Costco membership?

[KenIsAnAccessory]

Recently realized I can join due to my profession.

Family of 5, but the nearest store is 35 mins away so wouldn't go super frequently - would it be worth it?

Not in my opinion, depends on your shopping style.
Its not as cheap as a lot of ppl think.

It's not necessarily cheaper, but it can be great value if you have room to store bulk purchases. I probably go every couple of months to stock up - because it's bulk purchases you don't need to go that often

If you're careful where you shop and have access to B&M etc, I'd say it's not especially cheap.

If you shop smart you can save alot, (especially when they have offers) but you need the room to store things.
I have found it great for small electricals too

Does it have a petrol station? Worth it for that if you do. Fill up and do a shop at the same time

We’ve got membership but use it very rarely. Dh goes and buys a couple of pairs of work Levi’s there once a year.
Other than that, I might go in October to look at Christmas stuff but hardly ever buy anything.
Dh’s business partner uses it loads.
It’s too random for me, I don’t want massive cakes (people used to bring them in to work but they’re all just so sweet with no actual
flavour), loads of bread (where do you store it all?), electronics (better options elsewhere plus surely purchases like this are few and far between?), massive boxes of frozen food (cook from scratch), 6 bottles of shampoo (just why?!), dishwasher tablets - well we would use them but as I can’t get a weekly
shop at Costco I just get them on my weekly shop when I’m running out.
my mum buys their loo roll but I think it’s rubbish every time I go round there 😂
I don’t know if it’s touted as being cheaper than anywhere else but I guess if you want to stock up on random items and have places to store it then it might be really handy but as I suspect you go to the shops anyway (supermarket or get an online shop) more frequently than you might go to Costco I don’t really see the point of doing 2 separate shops.

It is not necessarily cheap . We live about 35 mins away and go every month roughly . I get Kirkland ( Costco own brand ) loo rolls and kitchen towel which is reasonable and excellent quality . Salmon fillets , smoked haddock fillets again not cheap but much nicer than normal supermarket . Coffee , Yorkshire tea bags , Alpen , bottled water still / sparkling plus a general look about for deals . A couple of weeks ago my daughter got 2 pairs of ladies Skechers for £23 each . Where we go has a petrol station so we always fill up . If you want to get things as cheap as Aldi I wouldn’t bother , for us it’s a fun couple of hours .Should add the Christmas wrap and mince pies are excellent .

I’ve borrowed a friends and been a few times but unless you have lots of space to store all the massive boxes and bulk stuff it’s not worth it tbh.

You did well to borrow someone else's card, the one my friend goes to uses your face as id, a photograph is stored against the card to prevent it being shared. If your face doesn't match against their photo they cut the card up. So the card holder must be present.

I really like Costco - we buy their meat and portion it up in the freezer - prices are good and the quality is great. it's one of the few places I'll buy pre prepared dishes or pasta sauce - Food doesn't taste processed. They also have a great quality wine and beer selection.

We go every couple of months, 45mins away.

It's not a money saver, you can spend quite a lot but it is handy for bulk buying and stocking up. Some things are cheaper.

The fresh and pre-prepared food is lovely and really good quality.

These are some of the things we buy there:
Cookies - freeze them in batches
Meat - chicken, steaks, fish
Caesar salad kit
Massive pizzas
Toilet roll
Laundry detergent and softener
Ketchup
Nandos sauce
Protein shakes
Bottled water
Breakfast cereals
Honey
Lucozade sport
Fizzy drinks
Chicken pakora
Toothpaste

I would not join if it is mainly to save money. I often go for food and come back with something large and not needed (swimming pool, giant 5 ft nutcracker, canoe etc)
It was great during Covid as you had to buy in bulk which in local supermarkets was restricted. I bought toilet paper and shared with those unable to get it.

