Can a warehouse club membership save you money? Is it a good deal for bargain shoppers? What are some of the things to watch out for when shopping at a warehouse club?
There’s no cut-and-dried answer to those questions: it absolutely depends on your lifestyle, your budget, and your family’s needs. But, there are some important things to consider when evaluating whether or not a warehouse or club membership is right for you.
Keep in mind that this information is presented primarily from a budget standpoint. If you shop at a warehouse club for convenience or other reasons other than trying to save money on a tight budget, then much of this information may not be relevant to you.
Impulse purchases add up
Buying something “because it looked good” at Costco or Sam’s can be costly. Instead of spending 50¢ on a single candy bar like you might at a grocery store, you’ve spend $5 on an entire box of candy bars. Your budget might not notice an impulse buy of 50¢, but an impulse purchage of $5 is a much higher percentage of most people’s budgets.
Trying new items can be costly
We once bought a large, $6 bag of Craisins trail mix at Sam’s Club. When we opened it and began snacking, we were more than disappointed: everything had an overpowering taste of coconut, which is not good for a family full of coconut haters.
It might not have been a big deal if it had been a small bag like you’d buy at a normal grocery store, but the gigantic bag at a warehouse store wascostly. Yes, you can often return products that you don’t like – if you want to mess with that.
Waste adds up
Whether you didn’t like it, got tired of it, or it went bad before it got used up, all of us – warehouse club shoppers or not – waste food. If you have trouble using up two “regular” bags of salad mix before they get slimy, will you be able to use a gigantic tub of salad mix before it spoils? If it was 20% cheaper at a warehouse store and you waste 30%, it was actually more expensive.
Many moms swear by the cheaper diapers at Costco, but then end up with half a box unused because their child outgrew them before they used the whole box. Yes, you can absolutely share or donate them, but again, we’re talking from a budget standpoint: the diapers may not be cheaper if you don’t use them!
The “warehouse club mentality” can be dangerous
Many people shop at a warehouse club because they think it’s cheaper than shopping at other stores. True, some things are – but many things aren’t. If you have the mentality of, “Oh, I’ll just pick this up here because it’s cheaper”, you are likely treading on dangerous territory – particularly because again, you are buying in super-sized amounts.
Grocery shopping amidst TVs and clothing is tempting
Yep, Costco has good deals on clothing and books. But, how often have you purchased something in the non-food section at a warehouse club that you needed but wouldn’t have purchased otherwise? Could you or would you have been able to wait longer if it wasn’t so convenience to purchase it alongside your groceries?
Bulk purchases often require other investments
I realized this when I bought a 50-pound bag of popcorn recently. I saved lots of money by purchasing in bulk, but now I have to find something to store it in that allows me to actually access it conveniently. Long term, this is not a major expense since I’ll find something I can use over and over; however, the short term savings of buying in bulk go down when I have to buy something for storage.
It’s hard to compare prices
It can be very difficult to compare warehouse club pricing to other stores. You’re generally going to be comparing items that are different sizes, so if you want to accurately compare prices, you’ll often have to go all the way to figuring out the price per ounce.
Cashback isn’t exclusive to Costco
Lots of people love Costco’s executive membership with the Mastercard that gives you 2% cashback on most Costco purchases. While there’s nothing wrong with that if you pay it off every month, it’s probably not saving you that much money. You could likely get a different credit card (or even debit card) that would allow you to earn rewards anywhere you shop, and wouldn’t charge the extra $50 that you have to spend to get the executive membership.
You can beat warehouse club prices without coupons
Most items go on sale for cheaper than Sam’s Club or Costco carries them, and usually without a coupon. If you use coupons, even better, but many items can be had for cheaper if you just watch the sales. This does require that you shop the sales and plan your menus based on what’s on sale: if you prefer to just buy whatever happens to be on your list without regard to what’s on sale, then yes, you’ll probably save money at a warehouse club.
A warehouse club isn’t a one-stop shop
I know lots of people say they don’t have time to shop all around town – I don’t, either, which is why I have been evaluating getting a warehouse club membership! But, I’d say it’s pretty rare for someone to do all their shopping at a warehouse club – you probably stop at another store to pick up the things that Costco and Sam’s don’t carry.
If you shop at a warehouse club every couple of weeks, you may find that you could save more money by shopping at different store (based on what’s on sale) and skipping the warehouse club shopping trip.
