Is Costco cheaper?

Frappuzzino
Frappuzzino Posts: 342 Member
edited October 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I usually shop at Wal Mart and usually buy $120+ in groceries every 2 weeks. I always tend to avoid processed food. My MIL stopped by and dropped off some berries and grapes that she bought from Costco for us. They're freaking delicious, and I'm starting to wonder if shopping at Costco would be cheaper? Thoughts?

Replies

  • ♥_Ellybean_♥
    ♥_Ellybean_♥ Posts: 1,646 Member
    It depends on the product and what sales are going on. Sometimes I find it's cheaper to buy elsewhere... other times the deals are great!
  • 2kidzlater
    2kidzlater Posts: 134 Member
    For fresher + variety I would shop Cosco. The berries are the most reasonably priced and delicious!
  • Arabian♥Breeze
    Arabian♥Breeze Posts: 323
    Costco is cheaper. And the food isnt cheapo grossness and the expiration dates are better at costco. Seems like every time i go to wallmart the food is close to expiring
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
    I've never shopped at Walmart but I don't find Costco to be any cheaper than other grocery stores.

    Asian/International supermarkets are absolutely the cheapest place for produce.
  • h82bfat
    h82bfat Posts: 77
    Years ago we were members of Costco. We found their prices were less but everything was sold in huge quantities. In our case (due to bad eating habits) we spent about the same but ate a lot more. That said, their selection was good and quality high. If we managed what we ate, it could dramatically lower the food budget. Also, look beyond Wal-Mart. We find that Target is lower on many items and there is an independent grocery in our area that is far better still for produce.
  • jessashcher
    jessashcher Posts: 155
    I think it just depends on what you buy. Costco is great for bulk buying so I shop there when I want to get stuff that will last a while, but for things like milk and cheese and other stuff that I tend to use up much quicker I shop at other stores.
  • Laurayinz
    Laurayinz Posts: 930 Member
    If it's not too far for you to travel to get there, yes it can be much cheaper. We usually make up the annual fee on 1 trip! But keep in mind that most things are sold in huge quanitties so you'd have to be able to store the excess. Their meats and produce are often better than the supermarket (I can't say anything about WM though, as I don't go there for groceries).
  • Sherie13
    Sherie13 Posts: 250 Member
    I love Costco but it really depends on what you buy. If there are sales at Walmart, it might be a bit cheaper. I buy berries and meat at Costco and then freeze them into portion sizes. The milk is always cheaper and I get my green tea and other essentials there too. I wait for coupons from costco to buy contact solution and things like that and it comes out cheaper. The problem with Costco is that the sizes are huge so if you don't use the fresh stuff and it spoils, it's really not worth it. Maybe you can split a membership with your MIL. Each membership gets two cards.
  • Josee76
    Josee76 Posts: 533 Member
    I shop at Costco a lot.... but I am finding myself at Wal Mart to buy the odds and ends that Costco does not carry (unless I want large quatities of it), I guess it depends on your budget and how much of the product you need. In my opinion, they have some of the best meat products and for things like cottage cheese, egg whites, greek yogurt, berries, their prices can't be beat.
  • Momt18
    Momt18 Posts: 97 Member
    I usually shop at Wal Mart and usually buy $120+ in groceries every 2 weeks. I always tend to avoid processed food. My MIL stopped by and dropped off some berries and grapes that she bought from Costco for us. They're freaking delicious, and I'm starting to wonder if shopping at Costco would be cheaper? Thoughts?

    I find its only cheaper if you can be really disciplined about your shopping and only buy what you need. Shopping in bulk in Costco can really eat up your $$$ because everything looks enticing and you think that you are doing yourself a favour by buying multiple things that you normally wouldn't even be purchasing. In my area, I tend not to buy fresh produce from there because its not necessarily a better value. But I do like to get meat and seafood there, as well as dairy products and baked goods that I can store in my freezer, as well as stuff for my kids' lunches.
  • alecta337
    alecta337 Posts: 622 Member
    No.

    http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2011/09/15/extreme-couponing-tip-warehouse-woes/
    http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/10/03/reason-103-why-you-should-ditch-your-warehouse-club/


    If you *really* want to save money. Start couponing. You will save between 40-60% off your grocery bill with minimal effort. And you'll get a bunch of great food.
  • Shannon_Nicole83
    Shannon_Nicole83 Posts: 181 Member
    I'm not sure about the fruit as we've never bought any from Costco. We got the card mainly because the diapers & formula are crazy cheap compared to Walmart. Actually, there's quite a few things we only buy from Costco because the prices are much better, fruit just isn't one of them. Sorry, I'm not much help.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
    No.

    http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2011/09/15/extreme-couponing-tip-warehouse-woes/
    http://thekrazycouponlady.com/2010/10/03/reason-103-why-you-should-ditch-your-warehouse-club/


    If you *really* want to save money. Start couponing. You will save between 40-60% off your grocery bill with minimal effort. And you'll get a bunch of great food.

