Costco

[MamaMansa]

I wasn’t really sure where to put this, so I hope it fits here.

I recently got a discount on a Costco membership and have never shopped there before. What are your favorite things to buy? I’ve heard they have some good pre-made meals, which interest me, since I’m in school full-time and still homeschooling my youngest.

[MegMarch]

We buy their TP and paper towels. Their TP is one of the one ones that still has wide sheets, and is a good price per roll. The paper towels are also well-priced.

I also buy whatever their eco friendly laundry soap is. Their dishwasher pod things aren't as good as name brand, though they recently redid them and now might be better.

In the spring and summer, you'll find really nice life vests if your fam needs to update. In winter, their kid's gloves and balaclava thingies are are great.

For groceries, I tend to wait for sales on a lot of it. Their pork carnitas and pot roast in the fridge section are so nice to keep on hand. And the pesto is GREAT. We buy those three things regardless of sales. Oh, and the sliced rosemary ham.

The mini cukes and peppers are super for easy snacks.

[Close2MyHeart]

We love Costco! Here are some of our favs:
- Whisps (especially the Asiago/Pepper Jack ones)
- VT Jerky
- Cauliflower thins (I use these as a gluten free option for bread on egg sandwiches, regular sandwiches, or just break them up and dip them in the $itchin' Sauce)
- $itchen Sauce (Horrible name, but soooo delicious!)
- Paper Towels. (We skip the toilet paper because we're read it's not good for septic systems and since we're not on city sewer, we don't use it.)
- Juice boxes & pre-packaged snacks like fruit snacks, Bobos, etc. for school lunches
- Fruit, tho you have to eat it fast, I've found.
- Books
- Halloween Costumes (sometimes... if they have ones the kids like)
- Easter/Christmas dresses for the girls (also got their flower girl dresses there)

I'm sure there is more. My husband is the shopper in our family, so his list would probably be more extensive than mine.

[Aerynne]

Tortillaland raw tortillas
frozen berries
Artisan baby lettuce
unsweetened cocoa powder
vanilla extract
toilet paper
Kirkland trail mix
graham crackers
strawberry jelly
cereal IF it is on sale- their regular prices aren't fantastic

My daughter likes the chicken dumplings and most of my family loves their jarred pesto.

For the holidays, their pumpkin pie is amazing. Cheesecake is great, too.

Also for non-foods fresh cut Christmas trees, UV Skinz swim suits (up to size 7 kids), Speedo Swim Suits for girls and women, winter gloves, boots, and mittens, batteries, liquid hand soap.

[arelyn]

We don't have a membership but DH's cousin is a huge fan. She is also a big wine taster and she says their wine is legit. According to her, they buy the over production from really good wineries and relabel it as their own. You never know what you will get but she says a lot of time it is really high end stuff. I don't drink but thought it was a fun fact to throw out there.

I also love the lavender hand soap and fruity sparkling water she get's there.

[2sunshines]

We just got a Costco in our city and bought a membership because we needed a car battery and the savings to buy it there were enough to cover the price of the membership! So win win.

I am a deep price point checker and a sales shopper. Their prices in groceries actually fluctuate regularly so it's important to keep your eye on it. For example I know my price point for cheese, and lately the cheese at our costco has been fluctuating regularly! So sometimes it dips below my price point but often it's above. So just watch.

The things I purchase pretty regularly from there are:

rice
coffee
sugar
gluten free all purpose flour
nuts
pumpkin seeds
frozen organic vegetables
greek yogurt

I also always check out their warehouse sales. Every month they put certain things within their warehouse with an additional discount. That often brings things down below my desired price point. So that's the crux of most of my purchases there (tho be careful even with the deals it's sometimes not the best price, you have to know what you pay regularly elsewhere to compare. Make sure to make a list down to the price per ounce because with different and bigger sizes it's hard to compare without knowing that)

I also always check out their clothing and household item area. They often have good deals there.

[Singingmom]

I am a Costco regular. It’s interesting to see that some stores carry different things, for instance the two in my large city never have a gluten free flour blend, but I’ve seen it in other cities when I’ve been traveling.

I enjoy looking at seasonal things. Coats and Christmas ribbon are great buys. The pack of white tissue paper they set out for Christmas lasts me two years! They also have a large toy section before Christmas with brands like American Girl, Lego, etc.

I regularly buy
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Organic tortilla chips
Hummus
Organic chicken
Large bag of pre cut broccoli
Bag of six colorful peppers
Pasture raised eggs (lately avoiding because of the plastic packaging, but it’s hard to resist 24 for 6.99)
Canned wild planet tuna and salmon
Coconut oil, avocado oil
Gluten free bread
Pasta sauce, black beans
Trash bags
Body wash
Watch for sales on things like store brand allergy meds, vitamins, sunscreen

[mipennsn]

I love the Kirkland Protein bars. We hadn’t been for a while and I missed them. 10g per bar.

Ours was out of paper towels last week.

