I never used to be a Costco shopper, mainly because we used to live in a small rural town and getting to the big city frequently just wasn’t reasonable. However, now that we live in a city, we have started to shop at Costco on a regular basis. There are a few things I want to share you about my experience so far. Hopefully some of these tips will help you when you shop.
1. There’s no use coming when the doors open in the morning, especially if you are shopping on the weekend. If you do, you just end up with lineups to get into the store. That is wasted time, and time is precious. So, if you have time to come in the morning, try to come at least a few minutes after the store has already opened to avoid the lineup.
2. Shopping on the weekends is usually pretty crazy, however, on the upside, most of the tills are staffed so the lineups to pay move very quickly. During the week there are still a lot of shoppers but unfortunately many of the tills are not open, resulting in additional time spent to pay for purchases.
3. Costco offers affordable food, ice cream, and drinks at their café, but there are long wait times during breakfast and lunch hour so avoid those times if you can.
4. Small booths are set up throughout the store and they offer free samples. This can be fun, especially if you are shopping with your kiddos.
5. Costco produce is usually very high quality, so keep that in mind when comparing prices with other grocery stores. You may pay a little more but you won’t likely throw anything away. Buying in bulk does sometimes result in food waste if you can’t finish it in time, however, you can also share produce with a friend or family member in order to reduce food waste.
6. Watch for sales and stock up (if you can) on items you always buy. I often buy a couple of packages of toilet paper or Finish dishwasher soaps when they go on sale, for example,
7. Most of the time items sold at Costco are less expensive than items you can buy from Amazon. For example, I paid twice the amount for throat lozenges that I bought from Amazon.
8. In our city, eggs, milk, and cheese are less expensive at Costco than most other grocery stores.
9. Products often get moved around in the store, so don’t worry if an item you want to buy isn’t where it was the last time you shopped. It likely still is somewhere in the store. This can be frustrating at times, but if you are patient, you generally will find what you are looking for eventually. You will also find that some products are seasonal. For example, the Costco that I shop at doesn’t sell hot chocolate year-round.
Buying in bulk generally results in the biggest bang for your grocery buck, however, if you don’t think you will be able to use the full quantity of a product before it spoils, then it’s best to forego the purchase. We have definitely saved money by shopping at Costco, as doing so allows us to enjoy high quality food at a relatively decent price. Happy shopping!
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