Cheaper prices don’t always mean you’re saving money
This is why I don’t currently have a warehouse club membership. I can see how a membership can pay for itself with bulk discounts. I can see the convenience and the high-quality items that are available.
But, just because it’s cheaper doesn’t mean it will save you money overall.
For instance, when I buy a pound of dried cranberries for $3/lb at Sunflower Market, I use those cranberries sparingly and try to make them last as long as I can. When I buy a big bag of dried cranberries at Sam’s for around $2.00/lb, I use those cranberries up about five times as fast as I would if I had bought the smaller package. It was cheaper per ounce to buy them at Sam’s, but overall I spent more and used the item much more liberally.
Nuts are lots cheaper when buying in bulk at Sam’s or Costco: but if I buy nuts, we will use them. When we were once content with brownies without nuts, all of the sudden we will be eating brownies with nuts. Is that bad? Of course not, nuts are healthy (well, minus the brownies)! But, the overall cost goes up because I feel liberated to use something I would otherwise be content to live without.
Though we could afford a warehouse club membership right now, and though I can think of many things I would buy there, I’m not buying one right now because it I know it will make my overall spending go up. While I would love to buy many of the items that Sam’s Club or Costco carries at their somewhat-discounted prices, I can’t justify the fact that many of those items would be “splurges” that would probably not be a wise choice right now.
Right now, I am splurging a bit in our budget – but it’s splurges in small amounts, not bulk splurges. When I buy something like Craisins and know I’m not getting the lowest price in town, I’m much more prudent with how I use those Craisins, and maybe even enjoy them even more!
I used to think warehouse clubs were a major ripoff, but after thinking about it long and hard, I really think that the budget-buster of warehouse clubs is not the membership fee, or the items that are actually more expensive than other grocery stores: at least for me, I think it’s that I would tend to overindulge in items because they are “cheaper” – but they’re still not cheap.
What do you think?
Again, the thoughts I’ve shared in this post are primarily coming from the standpoint of “bargains”, but I would love to hear why you chose to or chose not to shop at a warehouse club – aside from prices on specific products, what impacts your decision to shop Sam’s Club or Costco or avoid it?
Please join the discussion in the comments!
$1.99 for Pantry Essentials (gallon) at Safeway
I know you discussed the credit card however you missed the Costco amex which you earn cash back on all purchases, not just at Costco. Lots of good points though.
I’ve been teaching “smart shopping” classes for years and here is my most valuable piece of advice: shop with a list and take ONLY the amount of cash you plan to spend. Leave your debit/credit cards IN THE CAR. If you can’t trust yourself, leave them at HOME. This will prevent overspending in 99.9% of cases. I only buy a few things at Costco and only after I have done my homework to prove to myself that it really is a better deal. Plus, they do have really great deals on books :)
What a terrific idea. A bit scary for me (not sure why, probably “picking up” a few impulse items has become standard practice for me), but very smart! I guess it is time to train my inner child by saying “no, we don’t have money for that”. :)
I go to Costco once a month after I have received their monthly coupon flyer. I only buy those things that have a coupon and that I know are already a better price than I can get at another store. I have to agree that the temptation to buy other things is large, but if I leave my hubby at home :), I just run in with my list and coupons and run right back out.
Impulse purchases add up
OK, this can be a problem for some people, but this can be just as big a problem at any grocery store. Sticking to a list is essential for anyone who wants has a budget no matter which store they go to.
Trying new items can be costly
Trying new items does not have to be costly. If you don’t’ like the product and it’s pretty much unused, most warehouse clubs will take it back.
Waste adds up
This, too, for me is not an issue. Careful planning, like a meal plan, can eliminate most food waste.
The “warehouse club mentality” can be dangerous
Yes, this might be an issue for some people, but I think most of the readers of this blog won’t have this mentality. After all, they’re looking at this blog to get the best deals.
Grocery shopping amidst TVs and clothing is tempting
This point goes back to sticking to a list. Temptations are everywhere, that does not mean we have to give in to them.
Bulk purchases often require other investments
Sorry, but I really don’t know about this point. Keeping a stockpile for other purchases can be seen just as costly considering that people might have to buy shelves or cabinets. Some people might even argue that buying a newspaper and clipping and filing coupons is costly and time consuming.
It’s hard to compare prices
Costco and Sam’s has the ounce price listed, just like other grocery stores.
Cashback isn’t exclusive to Costco
Like already mentioned, at least at Sam’s, the credit card can be used at other stores.
