Here’s what I buy at Costco or Sam’s so save my grocery budget. And…here’s what I avoid buying at those stores!
What I Buy at Sam’s and Costco
These are the purchases I make that save me the most money as I strive to keep our big family budget at $1,400. (I’m currently feeding 12 people three meals every day. Plus we have frequent guests.)
Here’s what saves me the most at Costco and Sam’s:
Organic Produce
I typically find organic produce at Costco for the same price as non-organic produce elsewhere. I still sometimes opt for non-organic depending on cost, but it’s nice to get organic options at Costco when I can. I have found that their organic apples, pears, mixed greens, spinach, carrots, and grapes are usually a great price!
Chicken Legs
These are always $0.98/pound, which is a great price per pound for high-quality meat.
Sliced and Shredded Cheese
In my experience, the bulk bags of shredded Colby jack and mozzarella cheese at Costco or Sam’s is less than what I find elsewhere, even Walmart. I also buy big packages of sliced Colby Jack and sliced Pepper Jack for grilled cheese sandwiches, saving quite a bit!
Other Dairy Products
BUTTER!!!! I always buy butter and save at Costco – while watching for loss leader sales at other stores, especially during holiday season. Also on my Costco and Sam’s list: Daisy Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, 4% Milkfat Cottage Cheese, Half and Half, and Heavy Whipping Cream. Sam’s has a large container of Whole Milk Yogurt that we like also.
Rotisserie Chicken
They are always $4.98 and you can eat them as-is for a fantastic convenience meal! Or you can turn it into any of these meals.
Chicken Thighs
I buy the six-pack of boneless chicken thighs at Costco or Sam’s for $3.49/pound. (Worth noting: I can also find these marked down for even less at Walmart so I always check there also.)
Beef Hotdogs
These are a great price at both Sam’s and Costco, and their taste doesn’t compare to any others I’ve found. We especially love the box of 80 beef hotdogs from Sam’s. They are so good!
Frozen Chicken Nuggets
These are a GREAT price at Costco and they taste better than any others we’ve tried.
Applesauce Pouches
If you buy these (with all of our littles, they are a great convenience food for us!) I highly recommend that you pick them up at Sam’s or Costco. They cost much less per pouch at these warehouses. Plus Costco has a Kirkland brand that is priced even better!
Caesar Salad Packs
I actually don’t know or even care how much these cost, ha. There’s something about these that just taste so very good! I always grab a couple from the produce department and we enjoy them with our meals during the next couple of days. Brayden and Keith eat thirds and fourths of this salad!
Frozen Pizza
I used to think of these as a splurge, but as it turns out, buying frozen pizza is actually a frugal option if you think of them this way. In our opinion, the Kirkland frozen pizzas at Costco are the best tasting compared to other brands.
Grass Fed Hamburger Meat
Currently, the best price I’ve found for Organic Ground Beef (Costco) or Grass Fed Ground Beef (Sam’s) is at these warehouses. Occasionally, Sam’s even has some marked down for quick sale, and I grab it up!
What to avoid
Here’s a list of items I typically find for a better price elsewhere…
Hotdog and Hamburger Buns
In the big scheme of things, this isn’t a super big deal or even a big waste of money. But I’ve found that it saves money to pick up hamburger and hotdog buns at Walmart or Aldi instead of at Costco or Sam’s.
Bagels
The same goes for bagels. I can get them at Aldi for much cheaper than those at Sam’s and Costco.
Salsa
We really like the Aldi organic salsa, and it is much cheaper than what I find at the warehouses. I buy a case of salsa at Aldi every time I go in.
Spaghetti Sauce
The Aldi Simple Nature organic spaghetti sauce is a great price and tastes great.
Hamburger Meat and Sausage
I watch other store ads to check for big hamburger meat discounts. And usually, I find sausage at Aldi for just $1.99/pound. So I don’t ever buy these two meat varieties at Sam’s or Costco unless I happen to catch a meat markdown at Sam’s that matches my price point.
Canned Veggies
I’ve found that canned beans, tomatoes, green beans, and corn are usually more expensive at Sam’s and Costco compared to Aldi. So I typically buy a flat of of 12 cans of black beans, baked beans, and corn when I go to Aldi instead of getting them at the warehouses.
Wow, is that it?
Overall, prices at Costco and Sam’s really are the best, especially for the high-quality foods that they offer. There are just those few items that I tend to look for elsewhere, and sometimes it isn’t worth making an extra trip to another store.
What are your buy and don’t buy suggestions from Costco and Sam’s?
Thanks for the lists! Your mention of salsa reminded me that we tell people all the time (sounds crazy!) but we buy both salsa and queso from Menards. I don’t know if Menards is a nationwide chain, or regional…and it seems odd to buy food from a home improvement store, but we get 60 oz bottles of ChiChi’s mild chunky salsa for less than $7. And we get 23 oz of Tostitos Salso con Queso for less than $5. And those are the everyday prices…sometimes you can get them even cheaper :)
Your food prices in the US are amazing!! Here in Canada, even at Costco, I usually can’t get a large package of chicken (any kind even drumsticks) for less than $22. The meat is packed differently here, so I would estimate those large packages to be about 3 lbs. Regular whole chickens are at least $15 each, which means the pack of 3 is $45. Out of the list, butter is the cheapest at something over $5 for 1 lb of the Kirkland butter. We spend a fortune on food, but I always save by buying in bulk at Costco (no Sam’s here that I know of). Some of my favorite buys are: Kirkland extra virgin organic olive oil in the 2 liter container, Chosen Foods avocado oil, Kirkland coconut oil, grape tomatoes and organic berries, jasmine rice, Simple Mills almond crackers, Kirkland almond flour, walnuts, etc. I almost always buy Kirkland batteries, and of course toilet paper. We don’t have any stores like Aldi, and regular grocery stores here tend to be expensive. But I get things on sale when I can. I love reading your posts about big food!
Oh and I don’t buy coffee anymore there, we like different brands than what they carry and get it for a decentish price on Amazon. I also rarely buy milk as we can’t easily go through a gallon just the two of us. The milk is around $10 for organic.
I bought $850 dollars at Smiths grocery in Albuquerque NM and ended up only paying a little over $500. This was a big shopping for us. I thought my husband was going to bust his gut when he saw the $850 price but when it came down to it I bought 5 packages of pork roast on sale for anywhere from$2,00 to $2.50 a package. We bought a dozen packs of bacon for $1.00 each. Water was $2.00 for 18 bottles and I bought 2. Corn was 6 for $1 and I bought a dozen. There was so much on sale and mark down that I think my husband broke a gasket when he saw the original price, I also bought 2 capons for I think it was 2.50 each. There was so much that it took over 1 1/2 hour to go through check out. The cashier who was the manager shouted out You did fantastic today (she know us)
Thanks for the tips! You say your food budget is 1200? Is that per month? I’m trying to figure out how to squeeze more into our grocery budget – we spend the same. It’s really nice to see new ideas for stretching the dollars instead of the same tired old suggestions that don’t apply to us. I don’t visit the coffee shop every morning! lol! Thanks again.
Yes, that is $1200 per month for 10 of us to eat at home every day. We are able to make that work for now, but when our littles get bigger and start eating more I’m not so sure!
Yes, that is $1200 per month for 10 of us to eat at home every day. We are able to make that work for now, but when our littles get bigger and start eating more I’m not so sure!