NorCalAthlete
O_o
I find it hard to get out of there without dropping $200-$300, but then I'm SET for a while.
Is a Costco membership worth it for a single guy?
- Thread starter wannabe
- Start date
littlebeast
get it while it's easy
my heart is with the mom and pop places these days. will be spending with them.
JesasaurusRex
Deleted User
that, hard to find mom n pop grocery stores around most of the country though.
I hate costco as well, even though i have a membership. Just too many people
lefty
Well-known member
What?!?!?!?!? This can't be true?,,,, :wtf
I hate the rude people at Costco, but I love their prices. The Social Distancing helps with the rudeness quite a BIT. I have to give BIG props to their pharmacy. They are not crooks like most other pharmacies. An NPR reporter did a story on a Generic Cancer drug that was being sold for $2,100 /month by ALL of the other stores, except for Costco and a few Mom and Pop Pharmacies. Costco sold the 1 month supply for $250.
I just started getting my dogs meds from there- I am saving a fortune. At Adobe Pet Hospital I was paying $285 for 90 pills , at Costco, it was $164. For another drug I was paying $85 at Adobe, but only $12,73 at Costco!!!!!!
Congrats OP- I hope that you enjoy your membership.
Mike95060
Work In Progress
It is absolutely true. It is illegal in CA to sell alcohol to "members only."
https://www.rd.com/advice/saving-money/no-costco-membership/
RS250 Chester
Well-known member
This hasn't been the case in ages. Costco has evolved quite a bit over the last 2 decades. Gone are the buckets of soy sauce, mayonnaise and other industrial packages (though still in Costco business), got replaced with consumer-friendly packages, but still slightly bigger than a standard grocery store.
Lot's of great examples and suggestions in this thread already. For a single guy, you can save a lot of money, like clothing; socks, running shoes, underwear, gym clothes, hoodies. If you cook and plan your meals, you will save a lot with produce and meats. Ground Turkey is around $20 for a 4-pack, but a single pack at any standard grocery store is around $6-7/pack. If you don't cook, lot's of processed foods, breads (freeze the extra load you get), cereals, etc..
Even though Costco has moved to consumer-friendly packaging, storing and planning your food will help eliminate waste
One of the biggest savings for our family has been car insurance. Everytime I shop around for car insurance, they all say they cannot beat
Costco's prices, everyone from State Farm, Progressive and AAA. I've stopped shopping for a better prices a few years ago because it was just a waste of my time.
scootergmc
old and slow
Yes, they have catered more to the individuals but that's not necessarily the case. Many Costcos still carry large/restaurant supply quantities of stuff. I just bought a 50 lb. bag of flour and walked right by the vats of mayo, oil, soy sauce, etc. A lot of it depends on the location of the store itself and tracking what the local membership purchases. The bay area Costcos carry an extremely wide variety of smaller quantity organic products (the Santa Cruz store is an extreme). Over here in the valley, you don't see nearly as much organic/non-gmo/green/sustainable products and marketing. Costco has a bullseye on their markets.
As for their services, there's really nothing Costco has beaten for me pricewise, although it makes things easy (and generally cheaper) for those who do hate shopping. I used to have their insurance. But I routinely use their travel for rental cars, as you can cancel and rebook when rates go cheaper (which I did three times for my last trip to Hawaii- when my 8 day +$400 large SUV eventually dropped to $150 OTD).
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Yeah, the pharmacy is why I started going there in the first place. I’m paying cash now and not going through my insurance because I can get a 90-day supply of my drugs there for less than a single month copay through my insurance at other places.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Ooh, I didn’t know that Costco did car insurance. Thanks! I’m going to look into that.
augustiron
2fast 2live 2young 2die
It is worth it just for the 3' tall bag of Skinny Pop popcorn that gets half eaten on the drive home.
That's right, do the math. 18" of popcorn eaten. Motherfuckers. # noshame
That's right, do the math. 18" of popcorn eaten. Motherfuckers. # noshame
aminalmutha
Well-known member
Yep, totally worth it. If you want industrial sized items, that's Smart & Final.
Get a vacuum sealer and use your freezer as it was intended for meat, etc.
They don't always have everything and their selection is not as vast as some places, but they don't sell low quality items. Even their Kirkland branded items are mostly good quality.
Tires, batteries, etc. are name brand and can be cheaper than Walmart no-name stuff.
Shop smart and you can very easily make up for the membership fee.
Get a vacuum sealer and use your freezer as it was intended for meat, etc.
They don't always have everything and their selection is not as vast as some places, but they don't sell low quality items. Even their Kirkland branded items are mostly good quality.
Tires, batteries, etc. are name brand and can be cheaper than Walmart no-name stuff.
Shop smart and you can very easily make up for the membership fee.
gnahc79
Fear me!
Costco is also an auto broker, we bought our most recent car through them. I talked to the salesperson at the dealership that was "Costco certified" and the entire process was easy.
Reviews say you get a decent deal vs going yourself. The only exception is if you're an expert shopper and willing to put in the extra effort. That's not me by any means :laughing
btw do you go to the Costco by Cottle, near the new police training center? That's my go-to place as well. Last time I went was a few days before the lockdown at opening time. 20-some full grown ass adults making a mad dash for the toilet paper (this was before they were limiting ppl to TP). I got one TP and a 50lb bag of rice, there was little else left in the store. It was nuts, never again.
Alan_Hepburn
Well-known member
I don't think we've ever had a poor piece of beef from Costco - they have excellent meat! They sell, for instance, New York strips in packages, or you can buy the whole New York slab and cut it up yourself - it's usually several cents cheaper per pound and you get anywhere from 12 to 15 pounds of meat, with very little waste. But then you need a freezer to store it all...
We do the same with pork loins - it's cheaper to buy the whole loin and slice it at home into boneless pork chops, if you've got the freezer space.
Their bakery stuff is great also - pretty much everything they sell is better quality than what you get at Safeway or other stores...
Alan_Hepburn
Well-known member
If you get tired of having to remove those chickens from their bones - they also sell the meat already stripped from the bones for a great price, and that way you get no waste!
Alan_Hepburn
Well-known member
Their Kirkland brand is mostly top name providers - for instance: they have a Kirkland brand 40-year old single malt scotch - it is made by MacAllan and about 1/2 the price of the Mac...
The Kirkland branded Breakfast Blend coffee for Keurig is actually Green Mountain brand...at about $0.30 per cup.
RS250 Chester
Well-known member
Their meat quality is superb. They don't always have sales, but their prices are good. Safeway will sometimes have sales on ribeyes, like $6.99/lb, compared to Costco at $8.99/lb.. A few times I have bought the safeway cuts and the whole family will notice a difference. The meat was chewy and rubbery. I've stuck with Costco since.
For advice on gas, go early in morning or evening, lines are short, if any. Don't get gas on weekend. As for going inside the store, try going on weekdays, not weekends to avoid crowds. Of course, we are not in normal times, but once it becomes normal, follow those rules to eliminate lines at the pump and inside the store.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Yuppers, that’s the Costco that I go to. Thankfully, the mad rush is over, and things are back to the old days when it wasn’t crowded in there. The only time that it is crowded is just before closing. Since they reduced their hours, there seems to be a mad rush to the registers right around 6pm.