You can beat warehouse club prices without coupons
This might be a valid point. But, for example milk, is $2 at Sam’s. With a family of 6 this is the best deal.
I guess all in all, I’m trying to say, it can be worth it, it all depends.
Waste can also be avoided by splitting with a friend. I used to do this when we didn’t go through some items as fast, before kids. :) That way we both got a deal and only had what we could use.
I am having the hardest time deciding whether or not to join Costco, which is about 1 minute from my home. While there are a few items that I would save significantly on…yeast, maple syrup, honey…will I really save $50/year? I also find some of the bulk packaging to be inconvenient. As far as the impulse buying issue, I completely agree with you…I might need to make sure not to ask my husband to stop by for that reason :).
I personally have saved $50.00 at Costco alone on stuff we eat a lot of in the 3 months we’ve had our membership. I think (based on what you said you’d buy the most at Costco) it would be EASY for you to make up the $50.00 membership fees in the year. It really all depends on how much of those items you use on a regular basis.
For us….it’s well worth the cost of membership because it has paid for itself in 3 months. :0)
Not sure how they compare to Costco, but yeast, maple syrup, and honey are all good deals at Sam’s, too – those are things I buy with their one-day passes that allow you to shop for free or with a 10% upcharge. I’ve spent about $200 at Sam’s this year, and paid about $10 extra because of the 10% surcharge (once I shopped with the surcharge, the other was on a free day).
Like I said in the post, it’s not particularly the membership fee that’s an issue for me – I think you can definitely save as much as your membership fee, for me the question is just whether or not the items I’m “saving” on are items I would buy otherwise.
We have had Sam’s and Costco memberships at different times in the past. We used to get diapers and wipes there as well as other bulk items when we had little babies. For the past two years, we have had nothing. We ran the numbers and couldn’t make up the membership costs. Like you Carrie, it would be cheaper to just pay the surcharge. We actually haven’t had to do that though. Before we let our membership expire, we stocked up on things we like. Since then, there have been free days at both that have helped us fill in the gaps. Even with a membership we weren’t there that often, considering the bulk amount of the foods. I tend to freeze or store items for more long term. Bakery buckets are great for storing some of their items. We do cook a lot from scratch, so I guess if you were into more convenience foods maybe the club memberships would be worthwhile, but between the stocking up on free days and couponing, I no longer see the need for my family of 5.
I think it can be a good deal if the things you are buying at Sams are things you would be buying anyways whether it was on sale or not. For instance, the things we buy the most at Sams are gas, cheese, and milk. All of those are things that I will be buying no matter what the cost, so by buying them at Sam’s I ensure that I am gettting the best price. Then if a grocery store beats Sams prices, I buy it at the grocery store that week, and go back to Sams next week, because we CAN’T live without our cheese!
But it’s also nice that I have the warehouse club available if I need something that’s not on sale that week. I have bought potatos there a couple of times recently. It hurt, because it was more than three times what I wanted to pay, but we used the potatos for what we needed then stretched them, so hopefully they last until the next time potatos are on sale for a decent price.
We buy our milk and cheese there as well. LOL! If the grocery store beats Sam’s that week…then grocery store it is. LOL!
When I buy the big bag of cheese…..I measure it out into quart sized bags (2 cups in each bag…the same as the small bags in the grocery store) and freeze it. then we only get a bag out when we need it.
It REALLY helps to cut out the…..using more because you paid less mentality. I do the same thing with my nuts, craisins, dried fruit and chocolate chips! It may take a little time to do it…but it’s well worth not having to buy the stuff more often because I “overused” the product because I had more to use. :0)
I have to agree with Kathleen on this one.
Shopping at a warehouse clubs can be VERY beneficial when done correctly. I shop at both Costco and Sam’s and still keep our monthly budget on groceries for a family of (4 if you account for the amount of food my hubby eats! LOL!) less than $175.00 MAX!
I am VERY frugal and only purchase the items that we use the most often and can save the most on by purchasing in bulk. We have no issues with waste…especially when it comes to fresh fruits and veggies. We only by what we can consume before it goes bad…even if we buy at at the warehouse.
