Author Topic: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership  (Read 33450 times)

Zikoris

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #50 on: November 22, 2014, 01:20:38 AM »
Our soy milk savings alone pay for the membership - the stuff is REALLY expensive in normal grocery stores here, $5/carton vs $9.49 for 3 at Costco. We also get vegetarian meat substitutes, flour, deodorant, nuts, and movie tickets. That's about it.

Goldielocks

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #51 on: November 22, 2014, 06:40:03 AM »
Our soy milk savings alone pay for the membership - the stuff is REALLY expensive in normal grocery stores here, $5/carton vs $9.49 for 3 at Costco. We also get vegetarian meat substitutes, flour, deodorant, nuts, and movie tickets. That's about it.

I could not get Costco to pay and advantage based on groceries alone either.   Only real savings for us is on cheese and garbage bags.  We only need one costco size pack of garbage bags a year.

It does make sense for one time items, like tires, basic fridge (if new) or our new mattress when the membership pays back in the one time savings.  Used to be good for clothing basics, but then some of the items I bought did not last and I discovered thrift stores.   Otherwise, it is just a huge "push" on selling items you don't need, but could use.

My biggest beef with them is two fold:

1) Needling beef (tenderizing it) without labeling that you need to cook it through-- this is how a family ended up with E Coli 2 yrs ago during the recall.
2) People who blindly assume / exclaim that costco is the cheapest price and fill up their car, week after week.    Y'all know the ones I am talking about.

In actual fact, I found Safeway (a hi/low and pricey grocery here) to be cheaper than costco when you shop the sales -- and not even just the annual sales, but the monthly ones.
e.g.  Campell's chunky soup -- $1.67 on sale at a hi-lo grocery versus $2.49 regular price at Costco, if you buy the full case at a time.



Oh,  and 75 cents/lb for carrots in Tennessee seems really high this time of year.  That is our average price year round, but since late September,  I have been purchasing between 30 cents and 60 cents per lb. 

fa

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #52 on: November 22, 2014, 07:06:19 AM »
In our area Costco seems to have the best value for money.  You obviously have to be careful with quantities, especially for perishables.  We find the Kirkland brand to be an especially good pick in general.  Also, their car batteries are rated as some of the best around.

The danger with Costco is that it is so easy to leave the store with much more than you needed.  When I read YMOYL, I changed my mindset when going to Costco.  Whereas we used to never get out of the store with less than $100 of purchases, now it is rarely over $100.  Definitely don't go wandering down the aisles to see what cool stuff they have.

A really annoying trend at Costco lately is the vendors that are in the store.  I don't want to have to say "no" constantly to people offering all kinds of stuff while I shop.  They used to have an occasional vendor but now they are all over the store.

A really big plus:  the very generous return policy.

I own a business and we buy supplies at Costco.  So with my executive membership the cash back is really nice.  After I sell my business and the kids are gone, I doubt we will keep the membership.

fartface

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #53 on: November 22, 2014, 09:38:28 AM »
Family of Five living 1.7 miles from local Costco (next door to Aldi which we also frequent A LOT)

Kirkland Coffee
Kirkland Toilet Paper
Kirkland Chocolate Chips
Kirkland Milk
Frozen Organic Broccoli
Organic Spinach
Romaine Lettuce
At least one Rotisserie Chicken per week
Organic ground beef
Organic eggs
Cereal
Guilty pleasure: spinach, Artichoke, and Parmesan dip

Average monthly grocery bill: ~$600/month

Rural

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #54 on: November 22, 2014, 10:43:58 AM »
I let my membership lapse last month. I bought it strictly to get the "free" hearing check – that was a good deal, actually, better than any other hearing check I could get. And if I had needed hearing aids, it would've been an even better deal.

But. I went in a couple of times, parking and navigation nightmare though it was, and I never found a single thing to buy that did not cost more per weight than the same item cost at my local groceries. The tires also cost more than the local tire shop, but people drive hundreds of miles to go to my local tire shop, so there's a good reason for that. The only thing that cost less than anywhere else was fuel, but that doesn't help me at all since it's 45 miles away.

Zikoris

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #55 on: November 22, 2014, 11:52:53 AM »
One nice thing about walking to Costco - makes it impossible to overspend. Anything we got beyond the essentials would be literally impossible for us to carry out the door.

The_path_less_taken

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #56 on: November 24, 2014, 09:45:54 AM »


A really annoying trend at Costco lately is the vendors that are in the store.  I don't want to have to say "no" constantly to people offering all kinds of stuff while I shop.  They used to have an occasional vendor but now they are all over the store.



I registered in order to answer this comment above:

Those "vendors" are the MOST Mustachian thing about Costco!!!

