Costco

[Emma09]

*mods, not really sure where to put this*

Does anyone have a Costco membership?
Is it worth it?
What are some examples of items that YOU buy there?

TIA

[TeniBear]

Yes, and it is AWESOME. I bought a heap of meat the other day and some seasonings, and now they're all in big freezer bags ready to chuck in the slow cooker.

There's huge packs of cookie dough and the cakes are huuuuuge! The free samples on weekdays are fantastic too

It's great if you're having a party, being able to buy in bulk like that...


Sent from my iPhone so forgive the speelung misstacks

[Emma09]

Thanks teni.
I wonder if there is anyway to browse before you become a member

[misty]

I LOVE Costco. We buy most things there. Nappies, wipes, meat, milk, eggs, fruit, vege, sauce, weetbix, dried fruit, yogurt, etc, etc. We have also bought clothes racks, pillows, steam mop.

If you know someone who is a member, you can go in with them (although you cann't buy anything) just to check it out.

[~me~]

We have a Costco membership..I love it! You can go in with a member and browse or if the member is willing, you purchase and they put it through it for you, you just give them the cash.
We buy, baby wipes, tinned tomatoes, passata, tim tams, toilet paper, paper towel, tomato paste, kitchen scourers, dishwashing powder, the blue wipes, foil, glad wrap, sultana's, cat litter, some lollies.
It sells alot of American sweets as well. I saw a lady with a trolley full of butter, she freezes and it and says it's the best quality butter she has had for a long time.
I know of people who share a membership, so they go halves and shop together and split the bill after checking out.
They also sell clothes, Osh Kosh and other brands. If you buy moisturisers like Olay, they have that as well. It's all branded products, unlike Aldi which is there own brands mostly.
I never get out of there without spending at least $200..I have been at the checkout when I heard someone's tally at $1000.
You need to have an empty boot when going there
We bought our bar stools there as well...these were two for $90 and I have seen them at furniture places for $90 each.
Basically, anything you purchase at Coles or Safeway, Costco will 9 times out of 10 have it in bulk. A GF of mine bought a tray of lamb cutlets, they worked out at around $1.50 each I think, maybe less, I purchased some at the butcher today for my kids dinner and they were $2.50 each.

[nickle730]

I buy non-perishable items such as toilet paper, cling wrap, spray and wipe, washing powder... I don't buy the consumables in bulk as they go off before I have a chance to use it all and I'm not a big one for freezing. I don't have a membership, my mum does and I go with her. To be honest, my local Supa IGA works out to be just as cheap when they have items on sale and so I tend to buy up big on the non-perishables then. Huggies are cheaper (per nappy) at IGA on sale than they are at Costco. Costco is fun just for something different but I do find that I buy a lot of stuff I don't need!

[Mother Goose]

We have one. We don't go that often. When we do go, we buy toilet paper, stain remover, paper towel, dishwashing tablets. I don't usually buy much food but will buy DD those poppa apple juice bottles every 2nd or 3rd trip. They currently have a spin bike I keep considering purchasing. But to be honest, a lot of the stuff there, I can get cheaper in my local supermarket when it's on sale. Last time I bought toilet paper it was only JUST cheaper at Costco... but when you take into account the fuel and parking costs...

They currently have a Kitchen Aide there but we can get it cheaper locally. You really need to know your prices before you go.

Oh, we bought prawns once and they had no taste We used to buy some of the bakery items (croissants are THE best!) but no longer eat that sort of stuff.

[OceanPrincess]

Hey Em

MIL has a membership... I've been a few times with her. First time I went it was a fact-finding mission for me to see what they had and the price differences.

Have been two or three times since, my "staples" are:
- toilet paper: 60 rolls, cottonelle, works out to 50c a roll
- tissues: I buy an eight pack of normal and aloe Vera for I think $2 or $3 a box
- Bepanthen - about $7 a tube (same tube in coles is about $10)
- Lynx deo for DH, significantly cheaper than supermarket
- Tuna
- Liquid stock
- pasta sauce
- tinned tomatoes
- Paper towel
- washing powder
- Napisan
- Juice (long life)
- Cat litter
- Batteries
- Tuna

Can't recall what else I always try to buy... But I normally buy only shelf goods. I tried some mince, didn't like it. Tasted different.

