Wholesale clubs? About This Page:

[Happymommy]

I have a BJ's membership that I rarely use--- has anyone found that they save money with wholesale clubs??

[lukeandbrookesmom]

I just posted on another thread about this, too. I didn't have much luck with BJs or COSTCO in our area. Many things were more expensive and you're forced to really know your prices as not to get taken advantage of. I also found it to be wasteful for us because of the huge quanitites. I do have coworkers who swear by these store though. I think it depends on what you buy. I also think people forget the cost of the membership and wonder if they really are saving money with it factored in.

[LizardCop]

We have Sam's Club here. We save money because we buy bulk, and the cases are much cheaper per item than buying individually. But, unless you're buying bulk, you really don't save that much using a wholesale club...

We do get really good deals on larger items there, computers, generators, furniture, special items like Christmas decorations, seasonal items...

The nice thing here is that Sam's is right next door to Wal-Mart. Sometimes Sam's has individual items cheaper than Wal-Mart. We look at Sam's, then check Wal-Mart. If Sam's had it cheaper, we tell Wal-Mart what Sam's was selling it for, and after a quick phone call, we get that price at Wal-Mart...

[cherylf]

I use my BJs membership all the time - especially for gasoline. They are usually from 5 to 10 cents a gallon cheaper that elsewhere. I also use it for large ticket items, DVDs and bottled water. I give extra cards to both my children for Christmas and they get lots of use out of them for baby items like diapers and wipes.

[happyhedgehogs]

I don't know that we save much money, but I like Sam's because I can get things there I can't get anywhere else. My favorite creme brulee cheesecake, which I take to our church Christmas party every year, is only available at Sam's. Also, they have some individually packaged foods that I can't get at other stores, like nuts and things. I can get a larger package at another store, but in a lot of cases, I can't get the individual portions that I get at Sam's in mass quantities. There are things that are cheaper than elsewhere, but for me, it's the different-products part that I like.

[DrDolphin]

I am single - but I love my costco membership. I buy my paper products in bulk - obviously I can't use it for fruit or veggies since most of it wold go bad before I could eat it - but detergent, bleach, shampoo, paper towels, TP, etc.... cleaning type products - in the long run - more is cheaper. I have also bought large items - my mattress and box spring...my washer and dryer - at Costco at GREAT savings.

[Luv4My4]

I use my BJ's membership ALL the time !! We go at least once a month to stock up on staples like cereal, tp, paper towels, soup, etc. We also buy cases of juice boxes and snacks for school, gatorade and water bottles for sports, the large shampoos and conditioners are always cheaper, razors, etc. but with a family of four we definitely use everything we buy. If you don't have to buy in bulk we do it may not be worth it.

[KathyL]

It's just DH and I and all our pets (5 cats and 1 small dog) in our household. I believe that we do save money using our BJs membership. I purchase my gas there (I pass BJs on my way to work), buy all of the cat and dog canned food, catlitter, cleaning and laundry supplies, rottisserie chickens, shampoo, razors and sometimes red meat. I don't generally buy things like boxes of cereal or peanut butter because I think I can do better at Walmart especially if I have a coupon.

[graygables]

We have Sam's Club and it more than pays for itself just in meat for our family. Ours is about 15 miles away, so when we go, we really stock up. I have a chest freezer, so that helps. I buy the "tube o' beef" and portion it out when we get home, same with chicken, pork chops, etc. I also get Electrasol dishwasher tablets (MUCH cheaper than any other dishwasher detergent), laundry detergent, dog food, ramen noodles, frozen veggies, and more. On Sam's days, I also bring home a couple of rotisserie chickens so I don't have to cook since I know I'll be putting it all away. On the way out, we get a pretzel and a drink as a special treat.

It also helps that I have 22yo on the membership and I know she and a few friends go in together on the bulk things.

Wholesale clubs don't work for everyone, but we get a lot of use from ours.

[EeyoreNeedsLoveToo]

I was costing us too much money we were buying convenience items we didn't need, and name brands of items we didn't care about -- however, at one point we did purchase a washer and saved more than our membership.

Now, I have Sam's membership for work -- (to purchase snacks/items for the camps and childcares) if I wanted or needed something for personal - I could get it - (we did look at a treadmill, but decided we didn't have the space) and just use my personal debit card to pay -- as a rule our regular grocery and or family dollar store are cheaper for most items.

[eff051102]

I have a Costco membership and we use it mainly for the larger items. But I also buy in bulk TP, Paper Towels, Laundry Soap, Dishwashing Soap, Meat (I have a freezer), Dog Food, Bread (I also freeze) and gas are money savers. The key is to plan your trips like you would the grocery store and make sure to only buy what you need. The samples you can taste are wonderful, but be careful that they don't trick you into buying them.

We get a check back once a year from Costco that really pays for the membership. I have also found some really cute Disney items that I haven't found anywhere else.

[mom23k9s]

We shop at Costco a lot and I don't really know if we save a whole lot of money. I buy the hamburger in bulk at about $1.99 a pound which is about what I'd get at the grocery store on sale. And Diet Pepsi usually runs about $8.35 for 36 cans but sometimes it's cheaper at the grocery store on sale. Gasoline is a few pennies cheaper too. But I like Costco's Kirkland brand. We use the Kirkland laundry soap and drink the milk and we LOVE the rotisserie chicken salad. Everything we've tried is very good quality.

One of the things I like about Costco over Sam's (we don't have BJ's) is that Costco publishes coupons regularly. Every few months we'll get some in the mail and a lot of them are for consumables like paper towels, TP, laundry soap or fabric softener, Soft Scrub, etc. When I use the coupons for that stuff, I do save. But sometimes I'll buy something I wouldn't normally, but I have a coupon for it so that blows everything.

We do have a Costco AmEx rewards card. So all year we put EVERYTHING on the AmEx (unless the merchant doesn't take AmEx. Then it's the Disney Visa.) and then pay the balance at the end of the month. Every February they send us a Costco gift certificate. This year we should get about $400!

[Colexis Mom]

We have both BJs and Costco We probably don't use the Costco one enough to justify it, but last year bought our big plasma TV and some other things which made it pay for itself. Costco is just too far for me to go to all the time (at least 35 minutes away if not more).

BJs is only 10 minutes away and I go there all the time. As you mentioned Dina, you need to watch or know your prices, because not everything is cheaper. But I get good deals on the stuff I buy. Milk is about $1 cheaper. DD goes thru turkey hotdogs in no time. At the store, they are about $3/pack. At BJs I pay $4 for 3 packs We also buy our toilet paper, tissues, and Bounty there, as well as Bounce (which is cheaper) and usually Tide (but I got that cheaper at the store this week). I stopped buying gas there, as it's just as cheap as a place down the road from us, so I don't trek there anymore for that.

[Teresa]

There are Sam's and Costcos within 35 miles of us. We used to have memberships to both of them, but that was when we had our own business and stuff for that was certainly cheaper than at the grocery or Target. BUT - when we figured in the membership fees, the time/gas it takes to get there, the additional fee (at the time, at least, Sam's charged an additional 5% for "non-business" members), and the fact that we frequently bought things we couldn't possibly use before they expired or bought stuff that we ordinarily wouldn't - and spent way more on a large package than if we'd just bought a small one at the grocery, it was NOT worth it. It cost us way more than just doing coupons and watching the circulars.
Now, every now and then, I'll take advantage of my mom's membership, and go with her to pick up a few things.

[duck addict]

I dropped my Costco membership a year ago. With careful shopping I can match or beat most of their prices (and being single I don't need the large quantities you have to buy). Definitely was not saving enough for the annual fee. :