I do a lot of food shopping at Costco, and I end up spending close to $400 a month for my girlfriend and myself. Now, we live in HI, so it is more expensive here than most other places, but here is my question. Should I be buying all my foods at Costco, or are some foods actually less expensive elsewhere? For instance - how many people do their fruit and vegetable shopping at a Farmer's market and what kind of prices are you getting there compared to Costco prices?
I think just like any other store, you have to know the prices for the things you buy. Where we live, milk is definitely cheaper at Costco - unless a drugstore is running a special price on milk that week. Costco often beats the regular price for many of the grocery items, but not always the sale prices. So if you can start to remember how much you are paying for the things you regularly buy at Costco or Sam's, then you can compare that to the sale prices at the groceries, farmer's markets and drug stores. That will tell you what you need to know. And the answer might be different at different times.
I have a friend that works for a large grocery product company and he is in charge of maintaining the inventory in the grocery stores in our area. He always knows who has the best prices on items. He tells me that Costco is good, with some things and not so hot with others. You are probably best off going through the local flyers for the stores you shop at each week and watching prices.
I only buy select items from Costco, because it doesn't make sense to purchase all of your groceries at one store. I would buy smaller items that will expire in a few days at a local grocery store. I buy the larger items such as rice, canned goods, and sweets for Costco. It really just depends on how much you eat, I don't eat that much, so I don't shop at Costco as often.
I don't think Costco is better for all your food purchases, especially since most of what they have is in bulk packs and you won't be able to finish say, 10 pounds of chocolate with you and your girlfriend. But most of the time Costco beats out your local supermarket for prices, but it really is about whether you guys can actually finish it over the deals. And 400 for only two people? My family has 4 people in it and we only spend around 200 on out Costco trips.
It really just depends. I don't think you should always be shopping at a single store for everything regardless, though. Yes, you'll be able to get better prices on some things elsewhere, so it's a matter of looking around and then making the best choices for gas prices to get you there, extra stops, etc.
I think there was a time when Costco/Sam's Club/BJ's were the best deal, but as they got that reputation and the consumer base, they were able to balance out their deals and their same price or slightly higher items. You have some people that don't shop around, so they make money on those purchases and types of buyers. Not to mention, the money that they make on the memberships or have they stopped requiring memberships?
When it comes to food, you should always check around to see what the better deals are. For places like Costco or Sam's Club, it's only good to buy things in bulk that you are going to use a lot of, such as toilet paper, paper towels and olive oil. When it comes to meat, fish or things that spoil after a few days, it's a waste because it's just going to go in the garbage.
$400? I re- where do you live? That seems like an awful lot to be spending every month. You are going to need to start looking at other stores and finding which items are better from which places - then you need to learn when sales are and try to take advantage of them whenever possible.
I do buy items at Costco, but I think for 2 people some of the items are too large and will go to waste. I find that not everything is cheaper at Costco. I do buy wine there as they have really good prices. Also, we buy our bottled water there. I do love all the samples they offer. It gives you ideas of things you might like to buy.
