No, not a which is better, etc

The question is, do you save in the long run or do membership costs eat in to whatever savings you would have?

I think we all would agree amazon is a net positive

[Edited on October 1, 2024 at 11:50 PM. Reason : Just fuel costs alone]

10/1/2024 11:49:24 PM

I ordered some adjustable dumbbells on Amazon and saved over $100 on shipping thanks to Amazon Prime

I also pay for my Costco membership just from filling up my car with gas

Sam's is too far for me but I think their membership is a good bit cheaper than Costco

10/2/2024 12:01:13 AM

Not really a good bit. More like a wee bit

10/2/2024 12:09:05 AM

I used Sam's for the last couple years and it definitely saved money. we have 7 people in our household though so it may not be as much of a difference for smaller households. we did just switch to BJ's though, so we'll see how that goes

10/2/2024 12:01:39 PM

I have memberships to BJ’s and Costco. I like going to BJ’s better than Costco because BJ’s doesn’t make you feel like you’re part of a cult. But nothing will match the selection you get with Costco. I don’t know if any of it is saving me money though.

10/2/2024 1:45:14 PM

It all depends on your buying habits, tbh. If Costco has the brands and items you typically buy, you can probably save enough to make up for the membership. I just bought 200 Ziploc bags for $20, when 50bags is ~$7 ish at walmart, for instance. That'll probably last us a year. I see similar price differences for paper towels and toilet paper. Food is hit or miss, but you can usually find bulk items of the same brands you are already buying, too. As long as you have a deep freezer, you can make it work.

Where you can also save is their cash back. I bought a TV for the same price as I would have paid on Amazon, but got 4% cashback through them+their visa. I think it would have been ~2% back on my regular credit card.

And gas is typically 20-30 cents cheaper than the surrounding stations for us, plus cash back as well. It's not terribly out of our way, so it's easy to just stop by after dropping off the kids at school.

10/2/2024 3:03:54 PM

Think of how much money you'd save by having your kids ride the bus

10/2/2024 3:44:14 PM