Their cookies are yum.

The other things I end up buying are special buys. It's a massive warehouse, set up with all the groceries, shelf goods and fresh produce around the edges and then in the middle they have special purchases. These are things that they get in seasonally or the like.

I normally pick up some great bargains like books and clothes (for the kids)... Last time I got this cool play tent for the kids, complete with 100 play balls. For $40! That was awesome.

I also got a massive box of greeting cards for $30... 20 cards!

They had some Little Tikes stuff there last time and a wooden cubby house that DD loved.

MIL took a friend last time and the three of us spent $1400

We always take the pram out of the car and even with a completely empty boot of my 4wd we struggled to fit everything in!

So I think it's worth it... I mean the tissues and toilet paper I buy you can get from the supermarket for the same price on special but I like buying it in bulk and not having to check the catalogues and run to the supermarket when you see it's on special.

The fresh stuff I don't bother with... The milk and eggs are similar prices to supermarkets... I couldn't handle getting the milk home and you had to buy 18 eggs at a time I think... Too hard.

One of my work friends goes there before she goes up to their holiday house and stocks up on fresh stuff and it works out for them!

HTH!

[OceanPrincess]

I was just going to add parking is free as a member and it's pretty easy to get there with citylink!

[Mother Goose]

I was just going to add parking is free as a member and it's pretty easy to get there with citylink!

Last time we were there they had changed the parking. You can only get in if you're a member and you get (I think) an hour free then pay after that. We're always there for AAAAGGGGGEEEESSSSS because DD always wants to go to the shops.

[OceanPrincess]

Oh wow MG I didn't realize that - was it recently? I knew you had to be a member but you can't shop without being a member so... Kinda moot.

Anyway we're always there ages too... Was the parking changed recently I wonder?

[Mother Goose]

Not sure when it changed but I was there maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago and DH already knew about the change.

[peanutter]

I found that most things were the same price that they are at the normal shops when on sale ... and we buy a fair amount of generic products, so for us there wasn't a significant savings for general groceries.

meat on the other hand was super cheap, and the quality was fine. we have a big freezer, and for the amount of meat we bought, we probably saved enough to make the annual fee worthwhile after our first trip

the baked goods and plenty of the fresh produce were also really well priced, but we don't eat many baked goods (and certainly not enough to go buying them in bulk!) and while we did buy a bit of fresh produce, we had a lot of wastage by the end of the week unfortunately.

we did however buy a fair amount of "once off" things - there was a really nice set of acrylic tumblers (a transluscent goldy-brown, 8 tall, 8 short, wide mouthed) for about $20 which was perfect for when we host BBQs, etc ... and books and lots of other things like that ...

so while I've only gone once or twice, it was worthwhile for us.

I would go once a month if it wasn't so dang far away!!

[feeb]

We have been heaps, on our 2nd year of membership.

We buy nappies, wipes, chicken nuggets, frozen vegies, freeze dried fruit, sultana packets, bread, maragarine, butter, milk, eggs, books, cheese traingles, umm cant think what else but they are the regular plus always find extras!!

[Jaycee]

It appears that Costso is finally opening a store in South Australia!

So tell me about them! I know there is a membership fee that needs to be paid, and that's about it!

Do they stock all the ranges a supermarket such as coles or woolies would? How cheap are the prices? Do they do meat and veg as well?

Do you think the membership is worth it?

[Teeki]

Haha you read my mind Jaycee! I'm not sure where they're opening but was wondering this too. Aldi is opening somewhere in SA too, what's the difference?

[Jaycee]

Lol, it's exciting times in SA!

As far as I know, Costco is opening a store at kilburn in November and Aldi is starting to build its first store at Seaton.

I have no idea what the difference is lol

[Khaleesi]

Costco is an American chain store that sells things in bulk, plus tvs, clothes, books etc..
You need a membership to buy from them as well ($60 a year)

Aldi is a supermarket that has things for cheaper than coles or woolworths.
They have different brands to the bigger supermarkets