[tryingforbaby]

On thursday I renewed my Sam's Club membership. I am realy questioning if I should have.

Have you found that these memberships can save money or not?

What have you found is a good deal?

 

[Happiestever]

Did you get the statement that said how much you saved on products yo bought last year? I'm guessing not, but I got a breakdown with my renewal and I saved like $80 or something on mostly baby/ health products. I like buying in bulk for certain things, like my Chai Tea

: where I get 3 for the price of 2. You know - their prices are pretty comparable to Amazon, so it may not be worth it. Now that I think about it maybe I should just buy online myself and get my money back. Ha- I talked myself out of my membership- guess I can't help you anymore!

 

[alicia622]

I have never sat down and figured out how much we save, but just buying cat food and kitty litter pays for the membership. I think it depends on what you buy there regularly whether it's worth it or not.

 

[Denvergirlie]

This is such a personal question it's hard to come up with an answer that fits all across the board.

For us, it's not really worth it. Sam's club doesn't carry some of the brands we were likely to purchase in bulk.
Costco has a few things that we really use, but it was a pain in the rear to get to, alhtough they just built one that is much closer now.

I also shop sales and with coupons when I can, so when I factor that in, I can save way more at the normal grocery store than I can paying to have the opportunity to buy at these big box warehouse stores.

However, if I lived further out of town and did more monthly stock up trips over being able to run to the grocery store every week, then Costco would definately back into consideration.

A lot of the value for your family will depend on the items you buy and the amount of time you are willing to spend on shopping sales at other grocery store locations, etc.

I suppose if you buy a lot of big ticket items, then the rest of the store could be considered, but for us we really only bought consumables to inlcuse things like; Food, HBA, booze, paper and cleaning products, beverages, etc.

 

[Magpie1972]

I have a BJ's memebrship and saved enough money in JUST my trip yesterday to pay the $40.

 

[Ola_]

Hard to say without looking at what you buy and how much you save. We have a Costco membership and upgraded to an Executive membership which pays you back a percentage of what you spend. So it has the potential to actually pay for your membership cost and maybe more. That made it worth it for me, even though we only buy for the two of us and occassionally something for family like gifts, etc.

 

[KatWrangler]

My husband is able to get a discounted membership from his employer. We decided to go ahead and get it. Eventhough we have a membership with Costco (since we have moved Costco is in the oppposite direction and is over 30 miles from us...Sam's is in the city my husband works).

I have been doing really well with coupons. However, such things as sugar, flour, chicken breasts....bulk is easier for me.

 

[Yooper]

I do not live in an area that offers these types of stores, but I have at other times. This might be a more personal decision, but for us, these memberships do not pay. We most certainly did "save" more than the membership cost but we also tended to purchase things we would not have if we had not set foot in the store to begin with. Just something to consider.....

I have to say that my biggest frugal tip is to never EVER go into box stores of any type. While I think I have pretty strong will power, I still find myself tempted by the "good deals" and end up buying something or many things I really do not need. I see a good deal on socks and say to myself "Oh, I need new socks". And usually that is technically correct. Perhaps my socks are on their last leg. But had I not seen those socks on sale, my socks would probably have gone another 2-3 months, I would have bought exactly what I wanted/needed, and in exactly the quantity that I want/need rather than whatever I happened upon on sale. While we pay significantly more for our necessities by staying out of discount chains and box stores, our overall budget comes out ahead somehow.

 

[Delicateflower]

I don't know that I save much money at Costco, but it has products I can't get anywhere else, so it's worth it to me.

 

[darcytrue]

I just renewed a membership at Sams Club in January and so far we haven't spent a whole lot but the things that I bought have just started to run out this month and it's April.

Since January I've purchased:

Huge container of green lettuces for salad for $3.98 (a STEAL!!! costs around $7-8 at the regular store) I buy this about every 2-3 weeks
2 Jif Peanut Butter that lasted until this past weekend
2 Smuckers jelly that lasted until last week
Large 30 gal Hefty trash bags that we are "still" using

sodas
clorox wipes in a 4 pack (last 2-3 months)
instant potatoes in a very large container, also lasted almost 3 months
30 rolls of TP for $18 (Scott tissue)

I haven't purchased much more than this but the items I've purchased so far have really helped out a lot and it's that much that I don't have to think about buying for a few months.

 

[mommariffic]

We have a BJ's membership, but we never go! When we do, my husband is so thrilled with the packs of junk food he can buy, that we end up spending way more money than we should, and things go bad.