    Can you save money on healthy foods with couponing though? Whenever I browse the coupons it's all processed junk. And I can get things like toilet paper and cleaning products cheaper at the Dollar Store.
  • cecilia0909
    cecilia0909 Posts: 188 Member
    I like getting a lot of the fruit and veggies from Costco because my eat eat it faster than I can buy it so I need the bulk
  • alecta337
    alecta337 Posts: 622 Member
    Can you save money on healthy foods with couponing though? Whenever I browse the coupons it's all processed junk. And I can get things like toilet paper and cleaning products cheaper at the Dollar Store.

    Yeah, you can. There aren't many coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables. But theres a ton of coupons for frozen fruits and or veggies, which as just as healthy, as long as they don't have crap added to them.

    Frozen food is the only way I get my healthy food because I only go shopping every other week and otherwise all the produce would go bad.

    I don't feel like arguing with you, but if you look on that site I linked to, you save so much money. You can get toilet paper for 3$ for a 12 pack of charmin, for example. You get name brands at dollar store prices.
  • tifftaffy
    tifftaffy Posts: 141 Member
    I definitely need to start using coupons when I go grocery shopping!! Thanks for the links!! :-)
  • cecilia0909
    cecilia0909 Posts: 188 Member
    And as far as coupons, I never see coupons for fresh foods and I use them for things I need like toothpaste, diapers, etc but not much food cause it's all processed
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
    Can you save money on healthy foods with couponing though? Whenever I browse the coupons it's all processed junk. And I can get things like toilet paper and cleaning products cheaper at the Dollar Store.

    Yeah, you can. There aren't many coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables. But theres a ton of coupons for frozen fruits and or veggies, which as just as healthy, as long as they don't have crap added to them.

    Frozen food is the only way I get my healthy food because I only go shopping every other week and otherwise all the produce would go bad.

    I don't feel like arguing with you, but if you look on that site I linked to, you save so much money. You can get toilet paper for 3$ for a 12 pack of charmin, for example. You get name brands at dollar store prices.

    Yeah, I was browsing the site a little. I don't care about name brands and don't use frozen fruits/vegetables so it's probably not worth the effort for me. It also seems like (if you're serious about couponing) you need some extra storage space, which my small pre-20th century house lacks.
  • electromg
    electromg Posts: 70 Member
    It's amazing how many healthy foods and organics are at Costco now! Walmart is cheap but at the one by my house they find a way to place sweets and junk down one side of every aisle haha! I'm smarter than to fall for these grocery store tricks but I hate that mentality how they want to keep us obese. They don't stock up on any interesting healthy foods since they care much more about selling junk. I really think Costco has more healthy options to choose from. But I would say you should do your shopping at Costco first, and then go to Walmart only to fill gaps.
  • Frappuzzino
    Frappuzzino Posts: 342 Member
    Can you save money on healthy foods with couponing though? Whenever I browse the coupons it's all processed junk. And I can get things like toilet paper and cleaning products cheaper at the Dollar Store.

    Yeah, you can. There aren't many coupons for fresh fruits and vegetables. But theres a ton of coupons for frozen fruits and or veggies, which as just as healthy, as long as they don't have crap added to them.

    Frozen food is the only way I get my healthy food because I only go shopping every other week and otherwise all the produce would go bad.

    I don't feel like arguing with you, but if you look on that site I linked to, you save so much money. You can get toilet paper for 3$ for a 12 pack of charmin, for example. You get name brands at dollar store prices.

    I was going to ask this same thing. Couponing has always interested me, but alot of coupons I've seen have been for processed stuff, which I don't eat. I can understand saving on household items, but I would like to save money on fresh/frozen fruits/veggies, and meat mostly.
  • Jess5825
    Jess5825 Posts: 228
    It depends. I live alone, so I only buy things that won't go bad at costco. I love their individually wrapped frozen chicken breasts. That's a staple item in my freezer. But I don't buy things like veggies there because they will go bad before I eat them, so it's not worth it. So if you have a family, yes it's worth it.
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