I’m not an impulse buyer at all. LOL! I go in with my list and come out with ONLY what was on it. I also agree with Lindsey…..only take in the cash you need! If you can’t “trust” yourself with your debit/credit card…then DON’T take it with you. LOL! It really helps to eliminate the “impulse” buys. ;0)
I think it takes a lot of consideration for anyone to join a warehouse. But I personally think that if the membership is used wisely on what you and your family use the most…it can save you quite a bit of money. :0)
Whenever I go to Sam’s and Costco, I’m always checking to see what groceries are a better deal there. At Costco all I buy is turkey bacon, raw tortillas and Kirkland salsa. I’m not sure if the last two are a spectacular deal but I just love the way they taste. :)
Then at Sam’s I’ll buy flour, spices, baking powder, yeast, and olive oil.
That’s seriously it. So I don’t have a membership to either place and rather just wait for them to do a free-pass day. :)
I love those raw tortillas too! They are so good!
Does Costco have free days?
Yes, they do! They had one not too long ago, maybe since the New Year?
A cheap way to explore Costco is to have a friend load a Costco Cash Card (prepaid card). You get the same discounts without having to pay the $50 fee.
We have a few things we consistently get at Sam’s Club. We already have large tupperware type storage for things, and with my baking addiction and soon to be six kids (with the oldest boys approaching teenager appetites), we can go through a huge can of pears in a couple of days, a 25 lb bag of flour in an afternoon of baking, and I don’t have to worry about sales on cheese and milk as the club price is generally what I look to beat with a sale. I have multiple freezers and 2 fridges so I have plenty of room. It really makes sense for us. I am always on a budget, so Sams is generally at the end of the pay period, when I know I have the other things I’m going to need and can afford to get a few things in the bulk sizes. I steer clear of the non food sections, except for the occasional trash bags purchase. We usually get in and out spending well under $100-and for now, it’s totally worth it to us.
I think we will totally be shopping at Sam’s or Costco with teenagers (if not sooner) – with the way they eat now, I don’t think I could do anything BUT buy in bulk when I’m feeding teenagers… I’d never have time to make it to even two stores, lol!
I love Costco and it’s very much worth it for us. It can be hard not to make impulse purchases especially with my husband along, but I’ve found the impulse purchase at Target or a Grocery store actually cost us more than at Costco.
The big thing is to stick to your list and get to know their coupon cycle. Typically their coupons are the same as what you would get on inserts and the P&G but for larger amounts. Things such as coupons for paper towels, dish tabs, shaving cream etc all run on a cycle that matches pretty much when you would use the items up. We shop with the coupons and we buy things that we eat huge amounts of and know we will use. As for trying new things we don’t do it unless we try a sample first or try it in a smaller package. I don’t but things like salad etc because it would go to waste, but I do buy their berries when they are on sale because I can freeze them.
The other thing is we make a lot of our “big” purchases at Costco. For example when my vacuum went kaput I REALLY wanted an Oreck which is more out of pocket but lasts forever. It was quite a bit cheaper to get it at Costco. You can also get great deals on movies and video games, which my husband would buy no matter what so that saves us money as well.
We’ve been members at Costco for years now (even before they had a store here) and have run the cycle with our spending there. When we first joined we essentially shifted all of our grocery shopping there and it’s true that our spending doubled. We let ourselves do the impulse buying occasionally and caved to the processed foods section.
But the last two years, as I’ve been overhauling our entire family budget and all of our spending habits, we’ve changed our approach to Costco as well.
I think you make some good points Carrie, but if you figure out a way to use Costco to enhance your existing spending/grocery habits instead of just thinking of it as another grocery store, I think the rewards are great.
After much consideration and comparing, here are the things that we buy at Costco that are hands down cheaper to buy in larger quantities because we use them all the time and because they’re just flat cheaper: condiments, turkey bacon, ground turkey, Hebrew National hot dogs, peanut butter (they also have killer prices on Almond Butter), jelly/preserves, Pam nonstick cooking spray, lunch meat, cheese, butter, dryer sheets, refried beans and canned tomatoes. Probably next winter I’ll have to start buying the flour in bulk as well since I go through it so fast since I’ve started baking all of our bread.
We usually do one Costco trip every 6-8 weeks and always use their coupons and we can typically get out of there for $150 or less and not have to ever run out of or wait on a sale for those items because I know I already got them as cheap as I’m ever going to.
I love Costco and now that I’ve figured out how to make our membership work FOR me and our budget, it’s an even bigger asset.
