Sam's club and Costco worth it for retirees.

[Winemaker]

My SIL, real auto geek, buys all his tires at Sam's. He and DD have 6 cars and a truck between the 2 of them.

 

[Ready]

Kind of that way with us. As empty nesters we don't need to buy stuff in bulk. When all 3 kids were in school and home my wife would buy the 50 roll TP package and the 18 pack carton of eggs and 50lb box of laundry detergent. But with a family one can save money buying in bulk.

Where are you finding 50lb boxes of laundry detergent or 50 pack rolls of toilet paper? At any of the Costco’s that I shop at the laundry detergent is just about the same size as at Target or Walmart and the toilet paper is usually around 30 rolls, and usually for about the same price of maybe 20 rolls at Target.

 

[Amethyst]

that is good to know! We will be needing tires soon. The last time we bought tires was at BJs. They definitely had the best price compared with other tire places. But Sam's is closer.

My SIL, real auto geek, buys all his tires at Sam's. He and DD have 6 cars and a truck between the 2 of them.

 

[Scubamax]

We have memberships at both of them, but lean towards Costco a bit more. For us its access to quality house brand products, ease of return and the general adventure of shopping at both places. With the upgraded Sam's membership you get free shipping on a lot of items online, which is a big plus and can pay for itself if you order higher priced or heavy items. Costco's online capabilities leave a lot to be desired, but we have ordered a few things from them as well.

I saw a survey a couple of years ago on which one of the two had better prices. Sam's won by a small margin. It can be difficult to compare since bulk sizing between the two can differ so you need to boil it down to a unit price.

We like the clothing selection better at Costco. Produce is about the same at both places. We prefer Sam's bakery slightly more, but now are lower carb so have bypassed that section recently. For wine Costco takes the edge. Beer is Sam's advantage. Fresh meats it seems Costco has a better selection but price-wise I don't really pay that much attention. Sam's seems to have a better selection of garden and seasonal items. Depending on location YMMV.

 

[ERObjd]

I have never been to a Costco. We live about 1mile from a Sam Club and I reckon Costco is about 5 miles away. Lincoln has 2 Sams and 1 Costco. Sister in law has worked at Lincoln Costco since it started maybe 3 years ago she works in Frozen foods and stocks frozen stuff all day. We let our Sam expire back in 2018. Might rejoin just to get a good price on a new furnace, then probably let it expire again. FTR I cannot stand going into walmart stores. Sams are the same company but much better stores IMO. I have not been in a Walmart in probably 6 years. I don' mind paying a bit more at HyVee or Super Saver and actually get checked out in 3 minutes instead of waiting in line for a half hour for the 2 registers of 30 that are open in a Walmart. Hy vee and super saver check out very quicky.

 

[jurgs01]

We do 75+ % of our grocery/toiletry/wine shopping at Costco. It's a once every 10 day or so trip for us. The meat quality is very high (and with a chest freezer it's easy to portion up the sizes for the two of us). Regular buys are the bagels (they freeze then thaw as needed very well), bulk veggies, milk, half&half, cheese, meats and wine. Lots of special buys when they go on sale. So far this year a Roomba I8 (when it was $100 off its regular low price).
We shop so much that we just received two $390 rebate checks from them last year (2% for the executive membership and 2% for their credit card rebate).

This is us. About the same $$ for the rebates, and periodicity for the trips.

The key is finding what you use a lot of, or items that don't go bad. I'm over buying the "I think we could use that" items. We now know what we want and need from our Costco trip.

Oh, and no one mentioned their awesome deals on clothes!

 

[WestUniversity]

Costco fans here. In addition to the normal shopping we’ve used their travel services. Ordinarily we don’t use travel agents for anything but we have booked quite a lot through Costco Travel. They have been great to work with and we gotten some great deals...

 

[NextInLine]

I’m on smoothie diet for over ten years now. Costco is the best source, hand down. Prewashed spinach, Kirkland frozen 3-berries, pineapple, bell peppers, avocado, chia seed, quinoa, Greek yogurt are the stuff I buy weekly. And the quality are superior than any other grocers. Rebate on my executive membership is north of $400 a year. So Costco for life.

 

[bobbyr]

I’m on smoothie diet for over ten years now. Costco is the best source, hand down. Prewashed spinach, Kirkland frozen 3-berries, pineapple, bell peppers, avocado, chia seed, quinoa, Greek yogurt are the stuff I buy weekly. And the quality are superior than any other grocers. Rebate on my executive membership is north of $400 a year. So Costco for life.

we consume their frozen stuff as well - all the things you mentioned. Great smoothie content!

