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I only recently joined Sams because there was a great deal on a membership
They gave me a $25.00 gift card to use in-store for a new membership. Call them and ask when they will be running that special again. Also, fatwallet .com will alert you about this and other deals if you sign up there. So a $35.00 business membership only cost me $10.00.
Here is another big tip. If you know someone else who would like to join, one person pays the membership fee and they can give a free card to anyone they want. In other words, every membership generates a free card for the person of your choice. So split the fee and get 2 for the price of one, or ask someone you know for a free card.
I only go there once a month. I have found good deals on butter, mozzarella, chicken and meat.
I'm a member of fatwallet, how do I get an alert for Sam's Club free pass?
Thanks
Until recently, I have been a member at Costco for many years. Where I am now, the closest Costco is 40 minutes away. There are two Sam's Clubs within 10 minutes from my house. Although I much prefer Costco, I have no choice but to use Sam's club.
The membership is definitely worth it. The things I buy such as boneless and skinless chicken breast and almonds are much more expensive at the regular supermarkets. The free food samples I eat on the weekends make back the membership in 3 months.
The current issue of Consumer Reports did a survey among shoppers. Trader's Joe came in second. Costco was in 7th place. Sam's Clubs was closer to the bottom of the list.
A brand new Costco store just opened near me. It's a great place to go for bulk commodity items such as toilet paper and paper towels. It's also a good place to purchase vitamins in bulk, which I do. As others have mentioned, their gas prices are usually much cheaper. Also, the quality of their ready-to-eat food items is very good, especially the rotisserie chicken!
As other posters have said, it depends on what you buy - with the exception of toilet paper, I don't buy paper products (paper plates, paper towels, paper napkins). I don't buy a lot of electronics. I don't buy vitamins. I don't buy cereal. I don't buy chips or snack foods. I don't buy soda.
Costco's shrimp and seafood is very often farmed and imported from Thailand and Vietnam - I don't buy those from local stores, either. Usually I buy in bulk from the local butcher (who deals in local beef, chicken, lamb, bison) and every Friday brings in seafood from the coast (200 miles away).
In the spring, summer and fall, I buy vegetables from the farmer's market or a CSA, with occasional trips to the grocery store. I make my own bread and sweets, and get my flour from a (fairly) local mill.
The things I did buy from Costco were things like laundry detergent (except they stopped carrying the unscented HE version I prefer), dishwasher detergent. I've gotten tires there before, too. But that's not worth driving 75 miles for.
I've had either a Costco or Sam's membership for years now. It makes sense for us.
Unless there's a screaming deal on milk at my local market, I can buy milk there cheaper. Same with eggs. I get great deals on fruit - and it's good fruit that lasts on the counter or in the fridge for a while, too. I also generally buy a lot of my meat there. Beef roasts, ground beef (lean), pork tenderloins, frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts and the like. Oh, those big bags of salad (we have several salad eaters in our family, so definitely worth buying the big bag) are cheap there, too.
Batteries tend to be very reasonably priced there. I generally buy my vitamins & OTC meds there, too.
I would definitely say I save the membership fee there. We keep our freezer and pantry well stocked. For cleansers, paper products & the like, I generally find better deals shopping sales and combining them with coupons.
Stacie
Quote:
Originally Posted by FLGAL76
Does shopping at Sam's or Costco save you a good amount of money? Is it really worth getting a membership vs shopping at Wal-mart or like SaveAlot? What are some of the reasons you shop there or don't?
I have to admit that the ONLY things that I have bought from Sam's Club over the last few years have been Prescriptions, OTC drugs, gasoline, and clothes mark-downs. That MIGHT cover the $35 membership fee. Fortunately, my employer pays the membership fee. When they stop, I will move over to WalMart for those items.
Does shopping at Sam's or Costco save you a good amount of money? Is it really worth getting a membership vs shopping at Wal-mart or like SaveAlot? What are some of the reasons you shop there or don't?
sigh. No one's going to see this back here. But as a family of 5 who go through tons and tons of milk, butter, sugar, eggs, bacon, veggie trays (they changed my veggie trays!!), bread, rotisserie chicken, toilet tissue, detergent, strawberries and bananas, then yes, it's an amazing value for us.
when the kids were smaller and didn't eat as much, then no.
Have not read all the replies, but I don't think a Costco member is worth it in most cases. Costco primarily sales brand names and is cheaper for those brands, but more often than not the grocery stores private labels are cheaper and you do not need to buy a trunk load either.
The prices on meat, cheese and other similar items that typical are not branded are a bit better at Costco. But you can usually find them cheaper on sale at the grocery store. I'm not going to renew my Costco membership.
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