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Despite my protestation, we went to a big box store today, COSTCO to be specific.
I am not a fan of these stores. They don’t save people money, they encourage spending and for some people waste as well. It’s all hard to resist, but I try, yet sometimes fail. Today I bought a three foot bag of popcorn and a bag of dried apricots-I never bought those in my life).
These stores encourage people to buy what they don’t need and in volume that may not be able to use. Just stand by the door sometime and look at the contents of carts. There is a pretty high percentage of what we typically call junk food.
You cannot talk about Costco’s business model without mentioning the $1.50 hot dog combo and the $4.99 rotisserie chicken.
Costco deliberately loses money (or breaks even) on these items to drive foot traffic. Because the rotisserie chickens are always placed at the very back of the warehouse, you are forced to walk past thousands of dollars of high-margin items—electronics, clothing, snacks, seasonal goods—just to grab dinner. By the time you get to the register, that $5 chicken has turned into a $200 purchase.
Costco’s profit margin on sales is only 1-2% so it must create volume. 50-60% of profits come from membership fees, 83 million of them (generating about $5 billion in revenue, virtual 100% profit. It’s a good business model as is their employee compensation structure to retain workers, but you need to be a disciplined shopper or that bag of popcorn will turn into two huge pies, a few cases of soda, and a gallon jug of mayo.
totally agree, Mr. Quinn. I like to joke with family and friends that “Costco should be call half-paycheck.”
Just read an article this morning how valuable free samples are to COSTCO and how they lure people into buying, including at the bakery. So gotta love it. They must have a psychologist on staff 😏
I understand the skepticism, but there are reasons Costco works for some. Like any subscription arrangement, you have to balance the cost against savings every year for Costco (as you need to do for Amazon Prime and similar things). I have a small numbers of things I particularly like at Costco, and buy over and over for the savings – like Advil, certain breakfast cereals, Keurig pods and gas for my car. There are a handful of others. I first went there for eyeglasses – great service and much lower prices. Periodically, I buy individual things for better prices, like lawn fertilizer, printer ink, canned olives, dried mango and in the spring, plants. I don’t buy much else. The eyeglasses alone saved me much more than the annual fee. Cheaper gas is always about 15-20 cents a gallon better than local stations. My gut calculations tell me I am better off each year, since I don’t load up on things unnecessarily. But the Costco advantage is not a giant advantage.
One thing I do notice is that Costco is also a destination for many non-profits that serve the poor. I often see people with three and four loaded carts at a time, all with essentials and no impulse item. I think that when those people load up their carts with food essentials, they should be applauded for using their contributions wisely.
A prudent, disciplined shopper may well save money and the membership be worth it.
However, if that were the case in the majority of situations, the model would fail. They need to maintain very high volume of sales to buy in bulk for low prices. That applies to all the non-necessities that tempt most shoppers filling those large carts.
Um, I can’t think of any retail store that (a) isn’t based on / doesn’t encourage impulse buying or (b) only sells wholesome, healthy products. We’re empty-nesters, and just bought a cartload of fresh berries, seafood, imported cheese, etc. at Costco today. Great savings over a local chain store. And the annual fee is easily covered over the cost of a year or by a major purchase. Take a look at the interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this week about how well employees are treated, too. Yup, I’m a fan.
I think you may have proved my point with that cartload. Costco intentionally uses oversized carts as part of their business model. The main reasons:
Accommodates bulk purchases: Their products come in large packages, multi-packs, and oversized items (e.g., giant TP packs, cases of water,). Regular carts wouldn’t fit enough, creating friction and limiting what people buy.
Psychology of shopping—more space in the cart subconsciously leads people to fill it up and spend more. It’s a deliberate design choice to boost sales volume.
While you get a bargain on A, B and C, you are also buying D, E, F and G that you may otherwise would not buy except for the motivation created by the shopping model. So you saved on an item basis, but you spent more in total.
For some people that doesn’t matter, for others who shop at a COSTCO more out of necessity, it may matter. They are encouraged to spend more than they should.
I’ll make sure not to invite you to breakfast at any diner that offers a stack of three pancakes on the menu. Only one for you, Mr. Q!
COSTCO is great! It’s saved me Ks of $ over the years. Joined them in ’04 when I needed a large plasma TV near Xmas. Been a CITIbank COSTCO card member since. Only shop there about 6 times a year, but the credit card’s $ return is over 800 every year when you take advantage of the fuel/restaurant/travel/&Costco purchases. And those buck fifty dogs w/drink make my day (used to be polish sausage w/kraut, but they discontinued). Don’t mean to sound like a commercial, but their NYSE stock has done well, too. And my daughter even worked for them during her freshman year at Humbolt 20+ years ago. They paid well above minimum.
