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Our membership lapsed years ago, but I'm being tempted back with a two months free trial.
I know that the food is good quality if you have the space to store it, but looking at general household stuff, is any of it cheaper than you can find on the high Street or supermarkets?
A quick look around suggested that things like toiletries still work out cheaper elsewhere, so I can't see it being worth the membership once I've stocked up on their merino mix trail socks.
Convince me with your tales of budgeting astuteness.
Pallets of bog roll ?
skippy, muffins, rice, mango chutney, levi 501s ( £40) toilet rolls, car shampoo, giant tubs of haribo for rides out
keep in mind they run offers throughout the year on some decent stuff.
Also tyres if you are into michelins. Cheap lunch at the canteen.
Pallets of bog roll ?
That's a crap suggestion.
bog roll, cereal, cat food and washing powder. Some of their freshly prepped food is really rather good too (enchiladas, I'm looking at you).
Never found it that useful. One example was me being blown away by an enormous jar of Branston pickle which I obviously had to buy. I managed to eat about a fifth of it before it went off. The fresh food is lovely though.
Wife says ' Luke's Organic Cheddar Clouds' £2 a 0.5 kg bag. Wotsits, but pretend healthy like.
As above - bog rolls, washing powder and cat food.
Also the overpriced carrot cake they sell you at the cafe in Swinley.
Ha, I came out with two packs of bog roll on offer once after work (pack being 6x12). Turns out 144 bog rolls are an extreme pain in the arse to get home on a bus followed by the subway with a walk in between.
Was worth it though, we had enough to build forts or wall up peoples doors with.
501's for £40? Hmm...
Electricals CAN be had cheap but honestly, unless you are a trade member forget any ridiculous deals as the vultures will have the place picked clean ten minutes after trade doors open. Stuff will usually be left over but don't count on getting the flagship models, it was usually the next best that was left for the peasants.
Their meat is excellent, just portion it up and stick in the freezer.
Look for deals on washing powder, dish washer tablets, wine and beer. Good for nappies and wipes if you have little ones.
That summer cabin with the hot tub in it looks great 😉
Had the same query about Costco a couple of weeks ago. We just send the in-laws instead of paying our self.
Home Bargains Nicky bog roll FTW. Cheap as chips, and considerably more absorbent.
Their meat is excellent, just portion it up and stick in the freezer.
It's Ok, but I worry about the quality and practices of the farming. The pork chops are huge, 2x the size of anything in the local butchers and imported from the USA. I've no idea what they feed them in the USA but I'm guessing the poor pig didn't live in a field and eat organic food.
The icing is made with lard rather than butter, that's why it's so creamy.Also the overpriced carrot cake they sell you at the cafe in Swinley.
You might be getting the impression I hate the place. It's like Iceland, but with worse food, marketed to the middle classes.
Depends how you shop. I have one locally and pop in to buy the meat, fish and fresh veg, fruit as is do with waitrose, sainsburys etc.
If I shopped there a few times a year I'd probably not bother.
Ours is local so I go there weekly mainly for the meat and fresh produce getting the remainder of the shopping from Tesco or Aldi. The quality of the food you get there is much better than the supermarkets and we don't have a good a local butcher. Buying in bulk is OK if it's regularly used other wise just get it from the supermarket. I have plenty of bulk stuff stored in the garage and just bring it into the kitchen to keep the cupboards stocked.
I also have the executive membership which is more expensive than the standard one. You are supposed to get exclusive offers but never had one in the three years I'd had it but you get cash back too which has given me over £350 back above the cost of membership. This used to be as a voucher to use in store but this year was actual cash in hand.
The prepared food is really good as mentioned above. Their cooked chickens are full of flavour and around 1/3 bigger and cheaper than supermarket ones which are dry and tasteless.
Beef (they have UK produced Angus mostly) - not necessarily better than the butcher, but tasty.
Chicken is never free range, so tend not to bother.
We get sides of salmon & portion it up for the freezer.
Big lumps of cheese are quite good value.
Bakery stuff is ok.
Be careful on things like washing powder - what looks like great value on a giant box is often matched by Tesco bogof offers.
It's Ok, but I worry about the quality and practices of the farming. The pork chops are huge, 2x the size of anything in the local butchers and imported from the USA. I've no idea what they feed them in the USA but I'm guessing the poor pig didn't live in a field and eat organic food.
The fresh meat is UK sourced and the beef is supposed to be from Buccleuch Meats which is very high quality. Some of the vacuum sealed meats can be from the USA but are labelled as such.
As someone who worked in pig breeding in the past you should be more concerned with the Danish pork products as their animal welfare is far behind the UK or USA's.
IME the prices are never as good as the offers at supermarkets, etc, plus whenever I've gone I've massively overbought on stuff which price aside I didn't really need anyway, so I don't bother going now.
Occasionally they have a decent reduction on a big ticket item like a telly or something - which is great if you happened to be about to buy it somewhere else anyway - but you can normally hear about these offers on HUKD without actually having to keep popping in.
501's for £40? Hmm...