 

[Amethyst]

Oh, yes, at this point I can write our BJs/Sam's shopping list in my head. Given how long the drive is to either one (almost an hour to BJs) it's fun to see how fast we can get in and out by being organized.

T

The key is finding what you use a lot of, or items that don't go bad. I'm over buying the "I think we could use that" items. We now know what we want and need from our Costco trip.

 

[pacergal]

Costco members for years, great with kids. Still go there now, love their premium meats/seafoods, Daves Killer bread, Kirkland Tuna and of course paper products and cleaning supplies.
We haven't gone as often this past year, but do like their Sr hours. We go right at the start and rarely are more than 10-20 cars in the parking lot.

 

[Ready]

I went to Sam’s Club today instead of Costco after thinking about this thread. While the business model is similar the products are quite different. So it’s nice to have variety.

At Costco I end up buying a 3 pack of milk for around $10.00. Sam’s Club sells an individual gallon of milk for $2.82, which is more convenient for us.

They also have a different selection of chicken breast sections (honey glazed) and some tasty yogurt bars. Their selection of cheeses is different as well.

I can buy a half dozen bagels rather than a full dozen. And they sell waffle fries (yum!). For some reason our Costco has never carried frozen French fries.

I do think the store is a little less organized and Costco still has some premium products that you won’t find at Sam’s Club. But it’s nice to go to Sam’s every 3rd or 4th visit just to have some variety.

 

[harley]

Oh, yes, at this point I can write our BJs/Sam's shopping list in my head. Given how long the drive is to either one (almost an hour to BJs) it's fun to see how fast we can get in and out by being organized.

Lol! I only go during Senior hour, and I write my list in the order of my travels through the store. I'm often called OCD by my family, but it makes sense to me. Our store often opens 10-15 mins before it's scheduled to, and I get there early and am usually checking out by opening time.

 

[Dtail]

Lol! I only go during Senior hour, and I write my list in the order of my travels through the store. I'm often called OCD by my family, but it makes sense to me. Our store often opens 10-15 mins before it's scheduled to, and I get there early and am usually checking out by opening time.

Effectively do the same thing at Publix. In and out, especially during Covid times.

 

[Badger]

Lol! I only go during Senior hour, and I write my list in the order of my travels through the store. I'm often called OCD by my family, but it makes sense to me. Our store often opens 10-15 mins before it's scheduled to, and I get there early and am usually checking out by opening time.

+1 The store is well designed. I know where everything is and make my list accordingly to take the least amount of time there. If I see something that is not on my list that may be a new item that I can use I will pick it up as I pass by without slowing down. The last place I go to is the frozen food section. By then I have picked up boxes to put frozen foods in and cover them for the ride home so they don't defrost. I can get it all done in 45 minutes including check out. In the past it might take a few minutes longer if I get a hot dog. I'm double masked and never near anyone the entire time.


Cheers!

 

[brett]

It is a math problem. How much savings do you realize by buying at Costco? How much is your Costco membership rebate each year? Are their any products that you can only source from Costco?

We are retired. We buy most of our staples and meat/seafood at Costco, all tires, prescriptions, OTC's, some soft and hard goods, and most of our gas and liquer.

 

[Ian S]

DH and I joined Costco a year ago even though the closest is a 50 minute drive. We both needed new glasses and definitely saved enough money for those alone to cover the cost of membership for probably two years. Both cars will be needing tires in the near future so we will look there. I've found I really like their Jose's Mayan Coffee blend which is available for about $9 for a 40 oz bag of beans. The same beans via Amazon is $22 a bag. I estimate we go through 9 bags a year so the savings on coffee alone is nearly 2 years of membership! I've also discovered the highly addictive Sanders Dark Chocolate Sea Salted Caramels that are a steal at about $9 for 36 oz and they sometimes have a $3 discount! Yummy. At Amazon, the same container is about $15-16. We don't go frequently but when we do, we wind up spending $200+

 

[Rambler]

We’ve been members at Costco for years, and we won’t be giving that up. Our biggest commodity purchases at Costco are meats. I buy prime grade rib roasts there, and dry age them myself before cutting them into individual steaks. Sometimes, like Christmas or Easter, I’ll use the dry aged roast as a prime rib. My wife won’t eat a regular supermarket steak anymore because these are so good, especially when cooked Sous vide and then finished over a screaming hot charcoal fire. We also buy most of our paper goods there as well, from TP and paper towels, to paper plates for family gatherings (especially now, as we only do family gatherings outside).

