COSTCO!

Alright, my bulk-shopping friends, I need your expertise. I'm familiar with Sams and have had a membership there before. I've never even been in a Costco, but there are two in Austin, so we are wondering whether to get a membership with Sams again or to try Costco. We usually only bought food and basic household items - no electronics or large items. So fill me in!

Lemme 'splain. No lemme summ up.

I have ethical issues w/ Wal-Mart as a corporation, so we've dropped Sam's. One friend thinks COstco may be a teeny bit pricier, but I haven't noticed. Their gas is consistently the cheapest where we live (unless you get the 10 cent discount from Tom Thumb/Randall's, and you have to use AmEx to pay @ Costco I think). Costco also has a better selection of health conscious foods...vegetarian, vegan, kosher, gluten-free, etc

Never been to Sam's Club. I had a Costco membership, but now I'm a BJ-loving' girl.

(Hubby's happy with that)

I have some ethical issues with Wal-Mart as well, but I currently live in small-town Texas. If I indulge my ethics, I have to use more gas to drive to another town to get decent groceries. Trading one evil for another. However, the local Wal-Mart in my old hometown actually did quite a bit for the community and had a convenient recycling center.

The better selection of healthy food is a big plus for Costco in my book.

in all of my shopping adventures I've never even been in a Sams/Costco/BJs... we have all 3 in our area.

MW - do you do all of your shopping in one? I never entertained it b/c there are only 3 of us... I equated those stores for families with 4 or more... or just 1 teenage son...

Its been a few years, but Dh and I did a price book-type comparison and we found that, for us with our list, Costco was cheaper. I noticed at Sams that there just seemed to be a lot more of the junkier stuff, whereas at Costco there is an emphasis on higher end items available in more economical sizes. Like Stacy's chips and hummums, for instance: two staples of our household.
Costco has a "house brand" called Kirkland and those are always the cheapest products. We have found them to also be of consistently high quality. According to their PR, they try to source their store brands from smaller, regional businesses without big distribution chains, and I kind of like that idea. (Bu that might not be true, either.) I also find it fascinating that some of our Costco cashiers have worked there for over 10 years! I have a receptionist in my office right now whose mom is one of those cashiers. She says her mom has great health insurance, a nice 401K match, and has had a raise EVERY SINGLE REVIEW since she started with them. She is a cashier, and she makes what most grocery store managers make. That is hugely impressive to me, because salary and benefits are really costly. I am impressed by a company who takes care of their people. I'm sure there are people out there who hate Costco for whatever reason: but we love them.

GG - no, we didn't do all our shopping there, but went once each month to every 6 weeks or so. We stocked up on things like juice, coffee, razors, spaghetti sauce, apples, laundry soap - things we get every grocery store trip. That way, when I went to the regular grocery store, I was just getting specific items for recipes or fresh and perishable items to fill in the gaps. We saved quite a bit on our staples and it made my budgeting easier. Not all the bulk items are in huge quantities. We also split up some of the purchases with my grandma.

We love Costco, never been to a Sam's so I can't really compare....In addition to food and household supplies, we've gotten electronics, furniture, contacts and prescription glasses...and you can't go wrong at a place where you can also buy your alcohol in bulk.....

We've done both Sams and Costco. We switched to Costco. For one thing, I have always heard that they treat their employees very, very well. For another, I concur with the statement that Costco has more "healthy" stuff we eat. We can get bulk veggie burgers there, bulk whole wheat pasta, and other things we couldn't get at Sams.

GG-- we are just three, and we shop Costco once a month (more if we are entertaining a lot for some reason.) We stock up on the following there:
paper products (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper)
cleaning products (dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent and those Clorox wipes)
personal care items (bath soap, Cetaphil, sunscreen and OTC meds)
granola bars/ trail mix/ snacky-items
microwave popcorn
milk (well, not stock up pers se-- we don't freeze it, but we always get it there)
butter (which we freeze)
cream cheese (which we also freeze)
eggs
frozen foods (chicken nuggets, fries, sometimes tortellinis if DD is eating them that month, Lean Cuisines, veggie burgers)
frozen protein (burgers, chicken breasts, fish, shrimp)
fresh meats/ poultry/ seafood (which we portion and freeze at home)
pantry items like Bisquick, spices, vanilla, chocolate chips and some condiments
bread, english muffins and bagels

then we get other non-stock-up items like hummus, salsa, and produce (which is AWESOME there)

To avoid waste, this is what we do:
a) split some items that we can't freeze with another family-- like tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce
b) cook up stuff we can't freeze before it goes bad so that we can freeze what we cooked (casseroles, sauces)

I also get some good deals on clothes for my daughter there as well as on gifts-- they can have a good selection of toys and books. Sometimes they are pricey, but usually because they are packaged as a set that isn't available elsewhere (ie: not just a Barbie, but a Barbie with a ton of accessories)

We used to get formula and diapers there.

