COSTCO And Empty Nesters

[sweensdv]

A new COSTCO will be opening up near me in the fall and I was thinking about buying a membership. It's just the two of us at home now so I'm also wondering if a membership there would pay for itself. Anyone here who is a member and in a two person household? Are their prices that less expensive that you can easily recoup the membership cost in a year? What about quality of goods sold, OK, cheap junk, or really cheap junk? TIA.

[tommyt654]

We had a membership yrs ago and passed on a renewal after the squids were gone as unless you are buying a lot in bulk and have a freezer and eat a lot we found using coupons and buying paper products from Staples saved us more if not the same amount of funds.We found using, http://www.afullcup.com/ , to search for deals at the local grocery chains helped cut down on food cost as well as getting the sunday paper for the coupons. That link also will tell you if you click on the forum link inside where to get the best deals at basically all major food retailers listed in alph-order as well as links to printable coupons. Just my 2 cents,Tommy the tightwad

[Sawatzky]

As to quality Costco is very good

[TB Roye]

We are empty Nester's and have a COSTCO membership. We don't buy groceries there except for big family Bar B Que's and parties, I buy my printer ink there and some outdoor furniture and things like that. I do buy my gas there, it is usually 5-10 cents cheaper though you do have long lines at times, the good thing is the people behave and and every body goes the same direction. I do buy my tires there as they are cheaper (Michelin) and have free rotation and balance every 7500 miles and they use Nitrogen in the tires. I think I save enough on gas prices to pay the $55 yearly membership. I don't have the room to store a 2 year supply of paper towels and T paper it would interfere with my my saw and other woodwork stuff stored in the garage. We have a large immigrant population in my area and the do buy huge amounts of stuff, I assume because of large families or the chance to have stuff they couldn't afford or get in their homelands.

AT our age we are not big consumers of anything any more. I only go to the large Mall here in town once a year and that is to buy LOML Christmas gift.

Tom

[Cochese]

I don't have a membership there but the FIL does. Really good meat pricing, especially if you know how to prep it yourself (he is a former butcher, among other things). Best warranty policy around, go there especially to buy things I know that have the propensity to break. You could probably buy a year membership, get enough of an item to last you a couple years then go renew at that point.

[natausch]

For parties and family events Gordon Food Service is a comparable and non-membership route, that along with a butcher or meat packing plant with a retail store.

[dbhost]

We are a 2 person household for now, but 4 critters, and no Costco near me, but Sams Club... We do tend to get bulk items we go through quickly. Cat litter, rawhide chews for the dog etc... and yes, we do get some of our groceries from there. Especially if we are entertaining, throwing a barbecue or something like that... It pays for itself in a few months no problem... We have a freezer, and do tend to buy in bulk as it keeps us from having to run around quite so much, so the cost savings in fuel and time alone makes it well worth the expense to me.

[herb fellows]

My wife and I. We don't live that close (about 15 miles) but we do plan to stop there when we go that way.
The meat quality is excellent, $5 for an already roasted chicken which has often kept us from making sandwiches for dinner.

Food items for the most part are a bit cheaper than 'normal' prices in a supermarket (but not always), but not cheaper than buying things on sale in a supermarket. Also, you must be willing to eat 24 cans of ........:-)

Your best bet here is to buy things where smaller packages are bundled together to be able to extend the usability of them.
ie: 3 32 oz bottles of apple sauce instead of one 96 ounce bottle.

As others have said, the gas prices are excellent, the return policy is quite possibly the best anywhere (used to be any time for everything, I think they now exclude electronics because of idiots who would 'buy' a 50" tv for the Super Bowl, then return it!).

They will try to talk you into a $110 membership, but it is only worth it if you are going to spend enough money yearly to get your fee back.
I forget what the percentages are, but you can look it up online or at the store.

All in all, yes, I think it's a good thing.

[vaking]

I had Costco membership but cancelled it. I used Costco in the past to buy some tools and household appliances. Tools there are OK, I am using Jet shopline dust collector and drill press from Costco. But I am not happy with appliances. Costco cuts too many corners and quality often suffers. They have good return policy but I still don't like to return a kitchen stove where electronics died after 6 month of use. TV and other electronics are usually outdated on features. And food section in Costco is very limited, I like a lot more food section at BJ - main Cosco competitor in my area.
By now I am pretty much set with my tools and electronics, so I dumped Costco membership and switched to BJ.
Gas prices at Costco are good but you don't need Costco memership to buy Costco gas.

[jdon]

Also empty nesters, and members- concur with comments already made:

1. You need space to store bulk items/staples - paper goods (Kleenex, paper towels, TP). Small chest freezer (which we bought at Costco) almost a must-have.

2. Food: you can find items somewhat cheaper or for same price but in lower quantity if you scour supermarket ads. For day-to-day shopping, though, we get the feeling that we're getting close to "best price" without the hassle of spending a long time searching. Personally, I prefer devoting my deal scrounging time toward finding tools!

3. Big(ger) ticket items: again, generally close to, if not beating sale prices elsewhere: tires (beat tire chains in area price-wise, and without having to deal with sleazy bait-and-switch tactics at the chains); car batteries, electronics, cell phone plans, power washers, mattresses- all good quality. Pharmacy, eyewear prices are great. Haven't tried their car buying service yet...

4. Customer service: you're basically on your own finding items- makes BORG
seem like a boutique. However, returns are no hassle, and checkout staff are
friendly.

Overall, I recommend it highly- we've more than saved the membership fee- try it for a year; you can make far worse $55 investments.

[Denco]

We're empty nesters and have Costco. Even if you don't buy in bulk, there's usually a deal at least once or twice a year that makes it worthwhile.

BTW, they have great hot dogs at their food stand. $1.50 for a hotdog and soda. Makes a fun and cheap date with LOML. Believe it or not, it can even be rather romantic.

[LinuxRandal]

I have both a Costco and a Sam's club membership, due to work. I use Sam's more, but it is targeted more towards business. My parents are now effectively retired (dad is, mom is part time through the end of this year), and either have me pick up stuff from Sam's once in a while. Mom still uses her expired Costco card to enter the store and look around. She has me take her between 4 and 5 times a year, so there isn't much that can't be done other ways. Prices are no different then other things, for example I recently bought a 32 ounce Roundup, from my local HD. Price per ounce there, beat the price per ounce at the discount clubs.

As a single person, the main thing I have bought from them is the chicken. I have bought a few online only purchases through them (discounted specials) that were good, but fewer in store purchases.

[chopnhack]

We have a membership and there are four of us. We don't find it that useful and actually only make our money back on the difference between their photo development versus other retailers. Go figure that one... They also do not accept coupons. Quality is good. It's really a no frills warehouse.

[scmhogg]

At our COSTCO here in Simi Valley, the quality of the meats are very good, and a good bit less than the grocery store. They also have really good value in jewelry.

Most of the bulk stuff I need comes from Amazon "Subscribe and Save." I have the brand of paper towels, TP and kleenex, that I prefer, delivered every few months. The price is great and the delivery, to my door, is free.

Steve

[TB Roye]

One thing I forgot. Years ago when it was Price Club I saw saw and priced the Ryobi Saw System, or what ever the called it. I think it was the predecessor of the BT3 series. It was about $600 if I remember correctly.

Tom