re: Which is a Better Value - Sam's or Costo?

Not entirely F&D related, but I mainly kept a Sam's membership when our kids were young. Diapers, wipes, formula, and mass quantities of snack foods. Ground beef was always good from there. And good prices on wine and beer. Generic medicine is hard to beat. We get Aleve, Benadryl, Tylenol etc from there. And they carry good brands of toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, basically stuff we go through quickly and can stock up on every other month or so.

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Sam's toilet paper > Costco toilet paper

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this is definitely true

I was the 100 member of Sam's in Dallas.
Stopped renewing due to her racist CEO ...

LINK

just one of her many "extreme" positions

The day I went to Costco I threw my Sam's card in the trash. I'll drive past a Sam's to get to a Costco. The Kirkland brand products are usually very good, the employees are actually helpful, if the store is crowded they seem to keep opening registers until everyone is taken care of.

The prices seem to be about the same as SC. I bought the expensive "Executive" membership, I think it is $125 a year, but you get a check for 2% of your purchases back at the same time the fee is due, last year the difference was $12 we owed.

Clark Howard explained the differences between the major warehouse clubs.

Costco - highest quality, steepest discounts, and least variety.

Sam's - Lowest quality, can save money because they carry low end stuff)

BJ's - Most variety, lowest discounts

When I lived in Jacksonville, we had all three, and I agree with the assessment. I haven't stepped inside a Sam's or BJ's in over 5 years, so I don't know if this is still true.

Clark Howard is a lunatic.

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That's what I'm thinking. But what does Costco have that I might want. We don't drink wine.

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You'll start

Things we buy at Costco:
Cherry tomatoes are legit
Balsamic vinegar
Almond butter
Their cucumbers are awesome
Protein powder
Eva-NYC shampoo and conditioner
Soap
Their makeup removing facewipes
Whole grain tortilla chips
Brown rice packs
Pork belly
Frozen fruit
Their orange juice
All liquor
Command hooks
Light bulbs
Techron fuel supplement (when on sale)
Dog food (Kirkland brand is awesome)
Buy my mom their muffins, cookies, and croissants
Their steaks are good
Jalepno artichoke dip is on point
Their honey
Mixed nuts
Fiber bars
Fruit bars
Women's pants and sweaters
Men's boxers and socks
Their honeycrisp apples have a very long shelf life
Lamb
Turkeys
Some of their furniture is legit
I use their commercial shrlving in my shop
Gas
Milk
Almond milk
Eggnog
Eggs
Chicken patties
Chicken
IQF shrimp
Potatoes
Batteries, car tractor and bikes

Their tire shop is awesome. Test fitting 35s on my bike at the moment and they mounted and remounted all for free.

Obviously, pizza.


Buy the executive membership, it will pay for itself. My check is like 200 bucks every year.

He's a hefty fella.

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If my math is right, you spend approximately $10,000/year there to get $200 back?

That's a lot of groceries.

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I only buy gas there. That's 7000 a year.

stay away from both. If you do save something you will spend it on something else before you leave the store. I find the big sizes are not necessarily cheaper per ounce than the smaller sizes I get at my local stores.