Anyhow, I joined the club last week. I have been holding out for awhile, going along with Colleen when she goes there. However, after reading The Compassionate Carnivore: Or, How to Keep Animals Happy, Save Old McDonald's Farm, and Still Eat Meat and rethinking my own position on what I want my food dollars to be supporting, I wanted to explore all options, including buying straight from a farmer, a CSA (which we've done in the past), buying a la carte from places like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and also check out Costco, since I know they have "happy" meat and eggs.
At least in the Costco here, they had organic ground beef for $4.50/lb (cheapest I had seen was TJ's for $6.50/lb) and organic eggs for $5.99/2 dozen. Generally organic eggs are $4/dozen. These two things sold me. Plus, our Costco has gas -- something that makes my gas-price-checking son very happy. In fact, after Colleen told him that she got gas cheaper at Costco by being a member, he asked her "Is that legal??"
The conventional wisdom is that things are cheaper at Costco since you are buying enormous quantities of it (um, 12 lbs of popcorn, anyone?), but since I am the kind of grocery shopper who goes to several different places including Aldi, I wanted to see if it was actually cheaper to buy my staples there. So, armed with a paper and pencil (very high tech), I calculated the per unit cost at both Aldi and Costco and here are my results:
Costco
Aldi
As you can see, Costco is actually cheaper than Aldi for quite a few things, like honey, pecans, butter, and canola oil. However, the issue for me is quantity. I really don't have room to store 5 quarts of canola oil! So the .002 cents I'm saving per quart are not worth the hassle of having such a large container in my kitchen. Even if I keep my current container and pour the oil in, it's still a hassle.
As far as diapers go, I have used the Jewel brand diapers (Baby Basic) on all three of my kids and have been pleased with them. Elias is in size 3 and they are $0.16 each, the size 3 diapers (Kirkland brand) at Costco are $0.18 or $0.19 each. The wipes at Costco are $0.02 each and the ones at Target are $0.019 each -- and I prefer the Target brand.
Aside from the meat and eggs, the absolute best deals that I have found at Costco in my week as a member are their pure vanilla extract -- I don't remember the actual price, but it's far far less to buy it in a larger container than it is to buy it in 1 oz containers that most grocery stores carry -- and their yeast. I bought 32 oz for slightly more than 4 oz costs at a regular grocery store. As long as you keep it in an airtight container and in the refrigerator, it should last you.
An added bonus? The samples! My kids get so excited by walking around and trying out the free samples :) The frugal mom blog I read has commenters who say they save money by letting their kids wander around and eat the samples as their lunch! I don't think I will do that, but it is fun to try the different things they have to offer. Now, if I can only figure out how to get out of there for less than $100 (all within budget, but still)...
