I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Costco. On one hand, they have the best price on bananas in town, on the other, they are single handedly responsible for blowing my grocery budget {I take absolutely no blame, it was all their fault. Ha!}
My parents give me an annual membership every year. Practical gifts rock. I love the free samples, it’s like the store gives you lunch while you shop. And, I always get my gas there. The HH likes the clothes. And, every one in awhile, The HH and Monkey boy stop in for a hot dog and soda for $1.50–you just can’t beat that.
The thing is, there is a right way to do Costco and a wrong way. The right way helps you make the most of the savings, without ending up with 18 gallons of mayonnaise and zero space left in the pantry.
Here’s a couple of tips to help you get the most out of your Costco membership:
- Consider the Executive Membership. It costs more upfront, but it gives you 2% cash back on most of your purchases {excludes purchases made on gas, tobacco, stamps, cash cards and food court stuff}. If, at the end of the year, you don’t more than make up the cost difference in membership with your 2% cash back, Costco will downgrade you back to a regular membership and refund you the difference. It’s a no-brainer.
- Buy Kirkland brand. Costco’s in-house Kirkland brand is great quality and it usually offers huge savings compared to name brands.
- Make sure to request to have Costco’s coupon booklet sent to you. You can get some pretty killer deals using these little babies.
- Know what to buy and what to avoid. In general, Costco has great prices on diapers, wipes, dog food, tortilla chips, frozen veggies, vitamins, and laundry essentials. I have found that things like cereal, condiments, and pasta are usually quite a bit more expensive than regular old grocery store prices. Produce is a crap shoot {except bananas}, sometimes it’s a screamin’ deal, and others, when you break it down to a per pound price, is more expensive than grocery stores. Plus, you have to be able to eat quite a bit of it before it goes bad. Wasted food is wasted money.
- Always check unit price before you throw anything in the cart. Sometimes the deals just aren’t better. Costco can seduce you into thinking you are saving–and sometimes you ARE, but better do some ciphering just to make sure 🙂
Are you a fan of Costco? What do you think are the best deals?
~Mavis
Paula says
Condiments? Really? Do you buy store brands?
Susie says
In my area, milk, butter, salad greens (that sadly, in Indiana, I have to BUY most of the year!), greek olives, feta cheese, and cans of tomato sauces are the cheapest at Costco. I also buy the huge bags of tortilla strips. I never leave without at least one – usually two – rotisserie chickens in my cart! 🙂
Sheila Williamson-Garcia says
Holding together and being a of 7 kids, dogs, cat – she refuses to allow THAT to be plural, and the hubby that keeps me held together… I <3 Costco!
DEFINITELY the Executive membership, I should start leaving hints for that as a gift 😉
I agree on cereals and pastas, but ours has started offering a whole wheat combo penned/spaghetti which breaks down toa great per unit price.
Applesauce from the "gallon" can, spooned into ziploc sandwich baggies, my kids tear off the end and squeeze it into there mouth. They were doing portable applesauce well before it was cool! Not all Costco carry it, which kinda bums me out and makes me saddish!
They carry a pack of fresh Italian sausage, bratwurst, and breakfast sausage with no additives, they freeze great in their original packaging too. Fresh meats I promptly (in my mind) repackage them in approx 1lb packs and freeze, or mush them up into hamburger patties or meatballs and then freeze.
A lot of bakeries will give you food grade buckets that their supplies come in and I used to use those for pantry item after a bulk purchase, rice, beans, flour, sugars etc.
There seems to be a phenomenon in our house that saved me TONS when I figured it out… PORTION CONTROL!!! I used to gasp*choke*break out in hives about laundry/dishwasher pods and liquid vs fabric softener sheets until I realized if they cant spill it, they dont waste it, so for our family, we definitely save $ that way.
I too LOVE Kirkland brand. In San Diego, CA there are discount stores that get Costco products, it's like a Costco Big Lots lol but those aren't everywhere, unfortunately! This phenomenon applies to huge pizzas too, cut in regular triangles, the pizzas are gone like magic, cut into squares, there's leftovers. Same pizzas! Lol!
We do as much gift shopping as we can there also so it goes on our annual rebate.
I used to have a spreadsheet with all my regular Costco purchases and how long they lasted so I kept a steady stream instead of really "stocking up"…. I need to make another, The Great Crash wiped it out and I haven't made a new one yet.
YES!!!! Costco food court, where else can you FILL UP teenagers for about $15 total!
And, most importantly, if crowded shopping makes you glaze over and revert to thefetal position, go on weekdays! It's mostly mom with small kids. If going on a weekend is a must, get there right as they open.
