Yesterday I received my annual Costco rebate check in the mail. For the last 5 or 6 years my parents have renewed our Costco membership as a Christmas gift every year. It’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me. This year we got back $81.81 on our purchases.
Technically I could have just walked in to Costco, cashed my check, and walked out. But sometimes it’s nice to be able to shop like a “normal person” every once in awhile.
I brought a list of course, but got a distracted when I hit the prepared food section and had to put back the butter and cream cheese I had put in my cart earlier.
If you are looking for a free lunch, you stop by Costco on a Friday, Saturday or a Sunday. That’s when they put the good stuff out. Everything is served in bite sized portions of course, but still.
On the menu today was:
- Chili Dogs
- Cinnamon rolls
- Spinach Ravioli
- Hot cocoa
- Coffee
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Corn Dogs
- Mystery Beef
- Salmon burgers
- And for dessert… Aussie licorice.
So what did I buy with my rebate check?
- Honey Ham {for Christmas}
- Sliced Salami {for snacking}
- Breakfast Weenies
- Doritos {for Monkey Boy}
- Grape Juice {for the Girl}
- Half and Half {for the HH}
- Milk, Whipping Cream, Sour Cream {for everyday use}
I even went home with $.74 cents in my pocket. The lady behind me totally tried to get me to pay for her groceries though, that’s why you see a couple of voids on the receipt. I mean really, like I would every buy a Swiffer.
Yee-Haw… Paying full price is fun.
Do YOU shop at Costco, or do you just stop by for the free lunch every once in a while?
~Mavis
Tali says
May I ask the weight on the Salame (looks like it is 2 packs for $9.99)?
Mavis says
1.5 pounds. It’s actually cheaper to buy the 3 pound log of salamie if you are going by weight. 🙂
LaToya says
We rarely shop at Costco anymore. It’s a ways from the house so we’ll spend the gas and then too much there. I got my rebate check too…need to get some of the same things you got. And not paying for the lady behind me either – the nerve – ha. I think Doritos are what, $1.40 with doublers this weekend. Probably about the same price for the bag you have there if you x 3 the bag from Albies. Gonna be a decent weekend and then in to the next with the round-up.
Mavis says
Thanks LaToya. 😉
Penelope says
October 25th. On that day I will start shopping at Costco much more than before (the other one is too far to be practical). I’ve got one opening up right next door to my local grocery store. Sam’s club is gonna be sad. My membership there expires in 2 days and I just may let it lapse. They are 2 cities away.
But tell me, how do I get a rebate check? Do I need a higher membership level than the basic one? (and my favorite treat there… the chocolate dipped ice cream encrusted with almonds)
CathyB says
Penelope – You have to get an executive membership, which is about $50 more than the basic membership, but you get a percentage back as a rebate. They used to guarantee that you would at least get the $50 difference back for the higher membership; they probably still guarantee it, but you might check to make sure.
Mavis says
Yep, Cathy B is right. You can score a rebate check with the Executive membership or their American Express card. I don’t use their American Express card though because I believe it caps at a $500 rebate. I can better than that with my favorite Amex card instead.
Julie A, says
I do both!! They built a new Costco right by my kids school. Sometimes if I am volunteering at school I go there for a free lunch. Now that it is so close I also stop in for quick trips on things that don’t go on sale or with a coupon. Plus we buy all of our gas there.
Kathy says
Don’t have a Costco within bus distance for me. Usually GFS and having the kid working at a grocery store that’s usually where I go. The kid get’s a TM discount on store brands so when I shop there I use his card and get 10% per store brand item. It’s sweet deal, especially if I’m in mood for meat. Plus the fuel perks are an added bonus.
Marcy says
My girlfriend and I share a membership. She’s a household of two, I’m a household of 5. We did buy a bed and two kayaks last year, but our rebate was $275…crazy. At 2% rebate between the two of us we spent almost $14,000 in a year at COSTCO. That is nuts.
COSTCO does have the best priced and freshest fruits and veggies up here and the meat is lower per lb and better quality also.
That’s living in Alaska for you!
Mavis says
Ha! That is nuts. 😉 But hey, if you were going to buy the Kayaks anyway, it’s nice to get some some of rebate.
Sophie says
I love Costco. We live less than 5 minutes away from one and it is on my way to and from work. I actually stopped to get gas today but they ran out! Never had that happen before. We don’t pay for out membership either as it is gifted to us, but we dont have the executive so we dont get cash back. We always buy milk, havarti cheese, heavy cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, baby carrots, and other things. Sometimes it is worth it to pay full price when it would only be pennies cheaper to go through the hassle of using coupons. I will be interested to see if we ever get the weird milk cartons at our store. We still have regular gallon jugs and I will miss them when they go!
Donna says
Just wondering what Y2&Y2 is. I saw that on your list and have no idea what that could be! I can’t imagine it being anything with 100 ingredients, the way you shop. Thank you for your blog. I love to see the simple recipes with ingredients I can pronounce. We are trying to get away from all the processed foods and all those weird ingredients.
Ann says
I normally don’t reply, just love to read your blog and have enjoyed it so much the last six months or so! Helped me get back into gardening so much more this year. Anyways, I just had to laugh, being you wrote 1/2 & 1/2 and not Y2 & Y2. Made me think of the time someone asked me what Y2 was on the paper I had wrote notes on. After that I made it a point to make my 1/2 more like a 1/2 and not like a Y2. Glad to know I’m not the only one to get picked on for making 1/2 look like Y2.
Mavis says
1/2 and 1/2. Thanks Ann. 🙂
Elizabeth F says
No, do not have Costco and not interested. Husband does like to roam Sam’s Club but I cannot stand the place (3 towns away from us).
Michele says
We just recently moved back to Costco-land after four years so I am excited to be shopping there again on a regular basis, though we are in Bellingham so our Costco is CRAZY with all of the Canadian business.
We don’t have the Executive membership though we might upgrade. We do have the Costco Amex and always get cash back for our rebate and never use it in store.
Tracy says
y family loves fresh berries and they are always the best buy at costco as well as other produce. Other hard to coupon things sesonings trash bags and batteries. HTH You just have to look.
Sandy B. says
Our Costco is also less than 5 minutes away. I love purchasing our gas there since I put it on the AMEX and don’t have to carry around that additional cash. My husband is waiting for the rebate check also. We splurge and buy some practical items and some items we wouldn’t normally buy. Strangely enough the last several times we’ve shopped (not on the weekend) they’ve had the free samples.