8 Non-Food Items You Should Buy at Costco

After looking at my Costco price comparisons (which I need to update, by the way, as the entire industry has seen rising prices over the last year), many people still ask me "Is a Costco membership worth it?" While I can't speak for everyone, I have found Costco to be a great source for many non-food items that save me hundreds a year...easily paying for a membership several times over. While not all food is cheaper in bulk if using coupons paired with sales at a regular store, there are some things that you can't find many coupons or sales for, that are indeed cheaper at the warehouse store.

I'm not saying Costco is right for everyone; it depends what you're buying! But, I figured I would tell you about things other than food, just for a fair comparison to make your own decision.

1. Gas
Costco Gasoline is usually $0.20-0.25 per gallon cheaper than any other gas station in my area. Filling up once a week saves me over $100 a year. Twice the annual membership fee.

2. Baby and Children's Clothing
Carters had a "Black Friday Doorbuster" last week in which their flecce PJs were $8 each. The regular price for these same pajamas at Costco is $7.99. I also purchase Carter's infant and toddler sets for cheaper than I can find at the Carter's outlet. I purchased a nice winter coat for my daughter for only $20 several weeks ago.

3. Men and Women's Clothing and Shoes
There isn't a huge selection, but Lucky jeans and Levis for $30? Count me in. My husband has had good success with the Kirkland Jeans as well. And, Sperry Top Siders for less than $20. I often get my husband their flannel shirts or Hawaiian shirts. Good quality and a third of the price as department stores!

4. Toys and Books
I was amazed that some Black Friday sales this year at Target and Wal-Mart were the same or not as good as Costco's regular price on certain toys. I recently purchased a 64 pack of solid wood blocks for $27...similar sets are in the upwards of $75 online. I also get some of my daughter's learning books here that we use for homeschooling--including $11 for a 3 pack of Dr. Seuss books. Amazon has said books for $5-10 each. The dollhouse pictured below for $85 is currently priced at $131 on Amazon.

 
5. Electronics
So TVs aren't always cheaper at Costco, but their return policy is amazing. You can return televisions and other electronics within 90 days, no box required and no hassle. They also extend the manufacturer's warranty at no extra cost. 

6. Parchment Paper and Foil

The sale price for parchment paper at my local grocery store is $2.99 for 30 square feet. Or $0.10 per square foot. The Costco price of $5.99 for 205 square feet is only $0.03 per square foot...

Foil is also a good deal. Although it looks expensive, my local Safeway sells heavy duty foil for $0.10 a square foot. Using grocery store prices, this 750 sq foot box of foil would cost $75...so $21 is quite a steal.


7. Christmas Supplies
Bows, ribbon, and wrapping paper are all super high quality and a fairly decent price. (You can get cheaper at Target in the week after Christmas, but the quality of the paper isn't as high.) One 269 sq foot roll of Costco wrapping paper lasts me approximately 3 years. No joke.

8. Gift Cards
This would pay for your membership by itself! There isn't a huge selection of gift cards, but it rotates out fairly often. Costco sells certain $100 gift cards for $79.99 or $50 gift cards for $39.99. Sometimes I break them up for gifts, and sometimes I use them to further stretch some of our budget categories.

Not everything is cheaper at Costco, and it remains a controversial store within the money saving community, but there are other things besides food that are a good deal. What do you think?

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Costco Price Comparison: Diapers and Wipes

It's been a while since my last Costco price comparison. But, I was there yesterday and decided to check the prices of diapers and wipes. I have included the price, the price with coupon (which is usually offered every few months), and the cost per diaper/wipe so you can compare the prices to what you usually purchase!

What is your stock up price on diapers and wipes?



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Costco Price Comparison...Paper Towels, Toilet Paper, Tissue

I was most looking forward to figuring out the unit price of paper towels and toilet paper when I started the Costco Price Comparisons several months ago. One thing I was most disappointed in, is that Costco no longer carries the "Select-a-Size" paper towels. As a result, while the overall cost is usually cheaper at Costco, I tend to purchase the Select-a-Size when Target has a gift card promotion going on, because each roll lasts a lot longer than the traditional rolls. Notice for the price per unit, I rounded an extra place. There is a big difference between one penny per sheet and one and a half pennies per sheet when you are buying several hundred sheets at a time! (In other words, $0.017 is not seventeen cents, it is one point seven pennies.)

The toilet paper is 2-3x cheaper at Costco than at the grocery store, especially the Charmin Ultra. Because there are so many different sized toilet paper packages in the stores, I compared them by square foot. Each toilet paper package should list the square footage on it. All you need to do to find the unit price is divide the price by the amount of square footage.

I also looked at flushable wipes and tissues. Both of which were much cheaper at Costco. I added in the Costco store brand (Kirkland) as comparison.




