Is a Costo Membership worth it?

[JD]

I'm a single guy that lives by himself and I tried it one year. Used it once. Not worth it for me. Especially when I can piggyback off my parents or friends if there's anything I really need or want from there.

[rayne008]

I'm a Ford guy, and have saved $1000 off each of my last 2 purchases over and above what we negotiated, so it's definitely paid off for me.

I also go to the Crossiron location weekday nights, often checkout without a lineup.

[Ace]

...Oh and banana peppers, you pay less than at the grocery store for 4 times as much.

[mykalberta]

When I had a membership...

Milk, meat, veg, and fruit are what you save the most on vs the grocery store.

Also their meat, veg, and fruit were 99% of the time better of minimum same quality you get at the other grocery stores.

The negative is the quantities are ridiculous. I was fine with it as I often ate the same meal for lunch every weekday so it didnt affect me.

If you like variety or are prone to going out to eat alot then Costco is likely not the place for you.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

If you live in the south, it's worth the drive to the Okotoks store just to preserve you sanity. Open parking spots, clear aisles, and short lines means there's less desire to gun down everyone else in the store.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Also, it is impossible to spend under $100 at a time, so be wary of that.

Sure it is. I have great self control, and can easily go in and out with $25-$50 of stuff, but I rarely do that as it takes longer to make purchases so I'll just go to Safeway or equivalent. I'll go to Costco when there is something they have that I want that I don't know where to find elsewhere, like iced cap mixes in the summer. The missus and I probably make about eight to 10 visits a year.

[MRCboicgy]

As a single guy, I had a membership for a year, and even when I took a roommate, we ended up throwing way too much food out - and I just can't do that having grown up poor.

If I need to, I just call up the folks to go in with them

What is the best about Costco USA - self checkout lines. These are golden if you are able to stay sub-$100 (like when you just need a box of 96 granola bars and some Vitamin D pills )

[GreatWhiteEbola]

I buy gas there, it's cheaper most of the time. 109.4, 6 hours ago.

I bought a nice Bulova there about 50% of what it retailed for.

I buy steaks there too. Effin good steaks!

I get the bags o' fish too.

300 pack of Ziploc freezer bags, and portion everything.

[BigNumbers]

Single? No.

Couple? Probably Not.

Couple with a kid? Probably.

Couple with multiple kids? #%*} YES.

[Free Ben Hur!]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

It's worth it for meat and cheese alone!

Overall the quality of their food is top-notch. The only frustrating thing for me is some items come and go. The Belmont bison burgers were fabulous but I haven't seen them for many months now, and probably never will again.

Ya, like where are those huge slabs of Piave cheese? And they need an Express checkout.

[macker]

It is worth it to get the AMEX card that has your picture membership ID on the back as it takes some plastic out of your pocket. Also many times a tweet from RFD will lead you over to costco.ca and you won't even need to step foot in the store to get a great deal. They seem to have more RFDs than most stores. Mainly big ticket household/office items.

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by BloodFetish

It's worth it for meat and cheese alone!

Overall the quality of their food is top-notch. The only frustrating thing for me is some items come and go. The Belmont bison burgers were fabulous but I haven't seen them for many months now, and probably never will again.

Definitely agree about the meats and cheeses. I bought a $24 wedge of Grana Padano at Costco which would've been upwards of $50-60 elsewhere. And you can get the 4-packs of bacon for the price of about 1.5 packs from Sobey's. Use one and freeze the other 3.

[DiracSpike]

I go just for lunch sometimes, big ass piece of pizza and refillable soft drink for three bucks all in. Plus you get free access to the fountain so you could mix like, lemonade with mountain dew its fantastic. And don't forget the free samples and cheap prescription drugs!

[Bertuzzied]

Costco has the best roast chicken by far in the city! So much better than the cardboard chicken taste from superstore, safeway and sobeys.

[Draug]

We are a family of 5, so Costco is worth it. We actually go weekly, and because we go so often, we can generally stick to items that have a current in-store discount. You can get some really good prices on those.

A good and large deepfreeze, and lots of storage space, also really helps maximize the efficiency of Costco purchases.

[boobaloo]

We are an empty nest couple and do most of our shopping at Costco. Costco.ca is also good, because you can get stuff there not available in the store. The return policy is unmatched anywhere and they are the only company that knows how to design a parking lot, IMO.

[stang]

Originally Posted by rayne008

I'm a Ford guy, and have saved $1000 off each of my last 2 purchases over and above what we negotiated, so it's definitely paid off for me.

I also go to the Crossiron location weekday nights, often checkout without a lineup.

I'm a ford guy... How does this savings work?

[Roughneck]

It isn't hard to save the cost of the membership, especially if you're living with people but the benefits of such purchases are largely dependent on how much space you have.

Buying all that toilet paper is great if you have some shelf space in your bathroom, being able to buy a year's worth of canned tuna is great if you've got room in the cupboards etc.. If you don't have the space, it will get in the way and/or you will have to throw a lot of money away.

Plus, if you're living alone, buying all that meat, poultry and frozen vegetables will mean you need a freezer and it will take you a while to go through it (making the meat worse in which case you'd be better off just going to Co-Op, Sobeys, or wherever is close that has good meat and deal with the added cost. Same goes with buying all that milk and other perishable stuff that isn't meant for one person to consume in a short amount of time. If you live with people, you can save quite a bit if you split the costs on some Costco runs.

Their return policy is fantastic (gone are the days of the "Costco rentals" that many a student abused, but it truly is hassle free) so if you see an item for the same price as another store, buy it at Costco just for the potential ease at which you can return it if need be.


But really, I think you'll always be able to find a way to make the membership worth it, even if you're just buying non-perishables, household stuff and the like.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Nvm

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by fotze

....The chickens must look like (insert some blubbery fat celebrity).

Rita MacNeil? Am I doing it right?