<p>Costco has excellent steaks. We like them better than Omaha and some of the other premium places. H shops at Costco every week (he’s our shopper) and we are a family of 2. He gets cases of the Starbucks Frappachinos that he likes, pet items (not dry food, which we get somewhere else), sodas, paper products- god knows what all else, but it’s always a lot.</p>
<p>I went with a friend and got my Hansgroh kitchen faucet there for less than half the cost at any other place (and yes…it was the same model number as the expensive kitchen store). I might join just to get the savings on glasses and contact lenses.</p>
<ol>
<li>Batteries. Joke about it but AA batteries there are dirt cheap.</li>
<li>Generic drugs. Claritin, etc. … you can get a few hundred pills for under $15. </li>
<li>Vitamins and supplements. I’m a big skeptic of the efficacy of supplements - because each time they’re tested rigorously, they fail - but lots of people buy them and they’re cheaper by a lot.</li>
<li>Certain food items. Hummous, for example, which we use a lot. Greek yogurt. Cottage cheese. Cheaper than Trader Joe’s, tends to be better. Hard cheese, though they have a limited assortment, like manchego, are significantly less. Good olive oil for a lot less. </li>
<li>Wine. Biggest wine seller for a reason. </li>
<li>Fish and meat. Not dirt cheap but good quality at a good price. </li>
<li>Miscellany. Like a rug for the kitchen.</li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t buy much if anything of the prepared foods.</p>
<p>I used to shop at BJ’s when the girls were young and it made sense to get things in bulk. But about the time they hit high school, prices edged up. Just enough that stocking up when things went on sale at the local markets was more effective and left me with more control over quantity. Plus, we have an Aldi.</p>
<p>As a note for anyone living in CA without a Costco membership, you can still buy alcohol there. Just tell them at the front where they check IDs you’re only there to buy alcohol, and they’ll let you in. I believe the state has some sort of law where you can’t charge a membership fee to purchase any sort of liquor. Only issue is you might have to pay in cash since I’ve had my AMEX refused since my girlfriend is the one with the Costco membership.</p>
<p>One of my favorite products they sell is the soy milk. Neither my girlfriend or I drink much milk, and when we do, it’s usually part of something else (added to coffee, in hot chocolate, in a milkshake, etc), so soy milk is way better than regular milk because it never spoils. Also takes up way less room in the fridge.</p>
<p>zooser - definitely check out the contacts. I have bought them for D1 for the past two years and they have been the lowest price. H also gets a new pair of glasses there each year. Vitamins a a good deal and since there are 3 of us at home right now we go through these quickly.</p>
<p>Excellent advice showmom, thank you!</p>
<p>We are a Costco family, ds works there 
We have been members for years tho…
make a weekly trip for chicken, gas, milk, snacks for school, cereal, etc.
Have also bought landscape plants, rugs, furniture, electronics…
Their max. mark up is 15% - I know you can still get some stuff cheaper elsewhere, loss leaders at other stores - but I love Costco! Great place to work.</p>
<p>Different people shop differently and have different needs so I can certainly see how some people would not like Costco, but I go there weekly.</p>
<p>Used it a lot more for perishable food when all the kids lived at home but still buy canned goods, cereals, etc there. Also buy towels, bedding, batteries, papergoods and other things that keep forever. Can’t beat the price. Especially if you buy that stuff when they have a coupon.</p>
<p>But the biggest benefit to me are the Kirkland brand items which are the same, if not better quality of the national brands for a fraction of the cost, plus the gas which runs 10-15 cents a gallon less than the station across the street. I also use the Costco American Express for everything and generally get around $1,000 back a year. </p>
<p>When I first shopped there, I would be tempted by all the new things but now that I’m a regular, I buy the things that I use and ignore the rest. </p>
<p>The only thing I won’t buy there is milk. I hate those square containers.</p>
<p>The square containers are annoying but we seem to have gotten used to them and the “pouring” differences. </p>
<p>Agreed on the Kirkland canned products. I regularly buy the diced/stewed tomatoes. Great to always have them on hand. Also if you use canned vegetables, the green beans are as good (and H is SO picky on this!) as Del Monte or Green Giant.</p>
<p>I am deeply grateful to Costco. Here in the Northwest (and in Hawaii), they offer a small business health insurance plan that allowed us to offer health insurance to our employees starting when we only had two employees. [Business</a> Health Insurance](<a href=“http://www.costco.com/business-health-insurance.html]Business”>http://www.costco.com/business-health-insurance.html)</p>
<p>Our business continues to buy bulk items from Costco: TP, paper towels, coffee, Otter pops (important on hot days as a cool-down item for our warehouse workers!), furniture (they have an excellent ergonomic office chair that IMO rivals the Aeron Chair–for one-fourth the cost).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I don’t know about liquor, but Ohio has this same law in regards the pharmacy. You don’t have to be a member. Our HSA account is through Visa and we use it at the pharmacy and in the optical department. </p>
<p>If ordering contacts at Costco, be sure and ask if there is a rebate for ordering a one year supply. Most of the time there is one, but you have to ask for it.</p>
<p>The gas savings is huge for us, and we DO live close enough. We also buy non-prescription meds there-the “zyrtec” for younger D, for example is maybe a 1/10 the cost. The steaks are amazing-you can buy in packs of 4-that’s not too many, and much cheaper for the quality that other stores. Every few months we’ll also stock up on chicken, ground beef-all cheaper than even the lowest cost grocery store close buy. </p>
<p>Whenever we’re hosting a family dinner, that’s where we head for bulk food.</p>
<p>The small non-profit I work at buys all of its janitorial supplies there. The large companies we used to deal with had minimums for free delivery, expensive prices and didn’t always have what we needed. We get everything we need at Costco and can break it down into smaller runs as needed.</p>
<p>My sister works for Costco and I will say that they treat employees VERY well. Even as a new PT employee while in college she was paid well above minimum wage. The benefits are excellent and they promote from within. She’s had the opportunity to leave but she loves working there so she just stayed on after graduation. She well up in the local management chain now.</p>
<p>This is a great thread. I ddn’t know about a lot of these things. Much appreciated!</p>
<p>I wish Costco in NJ could sell gas and wine! Other than that what we buy at Costco includes:</p>
<p>Tires
Glasses and contacts
Soap and shampoo
Vitamins and supplements
Generic medication (ibuprofen, generic Zyrtec, etc.)
