Comments on: Warehouse Store Versus Regular Grocery Store – Do You Really Save Money?

By: mjmcinto

mjmcinto — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:11:42 +0000

Tina – Sorry for the delay. Here is a link that discusses (and tells how to) dry age a steak at home. I’ll by trimming my ribeye roast for next week for my first dry aging experiment

By: david

david — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 00:04:44 +0000

Thanks so much Sam’s Girl, appreciate you letting me know. This is very helpful!

By: Sam's girl

Sam's girl — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 23:55:36 +0000

The formatting is wrong but the date is there. Just did this 3 weeks ago in Los Angeles County.

Pricing List
Item Brand Quantity Price Store Unit Price
Beans (dry) Monticito 10 lbs. 8.19 Smart & Final 0.82 Lbs.
Beans (dry) Monticito 25 lbs. 15.49 Smart & Final 0.62 Lbs.
Beans (dry) C & F 25 lbs. 17.99 Smart & Final 0.72 Lbs.
Beans (dry) Peak 10 lbs. 6.29 Sams 0.63 Lbs.
Beans (dry) Peak 25 lbs. 14.16 Sams 0.57 Lbs.
Beans (canned) Rosarita 8 cans 6.79 Smart & Final 0.85 Can
Beans (canned) Rosarita 8 cans 6.77 Sams 0.85 Can
Beans (canned) Bush’s 8 cans 8.67 Sams 1.08 Can
Chicken Noodle Soup Campbells 12 8.99 Smart & Final 0.75 Can
Chicken Noodle Soup Campbells 12 6.97 Sams 0.58 Can
Corn Nibblets 12 cans 11 oz. 7.99 Smart & Final 0.06 oz.
Corn DelMonte 8 cans 15 oz. 6.34 Sams 0.05 oz.
Cream of Mushroom Campbells 10 11.49 Smart & Final 1.15 Can
Cream of Mushroom Campbells 10 7.36 Sams 0.74 Can
Fireplace logs Duraflame 6 – 5 lb 18.99 Smart & Final 0.63 Lbs.
Mac & Cheese Kraft 5 boxes 5.79 Smart & Final 1.16 Box
Mac & Cheese Kraft 12 Boxes 6.74 Sams 0.56 Box
Oatmeal Quakers multi 55 pk/76.2 oz 10.79 Smart & Final 0.196/0.14 pk/oz
Oatmeal Quakers Brown/Maple 40 pk 6.87 Sams 0.17/ pk/oz
Oatmeal steel cut Trader Joes 24 oz 2.29 Trader joes 0.1 Oz
Orange Soda Sunkist Fridgepack 4.79 Smart & Final 0.4 Can
Rice C & F 5 lbs. 2.99 Smart & Final 0.6 Lbs.
Rice C & F 10 lbs. 6.99 Smart & Final 0.7 Lbs.
Rice C & F 25 lbs. 13.99 Smart & Final 0.56 Lbs.
Rice Mahatma 20 lbs. 11.87 Sams 0.59 Lbs.
Rice Mahatma 25 lbs. 14.99 Smart & Final 0.6 Lbs.
Rice (converted) Uncle Bens 12 lbs. 11.49 Smart & Final 0.96 Lbs.
Spam Hormel 3 large cans 12.49 Smart & Final 4.16 Can
Spam Hormel 6 large cans 13.04 Sams 2.17 Can
Spegetti Generic 2 lbs. 2.99 Smart & Final 1.5 Lbs.
Spegetti Chefs Review 4 lbs. 5.69 Smart & Final 1.42 Lbs.
Spegetti Bakers Choice 6 lbs. 5.64 Sams 0.94 Lbs.
Toliet Paper Charmin (Big rolls) 24 11.99 Smart & Final 0.5 Roll
Tomato Paste Hunts 12 cans 4.99 Smart & Final 0.45 Can
Tomato Paste Hunts 12 cans 4.49 Sams 0.37 Can

By: Do You Dave Ramsey?

