To be excited about getting a costco card?

[macaroniandpizza]

Im getting a costco card through my work and im beyond excited . Im really looking forward to seeing what its all about. Ive been to makro many times in the past. Told my gran i was getting a card and she said oh costco is way better than makro.
What are the things to look out for and what should i stock up on?

jonsnowscloak yes they do dolce gusto pods!
Agree with others; cheese in blocks, I grate and freeze as freezing tends to make it crumbly. This also means I can use it straight from the freezer for sauces or toasties. Meat is also good quality.

I love Costco buy my house is just too small for it!

Yes they do dolce gusto pods.

No one has mentioned the free food samples as you walk round. The kitchen roll and bin liners are awesome. Always worth checking Tescos to make sure it is cheaper as some times it's not. It's an hour drive for us so we only go 2/3 A Year. But my work colleague goes every week and will always pick stuff up for anyone else in the office.

They have completely random things some times . And things disappear !

Ours doesn't have Nutella (but has their own brand)
No Ribena (but brilliant value when they do)

I buy:
binbags (drawstrings ones)
foil
clingfilm
baking parchment
soya milk (its £1 compared to £1.40)
pomegranate juice drink
Tropicana
bottles of orange
Tomato ketchup
big blocks of cheddar
Kirklands water
pasta
olives
loo roll
magazines (I think they're 20% off cover price)

I have bought :
white handtowels (pack of 12)
white bathtowels (pack of 6)
a grid bookcase system that is very similar to a C&C cage for my guinea-pigs
shoe shelves for the porch
Kenwood Chef
A really good over sink colander (Kitchen Aid brand)
frying pan
glass oven proof dishes with lids
Calvin Klein brand knickers and DKNY bra tops for DD
jackets for DS and DH ( waterproof )

I don't buy the coffee (it is ££ compared to supermarket)
cereal
crisps
meat (we're vegetarian)
the cakes - tried the fruitcake (not good) cupcakes (horribly sweet and artificial) though I bought the Chocolate Fudge Cake for NDN and they said it was delicious .
Croissants are delicious but way too many in the box

Do they sell dog cages?

Their giant bags of chocolate chips for homebaking are the best. Don't melt and have a lovely soft yet crunchy texture when I use them to make brownies or cookies. I don't think there is anything comparable on the market.

Most of the things work out more expensive than normal supermarkets though. Don't understand how it's meant to be wholesale yet if you buy products for your own shop there, you end up losing money because you'd have to sell on your products for even more money to make any financial profit.

MyBiscuit I find that most things are less expensive than the shops with very few exceptions. I always go round with my ASDA/Morrisons/Tesco app open so if I see new things I can price compare before buying and I usually compare to own brand.

The loo roll is great. I like the Kirkland own stuff but I do buy the cushelle or Andrex occasionally because it's less expensive than when on offer in the supermarkets and often a £ or two less expensive than buying it on subscribe and save from amazon.

The Kitchen and bathroom spray is really cheep too, it called something like OZ Kleen and it's about £5 for one in Wilko's but when on offer in Costco it's less than £4 for a three pack and it's great stuff.

The branded washing powder is really cheep too and if you use Pampers nappies I've found its the best place to buy them from. I'd never go back to anyone else's dishwasher tablets either, the Kirkland ones are really good and about £10 for 110 but I have found the price of them can vary by about £2 either way on different visits.

There are so many bargains to be had at Costco and remember to sign up for the coupons booklet!

I usually spend about £100 each visit but the amount of stuff you get is well worth it. And the food samples as you walk round are a lovely extra

I have no idea about dog crates, I have cats but you might find the flea treatment a lot less expensive than from your vets. We get the same stuff our vet was selling us for much less than they were charging us. It's the same branded stuff. The only downside is they really regulate. When I was going through some family changes and didn't know when I'd get back to the shop I wanted 8 months worth and they really questioned me and almost didn't let me have it!

Love costco...
We tend to buy the following:

Gigapacks of pampers at circa £10-13 pounds
Huggies water wipes about a fiver a box
Boxes of walkers crisps (not sure of price but is cheap)
Bertolli spread approx £2 for a catering size 1kg
Cravendale milk (crazy cheap for volume)
Large marmalade
Washing liquid (fairy/persil non bio) about £12-15 for about 4.5litres
Levi jeans at approx £35 (not a staple but have bought a few pairs now) same goes for other branded clothing (puma,super dry,hunter,ugg, to name a few)
Cathedral city Cheese,activia yoghurts, the Costco pizza is amazing!! All cheaper than supermarket
Aveeno cream is randomly super cheap at Costco as are multipacks of elisabeth Arden face creams and some other toiletries...
The bleach and hand soap is also good value. They sell lots of good value children’s books too
Glasses (as in eyewear) are crazy good value and the optician service really good

Not so good...toilet paper I don’t find this cheaper , dish washer tablets (I prefer aldi) the fresh fruit and we don’t buy meat as there are only 3 of us and don’t have a large freezer.

