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Square Wheels

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I had never been before last year when my wife got a membership.  She fell for all the hype.  I've been twice.

I'm not impressed.  It's impossible to tell if you're getting a good deal or not.  I don't normally buy peanut butter in a 55 gallon drum, so I have no reference point.

Plus there are way too many people.  The lines are silly.  

Today we are going for our last time.  Her membership expires soon and she's going to cancel it today.

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Do they sell PB in 55 gallon drum?  If so, we may need that for isolation.  

My Mom brings me their big bags of nuts, and seeds.  I freeze them for longer storage. We don't have a Costco here.  It is useful for some things.  Like, if I need a 100 gallon tub of mayo.  <===joke

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I’m not certain what the membership is as my wife handles that.  I’m gonna guess we are not getting value from ours as we rarely go.  What we do get there is, paper products, vitamins & supplements, certain beauty products & then odds & ends that catch our eye when we go.  

We make a Costco run about every other month and we just expect it to be a zoo.  However we have 4 of them within 15 miles of my house so yeah they are busy on weekends but manageable.  But we haven’t bothered to go recently.

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I use Costco often for things I know I use frequently.  Cereal for Mr. Aire is cheaper there and he has eaten it 6 days a week for about the last 40 years-- truly-- same type every day.  It is a good price.  Also buy large boxes of Bigelow tea bags there as that is what I use to make iced tea.  Always buy rice there in 10 pound bags.  Also buy dog vitamins and biscuits there.  I go with a list and do not impluse shop.  If you are having a party, it is a great place to buy cheese and crackers and stuff like that.  Just like @Dirtyhip, I buy large quanities of nuts and seeds and freeze them.  Costco has the best price and I have shopped around for things like pecans.  I also buy hearing aid batteries there.

It isnt a place to buy everything but for many things it makes sense.

 

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10 minutes ago, Airehead said:

I use Costco often for things I know I use frequently.  Cereal for Mr. Aire is cheaper there and he has eaten it 6 days a week for about the last 40 years-- truly-- same type every day.  It is a good price.  Also buy large boxes of Bigelow tea bags there as that is what I use to make iced tea.  Always buy rice there in 10 pound bags.  Also buy dog vitamins and biscuits there.  I go with a list and do not impluse shop.  If you are having a party, it is a great place to buy cheese and crackers and stuff like that.  Just like @Dirtyhip, I buy large quanities of nuts and seeds and freeze them.  Costco has the best price and I have shopped around for things like pecans.  I also buy hearing aid batteries there.

It isnt a place to buy everything but for many things it makes sense.

 

Oh yeah meat for when we have big family gatherings.  A lot cheaper to get meat in large quantities there.

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I love Costco.  They have hella deals you can't get anywhere else.  I mean, it's not even close.  But then, you need to know what to buy as well.  Unless your feeding an army, I'd stay away from all if not most perishable items. And I disagree about determining whether you're getting a good deal or not.  It's quite easy. But, meh, I like that you're spurning them and going in against the crowd. There lines do suck.

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15 minutes ago, dennis said:

I've been once. I bought a beer. I don't get it either. My time is worth more than cheap toilet paper.

Yeah I don’t see Costco making sense for you and now that our kids are grown it really doesn’t make a lot of sense for us either.  But now that the toys & athletic gear is mostly gone we have garage space to store bulk items.

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You morans, slackers, and haters are not looking for the good at Costco, and you haven’t been there enough to see it.  Good thing I am here to tell you just how stupid you are and how to correctly use it so you get benefits that make it worth it.   Yes, you are welcome.  
 

First, the big ticket items.  Does your car require nice tires?  You will save a minimum of $100 and closer to $200 if you want nicer tires when you buy 4.  Want a computer?  Again, never seen an instance where savings are less than $100.   Costco is television central, your bang for the buck is massive at Costco. 
 

Get it home and you don’t like it?  Take it back, no hassles at all. 
 

You are a giant dummy if you don’t buy vitamins, otc drugs, etc.at Costco, where you will pay a third of the cost than anywhere else.  
 

As Aire mentioned regarding Mr. Aire’s Cheerios, you end up paying a lot less, maybe 60% of grocery prices.  Paper products, storage bags, food, all way cheaper.  Can’t tell if you are saving?  Geez, do some math. 
 

“Oh, you have to buy in bulk”, well yeah, they have never claimed otherwise, it is the whole premise of the place. Invalid criticism.  Long lines?  Yeah, a bit, and especially at peak times.   Big deal, go at non-peak times or tough it out.  
 

Meat is of exceptional quality.  If you make green smoothies everyday, you will pay half or less than what you are paying now.  Need a set of knives or pans or a mini fridge or books for kids or a vitamix?   It works well for all those things. 
 