Having been so defensive about their brand in the past Levi's will now stick a 501 tab on any old crap, quality, spec and even sizing can be all pretty variable so don't assume a £40 pair in one shop are the same as an £80 pair in another.
These days I just use costco once or twice a year for all the 'B's
Bog roll
Bagels
Binbags
bLaundry detergent
Boxer shorts (well pringles trunks)
If you've got a family to shop for theres value in the food but as a two-person household pretty much everything is sold in packs and portions too big to be useful - either because they'd go off before you can eat all or you'll just get bored of it. And I can only fit so many bagels in the freezer.
I pop in weekly for teabags, an inflatable canoe and a 150 litre compressor.
We think we get our moneys worth out of the membership every year.
Fresh food is great, especially for parties.
Cakes as above.
Fresh meat as above.
My wife buys a shampoo in there which is massively cheaper than on the high st.
We bought all our nappies there when the kids were small, the deals they did on Huggies were miles better than the best the supermarkets could do - we bought a 1000 in one hit once!
I'm apparantly about to get 10% discount on a kitchen if paying the order via CostCo, I'll let you know how it goes.
This. Everyone is at it now - e.g. chocolates/crisps being packaged especially for Poundland to make you think like you're getting a bargain, goods specifically manufactured for "outlet" shops - even premium brands like Berghaus are at it (Sports Pursuit). I'm always pretty skeptical about these sorts of "offers" now.don't assume a £40 pair in one shop are the same as an £80 pair in another.
The Teabags are the ones that annoy me most, bogroll can be hidden in the airing cupboard, but 1000 teabags to save 10p over just buying whatever hapend to be on offer in the supermarket, and takes up a whole cupboard shelf in the kitchen?
Best one was Miss' decided she likes seaweed from the chinese, so she came back with a pallet of the stuff from Costco. She then decided she doesn't like costco seaweed.
Anyone in Reading want 19 packets of seaweed? Will swap for a girlfriend who doesn't have a costco card.
I pop in weekly for teabags, an inflatable canoe and a 150 litre compressor.
🙂
No Aldi near you then
Their meat is excellent, just portion it up and stick in the freezer.
Thier freezer bags however, are a rip off.
They sometimes beat the supermarkets on branded dishwasher tablets etc. but you do have to have your maths head on. You can usually get better deals at B&M or home bargains if you're opportunistic enough.
Overall i find Costco a massive pain in the gnards.
Fuel. Bristol just built a fuel station, it is currently it is 4p per litre cheaper than the esso round the corner. And cheaper than the fuel card prices we have.
They seemed pretty busy at lunchtime.
When I went to collect the two cooked 14" Pizzas for £7.80 each.
Waves at TheDTs - was there the other day and saw premium diesel was 102ppl and regular unleaded 99ppl.
The UK meat is excellent. Don't touch the USA stuff. The big pork chops are British (they may do USA ones but never looked at those).
Humus - soooo much cheaper than a supermarket and much nicer. Just have to be prepared to eat a lot of it.
Black pudding - huge and portion it up. British bacon too and the eggs are from well treated hens.
Cleaning stuff when on offer (and dishwasher tablets). The Detol version of napysan is about £3 a bottle.
24 cans of Thatchers Gold for £16
Zipock sandwich bags for my lab as they are nice and strong.
Berghaus/North face tops, and the kirkland ones are good for farming
Baked goods are very good but we avoid most or we would get fat
Oat so simple sachets and PG tips when on offer are much better than any supermarket offer.
oh and dried mushrooms are back in the Bristol store. The jar is about half the size as it used to be but still much better value than supermarkets.
The warranty on electricals is great. I swapped a 2 year old washer and a 5 year old TV no problems at all
And the takeaway pizzas are great
oh and the big tub of salmon pate mmmmm
The toffee loaf from bakery is worth the membership fee alone 😀
Humus - soooo much cheaper than a supermarket and much nicer. Just have to be prepared to eat a lot of it.
Does it keep well now - the big pots of it were lovely but they'd go fizzy if you didn't eat them within 24 hours after you'd opened it so I stopped buying them.
dunno, only time we every buy the big pots is when having BBQs so plenty of people round to tuck in. 24hrs suggests something wrong though. They keep having a problem with wholemeal pita breads in our store. Seen quite a lot of mouldy ones on sale.
We got the pack of 3 smaller, flavoured ones the the other day and they are pretty decent but don't last long in his house.
The merino wool socks,
Dewalt work boots,
And own brand white round neck t shirts.
And huge sweet strawberries .
and tomatoes. Nice big on the vine ones for £1.99
And the packs of mozzarella to have with said tomatoes.
24hrs suggests something wrong though
at the time all supermarket humous would go off that fast too- presumable they either pasteurise it somehow now of add formaldehyde or something ( 🙂 ) Nowdays supermarket humous is pretty much impervious to the passage of time, I've let stuff go way past its use by date and not go off- I was just wondering if costcos stuff is similarly improved
Zipock sandwich bags for my lab
That's one pampered Labrador!
Thanks for the tips - lots of you confirming my suspicion that it only really works with a calculator and a full knowledge of supermarket special offers!
