Am I missing out by not having a Costco membership?

I won a year membership to Costco (HUGE biceps competition), and after getting over the novelty of shopping there, I found there wasn't anything there that compelled me to actually buy a membership, so I let it lapse. It's a bunch of hype that's not really deserved if you ask me.

You sound like such a beta.

Don't listen to poster number 2 in this thread. There is A LOT to benefit from shopping there. Ignore his comments and see for yourself. Great deals, not hype at all.

It’s for the middle class that needs to worry about grocery prices as opposed to picking up whatever they like at the most convenient place.

Costco manager here. Feel free to ask any questions and I will answer.

The short answer is that it all depends how you use it.

Obviously my membership is free, but were we (wife and I) regular members, Costco would be paying us to shop thanks to the cash back.

It's very, very easy to overbuy and spend on things you don't need and I would say our business depends on that. My wife and I plan things out well and adhere to a pretty strict budget and don't like waste, so I'll share how we get the most out of it.

Gas - We both fill our cars up about twice a month. My store generally is about 10-20 cents per gallon cheaper than the local spots. Over the course of a year that alone pays for the $60 membership.

Travel - We typically take two vacations per year and at least one is done through Costco Travel. An example was our Hawaii trip where cost-wise it was comparable to other places, but we got 2% back through our membership and 3% back through the free Costco Visa card. They also gave us a $100 gift card for booking and we had $50 resort credit each day we were there.

We booked a trip this year through a different travel place that Costco didn't offer, but we still booked our rental car through Costco. We saved about $200 over the course of the week, plus the 2 and 3% back as mentioned above, free second driver, etc.

Groceries - We buy most of our groceries from Trader Joes since its just the two of us, but we plan things out well to get the most of Costco. Chicken breast at 2.99/lb for a pack of 6. I put two in the fridge and freeze the rest, pull out the night before I need it. Big bag of rice lasts us like 2 months, same with quinoa and pasta. Coffee I can buy a 2-3 lb bag for less than a 1 lb bag elsewhere and not lose quality. Each week we pick a few things that we want to eat that are pre-done and try those. Gigantic box of egg whites that's good for a month costs me $10.

Produce - Tried to do it but we wasted a lot. Now I buy a pack of bananas, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries each week plus a pineapple. Two pounds of berries costs the same as 1lb from TJ.

Snacks - big bags of skinny pop, granola bars, protein powder/drinks, etc. Only buy shelf stable items and I have a ton of storage space so it lasts forever.

Dry Goods - Bath tissue, paper towels, lawn bags, trash bags, etc. Lasts forever and only need to buy very rarely. Certain items like cat litter normally priced at $16 for a 42lb container goes on sale for $12.50 and I buy 3-4 at a time and it lasts until the next sale. Over the course of the year it saves me over $60 vs buying from the pet store.

Car Buying - I saved $1500 on my car when i bought it in 2019 for being an Executive member. Costco pre-negotiated the price so I just picked what I wanted and didn't have to haggle at the dealership.

Random Bigger Purchases - We try not to impulse buy and we do a good job overall. We plan out our big purchases and try to save money where we can. The TV we wanted we found at my store that was an open box return and we got it for $300 (normally $500) and has been great for almost 5 years. The Christmas tree we wanted went on sale and we got it for $400 vs a similar product for $700 elsewhere. Our pressure washer saved us about $100 last year. I waited for the Weed-n-Feed gigantic bag to go on sale (normally $90, but we got $50 off when I also bought some plant food for $20 which I also needed) and I know I can use that bag for at least 2 summers. We bought a bunch of Arborvite trees for our yard at $32.99 each that were at least $50 and closer to $75 most other places. I saved about $2000 on my wife's engagement ring!

We're not perfect and definitely buy stuff we wouldn't normally, but we practice self control for the most part. There's a ton of other stuff I didn't mention that saves us money like optical center, pharmacy, etc.

All in all, we get back usually about $150 from the membership 2% and around $500-700 from the credit card. So if we buy some stuff we otherwise wouldn't, I'm not that worried about it.

