<p>My son will be sharing a house with two other students starting June 1 for a year. Son and friends are huge bargain hunters and will probably furnish the house with furniture from dumpster diving, yard sales and second hand stores. I’m wondering if it would be worth purchasing him a Sam’s club Collegiate membership for two of them for $40. There is no Costco near him, and I’ve never been in a Sam’s club so I’m not sure if there’s enough value in doing that. The reason I am considering it is the quantity of food he, and I assume his friends, eat. </p>
<p>Son and friends are all big on outdoor activities like hiking, biking, etc and are all quite thin but my son alone can easily eat a box of cereal every other day. The Sam’s club nearest him is about 15 minutes away - but he has a car. </p>
<p>I would think for $40 for 2 people, the boys would find what they like and make it worth the money. He can go to Sam’s and check it out; have him walk the aisles and see what they sell. If they sell his cereal, gatorade, chips, etc… that he wants to buy, then I would think it would be worth it. </p>
<p>I personally like Costco better, but we belong to both. If Costco doesn’t have what I want/need, I head to Sam’s. You son will be able to find plenty to buy there!</p>
<p>I agree with #2 post but he should also see if there is a Walmart superstore in the area as well and do a bit of price checking between the two.
I also like Costco much better for the imho better quality and their better return policies for merchandise.</p>
<p>Costco is not an option. There is none within even a 50 mile radius of his college. There is a Walmart Supercenter closer to his house then the Sam’s club. I don’t shop at Walmart personally if at all possible but I can see that he might. Are the savings at Sam’s generally better then the Walmart Supercenter? The things that I know he likes from Costco are the giant pizza’s, bakery cookies and bagels, and generally just the super-sized packages of food.</p>
<p>With no Costco within 60 miles of us, I’ve always been a Sam’s Club shopper. I think it will be $40 well spent as long as they have his favorite cereal. The savings on cereal alone will easily save the $40.00 I think I paid about $6.00 last week for a double sized box of cereal. It kills me to pay $5.00 for half the amount at the regular grocery as we all four of us usually have some type of cereal for breakfast. I also find that for most things, Sam’s is less expensive than the Walmart superstore for quantities. For single cans/jars of sauces, etc. I can sometimes find them for less on sale at the regular grocery. As I’ve been really watching food prices for the last few months I’ve found that sometimes the grocery will have a sale price that is less than Sam’s Club on some items, but I know I can consistently get it for a price lower than Walmart or the grocery when whatever I need is not on sale.</p>
<p>I just assisted S in a move to an apartment. We shopped at a Super WalMart and at Sam’s. We purchased master cartons on toilet papar and paper towels. They were both significantly less on a per roll basis at Sams. I’d vote for getting him the card.</p>
<p>You can check their merchandise online to find out whether they have foods he’ll enjoy. [SAM’S</a> CLUB](<a href=“http://samsclub.com/]SAM’S”>http://samsclub.com/) At the top, under “Now shopping,” click “Change” and choose “Pick-up items.” Under that, click “Change” again and search for the store near your son. Now, all the merchandise you see on the site will be stuff that’s available at that store.</p>
<p>He might find their “Click’n’Pull” service convenient. He can shop for stuff online, and the next day they’ll have it ready for him to pick up and pay (they send email when it’s ready).</p>
<p>Son and I decided to visit a Sam’s club near here to see what he thought. It seemed a lot closer to a BJ’s then a Costco’s IMHO. I would not join but it did have the stuff that he liked and I think it would be worth it. We both thought that there would be no advantage to buying the membership today though since he is not moving into the house until June 1st. Thanks for your input everyone. I like that click’nPull thing - that sounds perfect for people like him that really don’t like to shop.</p>
<p>Sam’s clubs are great, but the quantities are sometimes just too huge. Also, things like laundry detergent and toilet paper can be stocked up when on sale and usually cheaper than at the wholesale clubs.</p>
<p>A lot also depends on how the housemates are going to manage food, etc. DD and her apartmentmates manage their own food for the most part. So the super large sizes might be too much. But they do have a Sam’s club to share the expenses of some of the larger items and paper goods.</p>