Never found it that useful. One example was me being blown away by an enormous jar of Branston pickle which I obviously had to buy. I managed to eat about a fifth of it before it went off. The fresh food is lovely though.
Pickle, off? You're doing it wrong, pickle in the fridge will outlive a human .
Coffee Beans are he cheapest I've seen anywhere and really rather good.
Oh and this time of year, Cinnamon Rolls, nom nom.
Stamps are cheaper than at the post office, never worked that one out.
5 rung glass fibre Youngman step ladder. Cheaper than I could find anywhere online.
Returns on electricals is brilliant.
I was told last January, people (Chavs) go in December buy a MASSIVE TV, use it for Christmas and new year and take it back in January for a refund. I expect returns situation will change if people take the wee wee..
Scott shop towels cheaper than anywhere else
Bog rolls by the pallet
And red velvet cake although they don't do the red velvet cupcakes anymore
pickle in the fridge will outlive a human
Humans are better stored at room temperature though
The chocolate chip shortbread mmmmmmm
There are bargains to be had, but we usually ruin any savings by buying stuff we don't really need.
I can't help but have a hot dog every time I go in there, even though it usually ends up repeating on me for the rest of the day.
[quote=beamers ]Coffee Beans are he cheapest I've seen anywhere and really rather good.
I thought they were the worst beans I've ever bought
Massive bottles of Tobasco, £4.
Blue roll for the bike room!
We got a free 2 month trial trade card a few weeks ago, went for a look round and to pick up the free gifts we got offered.
It was OK, nothing really in there savings wise to make me visit regularly or pay a subscription to.
What with Aldi/Lidl and online shopping places like Costco and Makro seem a bit 'old hat' and not really that cheap.
I was there yesterday. Apart from the usuals (toilet rolls, bin bags etc) you can make good savings at the moment on a giant set of christmas nativity figures or some spectacularly bad life-size illuminated polar bears and reindeer for the lawn. Too late for a [url= http://www.costco.com/93-inch-plush-bear.html ]giant teddy bear[/url] though - the last one was riding round in someone's trolley.
I thought they were the worst beans I've ever bought
They have several sorts of beans, some of which I have found quite good but others less so. Trouble is to find which ones you like you end up with a lot of the beans you don't like which negates any savings in the short term. I really tried to like the Rwandan beans (save the gorillas and all that) but they're not really very nice.
The espresso beans are really good. I've used these as my regular coffee for the past year.
I'm pretty disciplined with what I buy as it's easy to come home with something that's only a few percent cheaper but in crazy bulk quantity.
Bog roll - Fairly well discounted
Tissues - High discount
Coconut Water
Coffee beans - Close to the best you can buy and the saving is over 60%
Pasta - Massive discount at top quality
Fish - Ok discount but the quality is good if you don't have anywhere better
Contact lens fluid, 40% off
Herbs
Frozen ingredients - eg blueberry's at 50% off.
Cooking oil
Women's Cosmetics
Plus if you are having a party, you can really make use of the bulk buy fresh food which is really cheap.
I was tempted to go and have a look. My suspicions confirmed though. Little in the way of useful savings unless you want pallets of big roll in your house.
I think you get suckered into buying mega packs of stuff you don't need that probably gets wasted or is really bad for you. I always saw for families doing a shop and the kids having massive 3kg tubs of Haribos that they probably munch through in a weekend.
Take your smart phone and google prices. Especially TVs and stuff.
They did have an ex demo 70" sharp LCD in Bristol the other day for £850 + vat 😯 (and you get the 5yr warranty on it)
Our default list:
Free coffee and muffins before anything else
Apples
waffles
chocolate pancakes
mince
chicken portions (thighs and breasts)
cheese
Kirkland bottled water (36 500ml bottles for £3.50)
butter
chicken kievs
maybe a cooked chicken for £3.50 or something
frozen salmon portions
lasagne
steak pie
squash
fabric detergent
look roll
kitchen roll
maybe wine if on offer
trays of soup
trays of beans
mayo
cereal
on top of that there may some other bits and pieces. I've found their customer service absolutely second to none (e.g. giving me all my money back for a tv that died two years out of warranty, and a free smoked salmon when I accidentally left one in the trolley).
It's not just about saving money.
Well for us the cheapo stuff is
Prescription glasses I saved about £200 on the lenses alone and the appointment times are longer than most.
Meat and the quality is excellent
Beers and cider
TVs etc as there is an excellent warranty
some stuff can be had elsewhere cheaper
We had a membership for a while. Also found it limited for stuff I actually wanted to buy.
My view is that any shop that charges me to enter needs to have a guarantee that the goods I buy will cheaper than I can get elsewhere.
I was tempted to go and have a look. My suspicions confirmed though. Little in the way of useful savings unless you want pallets of bog roll in your house.
I think you get suckered into buying mega packs of stuff you don't need that probably gets wasted or is really bad for you. I always saw for families doing a shop and the kids having massive 3kg tubs of Haribos that they probably munch through in a weekend.
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