Is a Costco or BJ's Membership Worth The Price?

As I look at my shopping list for the upcoming month, I have a list that is marked Costco. This is the list of items I buy at Costco. For me it's seltzer water, lettuce, dog food, drinks for my cooler if I am in travel mode, laundry detergent, and depending on what I need, meat and veggies.

I got a Costco (then Price Club) membership years ago when you had to prove you belonged to a credit union, worked for a school district, the government, etc. The cost of the membership has risen from $30 to $50 per year. I recently got a free two months trial at a BJ's (I'm going to "comparison shop" the two chains), they are $45 a year.

My recent problem with Costco is I don't have enough room at my home for buying too many things in bulk or the large super size items. Years ago I lived in a house with a spacious kitchen and spare bedroom with a closet that was the repository of the paper goods and extra cleaning supplies. Plus I drove by the Costco on my way to and from work and it became our subsitute grocery store (this Costco also sold wine and beer). Now I live in just under 500 sf of space with nary an extra closet to be had. I also have a small fridge with a small freezer, storing extra food items is hard as well. Buying chicken pieces in bulk means I'm eating a lot of chicken and nothing else. I don't have room at the house for even a small freestanding freezer to use for storage, space is tight!

I've done my comparison shopping to know almost without exception, the items that are less expensive at Costco than at the local grocery store or chain store. Most of the meats are less expensive, pasta about the same (cheaper at the grocery store when it's on offer), drinks less expensive, basamti rice much less expensive, paper goods, laundry detergent, super size of certain health and beauty aids pretty much the same depending on store sales. I have also gotten some great CDs (one time a fantastic 5 CD jazz compilation rivaling the Smithsonian one, only a lot less cheaper), DVD's, kids books, a suitcase, etc. The Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard in the two pack is a great deal :)

The particular Costco I go to has a gas station and an optical department. I try to fill up my car with gas each time I am there, they price per gallon is at least 3-4 cents cheaper than most gas stations. The Optician is covered under my health insurance so not only can I get a discount on my glasses and contacts, but the visit is covered as well.

The one draw back is the large size of the things I buy, because large is all they offer. Somethings like the large jar of artichoke hearts take up space, but I do put them on my salads and use for cooking and they don't go bad if I miss a few days. Lettuce can sometimes turn to mush only fit for the compost bin in a few days (and sometimes my fridge "freezes" the lettuce-yuck). Meat and chicken is tough, I don't eat those protein products everyday and as I stated above, my freezer space is limited. There is a lot of rice in a ten pound bag.

For me, the savings I get (and just for the gas alone) are worth the membership fee.