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Although we are only a small family, we regularly shop in bulk stores like Sam’s Club and Costco. They are great places to go to for food, electronics, gas, baby supplies, and car maintenance. Over the years, we’ve learned a few tricks on how to maximize our membership.
We currently have both Sam’s Club and Costco memberships. We have both because I was able to take advantage of a Groupon offer of $45 for one year membership plus $20 eGift Card last year. It dropped our membership to $25. I noticed that Groupon regularly has this offer on their website so if you’re thinking of checking out Sam’s Club, this is a good way to do it.
I like that Sam’s Club (and now Costco!) has an app for online shopping. You can pay on the app and set up a pick-up time for your items. This saves me a lot of time and money since I’m not tempted by other items in-store. It also helps me manage our grocery budget since I can see the prices (including sales!) online.
Another great app to use is Ibotta. You can earn money on items you already shop for at Sam’s Club or Costco. All you have to do is download the app, look for offers for things you are planning to buy, go grocery shopping, then upload the receipts to the app.
Bulk stores are perfect places to shop for toiletries and other non-perishable items. If you’re looking for a specific shampoo, they may not have it but if they do carry your type of brand, it’s usually family size and much cheaper than regular stores. I like to buy items like toilet paper, shampoo, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, and laundry soap here because they don’t expire and we end up only shopping for these items a few times a year. We’ve also bought discount movie tickets and gift cards here. They’re such a steal! I’ve bought them as gifts or for ourselves when we want to go out. Don’t be afraid of buying their store brand items like Kirkland or Member’s Mark because they’re just as good and sometimes better than the other brands they carry. In addition, Costco and Sam’s Club have the best prices for gas, car supplies (like batteries), and tires. The gas lines and appointment times for car services are long so you have to make sure to time your visits to avoid the crowds.
I especially like shopping here for party food. The appetizers, desserts, snacks, and pastries are surprisingly yummy and can feed a lot of people. Because of this, we usually get pizza, pastries, cakes, and drinks at Sam’s Club or Costco for our church potlucks (much easier than cooking!). I also love their cake and selection of cake designs. For my son’s first birthday last year, we brought a photo of him to Sam’s Club and they were able to print and enlarge it on the cake. For $36.98, it had 96 servings and I probably had about 10 servings of leftover cake at home! It was that good!
Food waste is a very real problem for us when we bulk buy. There were many times over the years where we threw away eggs, vegetables, and milk because we couldn’t finish them on time. To cut down on our food waste, we freeze fresh food that we know we won’t use up before the end of the week. This includes spinach, ground beef, chicken, fish, mushrooms (although I like to cook them before I freeze them), and muffins. I also freeze ripe bananas to make banana bread or to add to smoothies later. In this way, we only defrost what we need. If you can, try to split the cost of food or other items with family and friends. Even though my friends/neighbors and I all have Costco memberships, we’ve shared a pack of 5 dozen eggs, two packs of bread, etc because we each have small households.
With proper planning, you can save a lot of money by bulk buying at Costco and Sam’s Club. You don’t have to have a large family and you don’t have to do all your shopping here. You just have to be strategic about what you buy. Are there other ways you save money shopping in bulk stores?
I like the idea of freezing the things you know you won’t use up in-time, but have had trial and error over the years with understanding how to do it properly. It’s easy to freeze meats—whether I separate it into smaller packages or not—but how do you freeze milk and have it taste right when you are ready to defrost it? Thanks for some awesome tips.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I haven’t frozen cow’s milk yet. I’ve only frozen breastmilk for my son. It keeps pretty well in the fridge for several months. You just have to let it defrost in the fridge a day or so before you want to use it. I saw a youtube video of a mom freezing whole gallons of cow’s milk for her large family and she just lets it defrost in the back of her freezer for several days. I was planning to try this method soon when we have space in our freezer.