to fresh spinach at Safeway, for instance, it is about $2.00 cheaper per pound at Costco. (comparing my local Safeway, and the closest Costco). I've never seen frozen spinach at Costco, so I have no comparison there.

[Cranky]

I use frozen spinach in several things (wedding soup, quiche, pizza, casserole) because it’s cheaper and actually more convenient than cooking down enough fresh spinach to actually make something. GFS sells restaurant sized bags of frozen spinach and I bet Costco does too.

[TomTX]

I use frozen spinach in several things (wedding soup, quiche, pizza, casserole) because it’s cheaper and actually more convenient than cooking down enough fresh spinach to actually make something. GFS sells restaurant sized bags of frozen spinach and I bet Costco does too.

I've never seen frozen spinach in Costco. The closest was a frozen smoothie base of berries and kale.

[englishteacheralex]

They sold frozen spinach about six years ago but we haven't been able to find it since. We buy the market pantry frozen spinach at Target, which is $.88 for a...12 oz?...bag. That's the cheapest frozen spinach I've been able to find. Keep in mind that our grocery prices in Honolulu tend to be a bit inflated and we don't have Aldi or Trader Joes. Costco is the best deal on a lot of things out here.

[MrsTuxedocat]

My kids are on formula and the Kirkland brand pays for our membership in savings in one month. Formula is such a wicked deal at Costco! We also love the coffee, oils, oatmeal, cheese, eggs, soy milk and nuts.

[NoVa]

I just had to buy a battery for my car. Advanced Auto Parts price for a 500 CCA that fit my car was $159.99. Costco 500 CCA? $72.99. Did I mention Costco had a better warranty?

[Michael in ABQ]

We normally buy a package of 5 dozen eggs but it looks like they're eliminating that. We went yesterday and our local store had a box of 15 dozen($0.88/dozen) and the 5 dozen pack was now cage free eggs that cost $1.83/dozen. The milk was only $4.35 or $2.175 per gallon though which is a better deal than Walmart or the commissary on base. We buy 6 gallons and go through it in a week or two.

[Erica]

The things that are cheaper, no brainers are-

$5 Rotissarie Chicken
$1 for a meat hot dog & soda (the only time we eat hot dogs, they are quality)
Wild Alaskan Salmon. What flavor!
Canned Albacore Tuna
Cupcakes

Ever since they got rid of the Kirkland Yougurt, we haven't visited as much though we have a membership. Our son uses the membership often.