BJ's

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jmatthews75
jmatthews75 Posts: 525 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Is it really that much cheaper to get your meats at BJ's or Sams Clubs than it is at the grocery store? and if so, at what cost? is the meat as good of quality?
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  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    Is it really that much cheaper to get your meats at BJ's or Sams Clubs than it is at the grocery store? and if so, at what cost? is the meat as good of quality?

    I shop at Costco, not BJs and it is way cheaper. I get organic chicken for 5.99 per lb. The fruit and veggies are also way cheaper. Quinoa is 9 bucks for 3 pounds as opposed to 9 bucks for 10 ounces like at the store as well. Frozen berries and protein shake mix are also incredibly less expensive, in the long run that is, you buy in bulk so the initial pay out is greater, but you get more so it lasts longer.

    We go every Saturday morning as soon as it opens to buy what we need for the week. We have a list of what we buy and try to stick to it as if we spend to long there we end up spending more than we save.

    There are only 2 of us and it makes sense for us to shop there, if you have a family, it is even better.
  • chelovik
    chelovik Posts: 200 Member
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    It isn't for me because where I live the wholesales clubs a many miles away. I go to giant eagle it is less than a mile away so it saves gas and the fuel perks save me money too.
  • KatFierce
    KatFierce Posts: 252 Member
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    Agree, sounded like this would be more fun, oh well.

    I personally really like BJ's ( tee hee << that sounds dirty) I find the 50$ membership to be totally worth it in savings, we get all our paper goods there too, and they take manufacturers coupons as well as their flyer coupons. I like the meats and you can get huge bags of frozen fruit/veg.. I like the giant 3lb bag of strawberries for like 9$ I use it in smoothies.
  • cramernh
    cramernh Posts: 3,335 Member
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    The BJ's wholesale club we have is VERY expensive.

    I am competing between Hannafords Grocery store and our local Sam's Club for the bulk meat prices. Most weeks, I can get boneless chicken breast for $1.55/lb at Sams - but you have to purchase the 40-50lb case to get that price.

    But, sometimes someone orders way too much boneless chicken breast at Hannaford and Ive paid as little as $1.29/lb so I ask them to give me 40lb's worth.

    Flap Meat is EXCELLENT if you want perfectly marinated, season rubbed meats for the grill - very moist and tender, the marbeling is wonderful. You do have to clean the silverskin off - and Sam's gives me a GREAT $4.35/lb by the case. Hannaford REFUSES to sell that in bulk... but they charge as much as 9.99/lb.... I let the managers know at Hannaford that Sam's club tends to have more of my business simply because there is more available, and the bulk prices are much lower than their standard for most beef. (Sam's Club runs about 6.59/lb. Hannaford wanted $9.99/lb when I went in last night)...

    Its give and take really. If one can give me the better price, I take as much as I am willing to pay!
  • nrd2212
    nrd2212 Posts: 128
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    Dont have a BJs here, but we get boneless skinless chicken breasts at Sams for $1.72 a pound as opposed to $1.97 a pound at Walmart, and the Sams meat is better
  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
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    I don't buy deli meat so I don't know the difference there. I do think it's cheaper to buy chicken breasts, it is the same quality as regular grocery stores. Not that you asked but if you eat quinoa it is a much better price too, I think $6 for 2 lbs. Eggs, milk and frozen shrimp are cheaper too. That's about all I buy there besides ocassionally paper products and healthy/beauty items. It just depends on if I have room to store it all.
  • LeenaRuns
    LeenaRuns Posts: 1,309 Member
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    I don't get meat there, but pantry items like quinoa (I know, everyone keeps mentioning it!), whole grain spaghetti, protein powder, PB...things like that are totally worth it there.
  • Anniel88
    Anniel88 Posts: 150 Member
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    It can be cheaper if you shop smart by stocking up on bulk items that you use all the time - things like chicken, rice, meats, etc. In general, the savings from big box stores comes from how they aren't paying someone to take them off the truck and unbox them and put them on the shelves in the individual packages. The thing that you have to be careful about when shopping at these stores is the temptation to buy something that you don't normally buy. don't buy something to "try" at a big box store or you'll end up with 20 boxes of something that you'll never eat and you just wasted a lot of money.
  • MommaKit79
    MommaKit79 Posts: 852
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    I keep an eye on sales and such. sometimes, if there arent any good sales going and I can get to BJs, we get them there. The BULK is nice becuase it may be a greater payout up front but, in the long run, for what you get, it is worth it. But, with where we have to travel to get there, if it is between trips (usually once a month or so) then we just go to WalMart or ACME. The good thing is that my husband shops there for work and they pay for his membership so, it makes it even more worth it! LOL!
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
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    Thanks for posting this thread! I'm going to have to go back and check it out again. Haven't used it much since I had the kids. I would have to take my ShopSavvy app with me to make sure I'm getting the best deal on stuff, but it sounds like the meat and produce is a definite save. Since they take coupons I'm in.
  • rosied915
    rosied915 Posts: 799 Member
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    Is it really that much cheaper to get your meats at BJ's or Sams Clubs than it is at the grocery store? and if so, at what cost? is the meat as good of quality?