Vegetable trays for entertaining
Dog food
Maple syrup
Ghiradelli Brownie Mix (yum - our D has taken some back with her after visits when she lived overseas)
Almonds
Electronics after researching on line
Small appliances (Costco’s return policy on vacuum cleaners has been a godsend)
TP</p>
<p>Sometimes, if we are there for something else we’ll buy:</p>
<p>Cereal
Milk
Meat</p>
<p>Agree that you need to plan out when to go strategically to avoid the crowds. And you need to have some self restraint. Used to like the $1.50 soda and hot dog more when they served Coke, which we prefer to Pepsi. And splitting a churro with my DW is always fun. We used to live in the town where Costco is headquartered, so it is kind of like old home week when we go. Also, Costco in different markets will stock local items - Aloha shirts and snorkeling gear in Honolulu, ski pants in Vail.</p>
<p>this might be regional, but our So California Costcos have excellent wines at great prices. Many carry very high Wine Spectator ratings. (Costco buys more wine than any retailer in the world.)
Love our Costco beef as well. Not cheap, but the best quality available.</p>
<p>Love, love, love Costco!</p>
<p>We have bought 3 cars through them - unbelievable prices and no haggling!!
We buy our tires, most electronics, most meat (they have prime steaks that are fabulous and I love their lamb chops and chicken. I also buy their wild-caught salmon when they have it), flowers (hubby brings me roses all the time because they are so reasonable), toiletries, vitamins, advil, all prescriptions, toilet paper and paper towels, bottled water, wine (they have a great selection with very reasonable prices), some fruit, some bakery items, prepared foods (love their pizza, chicken salad, turkey roll-ups, and their mac and cheese!) Hubby gets office supplies. And gas!! (Cheapest prices in the area)</p>
<p>I still shop at the grocery store but if Costco has what I want, I get it there!</p>
<p>I joined Costco twice and both times ended up letting the membership lapse. (Ours doesn’t sell gas, cars or wine, which may have made for a different result.) I found the shopping experience so unpleasant–the crowds (mostly families with ill-behaved kids), harsh lighting, miles of walking on unforgiving surfaces, etc–and I never knew if the prices were really worthwhile on any particular item unless I’d been able to do research in advance. The random electronics were of no value to me because I buy that sort of thing based on a lot of research and then online price comparisons–I’d never just pick up a model that happened to appear on the Costco floor. I also didn’t want to have to store large quantities of stuff in my home. In the end, I’d make the 25 minute ride each way, shlep through miles of parking lot and then miles of aisles, wait in a huge checkout line, and then come home with some toilet paper and batteries. Life’s too short…</p>
<p>Produce, produce, produce! Their apples are the best anywhere, fresh corn on the cob, bananas, peaches. I also buy their meat. Just break it down and freeze it. I go every other week and am trying to buy more and more there and less at the grocery store. I don’t buy tp there though - the rolls are too big. But paper towels, bottled water, vitamins, produce, meat, sauces for said meat, oatmeal - yes I thought 110 servings of oatmeal would last a year but I ended up eating it every day so it “only” lasted about 110 days. But that 25 pound bag of flour has been going strong for almost a year. I need a new three pound bag of chocolate chips though. I also buy potassium for the water softener, electric toothbrush heads, soap, sometimes shampoo. I did stop buying cat food and litter though, my cats started having the stinkies from their food. So some things could improve. Love, love, love the return policy. The bracket on my flag I bought over a year ago broke - I just took back the flag and the bracket back and they gave me a new one. I also use their optometrist and buy my contact lens and glasses there.</p>
<p>A couple of you have mentioned bad lighting - tell me more about that. I’ve never noted a problem with the lighting at our store - not too bright,not too dim…</p>