Do You Dave Ramsey? — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:25:42 +0000

We, I should really say my wife, shops at a local warehouse store and she swears by it. I have an annual ritual of asking her if the savings are worth the membership fee each year and she is easily able to prattle off 6 or 8 ’staple’ items that repay the cost of admission in a very short period of time.

Pet food and supplies top the list in my mind but bags of frozen chicken breasts or ground beef packaged in bulk which we subdivide and freeze are easy examples… but common toiletries, cleaning supplies, and many other disposible items are best bought in bulk.

I bet we make only a monthly run to the warehouse so not all our weekly shopping is done in this way.

I hope this helps and thanke for providing the forum in which to share.

Dave

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:19:47 +0000

MJ-off topic how do you dry age at home?

Thank you,
tina@rangeweb.net

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:16:38 +0000

At one point we used Costco as well, only because it was under my mother-in-laws business. For us we had to be making a trip for medical reasons as the nearest Costco is 130 miles one way, and Sams is 130 miles the other way. When we did go we stocked up on generic Tylenol and generic Tylenol PM as they are MUCH cheaper at Costco. My husband has a chronic/genetic illness so he uses alot of Tylenol. At WM the 500 count bottle is $7.97 at Costco the two pack (1000) is 7.97. The generic PM was something around $7.00 for a 500 count bottle where as at WM I pay that for 200. Butter usually runs around 2.30 a pound, I can get it on sale for 2.00 or under ( I have 15 pounds in the freezer). Not factoring distance in by watching sales and keeping tabs on prices I usually could do much better at the local grocery stores even without using coupons.

By: Enrique S

Enrique S — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:34:01 +0000

If you’re like me, unless you stick to a list, you may find yourself unable to pass up impulse buys. As Erik said, you need to be savvy about product costs and comparison shop. Don’t assume you’re getting the best deal just because you’re buying from Costco.

By: mjmcinto

mjmcinto — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:13:13 +0000

We have a Costco membership, and I think we get our monies worth there on the following:

1) Gas – usually $0.10/gallon cheaper. Though I have to admit that you can do this without being a member of Costco if you have an Amex card

2) Tires – We replaced the tires on my wife’s car recently, and while comparison pricing, I found the exact same tire for $10/tire less than one of the national chains. However, it was actually more of a savings, as the tires come with a road hazard warranty and lifetime balance and rotation (costs extra at the tire chains). After a couple of weeks, she noticed one of the tires was low (probably a nail or something), took it by on the way home, and all they asked for was her card, and they were able to pull up the warranty info – no hassles, and fixed it, no hassles.

3) Steaks – It’s just my wife and myself, but I also have a freezer, so I get a big slab and cut it up on my own and freeze them. Sales at the grocery stores for ribeye steaks around here are around $6.99/lb ($7.99/lb for NY Strip). I can get them (both) at Costco for about $4.49 – $4.79/lb. Also, I can get the whole tenderloin (to make filet mignon) for around $9/lb there. Also, I can take the big slab and dry age it at home, creating a very expensive piece of meat ($35+ at a restaurant..about the only place you can get it). So for the price of 1-2 steaks at a restaurant, I can get 8+ steaks

By: david

david — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:38:43 +0000

That’s kind of how we feel too Fit Wallet…

By: Fit Wallet

Fit Wallet — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:27:08 +0000

I’m too lazy to do all the comparison shopping to make a warehouse membership worthwhile, and I find that these warehouse stores aren’t suited to our lifestyle (no kids, vegetarian, health-conscious). We only have BJ’s in the city. When we bought our house two years ago, we signed up and went precisely twice. We never did find anything we really needed. Why would I want 25 boxes of high-fructose corn syrupy juice, or jumbo boxes of eggs when I don’t eat them? They had cheese at decent prices, but I don’t need 2lbs of cheddar for two people. We gave up and never renewed the membership.