Comments on: A Trip to Costco

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:31:27 +0000

@michelle

I think the coupons that the author is referring to are the coupon books that Costco mails to its members periodically. Usually there is a coupon for Bounty paper towels and toilet paper (I think Charmin brand).

By: michelle

michelle — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 07:08:51 +0000

Costco takes coupons? I just renewed my membership after a haitus - love it, sorry I took a break. But coupons? How does this work when they sell in such large quantities?

Thanks!

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:05:37 +0000

There’s a secondary benefit to shopping at Costco. If you have the storage space and an extra freezer (and many people do not), you can really stock up on nonperishables and cut down on the number of shopping trips you have to make. Less gas, fewer opportunities for impulse shopping, etc. That leaves perishables, but a local farmer’s market might be enough if you don’t need to get toilet paper and canned soup and such.

The downside is that the semi-annual or quarterly stocking trip will give you sticker shock.

By: Paige

Paige — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:01:46 +0000

I stopped shopping with Cosco a few months ago. I found that the lot sizes forced me to buy a lot more than I really needed.

So while it would have appeared that I was ’saving’ money, in reality my cash outflow became more than needed. I have since been convinced that for me shopping at Kroger has been much better than going to Cosco.

By: More Costco Pricing Comparisons

More Costco Pricing Comparisons — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:06:29 +0000

[...] was recently reading a post on Wide Open Wallet where the author compares prices for Costco and Walmart. She found out basically the same thing [...]

By: Esther

Esther — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 02:14:36 +0000

Thank you for this breakdown. It is nice to see that you really are saving money buying in bulk at CostCo, though it doesn’t quite feel that way sometimes when you see the total at the cash register! I also use the CostCo AmEx to get that extra 1% cash back.

BTW, not sure how many people know this: even a non-CostCo member can fuel up at CostCo’s gas stations (perhaps this varies by state). You just ask the attendant to dip their card into the card reader at the gas pump, and then you can pay with your own debit or credit card.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:53:31 +0000

I did a very similar comparison for my blog, AddictedToCostco.com, in April between Costco, Walmart, Randall’s (aka Safeway), and HEB (a big Texas chain). I compared 43 different items across the four stores, comparing like brands and sizes. It was amazing to me how much cheaper Costco was on quite a few items. Overall, Costco was cheaper on 35 of the 43 items! You can read all about it in my blog post which also has a link to the spreadsheet of prices.
http://addictedtocostco.com/2008/04/11/comparing-costco-prices-with-local-grocery-stores-part-1/
And that’s just one of the reasons that I love Costco so much!

By: Festival of Frugality #135 - The Frugal All Over Edition | Antishay Ventenne

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:31:17 +0000

[...] presents A Trip to Costco posted at Wide Open [...]

By: Livingalmostlarge

Livingalmostlarge — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:58:31 +0000

I love, love, love costco. Cannot say enough about it except I bought my MATTRESS!

By: JB

JB — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:52:33 +0000

That’s interesting! Thanks for doing that comparison. As a new Costco member, the first few times I’ve been there I’ve felt like I’m spending way more than I would at Wal-Mart… but I have to realize that I’m getting a lot more product and (in theory) it should last me a lot longer. I’m having a hard time figuring out if I’m saving at all.