It ain’t perfect, but it is worthwhile for most people that go there with open eyes.  

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58 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

  It's impossible to tell if you're getting a good deal or not. 

Then you are doing something wrong and/or not paying attention.

Costco and pretty much EVERY grocery store I go to has a price tag. On the price tag is also the "cost per unit".  Done. Simplest comparison ever.

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17 minutes ago, Dottles said:

I love Costco.  They have hella deals you can't get anywhere else.  I mean, it's not even close.  But then, you need to know what to buy as well.  Unless your feeding an army, I'd stay away from all if not most perishable items. And I disagree about determining whether you're getting a good deal or not.  It's quite easy. But, meh, I like that you're spurning them and going in against the crowd. There lines do suck.

 

1 minute ago, Randomguy said:

You morans, slackers, and haters are not looking for the good at Costco, and you haven’t been there enough to see it.  Good thing I am here to tell you just how stupid you are and how to correctly use it so you get benefits that make it worth it.   Yes, you are welcome.  
 

First, the big ticket items.  Does your car require nice tires?  You will save a minimum of $100 and closer to $200 if you want nicer tires when you buy 4.  Want a computer?  Again, never seen an instance where savings are less than $100.   Costco is television central, your bang for the buck is massive at Costco. 
 

Get it home and you don’t like it?  Take it back, no hassles at all. 
 

You are a giant dummy if you don’t buy vitamins, otc drugs, etc.at Costco, where you will pay a third of the cost than anywhere else.  
 

As Aire mentioned regarding Mr. Aire’s Cheerios, you end up paying a lot less, maybe 60% of grocery prices.  Paper products, storage bags, food, all way cheaper.  Can’t tell if you are saving?  Geez, do some math. 
 

“Oh, you have to buy in bulk”, well yeah, they have never claimed otherwise, it is the whole premise of the place. Invalid criticism.  Long lines?  Yeah, a bit, and especially at peak times.   Big deal, go at non-peak times or tough it out.  
 

Meat is of exceptional quality.  If you make green smoothies everyday, you will pay half or less than what you are paying now.  Need a set of knives or pans or a mini fridge or books for kids or a vitamin?   It works well for all those things. 
 

It ain’t perfect, but it is worthwhile for most people that go there with open eyes.  

As  I mentioned a couple posts earlier, I'm with you.  Costco is pretty awesome. Their return policy as you mention is enough for us to shop there.

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24 minutes ago, Dottles said:

Their return policy as you mention is enough for us to shop there.

Seriously.  You are never ‘stuck’ with something you buy there.  Free full meal from samples is nice, too.  
 

Yeah, it is a zoo.  Just put on your zoo pants and get enough ibuprofen for a year for the same price as 50 tabs at the local Walgreens. 

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14 minutes ago, dennis said:

Cheap food scares me. USDA is removing inspectors from pork processing plants. What's next, beef or poultry?

Then what's your issue with Costco?  Maybe I'm missing your point, but Costco is in the top part of the grocery business. I think your beef is with some other grocery stores, not Costco.

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17 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Yeah, it is a zoo.  Just put on your zoo pants and get enough ibuprofen for a year for the same price as 50 tabs at the Walgreens. 

It's a zoo NOW. And maybe a zoo on a Sat or Sun at peak shopping time, but it is also a pretty efficient zoo.

In any case, I recently bought paper towels at Costco. $15 there (on sale), $25 for the same at Home Depot (from a post DH made a few days ago), and likely close to $30 or more if bought one roll at a time in a normal grocery store. A no brainer. We use paper towels, so might as well get a reasonable price on them.

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15 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

You morans, slackers, and haters are not looking for the good at Costco, and you haven’t been there enough to see it.  Good thing I am here to tell you just how stupid you are and how to correctly use it so you get benefits that make it worth it.   Yes, you are welcome.  
 

First, the big ticket items.  Does your car require nice tires?  You will save a minimum of $100 and closer to $200 if you want nicer tires when you buy 4.  Want a computer?  Again, never seen an instance where savings are less than $100.   Costco is television central, your bang for the buck is massive at Costco. 
 

Get it home and you don’t like it?  Take it back, no hassles at all. 
 

You are a giant dummy if you don’t buy vitamins, otc drugs, etc.at Costco, where you will pay a third of the cost than anywhere else.  
 

As Aire mentioned regarding Mr. Aire’s Cheerios, you end up paying a lot less, maybe 60% of grocery prices.  Paper products, storage bags, food, all way cheaper.  Can’t tell if you are saving?  Geez, do some math. 
 