My nearest is two hours away. I’ve got a membership.

some of the foods are really good - their chicken burgers are like chick fil a from America which I love. I really enjoy going too! Worth it for us

12 bottles of Coke Zero are around £8 ish so a massive saving there for us

I have 'borrowed' a friends card.. by picking them - driving them to Costco and treating them to either Pizza or Hotdog after..

I always buy stuff I don't need. But the toilet paper is a good buy

We actually went today to consider the same thing. It’s 20 mins from us. It is also 5 mins from my work so very handy on that front.

I didn’t think things were massively cheaper tbh… it just saves me the headache of having to constantly restock so I guess I liked it for that.

I don’t really like their food court stuff and I don’t buy their ready meals either. I found the desserts too sweet.

i Do however intend to use it for petrol, toilet paper, kitchen roll and things like that.

Today I bought their wagu burgers, smoked haddock, beef sausages, frozen prawns, frozen tilapia, Forthglade for the dog and 97% duck fillet treats.
We bought vitamins, washing liquid, fairy kiquid, bleach batteries, pasta, extra Virgin oil. Muesli, coffee for the office and 24 x navel oranges.
seriously recommend

U can browse on line to see if u think it's worth it for u.

I am not a member but have a friend who is, they go about every other month. They entertain a fair bit so buy some food for that but rarely fill up the whole trolley.

If I go, I usually spend about £50 on random food stuff or occasionally an item of clothing.

Has the loo paper improved? Once bought it and found it was disintegrating leaving bits on me.

Mine is about 20 mins away and well worth it. I buy their standard price:
Tissues
Loo roll
Kitchen roll
Chicken thighs
Salmon
Aberdeen Angus burgers
Bacon
Roasted unsalted nuts
Dishwasher tabs

Then I look at the offers. Often pet food is good.

Then I lose all the money I saved browsing the middle aisle...

So if you can avoid the bakery and the middle aisle and gave room to store bulk its great.

If you want to do your full shop there it is not. I hate taking my mum, she'll comment how Fairy is cheaper in Tesco cos its on offer there, etc. Missing the point entirely.

I think it's good value. We've been members for years and I buy meat, steak mince and chicken breasts, split them down and freeze them. I go stock up once every three months or so. Ours has a petrol station now, but it's the same price as supermarket petrol stations! Good for electrical stuff and also boxes of crisps, vitamins and fresh fruit. The massive bags of baking potatoes are excellent value, they last for ages!

According to Which? they do the best kitchen roll.

I go every few months as we don't have lots of room to store stuff. The products I buy at Costco are a lot cheaper there than elsewhere. I also have a Company Shop card.

@YogaLite we don’t have an issue with the loo roll disintegrating, we swopped from Andrex and prefer it .

We live 10 mins away, go about once a fortnight to supplement our food shop. These are the things we buy often:
1kg tub of peanut butter *
2 rings of chorizo *
4 pack Pancetta *
4 pack mozzarella *
4 pack Halloumi *
3 pack of 8 tortillas *
12 bread rolls *
Large mature cheddar
Seeded fresh bagels
12 pack chopped tomatoes tins *
12 pack baked beans *
Protein powder *
Creatine *
50 pack Kirkland cereal bars *

All the starred items are good value as well as good quality. Just make sure you look at the smaller "with vat" price and do some maths. Nearly all the Kirkland stuff is good, although we don't like their laundry powder or washing up liquid, they're not quite strong enough.

I go with a friend. I usually find things like shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and toothpaste to be good value. Snacks too - particularly like their pretzels. Other snacks are good value as is my favourite cava, if they have it in store. That said, if my supermarket has the same cava on deal, Costco is no cheaper.

We like their chicken and we can’t walk past the bakery.

As you can tell from my username, I buy my loo roll there

I do most weekly shopping at Aldi, and Costco brings the price of some branded things down to Aldi prices.

I like buying some long-life things in bulk and being able to concentrate more on fresh food in a smaller weekly shop. It's more about that than genuinely saving money.

Ours is about 20mins away