To have buyer’s regret at Costco?!

[mynamechangemyrules]

I got a discounted (but still a little wedge) membership of Costco via work, joined and now slightly panicking… I am on quite a tight budget and am more used to buying little and often, I hoped I’d save money but it seems to be mostly big ticket items/ fancy foods which we would only get as a treat anyway (eg good value manchego cheese but not really a necessity and I would’ve just bought a little wedge instead as a treat…?!)

AIBU? If so please tell me good buys/ how to use it alongside my ‘normal’ shopping. (Eg is the car section a good discount as I have an old banger who often needs work done?)
AINBU- it’s a waste of membership money, return in in the cool off period (not sure they actually have this but will check!!)

Toilet rolls and kitchen rolls are the best quality ever. You can buy online for £6 delivery. If you have a ZILCH Visa card you can pay for purchases over £75 over 3 months. Fee payable. I have just spent £200+ on nearly a years supply of loo and kitchen rolls plus heavily discounted laundry products. I paid £50 which will be followed by £50 to pay in June July and August.
might not suit everyone but we won’t use more of these goods just because they are there - unlike if you buy wine, cheese, meat, chocolate etc.

You need to buy 1400 litres of petrol before you break even.

Guacamole
Maple syrup
part baked baguettes

I am a thrifty foodie and mainly shop at Lidl but Costco has some superb quality items.

Also half our clothes come from there. I am in Costco socks, knickers, jumper, trainers today.!

Everyone always says the loo rolls are great & on every thread I say the same thing. They changed them & they aren't nearly as good as they used to be. I bought some & thought they had changed, then found one pre COVID one lurking in the cupboard - completely different! I don't buy them any more.
Other than that, what everyone else said. Good quality, not necessarily a bargain but a good day out 😂

Not to be unhelpful because I actually bloody love a wonder around Costco, but I’ve never actually saved money there. For food Lidl/aldi always seem to work out cheaper and for things like toilet roll, ordering off Amazon in bulk is always much cheaper for us.

I do love the Costco baked goods and the pizza is lovely.

If you're catering for kids parties or events then the cakes and deli platters are good value. https://www.costco.co.uk/cake-and-deli

The sheet cakes are claimed to serve 48, that would be small pieces but allow a bit more and you'd still feed an entire primary school class plus spares, for £17.99.

I only go a few times a year as it’s such a busy hectic place and I don’t enjoy that about it. But I do love my membership! The big Costco cakes are wonderful and good value, we also love the mini pastries. The website is good around Christmas or birthdays as they do good deals on some kids toys or Lindt advent calendars etc. They also have good offers on Skechers shoes fairly often which is useful for me. The membership is pretty good value as long as you use it a few times over the year. I don’t do a big proper shop with it though cos I’d hate having to deal with the car park that often.

Cat litter, tyres for DP’s car, long life fruit juice, laundry detergent, bin bags, paper towel, Crocs, jeans, kitchen equipment, getting photos developed (I still like a photo album)

It’s an eclectic place.

I've only just finished the dishwasher tablets I bought in bulk 3 years ago 😂
Am no longer a member, but my son is, and I got a really good price on a telly through him recently.

The key for it to be cost effective for me is to buy things you won’t use/eat more of because you have more. So in my house bin bags yes, biscuits no. I made the mistake of buying the mini packs of Border biscuits like hotels have the first time we went, the DC went crazy with them!
Buying in bulk saves money for me as I do fewer shopping trips, I’m not a good focused shopper like DH. He will go to the supermarket for butter and buy butter. I go for butter come out with salad and cheese I forgot we needed plus a leg of lamb, some socks, washing tablets cream cakes and wine that were on offer and no butter!

I've been a Costco member for years but I really couldn't say it's a great way to save money. They sell things you don't see elsewhere and it's quite an experience to visit the store and their meat products are excellent. But in all honesty, if someone was on a tight budget I wouldn't say Costco was a great idea by any means.

I'm not convinced by your maths. I make it that I'm saving about £4 a tank, so the £42 membership will have paid for itself in 3 months. Even going off your maths 1,400 litres in a 53 litre tank it'll pay for itself in 6 months.

My take on Costco is it appeals to all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons.

Our local branch is in Southampton, which is nine miles away and not really that convenient, but when we're on the M27 in that area we do divert and fill up with diesel and pick up bits and pieces in the store - and over the year that does save us money. It really depends on your vehicle and how many miles you drive per year; we break even on the cost of membership if we fill up 15 times per year. Last year we also made a considerable saving on Michelin tyres.

One thing to note is you cannot access the internet once in the store (in the Southampton branch, at least) so it's not possible to easily compare prices with other retailers - and, depending on what you buy, Costco prices aren't always competitive, but for some things, like meat, cheapest isn't always the best.

I routinely stock up with:

Maple syrup
Nuts (most types)
Wookey Hole cheddar
Frozen king prawns
Extra virgin oil oil

I always make a list and have the price per 100g of what ever item from Asda/Tesco, so we can compare prices.

Some things are cheaper and some not. You have to be clear in what you are going to buy.

And if you can eat it before it goes off

I didn’t know that! Interesting piece of information. Thank you!

Apart from the marmite in proper tubs so silly jars and alot cheaper I think it's more expensive than a lidl/ tesco mix

Round here, Costco unleaded is 3p/litre cheaper which equates to 1400 litres. Obviously it’s easy to make a saving if you do a lot of miles or have a really thirsty car but even a fairly low 35mpg means nearly 11k miles to break even.

I knew I wasn't imagining things about the toilet roll
https://parade.com/news/why-costco-fans-are-enraged-over-the-brands-toilet-paper
(As an aside, scary that Google watches you to the extent it knows what you have posted about on a forum)

I've never bought Costco loo roll; too expensive when compared with Aldi, which is just fine.

I agree with you about Google. Big brother is definitely watching and we venture on to the 'net at our peril.

You could go with a couple of friends and figure out what you all need. If the same products, buy in bulk and split the bill? I haven't shopped at Costco for years and didn't find it massively cheaper but it was great for nappies etc when the kids were babies.

The petrol station alone makes it worth it for us but not every store has one.

I wouldn't say you necessarily save money but you do get better quality for your money. Most of the items are slightly cheaper and if you have storage space, worth buying in bulk.

A few things which store well and work out cheaper, based on my most recent price comparison with Tesco:

Toilet roll (48p per roll vs 69p per roll)
Rice (£1.60 per kg vs £1.80 per kg)
Mozzarella cheese (£4.78 per kg vs £9.00 per kg)
Cheddar cheese (£4.22 per kg vs £7.50 per kg)

The maple syrup is also great value although I don't have a price comparison to hand. The famous birthday cakes are super cheap and will feed loads of people.

There are some other branded goods that might not be the cheapest out of all the options but are definitely cheaper for the brand, like Geeta's Mango Chutney, Herbal Essences Shampoo and Conditioner and Prince's Apple Juice Cartons.

I recommend the Krusteaz Pancake mix which is so simple to make up and can also be used for other things, like waffles.

They're also really good for dried fruit and nuts, they sell every dried fruit you could imagine and although they are expensive they work out cheaper per gram.

The cafe is brilliant and I can't think of anywhere where you could get a cheaper meal; it works out about £5 for 2 people to have pizza and unlimited refills. That's if you have room after going around all the free tasting stations.

Make sure you give yourself time for a proper look around; I've got some great deals on toys, spirits and household bits. Don't take your children, they will want everything, and you'll end up spending loads of money on terrible UPF filled biscuits and cakes that they begged for, and then claim not to like when you get home.