+1 And, I am not buying any larger items lately either. I have all that stuff.It's an individual decision. For everyday things, there's no way I cover the membership costs, and the bulk size of perishables is usually too big for me. And it's about 20 minutes farther away than my regular grocery store.
The main draw is larger items. [...]
Back when we had 3 kids still in school we had a Sam club membership. It was worth it I think. Especially when our 2 boys were in HS and playing sports we would go through lots of staples, milk, eggs, cereal, meats, fruit, vegetables, laundry soap, TP , toothpaste etc. Now last kid (daughter) graduated in back in 2018 so we are empty nesters now. Don't need to buy the bulk items anymore so we let our Sam club membership expire back in 2018. When I was driving 80 miles a day to work usually bough gasoline at Sams as it was on way to work and usually a good 10 cents to 15 cents cheaper than local gasoline stations. Now retired a tank of gas last us a good month or more.
My wife does most grocery of our grocery shopping at Aldi's now and the rest at Hyvee.
Any empty nesters retirees still use Sams or Costco? Any items that are worth the cost of membership . I think Sam's was about $50 for a year for us.
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Just got one of those "free" $45 Sam's membership offers in the mail, so I may try them soon.
I would pay the annual fee just to be allowed to walk around Costco! Okay, I really like Costco.
Ya, we have both Costco and Sams membership (blow that dough). Unfortunately, Costco is about 115 miles away (verses 8 miles for Sams) so we don't go to Costco very often. We just went to Costco last week and bought about 5 cases of wine. We buy a lot of produce from Sams. We still prefer Kirkland to Sams brands, but Sams has closed the gap over the years. We actually prefer Sams for clothes anymore, but then how many $10-15 golf shirts do you really need.I would pay the annual fee just to be allowed to walk around Costco! Okay, I really like Costco.
I tried it this year when they had a supposed $40 rebate when you bought a membership, never got the rebate. I fall within the group that doesn't get much value from Costco, single, barely ever get gas, and am in an area with very low priced groceries, so Costco is barely competitive with only their flyer items. I probably will not earn back the $60 spent on the membership.
I am also looking for a new bed/computer equipment soon, but Costco is much worse than some of the other options, like buying from Amazon. Honestly not that impressed since I have so many other good options, but I can see it working out in an area with less competitive groceries even for a working/retired at home single.
Price of boneless skinless chicken breast is much cheaper than Costco, it's $1.79 at Sam's. Walmart is $1.99, Costo was higher when I looked in the store.
I admit to doing this on some COFSDASH ™ mornings when, after getting my stuff, there are only about 20-30 people in the store. I'll walk every aisle just to see if there is anything interesting.
their beef tenderloin alone is worth the membership