Money Saving 101: Warehouse Stores

(This blog was written by Lindsey, one of our Financial Wellness trainers.)

We have all noticed it: grocery prices are climbing. We have talked about one way to save money while shopping – buying generic. There is also another way many (myself included) have found to save money – buying in bulk. 

With stores like Sam’s Club or Costco, buying in bulk is easier than ever today and can make a lot of sense for people. Membership in such a place is usually around $50 a year. This allows you to shop in the store, buy things online and gets various other discounts. However, how much are you really saving and are there things that are not such a great deal as you think?  I decided to really compare how much I was saving on some of the items I buy at Costco and those same item prices at my local supermarket.

For household necessities such as Ziploc Brand bags for lunches, toilet paper, coffee filters, styrofoam plates for the summer time barbeque, there seemed to be no comparison. Not only was I getting a much larger quantity, it was cheaper. For example:

   Supermarket: $6.09 for 40 Ziploc bags or 15 cents per bag

   Costco: $8.05 for 500 Ziploc bags or 1.6 cents per bag

   Savings: 13.4 cents per bag!

   Supermarket: $10.49 for 12 rolls of toilet paper or 87 cents per roll

            Costco: $17.99 for 36 rolls of toilet paper or 49 cents per roll

            Savings: 38 cents per roll!

           

            Supermarket: $2.99 for 24 foam plates or 12 cents per plate

            Costco: $10.39 for 200 foam plates or 5 cents per plate

            Savings: 7 cents per plate!

That is a HUGE difference! The great thing about buying these items is that there is no expiration date. You may have 500 sandwich bags lying around, but if those kind of bags are something you use on a regular basis, then you will use them eventually!

Another place I found the savings to be great at was when buying frozen or canned/boxed items like pasta or vegetables.

             Supermarket: $7.50 for 2.5 lbs of frozen chicken breasts or $3.00 per pound

   Costco: $19.99 for 10lbs frozen chicken breasts or $1.99 per pound

   Savings: $1.01 per pound

              

             Supermarket: $1.85 for 1 14oz box of pasta

             Costco: $9.39 for 8 14oz boxes of pasta or $1.17 per box

             Savings: 68 cents per pound

             Supermarket: $1.25 per can for organic green beans

             Costco: $7.79 for 12 cans of organic green beans or 65 cents per can

             Savings: 60 cents per can

The savings in this area is tremendous. Just ensure that you pay attention to expiration dates and don’t buy more than you can actually eat before that expiration date because “it’s such a good deal!”

Areas that can be tricky to buy in bulk are dairy and produce. Buying larger quantities and having less time to eat it can prove to be a problem for some people. We usually will buy a gallon of milk and whatever fruits we can find on sale once a week at the local supermarket due to the fact that there is no way we can eat the larger quantities sold at the discount stores. However, if you find there is something you and your family can finish before the expiration date then try it! We have started to do it with lettuce:

           

Supermarket: $3.69 for 9oz of salad mix or 41 cents per ounce

Costco: $3.79 for 1lb of organic salad mix or 23 cents per ounce

Savings: 18 cents per ounce

A pound of salad is a lot, but we find we can finish it by having salads a few nights a week with dinner, making salads for lunches, and using it in meals like tacos. The key to buying perishables is knowing what you are going to eat and making sure it makes sense for you to buy it in a large quanitity!

While in general, the data shows overwhelmingly that food can be cheaper at such ‘bulk’ stores, some things are not. Furniture, clothes, accessories like sporting equipment, while all cheap, could more than likely be found cheaper during a sale at a department store or your local Walmart/Target. This can be true of food as well. While all the main items we use in my household were cheaper at Costco, my local supermarket has weekly deals and specials on various foods and products which can sometimes be cheaper than buying things in bulk at a warehouse type store. Again, it is a matter of doing your research and seeing what makes since!

In conclusion, buying in bulk can be a very money smart move for you and your family to make. Just keep in mind what you are going to eat and what you will actually use. There is nothing worse than buying a gallon of Greek yogurt only to discover you hate Greek yogurt – a life lesson I also had to learn.