We decided to rejoin Costco the other day, and I was reminded how much I love it there. So in the interest of science (domestic science silly!), I thought I would give you my favorite (ok, and not-so-favorite) things about Costco:
- Double-wide carts – It’s great to have room for my bags, purse, etc…but not so great to have it strewn everywhere because a certain nameless 3 year old decides to go exploring.
- Great prices on books – I picked up “Deceptively Delicious” for $14! Good thing I was at costco to pick up all kinds of veggies to puree (um, not yet)
- Samples – yeah, I used to think this was a great perk…til I had kids. I am not one that will ask for a sample for everyone, so the boys get to share, and I get to smell their breath afterwards.
- Ginormous bags of frozen goodness – between strawberries (a fav snack for mama), potstickers, stir fry veggies, and boneless skinless chicken (breasts and tenders), my freezer is pretty packed. The downside – no room for 79 mini cheesecakes!
- Does anyone EVER get out of there for less than $100?
- One word – HOTDOGS (I seriously never eat them otherwise)
- Always new stuff – did you know they carry Borghese now?
- Office Supplies – Rowr!
- The best Buttercream ever…(so I hear 😉 )
- Spices in bulk – especially taco seasoning and ranch dip mix – SO many uses
- Did you know you can buy a casket there? (or maybe it’s Sam’s)
- Did I mention NOT getting samples?
- Trying to find a place for 79 78 mini cheesecakes and all his friends (have NO idea how that got there!
What are your favorite/not-so-favorite things about Costco or Sam’s? Any goodies I should look out for?
I love the frozen French Onion soups. Yummmy!
I’m a weirdo I guess. Every time I go there I look around and never find anything I could possibly need or use. The hot dogs are good though.
At our Costco, I swear to god, families come just to eat the samples for lunch. You see the same group of kids AND PARENTS at every little sample kiosk, pushing and shoving.
We dont’ have Costco here, so I’m loyal to Sams. I love love love it. (Minus some of the people sometimes…you can read my post about my raging hormones on that)
I’m all about the mini cream puffs. 🙂
Sam’s have the greatest cookie sheets. Evar. They come in a pack of two for like $8. My last roommate stole mine and now I don’t have a Sam’s Card. During Christmas Cookie Season I start jonesing for more cookie sheets. Sam’s also carries Snickers Ice Cream Bars.
From Costco I love their meats, and their apple pies are wonderful. And the books. The baking soda and vinegar and super cheap too.
No, nobody can spend less than $100 in Costco. Probably a good thing we don’t have one near us in the UK, but I heard they do exist here in some parts. Might have to hunt them down and eat my way through one – maybe bring the family and call it dinner 🙂
We only have Sam’s here. I LOVE their bakery. They have beautiful cakes. Not the Superman/Princess type but ones that look they could be on the front of a magazine. Last Easter I bought a round ecru colored cake with teeny tiny lacy piping all over it. Oh by the way, they always taste good too. You can buy a 5 gallon bucket of icing too. Which I can just imagine making myself so sick on that I would never touch icing again.
Like you, I like their book department. I also like to buy Sharpies and Expo pens there, their office supplies are great.
I’m a big Costco fan! I love their raw tortillas that you cook yourself (I don’t remember the brand). They’re in the cold section near the cheese. Makes a great quesadilla. Yum yum!!
Hi!
I LOVE Costco, but I don’t go in there anymore…I could easily find 15 things I DON’T need! YIKES! I usually send my DH w/ a list of things I know they sell and he picks them up. $100? Easy…I usually can’t get out w/o spending at least $250! That’s why I “banned” myself! HaHa! I guess it’s kind of weird but…at least we’re saving $$!! HEHE
I love going to Sam’s! We don’t have a Costco near us! I hear they are the same?!?!
I love buying in bulk! Mr. “S” does not! It’s just the 2 of us and he can’t see us buying all that much! It’s great for when we host parties though! I also like getting my pork loins there! Great meat! Plus you get 4 in what looks like a 2 pk! I learned the hard way! We ate baked pork loin for 3 days! lol
I also like the frozen food section! Great for Sunday NFL football day at the house!!! =)
The bread is cheaper too!
