Costco membership

Costco is opening a store in Duluth. Years ago I think I paid like $10 to get into the Costco in St. Cloud. I see membership is now $60, wondering how many are members and do you find it worthwhile?

We are and it’s worthwhile, particularly while we are buying diapers. I like their meat department, paper goods, and a number of bulk food items (coffee in particular). In general I think their produce is junk, most of it seems to go bad after a day or two at home. Their gas is also usually $0.30-0.40/gallon cheaper, but it must be higher ethanol or something as my MPG usually dips a bit after a Costco fill up.

For my family of 3 Costco is good for the items we buy there. I’d say we go about once a month to restock on certain items that we use/eat frequently. With a large family I can see it being a benefit to have a large amount of whatever product on hand to keep every fed/clothed/etc… My dad goes every month or two to pickup a few things for himself but doesn’t bulk by like he used to when we had 8 people in the house. Everyone will have a different view of worth it depending on what they purchase, IE can we eat a 3lb bag of shredded cheese before it goes bad or just buy regular sized at target/cub/walmart.

It will be worthwhile for the gas alone in the coming weeks. It’s usually much cheaper than regular gas stations. Also their premade food is fantastic. I love their taco platter, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, chicken alfredo. Just pop them in the oven for an hour and you’re ready to eat. Meat is great to buy there also. 3 racks of spare ribs for less than $30 when a single rack is $15-20 at any Cub or Festival. Great finds at their liquor store typically as well……..

mahtofire14 wrote:

It’s usually much cheaper than regular gas stations.[/quote

How much cheaper? I’ve heard its as little as 5 cents/gallon up to 25 cents/gallon sometimes. The one near my house in the West End has a line that’s like 40 cars deep every time I drive past. Doesn’t seem like its worth waiting 30 minutes to save 10 cents/gallon.

As Werm mentioned above it’s usually about 30-40 cents cheaper.

I’m a family of 2 and we love it. We probably go once every other week and I’ve also noticed a drop in Gas Millage when I fill up at Costco. They sometimes have some really good deals on clothes. Also the Liquor side of the store is where I buy mostly all my booze. You don’t need a membership to go the Liquor side as well.

No way will I pay a cover charge to shop in a store. Not a chance.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

No way will I pay a cover charge to shop in a store. Not a chance.

Kind of my thought also. But having not really been in a store thought I would ask peoples opinion.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

No way will I pay a cover charge to shop in a store. Not a chance.

Back in the before times, they would have samples out all over, I looked at it like pre-paying for appetizers. A couple laps around could make a meal!

Love Costco. Probably go once a month.

I don’t mind the produce. Fruit is usually cheap, pre made salads are decent.

Meat department puts Sams Club or any other grocery store to shame.

Clothes at certain times are a good deal. Toilet Paper, laundry detergent. Dog Food.

As others have said, I buy all my booze there. Not a HUGE selection but you learn to live with what they have, at least I have.

We signed up for Costco and their credit card when it came to St.Cloud. You earn a percentage of your money back that you spend on gas and groceries. Last year we had over 300 dollars come back to us. Gas is usually around 30 cents cheaper. I gladly pay the 60 dollars In stcloud to not shop at Walmart or other options. Good meat. love the bulk paper products, water and other options.

Cost of membership pays for itself after a few trips if you shop wisely. I haven’t been there in a couple months but get all our paper towels, paper plates, tinfoil and probably only buy them twice a year. Just two of us in the house, though. I only stock up on things that will last for months in the freezer or cabinets. Batteries and booze are well priced. Not sure what the meat prices look like lately but USDA Prime whole briskets were $3.69/lb a few months ago. You’ll pay 50% more for Choice grade about anywhere else. Their produce department sucks in my opinion.

orve4 wrote:

We signed up for Costco and their credit card when it came to St.Cloud. You earn a percentage of your money back that you spend on gas and groceries. Last year we had over 300 dollars come back to us.

This has been our experience as well for our family of 6. Most of their Kirkland brands are high quality because they source the best products and rebrand them. Would not be happy if they closed, that is for sure!

Executive membership is $120 a year and you get 2% back so you have to spend $500 a month to cover your membership cost. If you’re close enough to get anything you can there then that isn’t very hard to do.

We have a membership and it’s certainly worth it. We go once or twice a month to stock up. A person can over buy really easy. A gallon of pickles is a bit much for the average person but other things can be split up easily and froze or stored. The TP and paper towels are almost always the vest deal going.

We have the Executive membership/credit card and get over $1000 cash back every year. More than pays for the membership.
Love most everything about the store. However if you’re looking for a wide selection of goods then Costco isn’t your store.

Not saying it doesn’t have its benefits but personally I hate going. Generally I spend anywhere from $400-$600 and after unpacking at home I look around and think “WTF did I just get? I don’t even have what it takes to make a meal but I guess I can eat this bag of chips for the next 5 days”…. Mrs crappie loves to go because she perceives everything to be a deal. As my grandpa used to say “you can go broke saving money.

I like getting the toilet paper there and the Costco lasagnas are a decent deal at $12 for 2. They usually have good prices on charcoal too

we had a costco membership in the past for a year or two. we decided to try sams club and personally i like sams club better and the membership is cheaper. they both have their benefits. costco has some things that sams doesnt have and vice versa

For those that live in the metro, the Costco business center is a GREAT location if you want meats! It’ll pay for itself in no time.

Costco is literally the closest retail store to my house. We go at least twice a week. If you have a family it can be a very useful tool. You never know what you’ll find there. We buy almost all our fruit there and it’s at least half the price of a grocery store. Kirkland brand stuff is often just private label normal brands. We have their credit card and get at least 1k back every year.

FWIW you don’t need a membership to use the pharmacy or the optical.

blackbay wrote:

FWIW you don’t need a membership to use the pharmacy or the optical.

Or the liquor store

Yeah the liquor store has good prices. I dont have one close to my house or along my normal commutes which means I usually go on the weekends. Let’s just say sometimes it puts the state fair crowds to shame.

I dont think you would like it dutch. If you are just buying for you too it doesn’t make as much sense unless you focus on the non perishables

EPG, where else can you return a dead Christmas tree after Christmas for a full refund?

Personally, I won’t set foot in that place but it’s where my wife buys butter and pork bellies for smoking bacon. The savings probably equate to a net loss of about $40.

I got a free membership through a previous employer, loved it. The nearest store was two blocks from the office, gas was a block away. Once I changed jobs the nearest store was 30 minutes away, let the membership lapse.

We joined Costco a couple weeks ago. Think she got the $60 membership. She handled the whole thing. But I remember them saying. If after 6 months, you don’t think it’s worth it. They will refund your membership in full. Sounds pretty safe to see for yourself. Save money for 6 months and check it out. If you don’t like it bail.

My in-laws have had a Sam’s membership for years and my wife has their login info so she’ll order stuff for us under their name. Since they deal with all of it I don’t know much about it. But, to throw this out there since some are inquring about membership…aren’t there other perks or something too? I swear something I’ve done in the past year, whether it was booking something or getting tickets to something, offered a discount to Sam’s or Costco members. Anyone know more about this?

Dutchboy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
No way will I pay a cover charge to shop in a store. Not a chance.

Kind of my thought also. But having not really been in a store thought I would ask peoples opinion.

My thought as well. I do have my sister pick me up cases of red bull for cheaper but thats not worth the membership and distance.

Both Sam’s and Costco are great for different things and definitely worth it.

Side note: I believe Costco’s gas is top tier whereas Sam’s is not.