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Costco Price Comparison...Cheese and Butter

Okay, Costco has a lot of cheese. I wasn't expecting 4 aisles of cheese. But, here are the findings:

• Costco's price on shredded and block cheese were at least three times cheaper per ounce than cheese at the grocery store. Occasionally, I have seen Albertson's 8-Hour Sales that offer shredded cheese for $0.12 per ounce. But, this happens maybe once every 6 months. If your stores do not often offer deals like this, you would be wise to purchase cheese in bulk at Costco, where most of their shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, mozzarella, etc) run $0.16-$0.18/oz. 
• By contrast, the Costco Parmesan Cheese is not a great deal. The prices at the grocery store were comparable to Costco's. Same thing is true for the fresh Mozzarella.
• Costco occasionally has coupons for cheese, especially the Kraft Singles. When using the $3 coupon, the price of the Kraft Singles would go down to $0.14/oz or $1.68 per 12 oz package.
• In summary, if you can't find an amazing deal at the grocery store for cheese, Costco is the place to go. I kept seeing sale prices $0.65-$0.70/oz on cheeses that run $0.16-$0.18/oz at Costco. 

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Costco Price Comparison...Juice

I was least impressed with Costco juice prices than any of the other products I've reviewed thus far. That being said, the normal price of juice at Costco is still competitive to grocery store sales, and Costco does often come out with coupons for their juice boxes, sports drinks, and vitamin water, making the unit price significantly lower. If you're going to purchase juice at the grocery store, wait for a sale. If you're going to purchase juice at Costco, wait for the coupons. I was able to stock up on juice at Kroger a few months back, spending less than $0.33 per 8 pack of juice.



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Costco Price Comparison...Coffee, Tea, and Soda

I must confess, I am not a coffee drinker. I wouldn't know a good deal on coffee if it hit me in the head. But, after looking at grocery store prices while compiling this information, I've decided coffee is EXPENSIVE! It's not cheap at Costco, but it's certainly cheaper than the grocery store, sometimes by 50%, and that doesn't even include the often-included Costco coffee coupons that bring the price down even more.

Moving to soda, I would only purchase soda at Costco if there was not a deal elsewhere, and I needed it. But, often you can find 12-packs of soda for $2.50 each or less, and stock up then. Hansen's soda is cheaper at Costco, even during sales at the store. 

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Costco Price Comparison...Pantry Staples

Luckily, pantry staple items such as canned foods and other non-perishables are often on sale and have coupons for them. However, some things at Costco are below my "stock up" price, such as chicken broth and chicken stock, (the biggest Costco "winners" of the week.) Worcestershire Sauce, Diced Green Chilies and Rotel. All the other items were regularly cheaper at Costco than the grocery store, but when paired with a sale and coupons, the store would end up being cheaper. 

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Costco Price Comparison...Baking Goods

Costco had a cheaper per unit price than anything at the grocery stores for baking goods. And, there are rarely high value coupons that would make the unit price similar. If you are going to purchase things like flour and sugar in bulk, you can either invest in airtight containers and store in the pantry, or split the purchase with someone else. The biggest "winners" for Costco in baking goods were:

• Pure Vanilla Extract (20x more expensive at grocery store)
• Ground Cinnamon (10x more expensive at grocery store)
• Yeast (8x more expensive at grocery store)
• Pure Clover Honey (4x more expensive at grocery store)
• Pure Sea Salt (4x more expensive at grocery store)

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Costco Price Comparison...Breakfast Foods

We seem to go through a lot of breakfast foods in our house, especially waffles. When I see Eggos on sale at the store, I usually pick them up. But, after seeing this cost comparison, unless a pack of Eggos is less that $1.30 (happens quite rarely here), I will be purchasing them at Costco from now on.

Maple syrup, Oatmeal, Old Fashioned Oats, and Baking Mixes are significantly cheaper at Costco. As in, identical grocery store products can be three times as much ( based on unit price.) The Jimmy Dean Croissants and Pop-Tarts were more than twice as much at the grocery stores. In addition, both the croissants and Pop-Tarts were recent "coupon items" at Costco, bringing their price down even more.

The only breakfast item I typically wouldn't purchase at Costco is cold cereal. There are so many cereal coupons out there, I can often find them for less than $1.00 per box at the store.

Costco Price Comparison...What's Cheaper, What's Not? Nuts and Fruit.

Last week we looked at the Costco Price vs. Grocery Store Price Comparison in Snack Foods. This week we're looking at Nuts and Dried Fruit. Costco seems to have an advantage over stores in all types of nuts, since they don't often go on sale at the grocery store. I purchase most nuts at Costco, especially pine nuts, which I use for Pesto, and are over $20/lb at the grocery store. Raisins are another extremely inexpensive item at Costco.

If you decide to buy nuts in bulk at Costco, remember to store them in the refrigerator or freezer. Nuts have many oils that are kept fresher if stored in a cold environment.

Costco Price Comparison...What's Cheaper, What's Not? Snacks.

I have long since wondered about the cost comparison between Costco and grocery stores. Is buying in bulk always better? Do coupons really give you that much of a discount? Well, this week we're looking at snack items at Costco vs. traditional stores. I noticed that some regular price Costco items were better than my grocery store stock-up prices (the price at which I stock up on certain items until the next sale), and some things weren't. When breaking everything down to unit price, you might be surprised at the deals you are, or are not getting.

Don't forget that Costco sometimes offers coupons on these items too. With the coupons, the Costco price will be even lower.