We regularly spend in excess of £150 on our Costco run though and you need the space to store the bulk items. We probably do a Costco shop every few months - the saving on nappies alone paid for our membership after a few visits. I absolutely recommend for families with adequate storage space.

I forgot to mention the halloumi fries , they are excellent and gf .

Came back to say the frozen chicken Kievs are amazing too.

I can't vouch for the costco ones but we recently brought back a huge pack of pain au chocolat and a load of half baguettes from France and they froze and reheated really well so if you have the freezer space you could try the pastries.

I'm not convinced with the place now and feel a bit deflated when we go round.

I used to be a member a few years ago and didn't have to pay for the card, which was quite helpful, as work bought them. Now I have to pay for my own card, which - combined with things being more expensive than they used to as well as a house that's lacking in storage for bulk purchases - means that I don't think it's good value for money for what we can buy.

The cakes and pastries are just gorgeous though.

I just got a Costco card today. I love it there! We got bottles of water, super cheap. Cheese, juice, cakes, pancake mix and rinse aid. Not very exciting but we just went for a little look today for our first trip.

I think they must vary by branch, I have a card but don't find the stuff cheaper than the supermarket for most things. I don't buy branded stuff so that knocks out most of the food, don't eat red meat, don't see how people afford the fruit and veg and don't have any interest in electronics or jewellery. I buy the same staples maybe 5 or 6 times a year and at my nearest one there is a supermarket a stones throw away that sells petrol for the same price. I've read other threads like this and concluded that my shopping budget must be a lot smaller than other people's

We just went this afternoon to stock up on tins...petrol was 111.7 and the next cheapest in our city is 114.7, you could easily pay 117.9 eg at our Morrisons so that's worth it on its own (assuming you are passing, but then we often are).

We spent £90! but ds2 made me buy a football and done disgusting fitness drink he claims to like. 😂

I saw a telly there - the box was taller than me!

We buy a lot of nice dry food (pasta, rice, grains, herbs and dried fruit) and sacks of tea bags - the fancy schmancy organic supermarket near us sells the exact same foods (same brand and type) for 2-3 times the price and often the bags or bottles are bigger too. They also sell fresh food too which is good value.

Usually we pop in for a few bushels of pasta and come out with £200 worth of stuff!

Groupon and living social often have card offers (about £28 for a year plus vouchers).

Frankly I have no idea what you're so excited about, I paid £20 for a Costco card once, and found nothing worth buying, I didn't want volumes of food, and nothing was any cheaper than anywhere else IMO.

I guess it depends what you buy. I go a couple of times a year and stock up on things I’d usually buy in smaller amounts from more expensive places - so a large £20 bag of pine nuts would cost me over £30 from the supermarket (they only sell teensy bags) or a six pack of organic pasta is £6. Or bottles of crushed tomatoes at 75p each when they sell identical for £1.65 in my local store. These are the same brands as I’d buy from my local stores.

You can use your U.K. card in U.S. stores as well. No fiddly little strips of paracetamol in our house we buy the 2 x 500 tablet plastic tubs of Acetaminophen every couple of years for less than $10.

I’d forgotten that - my aunt has a US one and uses it over here!

I agree it's no use if you don't want a lot... We also today got J2O which we don't nirmslly buy but wanted some for NYE. It was £11.50 for 24 bottles, everywhere is selling it for £2.50 for 4 so that's £3.50 cheaper... Only useful if you want 24 bottles tho!!

Had a wander round recently - brands, brands, brands.

Don't do the bog roll we like, most of it is overpriced. Don't do the cat food the animals like.

Also we are not massive cakey, biscuit, pizza, crapola lovers

Will not be investing 28.00 in a costco card. It's not cheap

I think the thing with Costco is that it isn't really much cheaper than the supermarkets, but the Kirkland brand is excellent quality, so you're often getting better quality for jo more money.

The frozen cod bites in a lemon breadcrumb are really good. The part bake bread is great to have in the house...we make panini with ours in the George Formby Foreman grill.