Plus if you go on a weekend, you can essentially feed your family lunch with all of the samples they put out. ;)
My son bought me a costco membership 3 yrs now and I rarely use it. At first I bought diapers then with amazon mom or just regular coupon I still save more going to KS or Target.Other than gas it is great. I break it down to the per diaper cost and even with the coupons they send out it is still more expensive. I went with my hubby one day with my notebook I keep of price I like to stick to for our most common items and with my math teacher hubby he can break it down to the ounce price for me. There was not much we would consistently buy and get a great deal on. The batteries we a big savings and gas. Flour and sugar it depends. Big ticket items like a vacuum we did not price as we have a Magestic and won’t need anything else anytime soon. If it was not a gift I would not get it.
My fiancee and I have saved hundreds over the past 9mos with a Costco membership on things we would typically buy. We live at separate homes so we just split some of our purchases into separate baggies.
Also, our favorite date of the week is at Costco during prime sample times like weekends and after school time. We get more free meals there than our $50.00 annual membership fee would provide at any local restaurant. Plus we get to experience new foods and have lots of fun doing it.
$50/year = less than $1/week so we can justify in our budget. And I drive by it every day so I am definitely not going out of my way. Since budgeting and couponing I have gone from spending hundreds of dollars a month at warehouse stores to maybe $10/week. Cheaper items- milk, cheese, coffee, bananas (?), creamer, gas. And that is about all I get! I think adding $1 to my total purchase would be equivalent or slightly cheaper than King Soopers anyway and it is nice to have a membership for those random items (like lots of food for parties that are once in awhile events).
I really like Costco. We have the Costco amex and use it for EVERYTHING. We always get several hundred dollars back each year from it. You earn 3% cashback on gas (anywhere you buy), so that’s a great savings!
We don’t visit Costco very often, but we do go there to buy a few things that are ONLY available at Costco. Plus, we have bought several electronics there before and get a great savings. Their return policy is awesome, too. I bought a stand mixer, decided I hated it and was able to return it for 100% refund even though I didn’t have the box or the receipt!
I haven’t seen anyone else mention the optical, or the photo… You can get great deals on contacts and/or glasses (even with the “out-of network provider” from my insurance, it is still cheaper!) and fill up printer cartridges that other places in town can’t fill-up (HP).
I agree that I have cut back on the amount of groceries that I buy there, but some items just can’t be beat! We have also purchased electronics in the past and been extremely pleased with the support and extended warranty (for no additional charge).
I believe they have a policy if you sign up for a membership and don’t save at least the cost of the membership that they will refund the ($50) membership fee!
I love Costco! Just wanted to point out that we have an executive membership and not the credit card. I still get 2% back on my purchases without the credit card. We buy batteries, frozen chicken, produce(my boys go through tons of fruit), milk, and trash compactor bags for sure! I only go about every 6 weeks as well so not to bad. Their policy is great on electronics I had a laptop I bought there that the drive started going out after 3 months they took it back and gave me a full refund no questions asked! We save on ink too, although I haven’t tried getting my ink refilled yet. I share a membership with my sister(ok they frown on this though) and we split the cost and accumulate more towards are 2% back. I have had a Sam’s Club too but as with Walmart I really didn’t like their quality of stuff as well as I do Costco. Plus their hot dog and a drink meal is $1.50 you can’t beat that for lunch!
Thanks for all your comments, it’s been interesting since I’ve been considering a membership for awhile now. We had a membership when we only had 1 kid and I didn’t use it all that much… now we have 4 kids so I’ve been considering it again. For now I coupon at the regular stores, and just stock up on the free pass days and it seems to be working… plus I can go to the commissary which has good deals usually… but you’ve all given me a lot to think about.
I second what Becky said about the optical! I just had to buy my son glasses, being a Kindergartener I didn’t want to have to stress about getting the glasses to school everyday and risk losing them so my husband and I desided to buy 2 pair (one stays at home and one at school).
I priced glasses in the glasses department at the eye Dr. $104 for 1 pair $184 for the second pair after insurance.
At Target I could get 1 pair for $185 and the second pair for $89 on clearance after insurance.
At Costo I got both pairs (all their glasses come standard poly-carb., anti-scratch, and anti-refective, which the glasses above may or may not have been) for $169? (if anything I’m quoting high) with-out insurance and then got $70 back after filling out and subitting the out-of-network form.
Sorry for the long explanation but I was shocked at how much we saved and if you tack on the $50 membership to the glasses price we still saved at Costco.
The other thing is if you stick to the coupons often you can beat or come close to what you save with sales and coupons at other stores.
