Do you have a Costco Membership?

[Mathsdebator]

Is it worth it? I keep seeing videos of people on my socials raving about it. Is it only worth going if you buy in bulk?

Were just a family of 3 so don't need huge boxes of doughnuts etc!

It depends what you want really

We tend to buy soft drinks, meat to freeze/bbq, sauces, noodles. Have bought various tents, pull along trolleys etc too

For us it's worth it, but it's not always cheaper

it depends on your current shopping habits and storage facilities at home. if you buy high quality meat, branded cleaning products, branded soft drinks etc then yes you will find its worth it. we buy toilet roll, cleaning products , soft drinks, jam, peanut butter, spices and meat and fish in bulk and then store it to last us months, we also buy most electricals etc there as the prices are always competitive and the returns policy is second to none...

We have one between us. When the children were at home we used it more - we had a dog then too, and bought his food there - but now there are only two of us it's not as good value for the reasons you describe. The Kirkland branded stuff is all good quality though, and things like loo rolls and washing powder are worth the membership fee.

You get two names on the membership, and each can take a friend, so if you have a sibling or neighbour who would like to split it with you that would halve the cost.

I have one, probably don't use it enough to make it worthwhile really, but DD buys a lot of bits and pieces there. I like the cold meat and the frozen things (thank god for my chest freezer). DH and I use it as a relationship test at Christmas. If we can get round Costco, spending a moderate amount of money and without screaming at each other, our relationship continues soundly 😁.

I buy the buns and cookies for my work colleagues sometimes. Everyone appreciates them.

I have a membership and it's worth it 10x over for just the fuel. We also buy our meat there and freeze in portion sizes, and often nip in for a slice of pizza after being in the area. Their cafe prices are super cheap.

We think it’s well worth it but you need to have space to store bulky things like kitchen towel. The wine selection is limited but very good and typically around £4 cheaper for say a mid teens wine.
We go with a list and don’t browse much that way we don’t come home with another bloody bbq!
The car parking are massive unlike every other British car park
We only live 15 minutes away which also helps.

We have one and it works on two fronts for us - we’re a big family so that’s handy, but the other is fuel. It cuts fuel costs for DH’s constant travel by quite a way.

do you have storage space? That’s what makes it work imo - if you can buy when the deals are on and store it’s a no brainer. If you can’t it’s not going to be anywhere near as good.

We buy toilet rolls, kitchen roll, washing powder, dishwasher tablets, diluting juice, soft drinks, tea bags (as MIL runs a knit and natter group), ketchup, breakfast cereal, chopped tomatoes, wraps, garlic granules, Italian herbs, paprika, cheese, and potatoes regularly. We also buy beans when they’re on offer, birthday cakes and sandwich platters multiple times a year and I get my eye tests and glasses there.

we don’t buy meat as we have an excellent local butcher. If the rumour that he is retiring is true then we’ll likely start buying from Costco

it depends on your job. I could join, but DH and DS couldn't. It's a weird set-up really where you can only join from certain jobs and professions, they could just make it subscription-based. There's one about 10 minutes' drive from us, but we manage without it.

Another one agreeing that for the fuel alone it's worth being a member.We've a petrol car and desiel van so get through a reasonable amount of fuel each month. Kitchen foil, toilet rolls and dry goods in bulk are good quality and I've found they last ages. Yet to buy electrical items though. Find lack of storage limits what we buy. Also its so big and busy a trip inside can be exhausting.

We have a membership but have rarely used it.

I love the birthday cakes but kids are bored of the same old.

Lurpak and Kirkland chocolate spread are my go to but my colleague frequents Costco often so I never need to go for these things 😆

We’ve let our work one lapse due to it being American. It’s not cheaper than Aldi or lidl, it’s not better quality either. It’s great for a mooch around, electricals and home white goods are good value. Everything’s so big you need lots of storage if your a small family. It’s basically just a good way of buying large quantities of stuff.

pizzas great though

Yes, storage is the biggest thing to consider. I have an American fridge freezer in the kitchen and a larder freezer in the panty. I also have that pantry, We are on a 2% cashback account and our Costco has the petrol station. We have been members for 20 years.

To give you an idea of pack sizes Kirkland toilet roll is a pack of 40, tinned tomatoes 12 tins, tuna 12 tins, tortilla chips 1.13kg bag, frozen salmon (fillets are twice the size of the supermarket) 7 in a bag. White bin liners a roll of 100, black bin bags a roll of 90. Tissues box of 12.

Some things are great quality but are not cheaper than a supermarket. There are things that we get every time like Kirkland cheddar which is massively cheaper than the supermarket. Every few years I print off the master shopping list and write down all the prices and compare at home.

Their rotisserie chicken must crack cocaine in it because it is absolutely delicious. Clothing is good, they sell things like Skechers trainers. Kirkland batteries are I believe made by duracell.

We buy the vast majority of our chicken, pork, minced steak and fish from there. If fresh we portion and vacuum freeze. Off the top of my head, we buy their wraps, eggs, milk, chicken tenders because they are strips of chicken breast, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner, hummus, dettol laundry and everything else I have mentioned.

Their guarantee on electrical goods exceeds the manufacturer's. We had a tv switch die after almost 5 years it was repaired for free. Customer services rang me afterwards to check on the company they sent, were we happy?

If you know someone who has a card and you can look around before you commit that would be good, if not take a punt but remember your boot is only so big and you have to store it all somewhere.

your boot is only so big is a very important phrase to remember.
the trolleys are big in Costco, the shelves are big, th boxes are big. Then you get outside and your fighting to get the box of crisps in your car that is so big it will outlive you and your grandchildren.

I love Costco mainly because I hate shopping so it means we have to do it less. I have a garage though otherwise you'll have to think about where you'll store everything.

I don't go because it's cheaper, I go because I like the quality of the Kirkland range and buy loads of it- toilet roll, bin bags, kitchen roll, laundry liquid, dishwasher pods, etc etc.

Have it for the fuel. I estimate (based on tracking receipts since October) that we are saving £2.50-£3.00 a week.

Also saved massively on a new laptop for work and I shared my discount with the school to buy them something for the nurture room.