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Memberships to warehouse clubs such as Costco and Sam’s Club are often hawked as a great way to save money. Buying in bulk is cheaper per unit, right? I have always had my doubts, but what proof did I have to back that up? So, when a new Sam’s club opened near me, The Big Guy and I decided to purchase a membership for $45 and receive a $20 gift card back, essentially making the membership cost us $25 for the entire year. Now that we have shopped at Sam’s Club for for several months, I am starting to see how easy it is to overspend – like I talked about in January Budget Update – but assuming I can keep my spending under control, is there actually a cost savings compared to my local non-club stores? If there is a savings, is it worth the annual $45 membership fee?
To find out whether or not my Sam’s Club Membership is worth is I have broken down the cost of commonly purchased items at Aldi and Sam’s Club:
FINAL TOTALS:
SAM’S CLUB: $175.20
ALDI: $134.42
Aldi is the clear leader but bear in mind, Aldi does not carry some products that I use, so I still purchase them at Sam’s or Walmart. Things like CLIF bars are twice as expensive at Walmart as they are at Sam’s Club, so that $10 saved every three months almost pays for my Sam’s Club Membership.
Besides groceries, there are other things to consider. Sam’s Club provides discounts on prescriptions, tires, mattresses, and a whole host of home goods. From what I have seen, they have pretty good prices on these things – and obviously ALDI doesn’t carry those them.
I think I am going to keep my Sam’s membership. I am almost breaking even on the CLIF bars alone, so as long as I keep in mind that groceries generally are not cheaper at Sam’s Club, I will be all right. I will probably continue to shop for home goods there too, but I will make sure to shop around!
How do you combat the overspending? Do you have a warehouse club membership? Do you feel its worth it?
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Anneli @thefrugalweds says
Wow, I am impressed with your breakdown! :-)
And I do think that it is still worth it to keep the Sam’s Club membership, but I would most definitely keep comparison-shopping. My husband and I buy a ton of veggies and produce. We had to do a lot of comparison shopping to make sure we’re shopping where we can get the most value.
Also, I’m sure you are already doing this, but we do put all of our purchases in credit cards that would give us cash back rewards for our groceries (I think Sam’s Club would be part of the groceries category of vendors). So far, we’ve averaged just about $25 per month in cash back rewards -including our gas purchases. That’s $300 per year in cash – not bad! :-)
Great post!
[email protected] says
Hi Anneli!
That’s an awesome point about the credit cards. Aldi doesn’t take them, but Sam’s definitely does and $25 per month in cash back is not too shabby at all – especially when you look at it from a yearly perspective. Great point!
Emily @ evolvingPF says
I kept a price book to compare Costco and ALDI for a few months. Each of them “won” on different items but we found that much of the ALDI products were inferior in some way (like canned beans being more liquid than beans). Eventually we became exhausted visiting both stores and switched to exclusively Costco (close to our home, also).
[email protected] says
Understandable! I cannot visit both stores each week – frankly, it would be exhausting. Really, if you are buying simple foods, either store is a good choice
Taylor says
Great post! Very impressive comparison. I try to stay away from bulk grocery shopping because I’m scared I’ll actually spend more. Kind of like the coupon-ing issue… buying stuff you don’t really “need” because of the deal. Something to look in to tho, it seems like it may also be cost effective after looking at your grocery list.
[email protected] says
It really depends on your personal grocery list, as well as your self-control. If you can stick to a list and not get distracted – especially for ingredients like clif bars that aren’t “basics” buying in bulk can really save you money. However, if you’re buying product or pantry basics it’s not always worth it! It’s really good that you know that it could be a trap :-)