Why We Gave Up Our Costco Membership

Originally, we joined Costco to get the best price on a new set of tires for our car. This was God-only-kinows how many years ago. Once you've been sucked into the Costco vortex, it's almost impossible to get out again. For one thing, you will discover all sorts of magical treats you suddenly simply MUST have! Who knew that we needed broccoli salad, smoked whitefish salad, dozens of cheese bagels, cartons of Sun chips, crates of coconut cookies, multiple lint rollers, 3000 ziplock baggies, and a ten-gallon drum of Pine-sol? If you have shopped at Costco, you probably have all this, and much much more, in your pantry.

At first glance, Costco seems like a good deal. If you pay $120 for an Executive membership, you will get a 2% rebate check once per year. If you plan to purchase large electronics, such as a television the size of Mt. Rushmore, then you might be getting a great deal. You have to spend quite a bit per year to get your initial payment of $120 back. You can purchase a basic membership for just $60, but no rebate is offered at this level. This past year we didn't purchase enough to secure a rebate of our full membership cost, hence our decision to give up our membership.

Bottom line: does Costco really have the best deals?

That depends on what you want. Costco doesn't carry as many brands as a regular grocery store, so if you are wedded to particular brands, you might be disappointed at the selection. Costco's own brand, called Kirkland, is often as good or better than store brands, though not necessarily cheaper. We have found several excellent products at Costco, all at very good prices. Some of those include: Kirkland's bacon, salmon and sweet potato grain-free dog food, Kerrygold butter, Dietz and Watson deli turkey breast, Wholly Guacamole minis, and logs of Kirkland goat cheese. All of the baked goods made by Costco are high quality, delicious, and fairly low in cost, especially when compared to a typical grocery store bakery, but you do have to purchase a massive amount.

This brings me to the biggest problem with shopping at Costco: the size issue. You have to purchase MEGA-sized--sometimes double and even triple--containers of everything. This might be great for a party, or a family with 8 growing boys, but for just me and my hubby, these sizes are way too much. Unless we can freeze stuff, like the Kerrygold butter, we often end up wasting. This is no bargain.

So we are giving up Costco.

Instead, we are discovering Walmart. I've never been a huge fan of Walmart. I thought all they carried was cheap crap. But I've recently discovered this is not the case at all! Walmart now carries plenty of organic and very high quality products. Just this past week, I found organic baby spinach, Wholly Guacamole organic minis, Kerrygold butter, and grain-free Pure Balance venison and bison dog food. Walmart's prices on these items might be slightly higher than Costco's, but the quality is the same and there is NO membership fee. You can buy only what you know you will use in a reasonable amount of time--say, a week rather than a year. I call this a WIN!