Costco: Worth it for a single guy?

[Marnoot]

Heck, on flour alone I've saved a good $30 in the past two months. I bake all of my own bread and such, no store bought things I can make way cheaper. 

This. We've taken to cooking Indian food several times /month, and Costco's prices on Basmati rice (as with all rice/flour/etc) are excellent. The local market charges $4.50/lb for basmati, whereas Costco has it for $1/lb.

[PTK]

And, the Costco basmati is quite good, all things considered.


I'm still laughing about the salt prices. $0.59-$2.59/lb at most grocers. $3.49 for 25lbs at Costco. 

[mtnbkr]

Not in this area.  Costco's gas is at most a penny or two below the next lowest "public" pump.  If I fill up my 18gal tank weekly at Costco, that's 18 cents a week or 9.36/year.  Even if the difference is 2 cents/gallon, you're looking at less than $20 savings for the year.  My membership was more than twice that IIRC.

Where we get our best savings are on paper products and meats.

Chris

[Jamisjockey]

Costco brand beer (Kirkland brand)....its damn good stuff...   

[41magsnub]

I let mine expire, couldn't deal with the lines.  No matter what time I went to Costco here the parking lot was completely full and the checkout lines are stacked at best 6 or 7 carts deep with all lines open.

[Jamisjockey]

Must be your locale.  Avoid weekends, Mondays and fridays.  I usually go on a tuesday morning after taking the kiddos to school.  yesterday, there were 3 registers open and 5 people in the 3 lines (divided up, not in each line).  I was in and out of Costco in 30 minutes with a full cart.

[coppertales]

Costco would be great for a single guy.  They have a great selection of prepared food dishes that are really good.  I have both a Sam's and a Costco membership.  There are only two of us but they are worth it because both stores don't have the same items....Costco is a bit higher class than Sam's.  The good thing about the Sam's I go to is it is right on the way home from work....chris3

[MillCreek]

I have found that the best time to go to Costco is on my way home from work.  1700-1800 during the week seems to be a relatively uncrowded time.  I try to avoid the weekends.

There are very few Sam's Clubs in the Pacific NW, and none within 30 miles of me, so I have never had a Sam's membership.  There are seven Costco's within 30 miles of me.

[Balog]

That's interesting Chris, our local Costco is generally at least $0.15 cheaper than the local ga n' go's. Right now it's about $0.26 cheaper, which is fairly normal.

[mtnbkr]

If the savings were that much, I'd buy all my gas there.  Dunno why ours doesn't have a better price.  Not only that, it's a PITA to get in and out of.

Chris

[PTK]

Here in MT, it's a good $0.10/gal cheaper than the competition. Even though I no longer drive much, that's a lot of savings on 20gal gas tank fillups!

[mtnbkr]

Only if the price of gas is high.  At $1-2/gal, it's a good savings, but when you hit that narsty $4/gallon level, it isn't all that special.  At 20 gallons and 10 cents savings, you're looking at $2/tank.  When our fills were costing $75+, I wouldn't bother crossing the street for a $2 savings.  I just hit whatever was most convenient.  Back when gas was $.95/gal, I would drive around the block to save a cent or two per gallon. :D

Chris

[MillCreek]

When Costco first started their gas program, their stated intention was to be the consistently-lowest price within a five-mile radius of the store.  At my local Costco, it is not uncommon for them to be $ 0.20-.25 per gallon cheaper than other local stations.

Using the local gas prices website, I see that the current range is $ 2.60/gallon at the low end (Costco) up to $ 2.99 at a convenience store.  Most of the prices are around $ 2.87 or so.  Ever since a Safeway with a gas station opened up within a mile of my house, I usually fill up there.  With the three cent per gallon discount, Safeway is usually within three cents of the Costco price.  The Safeway price was $ 2.65 at 0630 this morning as I drove by.  Within two miles of the Safeway and on the same arterial are a Chevron station, at $ 2.97 and a Shell station, at $ 2.85 this morning.  

I do, however, fill up the motorcycles at a local Chevron station for the Techron gas.  I figure that is worth the dollar or so extra per tank.  

[Creeping Incrementalism]

What I save on Beano alone is worth the annual membership fee.

I buy lots of other non-perishable stuff there too, mostly for stuff I eat on a daily basis, or camping (which would make it good for a crisis too): nuts, beef jerkey, all that canned food.  And then there is the non-perishable stuff I eat nearly daily, such as bread & bagels, and chicken.

The deals they have on protein powder are amazing.  I searched high and low on the net, including buying in a bulk 50 pound box which was the cheapest I could find..  I made a spreadsheet for how much protein I got per dollar, and the stuff they sold at Costco, in a 5 pound bag or something, was still cheaper than that.