I'm not planning on renewing mine, and the bulk things I do use [like peanut butter, or paper goods] I'm just going to purchase with coupons or on Amazon

Plus, I don't really like the brands at those stores. I just got 750 organic wipes from Amazon for $20 and I am pretty pleased.

 

[dachshundqueen]

Prescriptions, gas, and contacts at costco have more than paid for themselves with the savings when compared to others.

If you feel uncomfy with the renewal, then do they offer a return policy on membership like Costco (at any time you are unsatisfied)?

Liz

 

[enkmom]

We only got a Sam's Club last fall, and for us now it doesn't pay. I think it would have been a boon when my kids were younger, but the quantities are too large for my husband and I to use up now. Savings are great on liquor, but we seldom drink. We also are not currently in the market for electronics or tires, but those would be worth the price of membership for me.

There are a few items that we buy and use, but I don't plan to renew our membership. My parents have a membership, and I will just tag along with them if I need something there.

 

[MamaPam]

We got a Sam's membership a couple of months ago and have already made up the membership cost in savings. I think you've got to compare the prices for your area to know how great a deal it is or not. Where we currently live it saves us a lot of money. Before when we compared prices it wasn't really worth it.

We pretty much buy all of our groceries and household items at Sam's now. We only cloth diaper part time so diapers and wipes are a big savings. Meat has been cheaper than the sale prices I have seen. We also buy bigger pieces of meat and fish from there (at a lower price) and DH cuts it down to freeze. Staples such as flour, sugar, yeast etc are a big savings. We make a weekly trip and at least buy milk, eggs, and bananas. Milk is over a $1 a gallon cheaper there and we use 3-4 gallons a week. We do stay away from the electronics and clothing etc. so I don't know if that stuff would save you money or not. We haven't needed anything in that area so we don't look.

 

[HydeParkB]

We are Costco members. It is worth it for us. The store is about a mile from home, so it is not out of the way at all. I think memberships can save you if:

- You need and can use significant quantities of items.
We have 5 inside cats - that's a lot of litter. We buy milk, cheese, beer, laundry detergent, tp, vitamins and some OTC meds. We haven't found the meat cheaper than the best sales in town. I also do better on most beauty products with Walgreens rebates or clearance items.

- You can stick to the list and avoid what you don't need.
These store have a little of everything...to tempt you. DH is always drawn to the books and magazines. I want to browse the kids clothes and crackers. Sometimes I browse the frozen convenience foods.

I think you really need to know the prices on your items to be able to save. Costco has tons of snack foods, and some are a decent deal. But for things like pretzels or crackers, I do better at Big Lots or sales at the grocery stores.

I try to be the one to shop there, because I think I'm better at avoiding the temptation of extra items. But some of the items are so heavy (cat litter) that I hate to have to load and unload my cart and car.

 

[rebeccalynn]

We do bj's b/c dh can get a discount on membership through work and it is the closest to us. It does pay for us, but I have to keep an eye on dh who is a compulsive shopper.

We save on milk, eggs, sandwich meat, splenda, lemon juice, cereal, clothes, diapers, wipes, tea bags, printer ink, personal/health items and more. I am very careful to know how much I can get an item for "on sale" at my grocery & wal mart/target so that I end up getting the best price. I never buy snack type food unless it is for a get together and I need that large amount and it is a good price. We are going back to using cloth diapers full time so that is not really going to be a savings anymore, but in the beginning when I was trying to see if membership was worth it, we saved more than the membership alone in just diaper & wipes savings.

 

[tryingforbaby]

Thank you. I guess I just realy need to compare items more. In the past I did a price book but it didn't include sam's.... thinking..maybe I should do this again.

 

[AllisonK]

We buy gas and a lot of other things at Costco. We have the Executive membership so get 2% cash back every year and get enough to pay for the membership plus some. This last year we had an extra $75 I think after we paid for the renewal. Its worth it for us but we do a lot of bulk food shopping at Costco, as well as gas, some clothes, even found the kids summer sandals there this year.

 

[VisionQuest]

We get a discount through work on our Sam's membership and the money we save on gas more than pays for the membership cost.

 

[Norasmomma]

Our Costco memberships easily pays for itself every year. We save that $50 on almonds and olive oil alone. It is a huge money saver for us.

It also just saved us a bundle on Dh's glasses, he got super nice glasses and prescription sunglasses for $250, totally worth it.