Do you use a club store that sells large bulk packages of things? Is the membership worth the price to you? Which one do you use? We used to have a Sams Club membership but I rarely actually need that much stuff at once because we're a small family. At one point, I didn't have to shop for toilet paper for a whole YEAR because the pack I had bought was so huge. We've been downsizing and moving to smaller apartments each year so I no longer have the storage space for such large purchases of most things. I miss it for the cases of water and a few other things but ultimately, what I was saving wasn't worth the yearly membership price. Especially when I considered the additional fuel required to drive out of my way to go to the Sams Club store which wasn't where I normally shopped or traveled.
Oh it's very much worth the price to have a membership and be able to buy in bulk, than to buy at other stores who do not or may offer membership, but have higher product prices and do not sell in bulk. I myself do not own a membership at either Costco or Sam's Club, because my sister already has a membership which I ask of her when does she goes shopping there and we simply combine our purchases on here card, then I pay her back later. Also, if you are only buying spirits and beers, Costco does not require a membership to purchase such products - I am not sure about Sam's Club. However, I only recommend having a store club membership card onyl if you plan on shopping their occasionally or a lot, because if not, you are wasting your money.
I only think they are worth it if you have a big family or you have a small club, charity or church you buy for as well. These days stores have multiple special buys and also match prices so you maybe saving money, but not considerable amounts. Sharing a membership is the best way, because most people know someone who has a card if you need something as a one off. I've never needed to buy huge quantities and if you don't have the room, then it's more of a hindrance.
I had a Sam's Club membership for many years, but for the first time, did not renew it last month when it expired. My reason had nothing to do with the club itself. There were great deals and savings to be found there; I just spent too much money every time I went! I was spending more than I was saving so it wasn't really saving me anything in the long run. In the future, I will either have to be much more disciplined or remember to keep my husband and kids at home so they don't load the cart with extras! If I had been more disciplined, it would have been great. I have large dog who has allergies and has to take Benedryl every day. The Sam's Club version was approximately $4 for a large bottle (I want to say about 400 tablets), so the savings on Benedryl alone paid for my membership costs. I would say, if you are a disciplined person, go for the membership!
I think it is worth it if you: 1. Have at least a 4 person family 2. Only use it to buy things you need/will use and would have purchased anyway, even if you didn't have the membership 3. Actually have enough space to store all the bulk products If you can split the membership with someone, so much the better. In most cases, I do think it is worth it.
I prefer to have a membership because of the fact I like to keep food in stock in case of emergencies. It is cheaper to buy food in bulk then individually. It also comes in handy when you hold a lot of events that require a larger amount of stuff. If you use the membership at "least" once a month, then it is worth it. If not, then it is still good... but not as beneficial for you.
I always felt like having one of those memberships was worth it. Even if I lived alone I think they would be worth it. I'm not a big fan of going to the supermarket every week or two so I just want to buy a bunch of stuff and be done with it. They're mainly for big households or things like that, and I'm sure there are a lot of people out there like me as well.
I think that there is no perfect answer for this question. As we can tell from the variety of answers, for some people it is worthwhile having and for some , it is not worth the cost of membership for the amount they purchase. My daughter has a Sam's membership. She will sometimes puchase expensive items and saves a lot of money by getting them at Sam's . Because you can family-share, we also use her card, and we shop there about once a month. We primarily buy items that will keep, and that are good to have in case of a shortage. I get things like rice, flour, spices, and other things that don't have to be used right away. We also get some fresh or frozen food there when we can save money buying it in bulk, like butter. Because they carry a higher quality of product, you are not going to find any of the cheaper items like you would find at Walmart. Same with Costco. One time, we needed tennis shoes for a family member, and Costco was the closest place, so we went there. The cheapest shoes were around $30, and that was back when you could always buy them for about $6 at Walmart. They just were a much cheaper quality than the $30 ones from Costco. We definitely find the membership worth while, and also save on fuel there, too.
Absolutely. Just got my own Costco membership around 3 months ago and it makes shopping so much easier and cheaper. It probably comes out to the same price as shopping in normal grocery stores with the fees of the card, but there are all kind of perks that you get when you have a membership. For instance, was able to get a great price on my brother's gift for Christmas. You get the convenience of being able to buy things in bulk and get your shopping done in one place. It's been a great investment and something I'll hold on to for awhile
I can see there's really a variety of opinions on the topic. We have a small family of three, two adults and one teen. I like the idea but we don't have a lot of space to store the bulk items. I might ask around to my friends and family members who also have small families. Maybe we can 'share' a membership and also plan to split large packs of items so both households can save without needing to actually store the large amounts.
