I don’t shop at warehouse stores. I once had a promotional membership to BJ’s Wholesale Club but never paid for a membership when the free one ran out. We just plain didn’t use it. I always said that once we had children I’d probably purchase my membership. But here Abby is three years old, out of diapers, and I still haven’t purchased my membership.
BJ’s is 45 minutes away and Sam’s Club is 1 hour away. When I go to those towns for shopping I usually only have a couple of hours to shop. There just isn’t time for the warehouse store. I also find that we just don’t have the out-of-pocket money most of the time to spend there. I’d feel silly paying for a membership if we only use it once or twice a year. Another issue for us is that we are a small family. We would not be able to use up bulk-sized food products before they went bad. However, just because I do not shop warehouse doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t as well. In fact, I think for many of you, a warehouse store membership would be a great idea! Here is why.
Cheaper unit prices
Buying in bulk often does save money in the end even if it can be more out of pocket at once. The per pound or per ounce price is often much cheaper in a larger package than in a smaller package. If you have little ones still in diapers, those are often much cheaper per diaper than buying at the grocery or discount store.
Larger quantities
Buying in larger sized containers and quantities is great if you have a larger family. Instead of having to buy bottles and bottles of ranch, you can buy just one big one. So much easier to deal with than constantly having to open new bottles. If you don’t have a larger family, sometimes it’s just nice to not have to go shopping as often. This is especially true for non-perishables such as diapers and toilet paper.
Cheaper gas
If your warehouse store is in the same town where you do your regular shopping, this alone is an amazing reason to shop there. For me, not worth it as I’m only in that town once ever 4-6 weeks. Often the gas prices at the warehouse store is a lot cheaper than at a regular gas station.
Using coupons
BJ’s Wholesale accepts manufacturer coupons and sends out pamphlets of coupons to be used at their store. This makes shopping there more affordable. Sam’s Club and Costco, according to their websites, do not accept manufacturer coupons but do offer coupons of their own.
Shopping at warehouse stores can be a money saver...but not always... Click To TweetOnce we have more children, especially as they get older and eat more, I will most likely start paying for a warehouse membership. It will then be worth it for us. It just doesn’t work for us in this stage of life. If you have a bigger family than just three or if you shop in a town where you have a warehouse store, it might be worth it for you to have a membership there.
Do you shop at warehouse stores?
I think about buying a membership with 4 kids we can go through food, toilet paper and everything else in bulk but Sam’s in an hour a way and I’d eat into to my savings too fast with the extra time out of my day and the extra gas I doubt I see any real savings. I do 95% of my shopping at Aldi & order most of my toiletries from Amazon subscribe & save (anything that keep me out of Walmart saves me at least a $100 a trip).
Club membership really works for some people and really doesn’t. Sounds like you are more like me and you have found other ways to save the money. 🙂
When we were pregnant, several people told me to buy the Sam’s membership for diapers because they were the only place with the big boxes. I didn’t have a clue about diapers since I had never shopped for them at the time, so we bought a membership. Well, now I know that I can get big boxes for just as cheap, sometimes cheaper with sales and coupons at grocery stores! There are only about 6-7 things that I purchase at Sam’s on a regular basis. If my MIL hadn’t renewed our membership for us, I probably wouldn’t have done it this year. I guess it just depends on each family’s situation.
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I always thought I’d use a warehouse store for diapers too but found them cheap enough at Walmart. Plus, until my daughter 18 months, we cloth diapered the majority of the time.
We have a Sams membership because it is free through my husband’s work. There is now a Sams about three minutes from my house. 🙂 I still find that we don’t use it very often because we can’t afford the out of pocket cost of buying so much at one time. Our grocery budget is based on a twice a month paycheck, and I just can’t get it all at Sams.
What does help us is that there are a few key things I like to buy in the big quantities, and because the store is so close, I can run in and just buy the one thing and not feel like it’s a wasted trip.
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Having it so close and having the membership free does help make it worth it, even if just for a few things. 🙂
We have a Costco and a Sam’s in our area and I shop at them frequently. (We have three boys…four if you count my husband.) I have a list of about 10 things that I get: toilet paper, coffee beans, paper towels, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, etc. I could see how shopping here could add up if you don’t have a list. I’ve heard of people using Amazon Subscribe and Save for these items, but have never done it myself.
I’ve never done the Amazon thing either but do keep thinking about it.
I once had a Sam’s membership years and years ago. That was before I had a family of my own and at the time, I faced some of the same issues. Now that we have a family, that’s also growing, I’m considering the possibility of trying it out again, depending on our budget. We eat mostly whole/real food items, so I’m not entirely convinced it will work for us even now. 🙂
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That’s part of my thinking as well. But I know a lot of the warehouse stores are starting to carry more real foods.
I only buy my paper towels, toilet paper, and stuff like that from Sams. I wouldn’t do that but my husband has a free card through the company he works for. The store is about 45 minutes away, so I order online and let him pick it up when he goes for his company.
I love online order, in store pick up things. It’s awesome that your husband has a free card and can pick things up so you don’t have to make the drive.
I love our Costco membership! Not only do they offer great prices when you buy in bulk, but their services, such as vehicle services are better than dealerships as well – at least when we had to buy a set of tires for our vehicle they were 1/2 price in comparison!
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I always forget that most warehouse stores do auto stuff, like tires, too. Half price is awesome!