What’s a Great Deal at Costco/Sam’s Club & What to Avoid

As someone who loves convenience, I do like to shop at big box stores.  Most things that you need are there and it makes it so that I don't generally have to go to 5 places to get what I need.

But with that said, just because it's convenient, doesn't mean that it's necessarily a great deal.  As an example, there are some things that you may find at Costco, or Sam's Club for that matter, that seem like they would be a great deal, which when you really do compare to other places for basically the same product, they might not be as good of a deal as what you originally thought.

Here are some of those products:

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This is from Street Insider Magazine.

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

This is a must buy!  It's only $4.99 at Costco.  They actually lose money on this thing, but it's so worth it, and it's a definite buy.

BOOKS

This one is tricky.  Books are great.  I actually love to read an actual book, as opposed to a book online or a kindle or something like that.  I like to actually have a book and turn the pages.  The books at Costco are basically the same deal you could get anywhere else that sells books.  They are saying to skip this purchase, but I feel like if you want the book, and you are there anyway, go ahead and purchase it - saves you a stop at the bookstore.  Although I do love a great bookstore.

LAUNDRY DETERGENT

Unless you are doing upteen loads a day or a week, avoid this one.  The bulk sizes are too big, and apparently laundry detergent has a shelf life.  Just buy the smaller jugs of detergent at a smaller box store like Target or Wal Mart.

UNBAKED PASTRIES & OTHER BAKED GOODS (or unbaked)

This is a little nugget of info I didn't know about.  You can ask the bakery department for a bucket of cookie dough.

 For only $22.99, you get a big ol’ box of cookie dough, enough to make 120 cookies! That comes out to two cents a cookie.

Also those pot pies are awesome!

TOILET PAPER

As we all discovered during the pandemic, toilet paper is a great deal at Costco.  Buy it - but please keep it to just one pack per shopping trip.

COFFEE

Buy this in smaller packs at the grocery store, Target, Wal Mart, or somewhere that sells smaller packs of coffee.  The giant size at Costco is just that - too big.  But if you are going though a ton of coffee every month - go for it.  It just depends on consumption.

FRUIT

Another one to skip.  Unless, of course, you go through that much fruit quickly.  Generally that much fruit at one time will wind up going bad, and then it turns into a giant waste of money. Unless it's the frozen type - buy that for sure.  It's a great deal.

SPICES

They are saying to skip that.  Mostly because people think that spices last forever.  But apparently they have a shelf life of about 6 months or so.  In other words, there is just too much and you most likely won't use that amount within the 6 month window.  I have purchased spices, however and they seem just fine.

GASOLINE

Finally - the granddaddy of them all.  Definitely buy your gas at Costco!  It will be about .20 cents cheaper on average than at the regular gas station.