“Oh, you have to buy in bulk”, well yeah, they have never claimed otherwise, it is the whole premise of the place. Invalid criticism.  Long lines?  Yeah, a bit, and especially at peak times.   Big deal, go at non-peak times or tough it out.  
 

Meat is of exceptional quality.  If you make green smoothies everyday, you will pay half or less than what you are paying now.  Need a set of knives or pans or a mini fridge or books for kids or a vitamix?   It works well for all those things. 
 

It ain’t perfect, but it is worthwhile for most people that go there with open eyes.  

Dude.... Yeah I totally forgot we bought our TV, laptop and my tablet at Costco all for significant savings.  Probably paid 4 years of membership fees off what we saved.  

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9 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

We are very specific what we get there because not everything is a deal there.  Some things I get there I xannot get anywhere else.  Normally I drive past Costco to go other grocery stores

Right now, I buy 90% of my food from Trader Joe’s, and the remainder from various stores.  If I had an accessible Costco nearby, it would probably be 75/20/5 TJ’s/Costco/lgs. 

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3 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

Right now, I buy 90% of my food from Trader Joe’s, and the remainder from various stores.  If I had an accessible Costco nearby, it would probably be 75/20/5 TJ’s/Costco/lgs. 

I think that is our ratio for food too - 75/20/5 TJ’s/Costco/lgs (maybe 70/20/10).  Costco is our milk and 1/2 & 1/2 and my breakfast bars and random stuff like tuna or sardines or pasta.  TJs is more the day to day stuff we eat, and between it and a LGS, it is where we get our produce. 

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1 hour ago, Randomguy said:

You morans, slackers, and haters are not looking for the good at Costco, and you haven’t been there enough to see it.  Good thing I am here to tell you just how stupid you are and how to correctly use it so you get benefits that make it worth it.   Yes, you are welcome.  
 

First, the big ticket items.  Does your car require nice tires?  You will save a minimum of $100 and closer to $200 if you want nicer tires when you buy 4.  Want a computer?  Again, never seen an instance where savings are less than $100.   Costco is television central, your bang for the buck is massive at Costco. 
 

Get it home and you don’t like it?  Take it back, no hassles at all. 
 

You are a giant dummy if you don’t buy vitamins, otc drugs, etc.at Costco, where you will pay a third of the cost than anywhere else.  
 

As Aire mentioned regarding Mr. Aire’s Cheerios, you end up paying a lot less, maybe 60% of grocery prices.  Paper products, storage bags, food, all way cheaper.  Can’t tell if you are saving?  Geez, do some math. 
 

“Oh, you have to buy in bulk”, well yeah, they have never claimed otherwise, it is the whole premise of the place. Invalid criticism.  Long lines?  Yeah, a bit, and especially at peak times.   Big deal, go at non-peak times or tough it out.  
 

Meat is of exceptional quality.  If you make green smoothies everyday, you will pay half or less than what you are paying now.  Need a set of knives or pans or a mini fridge or books for kids or a vitamix?   It works well for all those things. 
 

It ain’t perfect, but it is worthwhile for most people that go there with open eyes.  

What about Astro Glide or KY?

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I'm not a member because there isn't one particularly close to me, which means i could only go on weekends when the place would be packed, and I hate shopping in a big crowd.  If I had free time during the week, I would probably go to buy staples that i use a lot, although some of the benefits are lost when you're only shopping for 1.  And now isn't the time to use it, but I hear Costco Travel often has very good buys as well. 

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49 minutes ago, donkpow said:

I don't go to Costco. Does that make me a bad person?

 

42 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Nope. You are a GREAT person. You going to Costco would make Costso a better place, not the other way around.

This

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1 hour ago, Square Wheels said:

I had never been before last year when my wife got a membership.  She fell for all the hype.  I've been twice.

I'm not impressed.  It's impossible to tell if you're getting a good deal or not.  I don't normally buy peanut butter in a 55 gallon drum, so I have no reference point.

Plus there are way too many people.  The lines are silly.  

Today we are going for our last time.  Her membership expires soon and she's going to cancel it today.

If it doesn't suit your needs or your style,

Personally, my $60 membership has paid for itself over the last several years by getting a 55" TV for $375 cheaper than Amazon or anywhere else, 60K mile Bridgestone Ecopia tires $240 than the next cheapest place, excellent semi-soft Samsonite luggage for $75 less than anywhere else, etc.  I replaced my Oral B Genius electric toothbrush with an instant $50-off coupon a week ago.

The Citi Costco Visa has no annual fee and gets 4% cash-back for gasoline at Exxon, Shell, etc. as well as Costco - where gas is usually several cents a gallon cheaper than elsewhere.  That same card gets 3% cash-back for restaurants, carryouts, and bar-restaurants.  I got $59.19 in cash-back last year.

