

I honestly think that the savings are nominal and you can be lulled into believing that you are getting a better deal, just because you are shopping at a "wholesale retailer."Īn article from The Clearpoint Blog shared in detail four problems associated with shopping at a wholesale warehouse. I don't really see a large savings in items that are purchased at a wholesale retailer. I have not always seen the benefit in buying in bulk. Why Could a Costco or a Sam's Club Membership be Bad? Maybe for our family it's not strictly Costco, but the fact that we need to stay on a detailed list when we visit Costco. Whenever we go into Costco, it seems we find something to buy that's not on the list (from chips to avocado oil to barbecue sauce). My wife and I have talked about the extra cost that goes with a Costco run and we believe that not sticking to a list could be our downfall with our Costco runs. So, what does the data mean? It means that we have trouble of keeping our spending low when we use Costco. Over 12 months, that's a savings of $3,125.88 (not including the membership fee). On average, that's a difference of $260.49. The average grocery spending for the non-Costco months is $730.71. The average grocery spending for the Costco months is $991.20. Non-Costco), you find a huge discrepancy. Overall, when you compare the average spent in each month (Costco vs. That month we hosted a birthday party for our daughter and that led to the high grocery bill. The only month that was not a Costco month that was expensive was November. Let's dig into my opinions.Īs you can see, the months that we used Costco were our most expensive months for grocery shopping. I have a couple reasons and data from our own personal lives to explain my personal beliefs on bulk. I will use one more example, based on my own theory about bulk in terms of people trying to get out of debt. I don't always believe that the best option is to buy in bulk.

However, is it always the best idea to buy in bulk? There is some truth to the "whole buy in bulk" concept, because in the long run you get a better deal on the item that you purchase. Therefore, it seems like we are teaching everyone, including our kids that buying the bigger size with the smaller unit price is always the best idea. We teach the students to find the unit price and pick the option that would be the best based on the unit price. Similarly, finding the unit price of specific items and comparing them is a topic that we teach at the middle school level. The concept is right, but the wording is all wrong. In general, the larger items are more expensive than buying a smaller item as a whole. However, when comparing the unit price the larger item would then be cheaper per one unit. The below statement got me thinking: "Buy the larger sizes because it usually costs less - but make sure you can use it before it goes bad."įirst of all, I see a flaw in this statement. One statement stuck out to me, because I have recently been questioning buying in bulk. This particular page of tips was talking about strategies to save money at the grocery store. This particular notepad had a financial theme and every once in a while you will stumble upon a page with tips. Each month or each pad has a different topic. Her employer likes to send out notepads and calendars with inspirational topics and tips.

If you purchase products or services linked from this page, Summit of Coin may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.Ī couple months ago, I was working on our finances, and I was using a notepad that was supplied by my wife's employer.
