i'm going with my mom in a week or two (she has a membership, i don't) and i am looking for some tips. we are a family of 3 so we won't be buying lots of perishables - we just have a regular refrigerator and freezer, no extra storage there. i was thinking paper products of course, maybe cleaning supplies...laundry detergent...?? what are your thoughts ladies? i am really interested in taking advantage of the savings!
Paper towels, paper plates, bathroom tissue, straws, bleach, laundry and dish detergent, razor blades, lotion, toothbrushes.
Olive oil, butter, coffee, candy.
Water.
My son loves their rotisserie chicken, and it costs less than $6.
Everything BUT toilet paper and paper towels. I think Scott brand tp is cheaper and lasts longer. I buy that at Walmart. We don't use paper towels.
Vinegar (2 gallons for $3.58)
laundry detergent
dishwasher pacs
trash bags
ketchup
baking supplies (flour, sugar, spices, etc.)
olive oil
deodorant
shampoo
diapers
wipes
a ton of perishables (milk is always so cheap)
shredded cheese
Just take lots of money if you plan to buy everything at once. The first couple of trips are super expensive and then over time you just replace the things you run out of.
We put some shelves up in the garage to hold all the extras.
I hate the cleaning products they sell at Sams bleh- but I do love the laundry & dishwasher detergent options they offer;) We do have a membership, so I am there a lot. The key thing to keep the bill reasonable is not to go crazy with the side items like books, videos, whatever the free sample ladies are selling - also if you do have some extra $$ do take a look at their holiday items - pretty amazing. take half an hour to cruise the website and see what you use :)
here is my "staples" list when I go:
Toilet paper (we do not use paper towels for environmental reasons)
Laundry detergent (tide he)
cascade dish packs
bread (two for $5 ish)
Tortillas
Stacys Pita chips
ritz
ground beef
chicken breast (frozen)
lunch meat (this is actually a great deal if you like sandwiches and you can easily use one of the tubs in about two weeks. otherwise freeze half of it!)
snacks (100 calorie assortment box)
frozen fruit (smoothies add to yogurt)
Chobani
soup (awesome soups!!)
Bisquick
Syrup
pasta (great pantry packs last a month or so!)
Sauce (bertolli three jars !!)
cliff bars
toothpaste
coffee (k-cups! or any coffee - great price)
Cereals
Canned items:
rotel
chicken broth
bushes beans
mandarin oranges
Have fun and give yourself time and for the love of all that is holy do not bring your kids. they'll derail you so fast you'll check out with a $5 - 600 cart of stuff:)
toilet paper ( it lasts for like 3 months)
lunch snacks ( chips, fruit snacks, juice boxes)
Bottled water ( 4.00 for a 36 pack)
breakfast stuff ( pancakes and sausage on a stick, jimmy dean , mini pancakes)
dog treats
everything u mentioned +stuff you use alot of. for us when we go to costco we buy baby formula, tums, ketchup, toothpaste, crackers, pasta, cereal. Im not sure about sams club but costco has an awesome frozen section-we usually buy frozen breaded tilapia, i can make 2 dinners out of it and its easy u just throw them in the over..another favorite are angus cheeseburgers they have that come individually wrapped and u microwave them, they also have big boxes of chicken nuggets.. i could go on forever, i could buy theyre whole frozen section lol but like you i have a normal freezer so i have to limit myself to a couple things at a time, i try to mostly stick to stuff that wont go bad.. and definatley only things you will use/eat often, its hard because everything is so big at such a great price that you want to buy everything.. my dad bought like a 10lb bag of peanuts there months ago and theres still half a bag sitting in one of our cabinets
It varies but I buy
Paper plates
Toilet Paper
Lysol Wipes
Laundry Detergent & Fabric Softener
Dishwasher Soap
Granola Bars
Usually some packaged things for my girls lunches depending on what they are in the mood for and what I am in the mood to buy them
I usually do pick up bread there - although I don't go there regularly to get bread
I generally keep a list of the thing we use most and about what I am paying for it other places. Sam's often carries limited-time items that I actually can use, but not if I am going to be paying more. But mostly we get:
Frontline (the cheapest place by far)
Toilet Paper
Some fruits and veggies
Mac-n-cheese
Movies
Bread
Cat food
Cheese and fruit are my biggies. I also like these healthy tortilla chips they have and the giant bag of veggie sticks chips. Hamburger (I separate into baggies and put into the freezer for tacos later on). I don't notice a huge savings in paper products so I tend to not buy them there.
Box of Goldfish packets
Capri Sun
Carnation Instant Breakfast
Trash Bags
Tampons/Maxi Pads
Pack of liquid handsoaps (comparable to Bath & Body Works soaps)
Dishwasher Pacs
Clothes (great prices, great quality)
Raisin Bran
Pretzels
Sam's also has great gifts baskets for the holidays. I love their cakes and their meatloaf with mash potatoes in the foods section is awesome. I usually don't buy their meats, but I have heard that the meats are good too.
I love Sam's Club!
i gop to costco...same thing..J. go and keep an eye out. i dont plan on anything because sometimes products and prices change
i ussually end up with
water
generic soda
juice boxes
i get one or two lunch box things each time so I have variety (cheese strings, huge box of goldfish (i dont like paying extra for individually wrapped but they have those) chips (here i do pay extra for the veriety packs), pudding, dried fruit
pancake mix
syrup
a condiment 3 pack (ketchup, mustard, mayo )
A1
toilet paper (if cheap enough)
paper towels (if cheap enough)
cheese (brick of gouda) and italian meats (suprestta, salami)
milk
eggs
frozen veggies
i dont get much frozen or refrigerated stuff
- Toilet paper
- Vinegar (to clean with and use as fabric softener)
- Bread (it comes in packs of two, we freeze one)
- Snacks, but not many - we don't do a lot of prepackaged but we will have granola bars and things like that on hand for when the kids just cannot do hummus, pears and carrots anymore!
- Raviolis that I cannot find anywhere else but there
- Love their meat/deli area, but it isn't always cheaper. They seem to have a good selection of "easy" foods though, like 7 layer dip or spinach dip
- They have cheap cute kids clothes too!
- Sometimes DVD's
- We got a mattress there once
- Batteries
- Anything you use regularly and use a lot of
BUT, be careful. Not everything is cheaper - make sure you know the prices per ounce at other retail establishments such as Wal mart, etc. Compare the price per ounce and don't just assume because it is bulk it is cheaper. When we were still using swiffers, it was still cheaper to buy the solution and pads at walmart, as an example.
Have fun at the cult!!! =)
Paper towels, ravioli, spaghetti, tuna, gogurt (have 2 kiddos that love it), Jacks pizza (4 per box) - cheaper than local store, Cereal, snacks for daughter's lunch (fruit snacks, applesauce, bugles, etc). I love their breads, cookies and desserts, too!! Salsa, lunchmeat and occasionally (like 1x a year) I'll buy their muffins or honey buns as a treat for the hubs and kiddos!
We love the colored bell peppers (a package of 6)...there are only 4 of us, and we easily use these up before they go bad. They are the sweetest ever! We also like their cherub tomatoes-again we use them up quickly because they are like candy. We also buy whole wheat pasta there-my girls don't even know it is whole wheat, and Prego spaghetti sauce. We actually buy lots of stuff at Sam's. Their vanilla raisin bread (in the bakery area) is to die for....the frozen mangos are awesome, too! Have fun!