I also like some of the things available there that aren't easy to find elsewhere, including their fresh take-and-bake stuff like 4 lb meatloaf and mashed potatoes and a big chicken pot pie, both excellent.  The Kirkland Toscano Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a 500 mL bottle is extremely good quality: America's Test Kitchen found it superior to EVERY American brand it tested. You can get cases (24) of 20 oz Snapple for $12.99 right now - in plastic bottles instead of the glass bottles elsewhere.

Yeah, most things are very large sizes, but compare Costco's 12-pack of Bounty Paper Towels or the almost-the-same Kirkland store-brand with the price of the 6-packs at Walmart, etc.  The 8-pack of Kirkland solid white tuna in water still comes in 7 oz. cans where Starkist, etc. have shrunk to 5 oz. - and they'll be used before they go bad.  The same with 4-packs of Quart or Gallon sized Ziploc Freezer Bags: I don't mind storing them for a couple years, knowing they only cost 4 cents and 6 cents/bag, respectively.

Well, that's my view

 

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4 hours ago, dennis said:

My time is worth more than cheap toilet paper.

Good, because they didn't have any.

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Then you are doing something wrong and/or not paying attention.

Costco and pretty much EVERY grocery store I go to has a price tag. On the price tag is also the "cost per unit".  Done. Simplest comparison ever.

Sorry, I don't a price per unit app on my phone to compare.  If I pick up a regular size jar of organic peanut butter I can expect it to be around $5.  If I pick up a huge tub of some brand I never heard of organic peanut butter and it's $17 I have no idea if it's better.

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

It's a zoo NOW. 

Today was awesome, they only allowed 250 in the store.

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5 minutes ago, Square Wheels said:

Sorry, I don't a price per unit app on my phone to compare.  If I pick up a regular size jar of organic peanut butter I can expect it to be around $5.  If I pick up a huge tub of some brand I never heard of organic peanut butter and it's $17 I have no idea if it's better.

Is the $17 PB 3x larger or less in size?  Shitty deal. Is it 4x larger or more in size? Good deal. Only question is how much peanut butter do you eat?  We eat about a 1 1/2 of the TJs peanut butter per week, so we could swing a jumbo from Costco, but our Costco only has "creamy organic", and we like chunky! So, even if the price is right, the product isn't.

Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter 100% Valencia Peanuts 2x28 oz

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3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Is the $17 PB 3x larger or less in size?  Shitty deal. Is it 4x larger or more in size? Good deal. Only question is how much peanut butter do you eat?  We eat about a 1 1/2 of the TJs peanut butter per week, so we could swing a jumbo from Costco, but our Costco only has "creamy organic", and we like chunky! So, even if the price is right, the product isn't.

Kirkland Signature Organic Creamy Peanut Butter 100% Valencia Peanuts 2x28 oz

What kind of barbarian are you???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamy?

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6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

and we like chunky!

The hack you want to use is to simply buy the creamy for its pure non-bread-tearing spreadability, and add peanuts or walnuts or pecans as you make your sandwich.  This tastes WAY the hell better than chunky peanut butter, plus gives you a bit of variety.  After you do this with a couple of sandwiches, you start to pity the people buying chunky peanut butter.

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15 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

I must live in the only Costco- free zone in the country!  We have to make do with bjs or  sams club.  The closest one is maybe 30miles away. 

Couldn't tell you where the closest Costco, Sams, or BJ'S(seriously nobody told them this was a bad idea for a name) is to me. At least 3 hours of driving I'd guess.

Shopping is not on the top of my list. While you fancyboy Costco shoppers spend time standing in line with giant tubs of peanut butter and paper towels, I'll ride my bike or ski.

I think you shopper boys need carryalls. They're European.

 

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12 minutes ago, Randomguy said:

The hack you want to use is to simply buy the creamy for its pure non-bread-tearing spreadability, and add peanuts or walnuts or pecans as you make your sandwich.  This tastes WAY the hell better than chunky peanut butter, plus gives you a bit of variety.  After you do this with a couple of sandwiches, you start to pity the people buying chunky peanut butter.

I like your idea, but we buy Daves (at Costco!) and it is tough enough to stand up to any type of nut butter!

Image result for costco daves bread

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1 minute ago, Dottles said:

I just had 4 slices of it this morning and I will continue to have more of it.  Vegan or not.  

I do make two grilled cheese sandwiches sometimes for lunch!  Four slices of bread, a good slathering of butter, some tasty cheese, and a little seasoned salt. YUMMY.

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