Sam’s has a few things we like that we can’t get anywhere else either. There is mesquite smoked chicken breast, that is a go to for us when we just want a big bowl of chicken Caesar salad for dinner (probably more than once a week). I’m sure there are other things we could buy to replace these items, but we like them, so we keep the membership. We buy gas there from time to time, but because we shop the sales at Fry’s (Kroger), and also get prescriptions there, we get enough fuel points every month to reduce the cost per gallon by a dollar. My truck’s fuel tank is 36 gallons, and I try to wait until it is as empty as I can get it before my points expire, but typically it saves me 30-33 dollars a month to accumulate and use the points for gas. We fill the car once a month, but rarely use more than 6 gallons a month, so if we are at Sam's or Costco when it needs to be topped off, that's where we do it.

Years ago, when the kids were home, we shopped Costco to keep costs down. now we shop there because we like the products we can get there, that may be hard to find elsewhere.

 

[JJpop]

We’ve been members at Costco for years, and we won’t be giving that up. Our biggest commodity purchases at Costco are meats. I buy prime grade rib roasts there, and dry age them myself before cutting them into individual steaks. Sometimes, like Christmas or Easter, I’ll use the dry aged roast as a prime rib. My wife won’t eat a regular supermarket steak anymore because these are so good, especially when cooked Sous vide and then finished over a screaming hot charcoal fire. We also buy most of our paper goods there as well, from TP and paper towels, to paper plates for family gatherings (especially now, as we only do family gatherings outside).

Sam’s has a few things we like that we can’t get anywhere else either. There is mesquite smoked chicken breast, that is a go to for us when we just want a big bowl of chicken Caesar salad for dinner (probably more than once a week). I’m sure there are other things we could buy to replace these items, but we like them, so we keep the membership. We buy gas there from time to time, but because we shop the sales at Fry’s (Kroger), and also get prescriptions there, we get enough fuel points every month to reduce the cost per gallon by a dollar. My truck’s fuel tank is 36 gallons, and I try to wait until it is as empty as I can get it before my points expire, but typically it saves me 30-33 dollars a month to accumulate and use the points for gas. We fill the car once a month, but rarely use more than 6 gallons a month, so if we are at Sam's or Costco when it needs to be topped off, that's where we do it.

Years ago, when the kids were home, we shopped Costco to keep costs down. now we shop there because we like the products we can get there, that may be hard to find elsewhere.

Costco is awesome. They will always have great deals on something you need.

 

[msanniee]

I have kept my Sam's club membership as I get meds for my dogs there. The cost savings on the scripts pays for the membership. I also keep the membership as Sam's Club has no contact pickup. The membership has saved me money, and I plan on keeping it.

 

[audreyh1]

It is a math problem. How much savings do you realize by buying at Costco? How much is your Costco membership rebate each year? Are their any products that you can only source from Costco?

We are retired. We buy most of our staples and meat/seafood at Costco, all tires, prescriptions, OTC's, some soft and hard goods, and most of our gas and liquer.

We shop at Costco because we like the quality of what they carry. It happens that our membership pays for itself in terms of rebates, but we don’t really care.

 

[meleana]

We used to belong to Sams Club where we used to live when we worked. Now where we retired it’s about 45 minutes away so we chose not to join.

We recently joined Costco which is even further away- an hour and a half- but only because hubby needed hearing aids and Costco was the best value for those.

 

[Clayton1]

Who is paying for membership

We’ve had Sam’s membership for years. They are always running discounted or free membership deals. Right now you can get a $45 gift card when you sign up for a membership which is $45 for the year. Just let you membership expires for a week then sign back up with one of these promo deals.

We do nearly all of our grocery shopping there.

https://samsclub.official-coupons.com/?keyword=sam%27s%20membership%20deal-NATIONAL&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsYeTzdrb7gIVCr3ACh3lvwnKEAAYAiAAEgIbVvD_BwE&returnId=8190&clickref=undefined

 

[gwix98]

I figure the gas savings alone pays for the membership. Great wine selection, too.
And my wife needs hearing aids. Much
cheaper than any other source she has
found.

 

[breger1]

For us there are so many little things that make Costco worthwhile. We really follow the sale items and stock up even if we only buy 1x per year untl they come up on sale again . So many toiletry items if you catch them on the regular sale times. Windsheild wipers high quality and so cheap when on sale 2x per year. Getting to be lots of Keto items for those that follow that. High Quality meat and cheese. I could go on. It is very worth it to us.