Is Costco worth it?

[Greenleave]

My husband loves Costco beef, I was only there once. I dont know if it was cheaper than Waitrose, it doesnt have everything we need though. Plus the annual fee, any of you is a Costco member and do you find the annual fee is worth it. We mostly get stuff online so I am against going to another supermarket. AIBU that I told him that I dont think its worth the hassle(shop in another super market) and cost(annual fee membership)

Akire- they will accept any profession who've applied for the Costco Amex card. I think you can apply from the Amex site.

Agree - their wrapping paper is probably the best I have used.

The petits fours are fab - we always get loads if we're having a party.

And most surprisingly, their meat is really good quality.

I buy -

Chinese duck
Beef
Sushi
Croissants
Strawberries
Nature Harvest cereal bars
Fresh cooked chickens
Frozen breaded lemon fish

Yes - we have 3 DCs aged 4 and under so get through loads of milk, fruit, ham and cheese. Tons of washing powder and vanish etc

DH goes weekly and gets milk etc

I go every two months or so and get loads of meat to freeze and tins of tuna etc. We do have a lot of storage though

And the jacket potatoes are delicious in the cafe and massive £1.50 including filling, worth it for that alone

We buy a massive fillet of beef and cut it into individual steaks and freeze, the meat Is excellent

Loo roll, kitchen roll, tin foil and robinsons juice are our staple purchases. The chorizo meatballs are amazing and we usually pick up some of the special offer stuff too. A farmer once told me that the best supermarkets to buy meat in are marks and spencer and Costco-apparently they are better quality than anywhere else.
We also use them for tyres. We split the membership fee with family member so def worth it for us.

Membership is about £15 a year, and at the moment they're selling £100 of iTunes vouchers for £85. So even with nothing else, you could easily make it worthwhile for yourself.

Worth the membership for the dinner rolls alone! £2.99 for 30, fresh and gorgeous and are toppped with a slight glaze a bit like brioche.
Very hard to go and stick to a list though, I've never managed it.

The Kirkland toilet rolls and kitchen rolls are reasons in themselves to be members .... fantastic quality and great quality!
I'm executive member too and aim to make membership paid for with the cash back.

Muller yogurts are always better priced than the best supermarket deals that I've seen....

I love Costco.

We have two youngish children (6 and 4) and we still make good use of the membership, despite the children barely eating and not having much storage.

We buy store cupboard ingredients from Costco (rice, pasta, etc) and this helps us avoid supermarket top ups midweek.

We spend about £50 a month. That's probably 3-4 items per trip, but as the products last for months, we have built up a good stockpile.

If storage is a problem, you could go halves with friends and family. Me and my sister once bought 40 loo rolls for £10 and split them, so we got 20 each for £5, which was more manageable for both of us.

Has anyone ever found a list of their "Gold companies" where employees are eligible for membership?

Costco cake.

I don't know where you are Mike, but my local Costco doesn't stick to any such list. Someone I work with phoned them and asked if they would come in and sign people up, and they came and spent half a day in our reception getting new members.

I wish we could join but we don't qualify and ours checks pay slips etc. I go with a friend who is a teacher. I don't understand the criteria tbh

Ooh there's a plan

Yes as I have an addiction to the dates. They're proper lush.

I like it. They have a lot of different stuff.

I bought some great Christmas decorations.

Also love the Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake and the lint rolls

Diet Coke was very cheap when I went but I do tend to check prices online as not everything is cheaper.

I've been a member for ages and I didn't know they did Cheesecake Factory stuff - we are quite a way from the nearest Costco now so I don't tend to look at the frozen stuff when I'm there!

We often call in to a different branch if we are near (we travel back to see family a few times a year and there are three branches on the route) and we store the bulky stuff in the loft (toilet rolls, kitchen rolls).

The furniture is lovely, but large in scale. We've had to hire a van to get furniture home and my DD is still resisting attempts to remove a table and chairs that we bought from her room. It's a bit small for her now really.

DD loves the 'try me' stands - she is quite a picky eater but will often munch her way round the store! In fact we bought a massive pack of ham because of a try me stand (and the fact that it can be frozen) and have also bought halloumi cheese, beefburgers, pork. The croissants are huge and we buy the bake-it-at-home bread rolls too. Costco own-brand Prosecco is lovely!

I find it excellent and always buy my staples there e.g. Loo roll, wash powder and the optical centre is good.

Just looked up their criteria. Is nhs counted under civil service or medical/health? And do you sign up online or in person? And if in person can you sign up then go straight in? What happens if you swap jobs? Can you just automatically renew once you have your foot in the door, so to speak?

I've been a member for years on the basis that I was a civil servant 15 years ago! Changed recently to trade membership as we now have our own business and it means I can go at 9.30am instead of having to wait till after 12.00. I was delighted!

Yes Tudor, once you're in you're in.

I'm the primary member, when I signed up I worked in one of the approved categories. They have also appeared at DH's workplace signing people up.

I've been a SAHM for over 10 years.