    It all depends on how much effort you want to put into saving money and/or getting the best deal. I used to go to Sam's and am now a member of BJ's and if you know your prices, some of the things at the wholesale stores really AREN'T any cheaper than a supermarket sale price.

    That being said the things that I've found that NO ONE can beat: Folger's Coffee, Fiber One Cereal, Frosted Miin Wheats Cereal, Crystal Lite Drink Mixes, Blueberries, SOME Perdue Chicken products. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray.

    Also Ibuprofen, generic Tylenol.

    We have a pool and BJ's pool chemical prices beat EVERYONE.
  • Kitten2629
    Kitten2629 Posts: 1,359 Member
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    depends on how you shop, how many are in your family etc.

    If it's just you? no it's not cheaper. .

    If you have a family as long as you don't go in there thinking everything is a good deal and watch what your buying in the long run it's cheaper for things like meat, some veggies, etc.

    60-80 dollars worth of meat from Sams is a month - a month and a half of meat for my family of 4. I don't buy all their veggies from there b/c again this is in bulk and some of the fresh veggies don't get ate as fast and go to waste so I'm careful what I buy.
  • knwitall
    knwitall Posts: 420 Member
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    Well i don't shop at either of those stores. But I would think that in most cases buying in bulk could save you money in the long run.

    Btw: The title is so misleading. I was all excited when i saw it. Lol
  • Sepheara
    Sepheara Posts: 208 Member
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    At my local grocery, 2 lbs of meat is 14-16 dollars. I shop at BJs (Berkley and Jenson) and I can get 6lb for 23 dollars. Then I go home and divide it and zip lock it.
    I get a turkey breast that makes 6 servings in the crock pot for 12.00, and I get a box of like 30 chicken tenderloins that are breaded already for 10.00.
    Canned goods are cheaper.
    Bread is cheaper for 2.99 for two loaves of whole wheat (put 1 in the freezer). grocery can be up to 2-3 a loaf.
    The produce is comparable.
    Some items are definitely more expensive, but I went last month and got enough food for 25days woth of meals for two people and spent 180$
    this is for breakfast and dinner with enough left over to take care of lunches 3 days a week.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    Is it really that much cheaper to get your meats at BJ's or Sams Clubs than it is at the grocery store? and if so, at what cost? is the meat as good of quality?

    I shop at Costco, not BJs and it is way cheaper. I get organic chicken for 5.99 per lb. The fruit and veggies are also way cheaper. Quinoa is 9 bucks for 3 pounds as opposed to 9 bucks for 10 ounces like at the store as well. Frozen berries and protein shake mix are also incredibly less expensive, in the long run that is, you buy in bulk so the initial pay out is greater, but you get more so it lasts longer.

    We go every Saturday morning as soon as it opens to buy what we need for the week. We have a list of what we buy and try to stick to it as if we spend to long there we end up spending more than we save.

    There are only 2 of us and it makes sense for us to shop there, if you have a family, it is even better.

    Holy crap I could not afford that. I get my chicken for < 2.00 / lb
  • MdmAcolyte
    MdmAcolyte Posts: 382 Member
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    I buy all of our meat and paper products and trash bags and freezer bags at Sam's Club and save a ton of money. I used to have an Executive Membership at Costco and we get 2% cash back on everything we bought ~ so I think I'm going to go back to them when my current membership expires.

    Anyhoo ~ I'll get pork loin and hand cut my own pork chops to my desired thickness (some of the grocery stores like to slice theirs super thin and I LIKE MEAT!). I do the same thing with beef loin. You can hand cut your own steaks, roasts, and if you have a food processor, you can make your own ground meat. Then I freeze everything to use it later, sometimes throwing something in a marinade.
  • Kitten2629
    Kitten2629 Posts: 1,359 Member
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    You can get it at 2.00 a lb lol he said organic which costs more.
  • MandaPaigeSparkles88
    MandaPaigeSparkles88 Posts: 1,289 Member
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    Well my mind went straight to the gutter as soon as I seen this. We don't have a BJ's around here the only thing that we have is Sam's Club. And we shop there pretty often. But not for meat we shop there for like trash bags, laundry detergent, dish liquid. Just household items.
  • Khymera
    Khymera Posts: 67
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    I buy most of my meat at BJs, aside from the occasional package of ground beef (which I tend to pick up on a whim) or turkey Italian sausage (which I don't eat often, so the excess would just be taking up space in my freezer). It's significantly cheaper than the supermarket.

    Plus, I love the quality. The thing that made me try their meat in the first place was the fact that it was just so darned PRETTY. I buy it, vacuum-seal it and stash it in the freezer.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
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    Nothing is better than a local butcher, but BJ;s and Cosco have decent meat or else people would think they were "cheap" as opposed to "inexpensive".

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