Am wondering if I should buy a lottery ticket today, since I am finding myself in agreement with the author. I am not an impulse buyer and I don’t eat junk food, so it’s easy to resist those traps. And the package sizes are usually way too large. Yes, I am a member, but mostly to help out family members. A developer is also building a Costco (with 32 gas pumps (!)) just over a mile from here, which I’m not happy about, since it will draw significant traffic onto nearby streets and into quiet neighboring residential areas that were never designed or envisioned for this kind of use.
Keep writing fun Articles, but I am on the LIKE it side for Costco. I save more than the entrance fee, yearly and get the absolute lowest gas prices all year long, the wait is minimal for me. Here is the scoop: The Store Markup Cap (Product Margin)StratrixCostco has a strict, hard-capped internal policy on how much they are allowed to mark up an item:
Reddit
For context, traditional supermarkets and department stores regularly mark up goods by 25% to 50% (or more). If Costco negotiates a lower price with a supplier, they don’t pocket the difference to increase their margin—they immediately pass the savings onto the consumer by dropping the shelf price.
Tasting Table
2. Company-Wide Gross MarginBecause of those strict markup caps, Costco’s overall gross profit margin sits right around 12.8%. Traditional competitors operate with much higher buffers:
GuruFocus
3. The Real Profit EngineAfter paying for employee wages, warehouse utilities, and logistics, Costco actually makes very little money (often near 0%) from selling the physical products on the floor.
Instead, over 70% to 80% of Costco’s net profit comes strictly from membership fees.
As I look at Costco, and really like that I can return anything, no receipt needed, at almost any time, a year or more, except electronics which is 90 days, but the the warranty is 2 years not one! Lots of pluses for their customer service, which is excellent. Although they tempt you, remember, you get to decide, I never bought a 3 foot bag of popcorn, but must admit, I like their large selection of everything. The price is right, and the hot dogs with a soda, is the deal of the decade. A member for 22 years and counting.
My dear Wormwood,
Your report on the warehouse expedition reached me, and I read it twice with real pleasure — not for the popcorn or the apricots, amusing as those touches were, but for the report itself. You have found, I think, the finest trick available to a tempter of your generation: convincing a man that his own sourness is a form of clear sight.
Every sentence dripping with suspicion of hot dogs, every dark hint about the sinister geometry of a rotisserie chicken — this is not commentary, Wormwood, this is liturgy. You have your Patient narrating his own small joys as though he were filing a police report. A man who cannot buy a bag of popcorn without diagnosing the moral collapse of retail is a man who has stopped noticing he is having a rather nice Tuesday. That is superb work, and you did it without so much as raising your voice.
You are ready now for apple pie, baseball, and the hot dog cart. I don’t think you’re ready yet for mothers.
Keep developing your craft.
Screwtape
Thank God for AI I was quickly able to learn what you were talking about never having read the Letters.
Dick
Thanks for keeping it fun.
I disagree. We love Costco. They don’t force you to buy that huge bag of popcorn. Use self control. People you see with tons of junk food would probably buy that same junk elsewhere, but for double the price.Their prices are almost always better than elsewhere. Even though there’s only the 2 of us retirees, we do a lot of our grocery shopping there. Their milk and eggs are cheaper by far than Stop & Shop or Trader Joe’s ( we shop here too). We don’t buy the stuff that only comes in huge quantities. We buy what we will consume. We buy ground coffee and the Kirkland brand is delicious, as well as many other brands they offer. Their paper goods, such as toilet paper and paper towels, cost so much less than other stores.Their bakery is great. Their cakes are $19.99 for huge sheet cakes or large round ones, perfect for birthdays or other occasions and 1/2 the price of comparable supermarket cakes. We buy steak there which usually comes in a pack of 3 or 4 and freeze it untied we want to eat. Their prime steaks cost so much less than other stores. It’s also a great place to walk around because they always have unusual stuff. Their clothes are great too and very affordable. I just bought a pair of Skechers step in shoes/sneakers for $35. Go to Skechers website and see prices double that. But if you lack self control, maybe stay away.😎
Who said anything about force? If you are disciplined in your shopping I think that’s great, but recognize you are in the minority be it in Costco or any store. The name of the game is getting the shopper to buy and COSTCO does it with extra large shopping carts and quantities to match. The margins for grocery stores and Costco are very small, so the name of the game is volume.
