Costco - do you go?

[NorthEastNancy]

Tempted to get a card - I've never been!

We (me, dh and ds 14) shop in Tesco mainly. I love a big shop mooch and feel like it's somewhere I'll go on my own if I ever pass my test (currently having lessons at the grand old age of 48!)

Do you go? Would you recommend it?

We buy 6 of the huge rolls which last us a couple of years 😁

Good luck on the driving.i passed at 41!

Good if you have a big family and lots of storage! Some great fruit and veg.
Havebt been for a good couple of years though.
Teen DD also loved going 😂

They sell packets of two biscuits, in lots of different flavours,ideal to accompany morning coffee!

The cakes are awful, sometimes people bring them to work, the big ones and muffins etc. I've never tried the pastries as there is never an occasion for which we need 30 croissants or whatever before they go stale. We can't use the fruit and veg fast enough either so don't buy that.

No petrol station at ours sadly. It's about half an hour from home but only 15 mins if I go straight from work. DD (20) absolutely loves going and we sometimes detour on the way to and from dropping her at uni especially.

@bubbyen if you spot a Costco stall set up in a town centre, market, fair etc you can probably sign up there without needing to prove company ownership or whatever, I did (we do actually qualify but I didn't have any proof on me and they didn't mind at all) do wander over and ask, they might find a criteria to get you in.

@yonem people use it differently, shouldn't be that much of a surprise, some probably don't use it at all, some use it for everything that needs wiping.

I've just ordered a card 🙈

Doubt we'll save anything as there's only 3 of us but I'm intrigued enough to shell out the 42 quid!

Can't go for 24 hours apparently but might pop over 2m if i can persuade dh as we're both off work

I've never been to a Cost Co but feel like I need to sign up for membership! Does anyone know if they sell gluten free (safe for coeliac) food? Like biscuits / crisps etc

We are a larger family (5 adults, 1 child) and none of our 4 kids are showing any sign of moving out. I go once a month and the kids take turns coming with me, they all love it. I never take my husband if I can help it as he just goes rogue and costs spiral out of control 🤣

We have the storage and get toilet roll, kitchen roll, pop, big blocks of cheese, beer, fruit and veg, meat (the rotisserie chicken is yummy), hummous, clothes. The huge cans of baked beans and chopped tomatoes are fantastic when you cook in bulk like I do. We have next to no wastage even with the larger sizes.

We always get petrol from there and new tyres for the various cars when required. We have the executive membership and it pays for itself every year. When it doesn't, we'll downgrade.

I was a nember years ago.
We live in norfolk and, a new one is being built to open next year.
I am a member in Seville and bulk buy washing powder etc.
We're moving to a bigger property in March with a storage building.
I need to make good use of that

We have been going to Costco for around 30 years. We regularly buy toilet rolls, tissues, kitchen roll, washing powder and fabric conditioner, dishwasher tablets, coffee beans. We used to use their own washing powder but they changed the formula and I find it doesn't dissolve properly so we've switched to a branded product. I find that on the face of it, some items, like dishwasher tablets, washing powder don't seem a lot cheaper than in the supermarkets, but many items are actually in much bigger packs than the supermarket, so actually do work out cheaper. At Christmas they have the most amazing fruit cake with candied fruit on top. I don't often buy the fruit as I find the packs are too big for two of us to get through before they start to turn. The meat is very good. They sell such a range of products - I bought a wonderful office chair there a year or so back, really good quality Christmas wrapping paper (double sided) and so much more. I would say that a one year membership to give you a chance to have a really good chance to have a wander round, see all the different seasonal ranges and then decide whether you want to continue.
Have fun!

Costco is HUGE here in Canada, really popular. We do use it to buy things like kitchen roll and granola bars and yogurt in bulk - much cheaper than supermarkets. However, we find that the range of some items is limited eg they only have about 10 breakfast cereals, whereas a supermarket would have a much larger range.
But the worst thing for me is the crowds. Last time I went it was just hellish and the queue to checkout reached right to the back of the store. I live in a fairly low population province - I can't think what it would be like in a really highly populated place like the south of England, for example.

Our one can be really really busy, I either go first thing or towards closing time cos I can’t do the crowds. My worst nightmare is a tie between Costco on a Saturday in December and Sunday afternoon in Ikea.

If your closest is currently Thurrock then yes . That said I prefer Sunbury and Farnborough when I’m on my way back from other places .

With a chest freezer and a storage space like a garage it's fantastic .
We don't have those so we stopped our memberhip however we enjoyed the parmesan cheese and other bits and bobs .

I love Costco, I always ask for a trip for my birthday 😂

Costco is like anywhere in that you have to compare prices. They make their money on the membership, so most brand items are relatively good value if you are prepared to buy in bulk. Not all though.

Costco own brand is always the best value, but what I really like is that there are things there you can't get anywhere else.

Some of my regular buys are:
Coffee beans
Bog roll
Dog poo bags
Dog chews
Chocolate crepes
Slabs of coke cans (boxes are actually cheaper per can than the slabs)
Batteries
Stamps
Paracetamol
BO basher
Meat
Veg
Fruit

Having a fuel station helps too.

We go about once a month but not to save money just because I bought a big shed and like to bulk buy, it makes weekly shopping better when you don’t have to buy the expensive things like washing liquid, toilet/kitchen rolls, dishwasher tabs ect I buy the big trays or sandwiches because there’s loads of us and we like to just snack on shit in the fridge. It’s defo worth going too

Went once. Hated it

Going for the first time on Sunday!

I have thought about it a few times as I'm entitled to a card and we have one in reasonable proximity. But I'm not really into brand names for the sake of it, and it feels to me that the savings only really come about if you are a brand name shopper.

I'd be interested to know the per KG price of chicken breast, beef/lamb/pork mince, chicken thighs, roasting joints, lamb/pork chops etc, because I have a huge freezer and would happily stock up if those things were significantly cheaper than the supermarket per KG prices.

@WillieBanjo What is this posh one? I’m only aware of the bog standard one!

If the bridge is busy, then we go to Croydon. Takes a little longer, but always seems calmer than Thurrock.

I was a member for a year but didn’t rate it. We had to go to Croydon which was always insanely busy. The Halloween & Christmas stuff was really disappointing. Some of the ready made stuff was nice eg burritos but the pastries & fruit packs were too big so we would end up eating more.
The cheap pizza & hot dogs at the end are awful & Im not fussy.
I just didn’t find it particularly cheaper & any convenience of large sizes was trumped by the inconvenience of travel, crowds & queues.
Fuel was good though.

Been a member for about 18 years. We get toilet roll, kitchen roll, tissues, dishwasher tablets, washing powder, liquid soap to refill our dispensers, meat and fish. Also the odd bigger purchase like a microwave or tent. DH goes every 6-8 weeks. I probably only go once a year.

Huh? It se me mostly branded stuff - you don’t want to pay less for Heinz beans or Nescafé or Jacob’s crackers or John wick tuna etc etc etc.

Just bought a shark vacuum at £200 less than the high street.

So not bulk crap and I only bought the one vacuum.