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  • Is Costco Worth It? (Ask the Readers)

  • Is Costco Worth It? (Ask the Readers)

    A reader, Frances, sent in this question:

    I was just wondering if you thought it was worth it to get a Costco membership? Do they take coupons there? Are the deals worth the membership price?

    Do you have a Costco membership? Can you answer these questions for Frances? Please share in the comments!

    Have a question you’d like to ask the readers of MrsJanuary.com? Send an email.

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    Posted By: on April 10, 2012 Filed Under: Frugal Living  Tagged With: Costco Canada
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    70 Responses to »
    Is Costco Worth It? (Ask the Readers)

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    1. N says:
      April 17, 2012 at 5:40 PM

      I’ve been a member for over 15 years. It is worth it. My only complaint is that because it’s buying in “bulk” I usually don’t come out without spending at least $100.00. No Questions return policy is AMAZING..even half eaten, you get 100% refund. I didn’t like the quality of the no name laundry detergent and they gave me a full refund. My 2 of my 3 loaves of bread went moldy (left sitting in sun – oops) and I returned them. 2% cash back on the EXECUTIVE membership is worthwile only if you’re spending lots. In the past it’s covered the cost of membership. I’m hoping this year it will be more since our minivan costs almost 90.00 to fill up and they just added a gas bar to our local costco.

      Reply
    2. BKAT says:
      April 15, 2012 at 8:44 AM

      I have 3 boys (2 teenagers) so buying bulk makes sense for us. I find that the quality of meat is second to none. I have bought from the farmer before and got stuck with a quarter of beef that I wouldn’t feed my dog!
      I buy electronics, small appliances, furniture, toys at Christmas, clothes for all of us. They also have a return policy that is second to none!
      The membership is well worth it for us.

      Reply
    3. Jane says:
      April 12, 2012 at 6:08 PM

      I’ve often wondered if my membership was worthwhile too. We live an hour and 20 minute drive away from the closest Costco. , If you know your prices and depending on what you chose to buy you can find good deals. They often have good deals on books which I discovered the hard way after buying a book at the bookstore then finding it at Costco for half the price. I always try to grab the Kirkland pure vanilla when we`re there because the price is amazing. I guess it all depends on what you purchase and in our case, how much money you have to spend at that time. We have found some great deals over the years and were glad we had the membership. But on the other hand we`ve seen things that were great deals but didn`t have the extra cash to get item, knowing that we could pretty well bet the next time we were in town, it would no longer be in stock. My personal pet peeves are there is no place to try any of the clothes on, they don`t take coupons and I always hate spending so much time at the checkouts because the lineups are so long.

      Reply
    4. Rosemary says:
      April 12, 2012 at 2:21 PM

      I think I’m a bit late to the game here, but I just wanted to chime in and say that, in my opinion, a Costco membership is absolutely not worth it, but it depends on what you buy. I think that if you buy a lot of processed/packaged foods, you’ll save money, but most of their produce/staples are more expensive than Superstore at regular price (and that’s not even taking coupons into account).

      The selection is also not that great. I was really disappointed when I first got my membership; I thought I’d be able to buy big bags of lentils and stuff, but they don’t even sell them. It seems like most of what they sell are big packages of cookies… So yeah, if you buy a lot of cookies/granola bars/miscellaneous snacks, then it’s probably worth it, but otherwise it’s not.

      Reply
    5. Evelyn says:
      April 12, 2012 at 3:03 AM

      I have let my costco card go as prices are just to high. Meat is very highly priced. There are a lot of products to choose from. They Don’t accept outside coupons. It is not worth the Gold card cost to get in the door $57 in wpg. I only shopped about 6 times a year. Most things are in bulk. For 3 people in my family the price is not justified.

      Reply
    6. Sandra says:
      April 11, 2012 at 10:47 PM

      @ Cathy – I had mentioned once to cashier that when we went to Myrtle Beach there was a Costco and we didn’t bring our cards, she said we could have mentioned it and given our phone number and they could have looked up… So I guess they take it…

      We like our membership and the fact ours has a gas station and always selling 6¢ less a litre is really great… We have the executive membership and I like the 2% it gives back (some of our family members don’t want a membership for a few items they like, so we buy it and it helps towards the 2% back)… We have started liking their brand (Kirkland) of stuff and pricing is great for it… Like others have said you have to know your pricing… I too like their meat and chicken better than other places, I don’t mind paying a bit more for better meat than eating cheap meat that’s not enjoyable…

      Reply
    7. Elena says:
      April 11, 2012 at 5:52 PM

      Funny that this question came up. My husband just told me last night he’s going to deactivate our memberships because we haven’t shopped there since December. I’m a little upset just because I like having the option to shop there, even if we haven’t made it recently. I agree with all of the above comments, especially if you do a lot of your own cooking and baking from scratch. I have also found their meat to be better quality than what I can get in the grocery store, but if you can find a local farmer to buy it from, you’d probably do even better (quality & price-wise), as I noticed the last time I bought a roast there it was from American beef. I have found having a membership especially useful when you’re making meals or asked to bring something for a large gathering – their ready-made salads, deli meats, cheeses and even baked goods are always good value, and taste great. Some good deals can be found in their produce section, but you do need to know your prices. Again, the quality is often top-notch here. Don’t forget, though, that there are companies such as Ontario Natural Food Co-op which allow you to create or join existing buying clubs and order directly from them, at a discount, when they also supply health food stores. There are amazing deals to be had in this sort of shopping experience, where you never have to leave home to buy what you’d like.

      Reply
    8. Jen U says:
      April 11, 2012 at 3:27 PM

      For a great review of the frugality of a Costco membership, google “squawkfox Costco.” Squawkfox is another Canadian frugal blog. I hope it’s ok to recommend an additional blog on here. :)

      Reply
    9. RonNasty64 says:
      April 11, 2012 at 1:16 PM

      I’d like to know how long people spend in the store? I always hated the check out process because the line-ups were always long. Wal-Mart is bad that way too. They make so much money, how much could it cost them to hire one or two more people as cashiers?

      Reply
    10. Sara says:
      April 11, 2012 at 11:44 AM

      You really have to know your prices! Some stuff is worth it and others are not. You definately should stick to a list. We recently bought the two pack of kids pajamas by Pekkle for $15.00 which was a great deal. The pekkle jammies are good quality and very cute designs! You can by unsalted almonds, walnuts etc.. in large bags and the pricing seems very reasonable. We buy the large bag of grated parmesan cheese and empty it into a container and it last a few months. Again know your prices and you can sometimes get some great deals!

      Reply
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