I guess it depends on the definition of a bargain or saving money overall.
We are at different stages in life, but I can speak to why middle aged women love Costco. Teenagers. I have a 14 yr old son, who is 6-3 and still growing. Last week I bought a package of frozen chicken filets (similar to chick fil a), frozen chicken wings and chicken tenders. Normally that would feed regular folks for a month. It lasted about 5 days since it is summer. I’ll be honest I don’t look at prices when I shop – i look at volume. It saves me headache. It saves me multiple trips to multiple stores.
But I will add this – before kids, and probably after kids, I didn’t like Costco. It is always crowded. But boy am I glad I bought stock in it over a decade ago! That and a few other timely stock purchases are why I don’t have to look at prices! I will also add that for an extra $60 annually on the membership price you are considered an executive member and can get in an hour early. To me that is the best $60 I spend. Less crowds and earlier hours (traffic and crowds are worse everywhere if you wait til after 10am to go shopping)!
Don’t knock Costco; their stock is doing great in my gambling portfolio!
But I won’t go there. The parking lot is always packed and is the cause of the single highest traffic intersection in the city. Except for diapers, the volume packaging is usually too big. Their hours are too limited.
Would have been more helpful to compare prices at Costco to elsewhere rather than the psychology of some consumers.
Costco likes to move things around in their stores. This annoys me but their strategy is to get people to browse thru their merchandise which encourages impulse buying.
They have really great prices on clothing but I found I was buying clothes that i never wore, so I stopped doing that. Items I frequently buy are gas, OTC meds, drug store type products, glasses, hearing aids, electronics and a few others. I buy very little in the food area because I live alone and their quantities are so large.
Costco is a great company and treats their customers right.
Impulse buying is a consumer trait, not a Costco trait. And while it’s very easy to overspend there, it’s also true that it is very easy to remedy that overspend with their very liberal return policy.
When people say Costco inherently encourages waste or doesn’t save money, I say, “It depends on the shopper.”
The produce there is invariably cheaper and better than what I find at Walmart, Giant, or Safeway. I only buy what I know I can consume before it spoils—like blueberries, strawberries, salad bags, and apples. Their Dietz and Watson organic sliced turkey is also about half the price of my local supermarket’s deli counter.
As others have noted, Kirkland brand paper products (towels, napkins, toilet paper) are a fantastic value. Their prescription prices are highly competitive, particularly for pet medications.
And yes, the Costco pumpkin and apple pies are massive. It can be hard for two people to finish them, but I always share them with my next-door neighbors, who are thrilled to get them. They don’t go to waste.
Similarly, cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano are about 40% cheaper than at Safeway or Giant, and they have a very long shelf life. Frozen fish and shrimp are terrific values there.
Outside of groceries, I bought prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses there for 50% less than my local optician—and the optician at my local Costco is the best I’ve encountered in 50+ years in terms of recommending styles that look good on me, and making adjustments.
Items like Levi’s jeans are about 40-50% cheaper than retail stores.
I do 95% of the shopping for my home. I split it, roughly, between Costco (40%), Walmart (35%), Giant (15%), and Safeway (10%). I know for a fact Costco saves my family money because I am disciplined and I see the prices of similar items at other stores on a regular basis.
Can you overspend at Costco? Sure. But that impulse exists at any supermarket. It certainly exists on Amazon, where it’s arguably much easier to buy things from your couch than it is to drive 20 minutes to a warehouse.
Every business encourages spending to survive, and Costco is no exception. I’m happy to live with the temptation of sinning in their aisles, though, as long as they keep offering absolution through their incredibly generous return policy.
Discipline, Dick! Every retailer is out for our money, and the most successful have achieved that success by figuring out how to get inside our heads to gain access to our wallets. Whether we are walking into a store, logging onto our computer or turning on the television, be forewarned that we are entering a battle for our thinking, and must armor our minds against their attacks!
1) I hate shopping. It requires spending money.
2) I NEVER go “window shopping” by myself. I accompany my wife if I have to but it bores me to tears. I usually sit outside the stores.
3) I never read ads on my phones, and DVR everything I watch on TV (which is less and less), companies don’t know what I need, they just try to convince people they need what they sell.
4) If I NEED something I go out and buy it, or buy on Amazon. That is the only time I “go shopping.”