Sheila Williamson-Garcia says
*being a MOM! LOL I must have been in denial when I wrote it
Butterflyweed says
While I adore Costco, I LOATHE the free samples! People abandon carts and almost knock you over in order to get a tiny piece of English muffin with margarine! What?!! I would also never eat something after touching a filthy cart. I say lose the samples!
Annie M. says
We love the samples and are always polite. If you don’t like them, don’t take them, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have them because a few don’t like them. Just roll on by!
Megan says
They have an app now for all of their coupons. Super handy, especially if you are forgetful like me and always leave the coupons at home.
Helen in Meridian says
Megan, did you know that all the coupons have the same UPC? You only need one coupon and it scans off anything.
Melissa Gula-Wyszynski says
What is the name of the app and how do I get the coupons??????
Cecily says
Prime beef, frozen organic veggies, organic olive oil, premium spirits, beef jerky, butter, gift cards, t.p. and otc medications are a good value at Costco.
Madam Chow says
another tip: Costco has an American Express card that you can use there and get even more cash back!
Deals: cheeses, especially fancy ones, mushrooms, romaine lettuce, cottage cheese, butter, frozen berries.
Jenny says
I miss Costco. We moved to an area where the closest one is at least 3 hours away. Another deal at Costco is the pharmacy. At our Costco in California, your prescriptions had no co-pay if it was a generic. So while your health plan might have you paying a 10 dollar copay if you got it filled with a generic, Costco waved the copay. I loved that store.
chris says
My wife and I cut our car insurance by $650/year by going thru Costco. That is worth the membership fee by itself.
jamie says
Love! Love! Costco! Mavis, wondering how you always seem to get a great rebate when you do not spend much money. Share your secret please! That rebate equals over $5,000 worth of in store spending which definitely is not in your budget 🙂
Tasha K says
I think she has mentioned she buys big ticket items, like cameras and computers, at costco.
Mavis Butterfield says
My husband is able to use his Costco card for work supplies and in the past we have bought furniture, clothing, mattresses, tools, shelving and other odds and ends for Costco.
Dottie says
The Costco auto program- they have pre negotiated prices on new cars at selected dealerships. Each model is dealers cost plus a very small flat mark up (mine was cost+ less than 500). I saved about $5,000 off sticker price on my new SUV last year and did not have to haggle, it was so easy! Although, I did still haggle in some free all weather floor mats, cargo liner, and a full tank of gas 🙂
Chris says
2% Milk is $2.85/gal and we easily go through about 3-4 gals/week. Organic eggs are also a deal – especially since I live in a No Chickens Allowed kind of town 🙁 Other good deals are the organic ground beef, no nitrite Coleman bacon, tomato sauce, rice & giant bag o’ potatoes. Can you tell I feed a family of hungry boys 🙂
dan says
i hadn’t seen the executive membership benefit you pointed out, so i looked into it. at my costco, it’s $110 for the executive, and $55 for the basic. that means you have to get $55 back for the executive membership to start paying off. at 2% cash back, that means you have to spend $2,750 at costco in a year just to break even. for me, i don’t think i’d ever hit that number — i spend maybe 150 every other month.
Mavis Butterfield says
I believe if you do not get a rebate for the difference of the membership they will give you a refund.
dropofrain says
I have AmEx card through Costco and use it everywhere for all purchases, plus auto-pay for some of my bills (for example, Dish cable TV)– and I pay everything in full at the end of the month. Last night I cashed out their annual certificate- $386 which is more than the price of executive membership.
PattyB says
I do better at Costco if hubby stays home. Then my cart doesn’t end up with candy, pretzels, and jerky. =)
Marcia@Frugal Healthy Simple says
Thanks to Dan for doing that math for me. I’d never thought about getting the executive membership. I probably spend $480 on diapers alone in a year, but I’m still not sure I’d hit $2750. And hoping to be out of diapers in a year.
I love Costco, but we mostly use it for paper products, drugs (Claritin, Airborne), cheese, bread, frozen pizza, and the occasional roasted chicken.
Helen in Meridian says
I have the executive and rarely meet the quota. I just take my refund check to customer service and they give me the difference. I then roll it into the next year’s membership. On top of that I do get the American Express rebate. It just arrived and was closer to $200. We just got their automobile insurance, and house insurance on our 2 houses. including their umbrella policy thru Costco and saved $750 to $800 over our old policy. If you get the executive membership, the insurance company will never cancel your policy.
Trish says
Butter, cheese (especially blue cheese – not crumbled), tortillas and YEAST.
Vicky says
It’s so easy to get more than your money back it’s not funny, been a Costco member for years…best buy ever is the Organic Butter. Think about it…butter is a concentrated dairy product (lots of stuff removed) so you could be getting concentrated chemicals or just real simple butter in every bite!
