I have had a Sam's Club membership in the past, but currently do not. I have never been into the place when I was a health conscious person. I am considering going to get a new membership. I am wondering if any of you who have memberships to Sam's or similar places can tell me if there is a point to a membership for a currently kidless health conscious couple. I know that many people buy things for their kids in bulk at these places, so once we are kidded (hopefully in 2-3 months) I am almost certain to go get a membership, but not sure if I should now.
I'm single and kidless and I am part of one of those clubs. It works for me because there are a bunch of other products that don't spoil that I buy there where the savings are enough to cover or exceed the cost of the membership.
So, go ahead! Especially if you're planning on having kids soon.
Before you pick one, go check them all out and see which ones are carrying the products you'd be buying.
I have a membership at BJ's. I buy a lot of frozen fish and chicken there at a great price, along with olive oil, herbs and spices. For fresh beef, you really can't get much better prices, and it's easy to freeze if you can't use it all. They have great prices on produce, and it's usually very good quality, too.
I always find great buys for personal care items and stuff for my dog, too.
just make sure to walk right past those samples...
We are old people without children at home. We have Sam's and Costco both. Mountain High yogurt is a bargain there. Ground turkey. Quionoa. OMG the produce...lots of produce at great prices. Eggbeaters. There is a super healthy 7-grain hot cereal we buy by the 8 lb bucket. Canned chicken for when we are in a hurry. Canned pumpkin. Lots and lots of stuff there we can buy and they have progressively more organic stuff, too.
We also buy a lot of non-food items at Costco. Clothing, TVs. toilet paper, paper towels... It IS a good idea to check out the one you want to join and see what kinds of food and non-food items they have. Know that the items change over time.
Years ago my husband bought a chest freezer at a BJs, and that has been GREAT for storing food!
We already have a freezer. I'm not sure about getting better meat prices than we already do though - military. We're in Arkansas, I'm not sure we have anything other than Sam's, but I will check it out.
For me, a huge change in my diet was learning to shop every day. I'd always been the sort of person who went to the grocery store once every ten days or less, and didn't go back until it was time for another big trip: I felt like it was somehow inefficient--impractical--to go more often. This resulted in a lot more eating off plan because I would be out of something I needed, but if I didn't need enough things to justify a big trip, in my head it was somehow against the rules to go back--again, wasteful and inefficient. So I'd sacrifice the eating plan for the sake of the shopping schedule.
For me, I think a bulk store would be even worse because I'd feel like I could only go there for big trips and that I had to go there for everything because if I ever went anywhere else I would be "wasting" my membership: for example, if I were out of chicken but only chicken, it wouldn't be worth it to trek over to Costco and deal with the huge parking lot and huge store for just chicken, but I couldn't go to Safeway for chicken because it's $2 more a pound there, which would be a total waste, so the only solution is to eat McDonalds.
I know this is very stupid thinking, but it was the way my brain worked for a long time. Now, I go to the grocery store every 2-3 days when I am out of something, but I often just buy 3-4 things. This shift has really helped me stay on plan, and saved me money, too--I used to buy all kinds of things "just in case" (since I "couldn't" come back for a week or more) and many of those went to waste. Now, if I am on the fence about buying something, I am like "I can just come back". And often I end up not needing it.
I am already doing a combination of the shopping types and shopping at 5 different stores anyhow. Hubby and I go and do the big shopping trip a couple times a month, but we also make smaller runs when things are needed. I recently sent him on an "emergency" salmon run. We drive over to a neighboring small town that we hate being in just to get some relish that I like. We go and buy all they have each time so that we don't have to go to that town very often. There is one store that our main purpose in going there is just to get our yogurt.
I used to be guilty of the 'just in case' stuff too even though I have never had a problem with making smaller trips to the store. I've gotten much better about it. I'm now down to doing this with milk, non-perishables, and things for the cats. As for the milk, we go through nearly a gallon a day, so it's usually a good bet we need it anyhow, lol.
It looks like I was right and Sam's is my only choice. There are 2 within 20 miles, but the closest Costco is 133 miles away. We're in Arkansas. I'm sometimes surprised that anything other than Wal-mart is allowed to operate here at all.
It looks like I was right and Sam's is my only choice. There are 2 within 20 miles, but the closest Costco is 133 miles away. We're in Arkansas. I'm sometimes surprised that anything other than Wal-mart is allowed to operate here at all.
I get lots of healthy stuff at my Costco...we make a lot of soups and stews in winter, and they have AWESOME free range chicken broth there, which we go through a ton of. Coffee is a great deal, too, if you're a coffee drinker.
It's just me and my husband and we buy 95% of our foods at Sam's. We buy meats, nuts, cheeses, fresh veggies, eggs, cream and a few frozen and canned items plus cleaning supplies. We do not buy the processed foods, bakery, candies, pre-made foods. We save a lot of money and eat very well and shop only twice a month. I will only go into a regular grocery store if I need just one item to complete a meal plan or recipe or Sam's doesn't carry it. I will miss Sam's very much when we leave the USA.
Note, I know Walmart owns Sam's but I have to say the meats at Sam's is much better tasting.
Last edited by martinimouse; 01-22-2011 at 01:43 PM.
I live with my partner and a roommate and we buy at least 70% of our food at Costco. Frozen chicken breasts, ground turkey (which I break up and freeze in smaller portions), 2lbs of spinach, apples, bananas, almonds, yogurt, chicken stock, and bread. I like having large amounts of my staples at hand at all times. Plus, I save money. We supplement with a normal grocery store trip to pick up items we don't use all the time.
It helps keeps cost down, esp. since someone else pays our membership fees
Bulk Stores and Weight Loss