There is no way that you can go to Costco practically any day (and especially now thru New Year's Eve) and not consume several thousand calories of FREE FOOD. Their job is to make sure you try the free food. They WANT you to try the free food, and are delighted when you do. Their policy is to let you try it as much as you like.

Yesterday in Costco (northern Nevada) they were handing out turkey, stuffing, some veggie casserole, gravy,  cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie...on one plate! And: meatballs, eggrolls, sausage, at least 5 types of cheese, mango juice, pomegranate tart, popcorn, whole grain toast...and those are just the ones I remember walking by!

Several times a week they also give out free laundry detergent, free roll of toilet paper, free supplements...basically little envelopes of totally FREE stuff!!! When they have less than a full pallet of something and need floor space, they will drop it to a laughable price: a full flat of Bartlett pears for $4 most recently here.

Costco actually is increasing their organic and gluten free products, faster than my other local stores.

Granted, the people who don't live near one can't benefit. But if it were within biking distance, there would be a great advantage to eating a free lunch there while shopping.

Ethically I would feel the need to have a card, and despite being single I make money in rebates on my AMEX card so Costco pays for me. But you actually don't need a card to get into Costco.

By law, they are required to let you in to use the pharmacy, the ear test, and the optometrist.

Just sayin'.

Zikoris

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #57 on: November 24, 2014, 10:28:40 AM »
I'd love it if my Costco gave away stuff other than food I can't eat. I also say "no" a lot.

The_path_less_taken

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #58 on: November 24, 2014, 01:00:19 PM »
I'd love it if my Costco gave away stuff other than food I can't eat. I also say "no" a lot.

They do--national chain so national advertising-- but not usually on weekends. Those tend to be Monday/Tuesday demos I think. And they're harder to spot if you're just casually shopping...I only normally walk back to detergent if I need it.

Now having scored probably 3 cleaning samples and a roll a toilet paper just this year, I cruise the store quickly just to see.

As for the vendors: agreed. But the blender ones have awesome samples. The other ones I just nod 'no thanks' at.

jamal utah

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #59 on: November 24, 2014, 01:53:30 PM »
Has no one else bought tires at Costco? That in itself made up the cost of the membership cost one year.

You don't need a membership to get prescriptions. I don't know if that applies to pharmacy items, though.

My wife recently got some all season tires at Costco.  I can't remember what we paid, but it was the best deal around.

Zikoris

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #60 on: November 24, 2014, 01:56:09 PM »
I'd love it if my Costco gave away stuff other than food I can't eat. I also say "no" a lot.

They do--national chain so national advertising-- but not usually on weekends. Those tend to be Monday/Tuesday demos I think. And they're harder to spot if you're just casually shopping...I only normally walk back to detergent if I need it.

Now having scored probably 3 cleaning samples and a roll a toilet paper just this year, I cruise the store quickly just to see.

As for the vendors: agreed. But the blender ones have awesome samples. The other ones I just nod 'no thanks' at.

I've been on weekdays, weekends, daytime, evening, and there never seems to be anything other than food, but they could be hiding it somewhere I don't go I suppose.

jamal utah

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #61 on: November 24, 2014, 01:57:47 PM »
Our Costco is pretty good for buying health food items.  I can get chia seeds, coconut oil, and quinoa far cheaper at Costco than anywhere else. 

I know a lot of people buy meat at Costco, but I have always found the prices to be much higher than other places. 

Dicey

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Re: Thinking of cancelling Costco membership
« Reply #62 on: November 24, 2014, 02:12:14 PM »
I particularly loathe the salespeople who scan your receipts EVERY time you check out and try to sell you their Exec memberships with the AMEX card.
FYI the new CEO discontinued this practice. You were apparently not t he only one who disliked the upsell.

There's a reason for the receipt scanning. In order to keep their overhead low, Costco does as much as they can to ensure accuracy and prevent theft. Yes, there are a number of people who would take an old receipt, shoplift the same item on a different trip and try to pass it off as their original purchase. Highlighting your receipt makes that evil trick more difficult to pull off. Ever notice that it's a different color every day? Since I can't stand paying more for stuff because other people steal, I happily wait for my receipt to be checked.

I heard that the checkout line program was discontinued, but the same guy is still at my Costco, perhaps because it's one of the highest volume stores in the company. Either way, I don't love being asked, especially since we have an Exec. membership and AMEX.

I, too, use Costco as my primary source of groceries and gas. Tires and rental cars are great deals as well.  For us, a Costco membership is a complete a no-brainer. The fact that they pay a living wage that costs me nothing bit a bit of wait time in line and again at the door is something I really appreciate.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!