Katie B. says
With a family of 7, we use Costco for fruit, veggies, and meat. I shop the outer aisles only, and don’t venture into the middle of the store 🙂 In Charleston, SC, our store has good everyday prices on ground beef and whole chickens. I shop with coupons and sales at the local grocery stores for most else. We also get alot of great GF snack items and bread there for my husband. Their selection is getting bigger and better in the GF category.
Katie B. says
forgot the milk, butter (can’t beat their price per lb), and sliced cheese. I also will get lunch meat and bacon. Again, all GF and a great price for the amount we eat in a week.
Melissa Gula-Wyszynski says
Costco has been our saving grace for GF items! We are a family of six…four of which are GF. Their rotisserie chickens can’t be beat! We usually buy four, two to eat for dinner that day and two that I debone and make chicken salad out of for lunch the next two days!
We bought the executive membership and I’m sure will get a decent enough rebate check.
Tracy says
Mavis, if you ever just have time on your hands try going to the costco business store. There is one in Fife if you didn’t already know that. I have bought sheet pans and large bowls restaurant style. It is fun to go there and no samples either. Lots of other goodies too. Might be worth a trip.
Mavis Butterfield says
I LOVE the Fife Costco store!! 🙂
Elizabeth S. says
I love Costco! It is just my husband, myself, and two cats so far, but I go there about every other week or so. I buy veggies (much cheaper than grocery store as I live in pricey suburb of Washington D.C.), butter, half & half, fruit (sometimes you have to be selective.Bananas are a must), sliced cheese/block cheese, meat, cat liter, laundry stuff, TP, paper towels, tissues, trash bags, coffee, and bread. I cook almost 7 days a week, 3 meals a day, so there isn’t much to waste even though we are a family of 2. I really, really love Costco! Although I did the executive membership and I didn’t meet the price I paid for it and they never heard of giving me the difference, so I won’t be doing the executive again. I remember when it used to be called Price Club (parent’s shopped there when I was a kid). Although, there was a shooting in the Costco I shop at over the summer, I still find myself going back quite frequently and thankfully no more shootings have happened.
Brittney says
Rice is a great deal there. I always wondered where it was the cheapest and finally came across a blog where someone got scientific on it and priced it out by weight/price at costco, asian market, winco, and a couple regular grocery stores. Costco won. I find the cheese prices good at costco as well, and get my olive oil, tuna fish and baby spinach there. I take iphone pics of things that I am unsure if the price is good, then compare it to amazon or my other stores I shop at locally.
I have found that their electronics are often a very bad deal. Its best to compare the exact model and its contents to what you can find at all the electronics stores since those places have the info online. Usually last years models at not worth it prices IMO.
Melissa Gula-Wyszynski says
CostcoTravel benefits have saved me tons of money!
I am a military veteran, and even with my American Legion membership, I get better discounts on rental cars using my Costco Membership! I’ve even gotten as much as half off because they will stack discounts (i.e.; 15% Costco discount plus weekend rental coupon through Costco).
Patti says
I work next door to Costco so I have to control myself or I would be over there hitting the food court every day for lunch. I do keep a price book especially on the Costco items. (Just this week creamer is cheaper at the grocery store than Costco). Their beef is yum, their chicken is overpriced, I usually wait for the coupons and pick up supplements. In Denver their fuel is .30/gal cheaper than any other gas station (too bad they don’t have diesel). The auto program saved us 5000.00 AND we got a 300.00 Cash card. Car rentals are the cheapest of anyone else. I have the regular membership but I am tracking to see how much we spend this year. We have had the Executive in the past when we had planned for larger purchases (furniture, TV, etc)
Annie M. says
We have an executive membership and get enough back every year to pay the membership, plus extra. I LOVE Costco because we are trying to buy mostly organic, and Costco carries more and more organic, every time I go! I also like that the owner treats his employees fairly, and would rather give them my business then places like Walmart. Others have already mentioned the good buys, but pretty much, frozen fruits and veggies, meats, cheeses, etc are a great deal. We buy the whole chickens there, at only .99 cents a lb, which is a good deal! Good deals on ink refills too!
Jeanie says
I actually like Sam’s Club better than Costco. Sam’s carries more brand products that I use on a regular basis like Jif peanut butter, Charmin toilet paper, Sodium reduced V8. Plus my husband has been buying his slacks and dress shirts there for years. I buy the Eileen Tracy brand of undies. We buy all our electronics there because we like the extended warranties and the ease of return. I have bought jewelry there and I also buy salmon and cod fillets there. We buy meat for our smoker and I buy deodorant, razors and shampoo also.
I have a Costco membership but I haven’t used it to its true potential. Anything I purchased there I could have easily bought elsewhere. Part of that stems around the fact that we are a household of two people now. The quantities are just too big. The other thing I despise about Costco is that there are no markers on the ends of the aisles explaining what is found on that aisle. Ugh.