Is Costco worth the small joining fee?

[Connors Daddy]

Hi all,

As it says, is it worth getting Costco membership?

Do they have some great deals from time to time?

Cheers

[Vanillapod]

I think so but I must admit we haven't renewed ours in years.
OH kept buying stuff we didn't need so it was a false economy and we were putting on weight!
They often have very good deals on champagne so if you're having a celebration it's worth the fee for that alone

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I find it brilliant. But there again for food and cleaning products we only hit them for about a dozen things.

If you are after a TV or other household type items such as mats for the front door or CCTV systems they are very good.

However I don't browse or impulse buy. We go there when we want things or if there is something in their Monthly magazine we want and research shows it's a good buy.

[Beth_Disney]

It's worth it for the pizza slices and hot dogs from the cafe

We joined in August 2020 and didn't actually renew last year. We'd gone a few times and stocked up on beans, tea bags, Frank's hot sauce, toilet rolls, cans of pop, microwave rice and probably a few others things but after a couple of trips we found the garage was full and we were wasting fuel getting there and buying stuff just for the sake of it.

It might be different if we had a big family to feed but it wasn't worth it for the two of us. We have all the big supermarkets close by so I'll stock up when there are good offers on locally.

[Jedi Princess]

For us yes, we get our petrol from Costco (as well as other shopping).

[storm]

My friend has executive membership (£74.40) as she's widowed I am the other person on her membership. Executive givens her 2% rewards back. We both take friends/family to Costco to shop mainly on essentials (coffee beans, paper products, meat, butter) and in the year the 2% reduces our annual fee to a minimal sum (frequently nothing) and we all save on our purchases.. Would I bother if just me ? no as I simply wouldn't save enough to merit the cost. But as a 2 families combined it's worth it.

[Pumpkin Pie]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

I find it brilliant. But there again for food and cleaning products we only hit them for about a dozen things.

If you are after a TV or other household type items such as mats for the front door or CCTV systems they are very good.

However I don't browse or impulse buy. We go there when we want things or if there is something in their Monthly magazine we want and research shows it's a good buy.

See more...

We are the same. To be honest a lot of items are just too large for us to buy. We buy petrol also while shopping or when passing that area.

[hipthehippo]

Yes, if you have a large-ish family and if your local one has fuel. I do renew mine each year and find that even though we're a family of 3 that doesn't go through much, it's worth it for some things. I've always found it helpful at Christmas and for some electrical goods. Still do research to see if I can get it cheaper somewhere else though. We do make the shortish journey for fuel (1 x petrol, 1 x diesel) as it's worth it for the difference in price.

[Silvercat]

For us, yes it is. There are only 2 of us but DH eats peanut butter, from the jar with a spoon sometimes, like it is disappearing from the world in the next 7 days. We get a huge jar of Skippy peanut butter, but we also buy Nutella, cereal, dishwasher tablets, washing powder, foil food containers (I bulk cook on occasion), small bottles of water, beans, their dinner bread rolls are gorgeous and freeze perfectly, cakes, fruit, crisps of various kinds, things like Cheetos which are difficult to get elsewhere in the UK, big bags of M&Ms to go in our candy dispenser, all sorts of things. We don't go very often, but when we do, we make it worth our while! We love the place so much, I think, because we can get a lot of American stuff there and it makes us feel closer to the USA. We have also bought mattresses and other large items from there in the past. My sister, (who has her own membership), always gets toilet rolls from there, but we don't have the storage room for them; and my son, (who is an extra cardholder on my account), gets packs of small bottles of soda for work, (he's a delivery driver). So in a nutshell, yes for us, but it's definitely a personal choice - oh, and if we are going there for shopping, we also get fuel which is quite a lot cheaper than anywhere else round by us. Our nearest Costco is about 10 miles away.

[Connors Daddy]

Thanks all. Our nearest is around 20 mins or so I think it'll be worth a go, even for a year. Cheers