The Warehouse Club Gotcha
So, is the price of membership at Sam’s Club or BJ’s or Costco worth it? Do you really save enough to warrant spending that $40-50? The truth is, it depends on you.
- Are you someone who comparison shops and knows the actual difference between the club price and the supermarket or electronics store price?
- Do you consider the total spend AND the by unit/weight price differences?
- Do you set a budget for the trip to the club and stick to it, able to resist the siren call of $15 impulse items (vs. the $5 impulse buy at the gro)?
- Do you have the room to store the bulk purchases you make without turning your home into a warehouse?
- Do you shop the club monthly and pretty much buy the same things each time because it truly does take about a month to go through the purchases?
If you’re careful about your spending, and have the room to store bulk items, your savings can offset the price of membership and then some, especially with things like large consumer electronics (TVs, computers) and frozen foods.
But it may be that your personal situation and “shopping personality” will get you into a lot of trouble at a warehouse store.
- Do you tend to talk yourself into needing things just because you want them, making impulse buys that you later regret?
- Do you have “portion control” issues?
- Do your tastes tend to change frequently, especially with foods?
- Do you leave leftovers in the fridge for weeks before you finally remember them and throw them away?
- Do you have any clue what a good price is on the things you buy every week/month?
For someone who tends to live in the moment without an eye for the future, a warehouse club can be quite a gotcha. Their $100 trip turns into $300 that they cannot afford and they regularly throw away their money in the form of food that is past its prime.
Me, I used to have a Sam’s Club membership, and I learned some hard lessons about myself in that warehouse. I discovered that I have a tendency for impulse buying, and the “oh so new and shiny” really gets me in that place. I would forget to be frugal because of the plenty around me. And since I don’t have a family to feed—it’s just me and the hubby, bulk purchases were a waste most of the time. For me, the better move was to drop the membership and shop the grocery and electronics stores. Of course, for those bargains that can only be found at the warehouse, I’ve got a couple of friends on speed dial with their membership cards at the ready.
What’s your warehouse club experience?
4 Responses to “The Warehouse Club Gotcha”
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Man, this one gets me every time! I’ve had to put a moratorium (did I spell that right?) on Sam’s Club visits for just the reasons you outline. Now when we go, my husband and I take a list and pinkie swear in the parking lot to not let each other get carried away by the shiny, the bright, the impossibly large, and the might-not-be-here-next-time temptations. We’re still working on the sticking power of that pinkie swear; sometimes we still fail. Ah, but trying is the name of the game, is it not? Keep up the good posts. This is excellent stuff.
Thanks for your feedback. I’m glad to share!
My first husband and I had a Sam’s Club membership. I am a sucker for gel pens/office supplies, and they have so many pretty pens that I just didn’t need. Sure it helped with diapers and such, but it caused me, the impulse buyer, to spend even more than I would at the grocery store.
When it came time to renew said card, we decided not to. The savings was lost to the shiny, pretty things. Classic crow syndrome wins.
[...] also discovered that warehouse club Sam’s Club, which I talked about on November 5th, announced that it would give a $10 Sam’s Club gift card to all new members signing up [...]