PS Did I mention I hate shopping?
Another fascinating impact of Costco’s model: they have significantly less “shrinkage” ( read shoplifting) than their competitors, which adds to the success and profitability. It is a direct result of people paying for their membership and feeling like they are in the club.
Sam’s technology puts Costco to shame. I self scan my items (to avoid the checkout line), pay via CC and Sam’s already knows that I scanned each item. Nobody checks my receipt. Call it big brother, but other retailers are following their lead.
It’s also a result of Costco checking every person’s receipt with what’s in their cart on the way out of the store. Based on my experience, they don’t literally match the items, but they often count total items in the cart and compare it to the total number on the store receipt, which all shoppers must show to leave the store. In any case, it’s a powerful deterrent to shoplifting.
Also the membership fee limits who gets into the store.
Your right, they just take a pretty cursory look and place a mark on the receipt, but it must be a good deterrent.
We shop at Costco, but try to keep to our list. I agree it can be tempting to spend there. Chris
Have you gone into any of the large Supermarket chains stores and seen how they are copying the Costco marketing strategy? Here in NJ we shop at Shop-Rite and they sell many items similar to Costco in Large bulk sizes, portable room air conditioners, and other non-food items (besides clothes). The strategy to get you in the store (without a membership fee) with weekly specials (3 cases of 24 count Poland Springs water for $10.88) obviously works to sell other higher margin stuff! You have to shop somewhere (or pay for delivery in some form if you don’t want to go into the stores), so controlling your urge to impulse buy anything is not Costco’s fault.
The local “Kroger” brand is doing it too. Prepackaged fresh produce in large “family” sizes is the biggest annoyance for me. I don’t shop most of the center aisles, so am not directly affected by what they do there. They also changed the way they charge for BOGO items – before, if you bought a single BOGO item, they would charge half of what would have been the total for two items, now you get charged the same price, whether you buy one or two items. That, and the declining quality have forced me to shop two different stores now.
I agree. Publix, my preferred grocery store has started moving merchandise around in their stores a la Costco. Once I get everything figured out, they move it again. The intent is to create impulse buying.
It’s not a matter of fault, it’s a business strategy based on understanding human behavior.
My wife insists on driving the seven miles to Costco to save on gas fillups. I have given up on that battle.
I’m a big popcorn guy, but it’s gotta be hot and fresh. Never a bag already popped for me — Costco has 44-bag boxes of microwave popcorn (pretty good) and huge 8-pound containers of Orville Redenbacher (really excellent) for popping up at home. Both fantastic deals for around $16.
How long would it take to use 8 pounds of popping corn. I use OR but not that fast.
The easiest and cheapest way to get pip corn is to use a silicon popper. Put in a1/4 cup of popcorn, whatever seasoning or fats, and microwave for 2 minutes. Perfect pop corn every time.
But if you want true indulgence, order Garrett special mix from Garrett in Chicago. It’s expensive and unhealthy, but totally delicious!
You think the $5 chicken is expensive?! Try the “free” lifetime tire rotations and balance if you buy your tires there. They own you for a least an hour and a half!
I love Costco. As an added bonus, it is a wonderful place to go during the Houston summer heat so I can get half my daily goal of 10,000 steps!
I’ll offer a defense of Costco, Dick 🙂
I think it’s a remarkable business. Nearly $270 billion in annual sales, more than $5 billion in membership fees, and renewal rates above 90%. Getting people to pay for the privilege of shopping is quite an achievement for this iconic American brand.
And, at least where I live, the produce, meat and seafood are excellent, with a surprisingly good organic selection. I confess I also enjoy the treasure hunt 🙂 Going in for salmon and leaving with a cashmere sweater, maybe some diamonds for the missus, and enough blueberries for a small village is a form of retail therapy.
So perhaps you’re right that Costco encourages spending. I just think it does it unusually well—and often while selling very good stuff.
Now, about that three-foot bag of popcorn: I’m afraid that one is on you 🙂
C’mon, who can’t use a gallon of mayo!
Mayo last two months once opened. That’s a lot of tuna salad or BLT sandwiches.
Yes, Costco is not a bargain if you succumb to impulse or buy junk food or buy quantities that you cannot consume without waste. For example, a 3 foot package of popcorn.
But for non-perishable daily necessities such as paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, printer paper, vitamins, & frozen food products, savings exist. Disciplined shopping is the key.
