You can definitely buy for clean eating at Costco. If you’re clean eating then you should be focusing on a diet of fruits, vegetables, dairy, whole grain and meat/protein. Organic or not.
Two packs of Ekeziel or Dave’s Killer Bread at good prices.
6 pack of bag large avocados (usually not ripened) for $5.99
You def need to curb the temptations. But I have to do that every time I walk in Home Goods or Trader Joes! - or any store I like! 
@milee30 Yes, we are aware of the Costco Cash Card, but he lives near Costco and now buys gas there. He already has a job lined up in the same city, so he’s ready for his own membership.
His laptop quit working recently, and thankfully Costco had a nice Dell i7 on sale he was able to purchase in the store. Costco provides a 2 year warranty, but if you pay with their Visa, they extend the warranty another 2 years, so he has a 4 year warranty on his laptop. You won’t get that anyplace else that I’m aware of.
Also with their Visa, he gets 4% cash back on gas, 3% cash back on travel and restaurants, 2% cash back on Costco purchases, and 1% cash back on everything else. There are no foreign transaction fees, so he uses it when he travels. He’s a very responsible, frugal young guy, and even he gets value from the membership.
Edit: Thanks for the link, @BunsenBurner . That was fun to read. I’ll have to ask him how they divide everything up!
I wish Costco had reasonable size packages of baking goods and rice. I don’t need 25 pounds of anything, even organic cane sugar!
I know they have smaller, divided packages of things like flavored rice and instant rice, but it would be nice to have 5 pounds or even 10. Anything more than that is too much for me.
As an Asian-American, I’m so glad that Costco carries 25-lbs rice! I’ve recently noticed, though, that Sam’s started carrying a smaller size rice, 15lbs, I think? Still, I prefer the larger size rice at Costco.
Our Costco had 10 lb Pioneer sugar for $2.99 this weekend.
But yes, some of those items - intense!
You guys should check out the sizes of packages at Costco Business centers!!!
I made it over there today. I don’t go as often because it is just a hassle to get in and out, but this thread motivated me. I walked up and down and all their food looks SO delicious, ready to heat and frozen. Yum! The problem is I can’t eat that stuff anymore. I typically splurge on high calorie or high carb when we go out. When at home, we just can’t.
I have fallen in love with the wild seasoned salmon. I just put some cracked pepper on top before baking and it’s restaurant style! It has a red sauce that flavors it.
But alcohol for XMAS, but I don’t think it was big savings, but while I was there why not.
I haven’t seen clothes I like yet. I think when we need some big ticket items we will appreciate it more. I am going to go there for my next set of glasses though. I can’t buy their contacts.
Just like the regular grocery store - make your healthy plan of attack to include the aisles of produce, meat, dairy with quick stops for canned goods, whole grain bread. Avoid the bakery, frozen prepared food, snack aisles, frozen dessert. ANY grocery store has temptations - if you avoid the ice cream aisle and baked goods and chips at Kroger then do it at Costco as well!
Re: Costco rice. My son was having a b/d party in HS. One of the moms had picked up most of the kids invited. Each boy walked in with with those gigantic bags of rice from Costco. Everyone knew he liked rice, but 100 pounds? All the rice was donated to a charity.
@conmama, we don’t have liquor at Costco in MD, but I’ve seen Costco prices 6 to 8 bucks cheaper PER BOTTLE of wine.
Rice is one thing I won’t buy at Costco. Strangely my mom has no problems with the 25 bags at Costco that come from Arkansas, but I (and most people that I know) prefer the brands found in the Asian stores such as Three Sisters. A lot better flavor.
I don’t know why I said I purchase “25 lbs” rice at Costco. Actually, it’s 50-lbs Sunwest Cal Rose Rice from California that I purchase from Costco. We then purchase different types of rice from H-Mart and mix them together when cooking.
Another thing that we always get from Costco is tofu.
Someone mentioned salmon. If you prefer “wild caught” salmon, then you don’t want to purchase their (or Sam’s Club) salmon in the seafood section where all they have are “farm” salmons from places that I don’t trust whatsoever after seeing a YouTube video one time that showed absolutely disgusting conditions in which salmon, shrimp and such are farmed. I always go to the frozen section where they do have salmons that are wild caught.
@TiggerDad, please don’t propagate Asian stereotypes on a forum that talks about College Admissions. Everyone buys everything big at Costco because they only sell big. And Asians don’t just buy rice, they buy books, cheese, crab legs, coats, and all kinds of stuff.
Re - pharmacy. It might just be state law where I live, but I believe anyone, member or not, can have the Costco pharmacy fill their prescriptions. Might be worth a call if someone is not a member but wants to use their pharmacy.
Of course you should always be careful with food sourcing, but it’s encouraging to know that Greenpeace twisted Costco’s proverbial arm years ago about sustainable seafood. Costco made a pledge to only sell seafood certified by the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council). They also started working with WWF about this.
I thought anyone could order glasses At Costco also…is that not true?
“I thought anyone could order glasses At Costco also…is that not true?”
Not true, at least at my Costco. Perhaps it varies by state. Or perhaps you can get an eye exam without membership but I needed a membership to order glasses (did exam elsewhere).
I’ve also realized that Costco has simplified my shopping life significantly. There are items that I buy regularly trusting their quality and prices, so no longer obsess about which of several stores has them on sale or other comparison shopping. I don’t have to go to other supermarkets or drug stores as often, and my cart isn’t as full when I do.
For those of you who are Costco regulars, what percentage of your grocery dollars do you spend at Costco? Just curious.
That would get really complicated. If I never buy pecans at the grocery store, but buy 4 lbs at Costco each fall to make my famous spicy pecans for Christmas gifts, which side of the ledger does that go on ?