Can you believe I have NEVER been to a Costco? …
… I KNOW!
And we gave up our membership to Sam’s cuz it’s two hours away and we can never get the “good” stuff home without it melting.. I guess we COULD just wait until -23 (as per our usual winter) and just drag it home behind the vehicle….YEAH! Now I’m thinking. 😆
I love the giant tub of Twizzlers–each piece is individually wrapped which means they wind up in my purse, gym bag, glove compartment, etc.
I also love the cakes from Costco’s bakery. I order them for everything! The really pretty kinds, covered in icing roses–needless to say I always cut a piece with giant roses! Mmmmm–sugary, sugary frosting!
I love Costco – for a lot of the same reasons as you (love the “snack bar”- I once went there just for lunch with some friends! probably the only time I spent less than $100!). Here’s my favorite tips to tell brides-to-be… Costco sheet cakes for wedding cake! We had a small “fancy” wedding cake and then bought delicious sheet cakes from Costco that the servers sliced up in the kitchen and brought out. The only reason anyone would know that it wasn’t fancy wedding cake would be that I tell everyone about it! 🙂
Samples would have been 1-12 for me. Gasoline would have been 13. Ours has a gas station and gas is always 5-10 cents cheaper then everywhere else!!
I love it all!
They have more organic and nitrate free things, if you look for it. I was glad to see some of those things on the shelf in bulk!
Gotta love Costco. It is also the best place for party snacks.
We have BJs here and I love buying razors in bulk- so satisfying.
Also? No matter what I buy I always spend at or around $80. Strange,.
My friend calls it “The Hundred Dollar Store” since you can never get out for less than $100! 🙂
I LOVE the blueberry muffins from the Costco bakery section. Gosh, they are yummy! I agree with you about the hot dogs too, and I like to get the chocolate frozen yogurt from the food stand too. It’s really cheap and good!
Edamame… in ginormous amounts. I like just being in a store where I can actually fit down an isle where another person is shopping and not have to wait til they move…
My hubby loves the free samples, so as we walk around I get them & let him have mine also. 😉
They have the BEST chocolate muffins & they are huge. We buy them & freeze them in separate baggies. They are full of chocolate chips, so when he heat them in the microwave they melt all through…Yummmmm….
Also here’s something I just found recently. The Dr put me on some meds that my insurance wouldn’t cover, so it was costing me $50 a month! Our Costco card has expired, but they let you, use the pharmacy without a membership. The prescription that is $50 everywhere else is only $15 there! And without a membership! Can’t beat that with a stick!
No, I don’t think anyone ever gets out for under $100.
I love the produce in the ‘cold room’ and Izze bottled drinks (they are sparkling water and fruit juice! Yum!)
their fruit is really good… especially the mangos!
I buy the big bag of dinner rolls for like $3.50 and divide them into 3 ziploc bags and freeze for future use. I buy the chicken & lime precooked in deli comes 2 to a pack and chop it up for tacos. I buy bag of brocolli salad in frig room recut brocolli before adding sauce it comes with(otherwise to big)sauce kind of like a coleslaw, great for potlucks.
Oh and their fresh cut flowers last for days.
I actually got out of Costo spending only $48!!! I looked at my husband and said, “what?! I don’t think we’ve ever spent so little here.” To which the cashier and helper both looked at each other and laughed. This made me contemplate if I was really saving money by buying there or not since we always end up buying extra goodies like clothes or cereal or a new usb drive. But my most favorite thing to buy at Costco is DIAPERS! They are wonderful! I love the reclosable tabs and the material is soft enough and they hold a lot of pee…can you tell I have a little boy?! Their wipes are great too.
I am a freak of nature! (pretending I said that with a thunderous Greek-goddess voice) I can exit a Costco with under $20 worth of stuff! Of course, that’s only if we don’t need more shredded cheese goodness…