I gas up my car at Costco almost exclusively, and the lower gas price, plus, the rebate if you use the Costco VISA card generate real savings and more than offset the cost of the annual Costco membership fee.
We only rent cars several times a year, but use Costco and save money on each rental. The Costco discount on our most recent rental more than offset the annual Costco membership fee.
i have never purchased the famous $1.50 hot dog special or a big slice of pizza. Yet, whenever I go to Costco, I always buy a $0.79 fountain drink, even if it is “junk food.” At least, I do not buy 3 ft bags of popcorn.
Heading to Costco today for gas, which is about 50 cents per gallon cheaper than most of the stations around us.
I was surprised to learn their gas is rated top tier up with Exxon etc.
Back 10 years ago I complained because my car needed top tier gas, and Costco did not have it. Then within a year, they started ads about Top Tier gasoline ever since. Really, they listen to customers, even have a suggestion box. I enjoy al aspects of Costco and if you purchase wisely you are guaranteed savings!
I would have to drive six miles or so and then wait in a (long) line. I’ll pass.
The lines move very fast though Dick.
One little-noticed reason for that is they don’t offer squeegees for cleaning your windshield, which increases your time at the pump.
I somewhat agree with your general observations about Costco. I do have a membership, but rarely go in. I buy online from them, as I live 1.5 hours away from the closest warehouse. I buy some everyday items that I need (such as rental cars, coffee, clothing, food, etc). The items I buy in the course of a year easily offset the cost of membership (usually from the low rental cars rates). I would suggest checking their website for goods and services you wouldn’t associate them with. I purchased high end blinds from them online at a terrific discount from what we were quoted locally for the same product. If I didn’t use them for rental cars, I would likely just pay the 5% surcharge for non-member pricing on the goods I buy, though usually I make a large purchase during the year that offsets the membership fee.
Thanks Dick. I’ve never been inside a Costco, but I think your message is pretty universal. There is so much marketing surrounding us, and the internet has made buying so quick and frictionless, that we always have to resist purchasing well above our actual needs.
Purchases of prescriptions, eye glasses and contacts, hearing aids, cars, HVAC system, Kirkland products such as coffee and wine, gas, electronics, and more have saved us thousands of dollars. They also treat and pay their employees well, which is important to me. The price of membership is returned many times over via 2% of all purchases, and up to 5% in credit card rebates. They have an extremely liberal return policy, and the fastest checkout lines I’ve ever been in. Costco is one of the only retail stores that I don’t hate walking into.
Just be careful if you have a propensity to fall for impulse purchases.
Costco hearing aids are wonderful. They are attractively priced and the FREE hearing test once a year lets the technician adjust them as needed.
Also – which I think is a plus but others may disagree – all your hearing aid information is stored in a database which can be accessed at any Costco hearing aid center. Since we take a lot of road trips that’s a huge plus to me.
My first hearing aids cost $6000 elsewhere, I trusted Costco and my less than $1700 hearing aids, are better and you just let them in the holder that charges them daily, no more batteries to buy, further savings. I am very satisfied. My eyeglasses are not cheap but $300 less than at my Eye Doctor’s office. Lots a ways to save at Costco.
I have heard that Costco sells more hearing aids than anyone else.
Probably true. A set from my doctor would have cost over $6000. Only $1600 at Costco, and those come with an enhanced warranty, and one free replacement if one is lost.
Thanks, I needed that reminder Dan.
We make the 165 mile round trip from Hilo to Kona every couple months. No freeways. Recently the gas pumps were expanded from 16 to 28, on this an Island population around 200k.
As a general rule the price of gas in the state, yes Hawaii is a state, is 25% less than California.
Hilo gas today is $5.49.
My sister paid $6.99 in So Ca today.
Consider the Hawaii Islands are further from any continent on earth, with one refinery.
Another point of interest is the best selection of fish on Hawaii Island is Costco’s flash frozen 3 to 4 lb bagged filets, individuality sealed. Unfortunately our remote location among a small population, assures us the mega tons of fish caught in the beautiful Pacific are shipped, flown overnight, to the mainland. From the West to the East Coast, following the money.
The only fresh fish in abundance on Hawaii Island is Ahi.Tuna. A fair amount is sold off the tailgates of pickup trucks by the fisherman who caught it hours ago.
A different story on Oahu and Maui however, as they are tourist destinations, with world class restaurants, and renown chefs who demand fresh and various kinds of fish.
Being born and raised, lived in So.
Californian for over 65 yrs., the food I miss most is Mexican.