By our price booking, we get a better deal on every one of those items if comparing price per unit. This one big shop a month is about $200 (we don't get every item I listed every time.) Then, we have shorter trips during the month for odd items or to replenish milk and produce. Those are usually arounf $50 and we don't need to go every week.

Costco is a huge part of us cutting our food budget.

Thanks Laura and MW!

I always have thought I'd spend more by going there and not getting the best usuage out of it... I might have to reconsider...

Costco! For all of the reasons previously mentioned. The few Sam's that I've been in have the same problem as all Walmart stores, they're dirty.

Oh, I forgot, we'll soon be a family of three but SM and I have been members for years! When our local one opened they were giving out a one year membership.

Well, that tears it. I'm running out to join the Costco. I've been opposed to Wal-Mart for years, but I've been on the fence about joining Costco, for the same reasons GG mentioned.

Although I do have to say, the few times I've driven through the Costco parking lot due to accidentally missing a turn or something, the drivers and pedestrians have all been totally cluless and exceptionally rude about right-of-way, walking out in front of cars, etc. Just total buttheads.

Sabine - I *heart* Inigo!

Costco = the way to go.

CJRW, our Costco is the same way. We try to go right after work during the week. Saturaday and Sundays are CRAZY!

We have both Sam's and Costco here, but I don't have a membership to either. However, Sam's is owned by WalMart, which is evil, so that would pretty much do it for me all by itself.

But I've also read that Costco treats its employees *much* better than WalMart/Sam's and that in order to do this, the CEO only makes several hundred thousand dollars a year, as opposed to several million.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Business/story?id=1362779

We shop costco. We only shop there every few months, but stock up on some essentials. They have the best deal on fantastic natural laundry detergent. We share a membership with our neighbors, shh...

CJRW: Video of our Costco's parking lot would have to be labeled: professional drivers, do not attempt if it was shown on TV. Except, sadly, it is not professional stunt drivers, just nice 80 year olds and my mother trying to back out while calling me on her cell phone.

Never been to a Sam's.

And I want to love Costco. I really do. I dig the store, the giant bulk items, the cheap(er) electronics.

But Costco has a way of bringing out the worst in humanity. The above-mentioned parking lot. People don't pay attention to others in the aisles and run you over with their giant shopping carts. Not to mention the mad dashes to the free sample stations.

I get angry at the world whenever I step foot into a Costco. Especially on a Saturday.

Costco, definitely, for the same reasons as everyone else. We got a nice stainless steel kitchen sized trash can there for $35.

DGB, I feel the same way about Meijer. That's why I do my grocery shopping between the hours of midnight and 3 am. Last night, I think I was the only customer in the store. Is Costco open 24/7? This thread is very persuasive, but I don't know if I can give up my nocturnal shopping habits, as wandering the aisles alone has become a sort of zen escape for me (how sad is that?).

Secret tip about Costco. They open at 9 for business customers and 10 for average joe's. That said, they've never, ever turned me away when I showed up at 9. And there's almost nobody there.

DGB - for that same reason my husband is no longer invited to do the shopping with me. Those stores turn him sour.

Costco not open 24/7. Though it would be cool if it was.

Costco! Costoco has one of the best corporate models of any US company hands-down. Not only does the cEO make a respectable wage instead of 200 million times (yes I exaggerate) the rest of their average employees, but the benefits and wages paid to the average employees are also very good.

That's not the best part though folks! They actually source more local products than your average super store. They do an excellent job of sourcing milk, eggs, etc. from more regional sources. But they also allow in vendors from other businesses in your area to sell in the aisles at our Costco. It's wicked crazy stuff.

It seems that Costco is the undisputed winner! You guys are a wealth of information. Thanks!