I like that Sam’s Club has click n’ pull. I am able to place an order from home, pick it up in less than 15 minutes and I’m done. Some items I need that are not on the click n’ pull list, I just make a run through the store and my order is waiting at the front for me when I am ready to go. For a family of 7, this is very convenient, cuts down on impulse shopping and lets me know how much I am spending. I keep a list that I just add to through the week and place the order when I am ready.
As far as cash back rewards, we have an American Express card that gives 6% back on supermarket grocery purchases (not mega stores like Sams or Costco). This helps when I want to shop sales at local grocery stores. Our two freezers and two refrigerators really help keep me out of the stores as well. Good article by the way and worthy comments worth contemplating.
Thanks for your money saving site.
I just went to Costco and used my coupons for the things that I usually buy. Here is their regular price and the coupon amount in case someone wants to know how good of a deal the coupons really are. I didn’t get very much this time but here goes:
Clorox Wipes (4 pack/78 wipes each) 12.59 – 2.50 coupon =10.09, Kirkland Fabric Softner dryer sheets (2 boxes/ 250 each) 8.49 – 2.00 coupon = 6.49,
Cascade dishwasher detergent action pacs (90) 15.49 – 3.00 coupon = 12.49,
Coppertone sunscreen [pack of 2 (7.5 oz spray lotion)], 1 (4oz squeeze lotion), 1 stick, all spf 50 15.99 – 5.00 coupon = 10.99.
I also buy boneless skinless chicken tenders there that are 2.49/lb but they are so tender and fat free that I don’t mind spending a little extra. I buy the Kirkland brand paper towels as well because they are huge and very durable, even better than Brawny, in my opinon, but they were 14.99 for 12 giant rolls. They do usually have coupons come out for the paper towels but I don’t think I have seen one for the chicken.
Costco does not work for my family. Most stuff I would buy in bulk were either junk food or something our small family just wouldn’t use so it would be wasted. For us couponing and sale shopping is much cheaper than buying in bulk at a warehouse. For a larger family I could see it working but for us it just never did.
Example: Hamburger – $2/lb which is much cheaper than $2.99/lb max packs at Safeway BUT every 2 months or so that hamburger goes on sale for $1.49/lb at Safeway. Buying enough for 8-10 weeks in the end saves over buying at Costco. I can use many examples but I just threw out a box of cereal I bought there a year ago – it was a good price – but not the brand we like. Its cheaper to match coupons to sales and get the stuff my fam likes for $1/box than to get those huge boxes for “cheaper” and yes, they’re all name brands.
I Have a membership at sams Club, we use it to buy Diapers, formula and Wipes as far as i am concerned it is a better deal than anywhere else even with coupons, but i know that because i actually do break down the sales at other stores per ounce, per wipe and per diaper. However i agree totally about the impulse buys, everything looks so good!!
I intend to still avoid warehouse club membership because:
- I am still using up much of what I bought at Sam’s when they let anyone in several months ago, and I stocked up on some of the things that are actually a good deal.
- I don’t have the storage for buying in bulk, nor do I want to create the space for it.
- All the reasons you mentioned in your post a long time ago about why not to join, plus all the cautions listed above.
- In a few months, we’ll be moving to the middle of nowhere, and we have no idea if we’ll use an annual membership once we get there. :)
You are completely right that you don’t save money going to Costco. However we shop there every week because we get more for what we spend. Example, we would not purchase Pesto Sauce at the grocery store.
Too expensive and not very good. At Costco their in house brand is reasonable and amazing. However we are a household of four adults so we do eat different than when we had teenager.
A friend of mine cooks once a month with a friend and they swear by Costco.
I love my Costco membership, but I am not an impulse buyer. We are on a very limited budget, and I don’t buy a ton there, often one or two items at a time, which is funny when everyone there has a cart full, but we still get our membership fees back in the rebate check with the credit card. I am a huge couponer so I buy most things on sale with coupons in grocery store, but there are still a few things that make Costco worth it. Things we buy: gas, cheese, butter, trash bags, face soap, Pam, tortillas, yeast, flour, seran wrap and ink cartranges. I would almost want the membership for the seran wrap alone, it is that fabulous. In response to your comment about buying granola that you didn’t like, Costco is fabulous at returning item and if we don’t like something or something didn’t work, they always give refunds without a question. I even bought some flower bulbs one time that did not come up, and I still had package and they gave me a refund. Also their electronics have a great return policy compared to others, so if you buy a computer and decide you don’t like it, you have more time than most places to return it.