are Costco, Makro etc cheaper than Adi or Lidl

[gormenghast]

We are a household of two, about to be three when my daughter moves back home for a year. We eat eat very well and everything is cooked from scratch. I shop at Aldi and Lidl with the odd foray to Sainsburys and Waitrose (Waitrose Essentials (their basic brand) is very good and compares well to other supermarket basic lines.)
My friend insists that Costco is much cheaper, but my argument is that it might be if you have the money up front to buy , say, a year's supply of toilet paper, but if you are on a very tight budget then Aldi and Lidl are much cheaper and you can always pop to the other stores to get things that they don't stock.
What do you think?

[princessalbert]

It can be cheaper for some things. It depends on how good you are at planning I guess.

I always buy loo roll, kitchen roll and their own brand washing powder. They are def worth it.

meats and fish are good quality -and worth buying the large packs to split up and freeze.

Fruit and veggies aren't really worth buying as they come in such large packs.

[Fluffycloudland77]

I don't find it better than aldi.

I've had several disappointments, frozen cod fillets, beef, chickens, black pudding. They were not nice.

The washing powder in the big plastic tub has bleaches in it because its not bio

I find it good for big electrical stuff and tea bags before we started having sainsburys smart price stuff.

The only way to tell though is to go and see what you think.

[cedar12]

I do a mixture of both. Meat is better quality at costco. I tend to buy the things that we like branded at costco, usually ariel liquid, loo roll, squash, apple juice you can get it for 54p a carton, cereal bars, shreddies. Usually go to costco once a month then top up in aldi. I have saved lots doing this.

[cedar12]

Watch the dates on the fresh stuff in costco they tend to be really short.

[thenightsky]

Agree re Costco dates. Massive box of fresh pineapple that has to be eaten in 2 days for example.

I love Costco, but more for the quality than price.

[Rummikub]

I didn't think it was cheaper. I shop in supermarkets and home bargains, works out cheaper than Costco i thought. I didn't like the giant sized products and huge outlay. (I still have Costco foil, huge thing still not used up in 5 years!)

[coribells]

I don't think it's cheaper, but the quality is better for the price.
also because I am buying in bulk I don't find myself popping in to tescos when I run out toilet paper etc and then spending on impulse buys.
I probably do one extra online grocery shop a month for bits and pieces I can't get from them.
Fresh fruit and. veg come from local shops.
My spend last month was £270 for 3 people (2 DC)

[dustwhatdust]

I shop in Aldi, Lidl, Tesco and Waitrose too, but have always wanted to try Costco but whenever i have been on their website to find out how - it says that you have to be vat registered business and register accordingly to get card to allow to shop there . how does everybody else do it ?
Also I live in Kingston, where would my nearest be ?
All you Costco shoppers advice please .

[Rummikub]

You can join if you're a public sector worker too. Teachers, police, schools, etc. I think...

[coribells]

I work for a local authority, so I can join. There are a load of 'professions' that are allowed to join.
My nearest is Watford, there is also one in Wembley, don't know about your way.

[thenightsky]

Anyone can join, just that if you are not VAT registered means you have to pay they higher price for stuff (2 prices on the shelves - VAT inc and no Vat).

I'm not sure, but I think non-Vat registered may also pay a slightly higher yearly fee. Mine was £30 when I renewed it last month.

[BackforGood]

I've not been to Costco, but few things in Makro are cheaper. You have to be good at mental maths, and well aware of what you are paying elsewhere, to be able to make any savings there, IME

[MoominMammasHandbag]

There are no value type items in Costco; everything is good quality and will often cost more than you would pay for a value brand in a supermarket.

[dustwhatdust]

Thanks nightsky and backforgood - I'll look into where my nearest is .

[SirSugar]

I did a shop in Costco today, lots of basics like cat food, lenor, cereals, biscuits, canned drinks, water. I did a comparative shop on Tesco online and the saving was £70

[TESR]

I shop mostly at CostCo, topping up on vegetables at groceries. Prior to that it was Tesco but on my first visit I keyed in almost all items into 'mysupermarket' and found that I had saved between 70-100 pounds, depending on the store being compared.

The thing about CostCo is apart from 'Kirkland' brand you don't get any 'el cheapo' house brand so you can't compare "Value' product range with CostCo shopping. Across the range, almost 90%+ of the time a branded product at CostCo would be cheaper than any other major store (I have not tried Aldi and Lidl though). But you have to buy in bulk. Fors a family of 7, I reduced my monthly shopping from 850 pounds to 600+ pounds by shifting to CostCo.

My DCs are getting more, greater variety and better quality stuff at lower monthly spend at CostCo.

p/s - no I don't work there or own CostCo shares.

[eastmidlandsnightnanny]

We didn't renew our Costco memberships as not worth it for us yeah probably about 5 lines we liked n cannot get elsewhere but not worth the fee n petrol costs.

May try macro as free to join