[MamaMansa]

Thank you SO much for all of these great suggestions. ❤️

Has anyone tried their fresh pre-made meals? I have heard good things about a couple of them, but would love to hear personal experiences. It’s not my ideal, but once my DH gets off of medical leave, I need options that are quick so we don’t resort to fast food on crazy busy days.

[MegMarch]

Originally Posted by MamaMansa

Thank you SO much for all of these great suggestions. ❤️

Has anyone tried their fresh pre-made meals? I have heard good things about a couple of them, but would love to hear personal experiences. It’s not my ideal, but once my DH gets off of medical leave, I need options that are quick so we don’t resort to fast food on crazy busy days.

We haven't tried them, but I hear the street tacos are super. I love their big vat of mashed potatoes for holidays and the same ones are in their meatloaf and mashed potato kits. My family isn't very into meatloaf so we've only had that one time.

[RiverRock]

I'm wondering how regional the pre-made meals are. I regularly buy butter chicken, quinoa salad, and stuffed peppers. My family also likes the taco kits and chicken pot pies...but I can easily make those meals so I rarely buy them. I've never seen meatloaf or mashed potatoes at my store. We also buy a lot of the salad mixes: Creamy dill is our current favourite.

[Pragmatist]

We like the rotisserie chicken, but I'm not familiar with other pre-made meals.

[ThreeKids]

Originally Posted by RiverRock

I'm wondering how regional the pre-made meals are. I regularly buy butter chicken, quinoa salad, and stuffed peppers. My family also likes the taco kits and chicken pot pies...but I can easily make those meals so I rarely buy them. I've never seen meatloaf or mashed potatoes at my store. We also buy a lot of the salad mixes: Creamy dill is our current favourite.

You can tell somewhat by the packaging. For example, the street tacos have a pile of grated cheese and other ingredients under one of those flimsy, plastic tray covers. That couldn't have been shipped like that.

The four-packs of frozen burrito bowls are definitely packaged somewhere else.

---------- Post added at 09:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:55 PM ----------

My family likes the street tacos. You pay for someone else to put it together and that's ok in some circumstances.

I get the frozen burrito bowls, but my family is slow to eat them. That's ok, because they can never say there's no food when we have 3 full freezers.

I buy bread and freeze it. I buy croissants and baguettes, a dessert from the bakery once in a while.

Moon cheese
tortilla chips
bulgogi jerky
other jerky
callagen powder drink mix
Muscle milk
anti-histamines
make-up wipes
Ritalin
pain killers
MCT oil
ghee and coconut oil, though I prefer Aldi's sizes, but the ghee was so yellow at Costco last time
TP, paper towels, bowls, spoons, sometimes red cups, but I don't like the small cups they have now
Fiji water, various seltzer waters
almond milk case
macadamia nut milk case
kirkland coffee pods
Panko-breaded chicken nuggets
chicken breasts
The Tillamook cheese blocks are to die for, but my shredder broke
quesadilla cheese
Gerry five-pocket pants
various plaid "flannel" shirts
jackets
trash cans
computer chairs
margarita mix
batteries
don't fall for the cheap light bulbs - that's only worth it if you don't mind changing them often
sometimes a giant bag of dorito's or skinny pop
ferrero rocher
stupid huge m&m's bucket
honey
that brand of jelly made by a French family who hid Nazis from Jews, very good and gets better when you get used to European mixes of berries
hiking shoes
toothpaste, floss, toothbrushes
Pho soup bowls
q-tips
frozen dumplings
frozen smoothie mixes
the vanilla ice cream cartons, has a little taste like McDonald's vanilla, but more grown-up texture
peeled boiled eggs
heavy cream (now in smaller size - the half gallon was way too big)
The Kerry butter!


You were really asking about pre-mades...
variety of salad kits big enough for a family
they make lots of cheap things from the left-over rotisserie chicken, but my family just won't let things be that easy for me
pre-cut fruits
pre-cooked frozen sausage and hamburgers - very good for those things that usually aren't good frozen
There should be good frozen breakfast sandwiches
Oh, oh, the mini tacos
street tacos
refrigerated ribs
refrigerated soups
tikka masala frozen meal and various other meals in that shape of packaging, refrigerated but I freeze them
I get the roast beef lunch meat, cheddar slices, and croissants. 10 seconds in the microwave as a sandwich
A billion things from the frozen section for the air fryer
wings

When they get tired of that, Trader Joe's has some frozen meals like chicken stir fry, etc.

[SewingGreenMama]

Rice
GF Bread
Quinoa
Hemp hearts
Milled Flax seeds
Maple syrup
GF-DF protein powder
Nature valley granola bars
Oil
Peanut butter
Jelly
Sugar
Seasonal fruits
Frozen veggies
Frozen veggies
Potatoes
Baby wipes
Batteries
Vitamins
Tortilla chips
Apple sauce
Spaghetti sauce
Cereal

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[Close2MyHeart]

We like the rotisserie chicken too! That's probably the only pre-made meal we have gotten tho.