I agree with the previous posters that it depends on your own situation. I have a BJ's Membership (similar to a Sam's Club) that my wife and I opened up about a year ago because we had twins. One of the big things we obviously go through his diapers. I can buy double what I would purchase at Target or WalMart for a few bucks more than what I would spend at a normal retailer. Some of their food deals are pretty good as well. If you eat a particular item (and a lot of it) it could be in your economic well being to purchase a membership. In some cases (I know they did at BJ's) they let you purchase a trial membership. If you have the money, test drive the idea for a few months and see if it is worth it to you. Usually after checking it out and having an experience yourself you can see if it is worth it. A trial membership is usually pretty cheap...along the lines of $25 for 6 months. Good luck!
I think it really depends on your situation....we've had a Costco membership for years and when we first got it it was much more worth it for us. We went more often, we had a larger family altogether...now it's just my husband, son and I unless we split with family in another household, so it's not always as great of a deal now. But it definitely can be worth it.
I think a membership is worth it only if you have a large family or is used to buying in bulks for various reasons (maybe you sell food for a living, or are used to throwing parties or events). But for a regular person like me, who lives alone and rarely even eats at home, I wouldn't say it's worth it.
I'm a single mom so it wouldn't be worth it for me but I definitely can see how a bulk club would be a great money saver for larger families or people that have small businesses.
I'm not really worried so much about the $35 membership fee (or whatever it costs these days, it's been a few years since I last had one), since I can easily either blow or save $35 in a single shopping trip depending on what I buy. I'm sure I could get my $35 back if I shopped at these places a little more intelligently. On a typical trip to a regular grocery store I can save nearly as much by purchasing all marked down meats instead of full priced, purchasing store brand instead of name brand, dried goods such as beans instead of canned, refraining from certain items that I can get at the $1 store instead, etc... My bigger problem with these types of stores is that the products themselves really aren't marked down much from what I can buy them for elsewhere - even if it means getting a different brand. For example, Costco sells a three pack of jarred tomato sauce for like $6.50 or so - I can get many varieties of store brand jarred tomato sauce for only $1 each already - so getting the three pack at Costco or Sams Club would be costing me even more. Another example, Costo and Sams Club were selling a Sony streaming video player device so I could play Netflix and other services through my TV, for $90. I can walk into any electronics store and pick up a Roku box or other brands for the same price or less. They also sell a large pack of 15 black bean veggie burgers for around $15 - that's practically the same as me buying three small packs of veggie burgers at the regular grocery store for a little less than $5 each and 4 in each package. I will give Costco props for their $5 roasted chickens though, but those are basically a loss leader to get you in the store more often, hoping you will spend money on other stuff. I've also heard their store brand of liquors are pretty decent too.
I think that as long as you have some room to store food, then being ableee o buy in bulk is a good idea even when it is just for one person. I know that we don't always have space to do this, and some food items just can't be stored for very long; so for those items, it only makes sense to buy large sizes when you have a family or business that will use it. Another great thing about the warehouse stores is that you can usually save money on non-food items as well. They are usually a higher quality item than you would find just shopping at a Walmart store, and often are discounted enough to make the difference in price worth it for the better quality item. We only go about once a month, and there are just the two of us, but I like having an extra supply on hand. that way, when the weather is bad , or if the car breaks down (heaven forbid ! ), then we still have plenty of food stored until we can go to the store again.
It was very worth it for our family when our boys were teenagers. We have a family of six and then add a few teenage boys joining us for dinner from time to time and buying in bulk was very worth it. Now they are off and running and don't join us for dinner very often so with just the 4 of us I let our membership go. It wasn't worth it. We just don't eat as much anymore.
I think that they are worth it - but only if you get the membership on a discount! Sometimes sites like Groupon and LivingSocial offer deals. If you live in an area that has Instacart service, you might be able to get deliveries from these stories FOR FREE! I live in Philadelphia and use the Instacart website to order my groceries, pet supplies, cleaning items and household products for free. The best part is not having to have a membership to receive the deals.
I have a Costco membership which gets reasonable amount of use. Their pharmacy tends to have better rates and lower fees than what you'd experience elsewhere. In terms of goods, I believe on average most of their items are cheaper than what you'd find elsewhere, EXCEPT when you compare their normal prices versus sale prices of their competitors. One of the bright sides though is that if you're not happy with your membership or feel as if you're not using it often enough, you can simply ask for it refunded to you. So all that in mind, it's worth giving a try.
I definitely think places like Costoco and Sams club are worth the price of membership. Memberships are affordable and there are really a tun of good buys in each store. You can really save a ton of money over the course of a year. I can vouch for both stores and would recommend both.