The thing is Flagpoke you are kind of a food snob. What do you even eat?

1. why do you check for membership cards upon entering the store when you need to produce your membership card when checking out / paying for your purchases?

2. Why the need for someone to check your receipt against your shopping cart when you leave?

ps. the meats sold at Costco are waaaay overpriced. Chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks are 2x more than they cost at my grocery store. The pork and beef are way more expensive too. Most everything else in the store is good value for the price charged

In my area, I can buy from Costco online and have it delivered by Insta-cart, but they mark everything up by about 17% for this convenience.

Why doesn't Costco institute a service whereby the customer could similarly place their order online but instead drive up to pick up their order curbside? Maybe such a service could be done at a more modest mark-up over in-store shopping.

In short, how about considering Curbside pick up?

I will admit to being a bit of a food snob. Costco had ONE thing I LOVED, and it was a brick of habanero cheese that was amazing. Just about everything else was MEH...talking just groceries...I never shopped for clothes or anything non-grocery there. I suppose if you want to eat a lot of mass-produced processed food, you could probably get decent deals on that. My dog didn't even like their Kirkland dog food.

What do I eat? My diet is mostly protein and green and colorful vegetables 6 days a week. In that week I have fish as least twice (and usually exactly twice). I eat beef and chicken and eggs and cheese and nuts on other days as my protein sources. I eat very few carbs in those 6 days. I cook only with olive oil. I drink black coffee in the morning and then nothing but water the rest of the day...again, 6 days a week. Once a week I will allow carbs in the form of grains and/or flat out sugar. Most of the time on the weekends (one day only) I will either get pizza with The Lovely Mrs. Flagpole (yes, she knows I call her that here), or burgers or Chinese food or gyros or some other such thing. I typically might have a Vernor's on the weekend...usually just an 8 oz. can.

If we are traveling, then my more strict diet goes out the window...I'll eat anything that is convenient and good, and I usually don't drink coffee if we are driving a lot because for me that can spur on an inconvenient deuce, so I'll substitute with Coca Cola or Dr. Pepper or some other caffeinated beverage.

On special ocassions, I'll have dessert or maybe some alcohol.

Big box of egg whites?

Yes you are, next question?

The one by me is a huge hassle. Always crowded, especially the gas pumps. If you like buying in bulk, its the place to go but that's it really. I like not feeling like I'm parking for an event when I go grocery shopping. The Costco benefits like saving on travel and cars are rarely worth it if you just shop around and do your research.

That’s right, big box of egg whites.

Open image

The herd behavior is impossible to avoid in this human-bloated world anyway, so why not jump onboard? BTW I just go with my daughter and use her membership for my hearing aids (they have a fine Hearing Aid Center and free maintenance!)

Do the simple math. Things to consider:

extra miles from your home

overbuying food that goes bad (massive veggie trays, cheese, slabs of salmon [the salmon is good])

is it really less cheddar than a sale price at your usual grocery? (TP, meats, olive oil...)

Family of 4 here. It is very worth it to us. We have their credit card and the thing more than pays for itself with lots of extra cash back.

we do maybe 6-8 costco trips a year. Freeze the meet and buy non perishables. We also have done a few vacations through them (they are fantastic and have top customer service).

pay the credit card off right away each month. So far with rewards we have gotta a new fridge and dishwasher.

With twin babies and all the diapers they go through, I caved and got a membership. I picked up my card, took a few steps into the store and then had to leave. It was overwhelmingly crowded and too big. I couldn't figure out the flow of things and everywhere I turned, there were people in the way.

I'm on the fence if it is worth it or not. A lot of their cost benefits on products can be realized by buying store brand at the local store, especially when on sale. It's easy to buy too much especially of produce and other perishables.

On the other hand, there are a number of things that you can save significantly on such as meat (brisket in particular comes to mind at 11/lbs at the grocery story and 4/lb at costco).

You must be insufferable (like most other hypocritical, condescending, narcissistic Democrats) in real life.

That said, every post of yours just oozes with your insecurities masking as arrogance.