There is wonderful grass fed beef grown on the slopes of Mauna Kea at the Parker Ranch, North of Hilo.It is found in markets throughout the Hawaii Is.
From what I understand competitively price with mainland rising beef prices.
Quinn, keep baiting us.
Aloha
The business model is based on impulse purchasing and the membership fees which no doubt many people get value from but others use infrequently. My point was they get people to buy things they don’t need and make it easy to do so. I bet for many people considering those purchases and in large quantities, it’s not a net bargain.
Yeah, but you gotta admit, that popcorn tastes pretty darned good!
Actually I ate some last night and it was not so good i was surprised.
Another reason to live Costco… Their amazing return policy! Return anything, anytime, for any reason. It also gets people to but things they wouldn’t normally. If you don’t like the popcorn, return it…a year later 🍿
I can only speak to the huge bags of Skinny Pop. If that’s what you bought, and were expecting popcorn cooked in coconut oil, dripping with butter, and smothered in salt, you probably shouldn’t have bought a bag with the word “skinny” on it 🙀
Costco indeed has traps encouraging impulse purchases, just as virtually every other retailer. I believe one such trap is moving merchandise around constantly, making shoppers walk more aisles. Perhaps Nancy Reagon was talking about impulse buying when she preached to “just say no”.
At any rate, Costco remains one of my happy places. If you don’t agree, well, we don’t need your kind ‘round our Costco, son😉
I never go to stores that require me to pay a membership fee.
My older sister is a fanatic. I don’t get the appeal. After many impromptu purchases at Sam’s Club while our sons were in their prime dvd and toy years, I stopped our membership and never looked back. I no longer have Amazon Prime either. I guess I walk to the beat of a different drummer.
We use Amazon weekly, but we use our daughter’s prime account.
I like Costco for certain things which is what I buy when I go there. Those things: protein powder, broccoli, Kevin’s chicken dishes, kimchi, cauliflower frozen pizza and laundry detergent.
btw
Mercy For Animals has exposed horrific cruelty and unsafe conditions behind Costco’s cheap rotisserie chickens. Investigations reveal that Costco breeds millions of chickens to grow unnaturally fast and large. This fast growth leaves the birds unable to support their own weight.
Fun fact, our Costco garlic powder has a best before date of January 2016, and we’re about 80% of the way through it. Still tastes fine after all these years.
We shop Costco to restock our wine rack. Buy 6 bottles or more to receive a further discount. #1 US wine retailer!
Some around us sell wine but others don’t or can’t. Is it a bargain?
We aren’t into the high-end wines. The $10 to $20 range is competitively priced..
Where do I start… Rotisserie chicken, toilet paper, bottled water, coffee, $1.50 hot dog and a soda,$1.99 massive slice of pizza, the optical department, clothes, and using Costco Travel,gas.
Other than these, we may buy one other item per trip to Costco.
Our eye glasses alone save us much more than the cost of our membership.
We go because we actually do enjoy the journey
And I didn’t even mention all of the samples
LH – Both my wife and I primarily gas-up at our Costco. Though we don’t really drive a bunch anymore and we drive fuel-efficient cars, the 30-to-40 cents per gallon cost savings is a significant savings towards the price of membership.
Just before the pandemic hit, I went to Costco for our “normal run,” which included a package of 36 rolls of toilet paper and 12 rolls of paper towels. It was a lucky break on our part, but needless to say, we were not part of the desperate search for TP during COVID.
I hope you didn’t go there looking for a card. 😊
i Only go there when dragged.
Okay, I have a visual of that now. 😩
I have a membership, but it is hard to get out of there for less than $150 and you only have 10 items. Purchasing gas there pays for the membership.
I’ve never been to Costco, but every year I think maybe it would help me get through January if I joined.
I know this will sound unAmerican, but I have never set foot in a Costco, though I occasionally have had an Instacart shopper bring me specific items.
Now that we’re empty nesters, I’m not likely to buy in that kind of bulk, but I agree that one has to be disciplined to benefit from shopping there. A food blogger I follow mentioned that they have a great deal on Boursin cheese right now, which is a great ingredient in my garlic mashed potatoes. I also like their individual portions of mashed avocado, which are good for managing calories and reducing waste.
I think I need to log into Instacart now. Thanks, Dick!
I had one of those avocado packs in my hand the other day. I resisted and opted for the popcorn. There are several things I would like to buy, but not in packs of 8 or 10.
They freeze well, too, so you can just pull out a few at a time.