Is Costco worth the hastle or just a bit too stressful?

[ShoveItUpYourArseMargaret]

I'm thinking of getting a Costco membership. My local Costco is about half an hour away. However I've just looked at some of the reviews and it all looks a bit stressful, apparently it can get very busy, the queues are long and you can only stay for two hours in the car park. Is it worth the hassle or just a load of unnecessary stress.

YABU = It's cool, do it.
YANBU = NOooo, don't do it.

I dont get the big deal. I dont have a petrol one near me. Even though I have plenty of kids we eat halal and there aren't many bargains to be had for halal food

But everyone else seems evangelical about it

We go about 4 times a year. We paid extra for the executive membership to get in early. Sometimes it can be busy but if you can go early or midweek it should be ok, we use Edinburgh branch.

I wouldn't say it is any cheaper than Amazon or supermarkets but certain things are better quality or more convenient to buy in bulk. For example, I find their meat and fish very good quality. Laundry detergent and toilet roll does seem a bit cheaper. The bakery is good and if you're hosting a party it's great for stocking up on cans/bottles of juice.

Calpol is significantly cheaper for some reason and I know lots of people go for nappies and wipes, but I don't need those anymore.

We always spend a fortune when we go but it probably brings down the cost of our weekly shop by quite a bit.

Costco can be busy in the middle of the day and at weekends, but even with long queues it's no hassle as they have about eight tills at my local and a single waiting line, so you choose which till you want to go to, when it's your turn.

Go first thing, when it opens, or after 17:00hrs. I use Costco all the time and they have brilliant offers.

I go once every two months I would say. I wouldn’t go at the weekend or in the school holidays. Ours is busy sometimes but not at all other times. Afternoons are particularly quiet.

We definitely save money but because we don’t buy things that you eat more of because you have loads.

We go for petrol savings and it’s on our way to somewhere we go to at least a couple of times a week. In store, I don’t think it’s especially cheaper (particularly if you buy own brands in your normal store) but it’s good for bulk catering and stocking up. And the random aisles of tat are definitely worth it!

We use it quite a lot, probably once a fortnight minimum. DP drives long distances for work so frequently fills up his car there, and will happily nip in even if only for a few things like bread, butter and milk.

We only buy our meat from there now, it’s much better quality than the supermarket meat.

Some things are a really good price but not everything. Cleaning products, cat litter, meat I've found really worth it.

It's just a shop. If you can cope with supermarket shopping you can cope with Costco.

I don’t think it’s worth it unless you live nearby or have a large family. I’m about 40 mins drive and if I went at the wkend it was always crazy busy. I used the Glasgow one.

The petrol is cheaper so that wld pay for membership alone if u lived in the area. Ive had a membership a few times, last time was about 2 yrs ago. The last year in particular all I really bought was a few food bits and a birthday cake, not worth the price of the membership, last time it was about £34 I think. I used to get a heavily discounted membership years ago through work at £8 a year. That was worth it even if I only went once or twice a year.

I don’t think the discounted products are as good as they used to be. Not as much choice and not so much savings.

The petrol is about 6 or 7p a litre cheaper than my local place but the petrol I’d use up to get to Costco specially means it’s not that worth it to save a couple of quid a tank. Fine if you’re going anyway though.

We go every few months to fill up the freezer. The meat is decent quality. We buy cleaning products etc there. I go in knowing exactly what i want and I'm in and out in about half hour.
When my husband goes he looks around and ends up spending much more money!

Shopping cathedral. You definitely have to enjoy shopping to be arsed.

We had a membership for a year but didn’t renew. Partly because most of my family are fusspots and won’t be flexible on the specific type of eg ketchup or chips they will eat. I didn’t find it much cheaper in practice.

It doesn’t work out cheaper once you consider the time and faff. Last time I went I said never again.

All the non chilled items you can order online with the online only membership. For things like meat we just buy a freezer box from the butcher instead.

I use it every couple of months, I like the quality of their meat and my skin care is cheaper. Their own brand products are good and well priced and I use their opticians.

It's shit, only cheap if you buy in bulk which is why this mug ended up with 24 tins of Heinz fucking beans.
Please note that we don't even have beans that often. Took fucking ages to get rid of them 🙄

It’s worth it at this to of year just for the mince pies!

It's both: worth it and stressful.
I'm in Vancouver, Canada.
My advice is arrive about 40 mins before closing or line up before opening to shop early. My local Costco opens 30-60 mins before posted times.

If you are new to Costco my advice is to buy food items you can easily split and freeze plus TP and paper towels. Then slowly begin to strategize your weekly shops around that. I buy bags of frozen salmon fillets and prawns, frozen fruit for smoothies, dairy, all meat/chicken, some ready meals and clothing. Pretty much everything, actually, including tires for the car!

I now buy very little at regular grocery stores. I sometimes go to Costco 2x p/w, but I can also stretch it to once every 7-10 days.

We go about once a month , definitely worth it for us . Not everything is cheaper than supermarkets but the quality is excellent and there are bargains to be had .