The Sometimes Misleading Bargains at Warehouse Clubs

Mavis asks:

Is it really cheaper to shop at costco? i feel
like they suck the life out of me every time i visit.

When Sam's Club first entered our area, I, like many, bought a $35 membership and thought I was saving money. After all, some of their over-sized items just looked huge, and the size alone made me think I was getting a better deal. Anyone who has sold candy for a fund raiser knows the value of Sam's and other warehouse clubs when trying to make a few bucks. But for everyday grocery shopping, the deals may not always be at the clubs.

Let's check some prices. Sam's Club in our area has Kellogg's Special K - 38 oz. for $7.88. Now, compared with the regular price of Special K, it's probably a good deal. But grocery stores have two things going for them that the clubs don't--sales and coupons.

If your grocery store has Kellogg's cereal on sale for $2 a box, for example, you could buy nearly 4 boxes of Special K for the same price as the warehouse size. In addition, the smaller boxes mean that your cereal will stay fresh longer, since you won't have a huge box open. The club may run a sale on cereal, but saving a dollar on a $8 box of cereal isn't nearly as good as saving a dollar on 4 $3 boxes.

Also, don't forget about the coupons. You don't find coupons in the newspaper or online to save money on a 38 ounce box of cereal. But if you find a 50 cent or $1 coupon on a normal-sized box and can obtain three or four copies of that coupon, you've just tripled or quadrupled your savings.

This is just one example, but perhaps it will have you thinking a bit more the next time you consider visiting a warehouse club. Is everything at the clubs a bad deal? Certainly not, but with some practice, you should be able to save more elsewhere.