Sams club or Costco?

[turtle*]

Not sure if this is the right section? But i'm currently debating between which place to get a 1 year membership at. Both are really near by me withing 5 miles of driving.

 

I'm 19, living by myslef in a 1 br apartment. With a full time job. I'm mainly going to the store to pick up food to make my lunchs and dinners and for w/e i would need household wise. Once in a while i do plan on adding more furiture. Now i want to get one of these memberships but currently i don't know which would be best suiting me. I know i can't get the best of both worlds. I see a lot of ads for cheap stuff at both stores. It seems that costco has a lot more selections and tons of diffrent stuff that i could be interested in.

 

Currently i'm shopping at a Aldi's about 10 miles away. The stuff there is decent but i don't have a selection of fresh meat nor fruits. So thats getting a little disappointing for me.

 

Anyone with words to persuade me into going to one or the other would be great. Any personal experiences would be great as well.

 

Honestly i've been to sam's club once here and i loved it also i've been to costco once as well and the experience was like wise. But i never went there for my shopping needs.

[biomajor]

Get a one day pass to each of them and see which would meet your needs best. You are lucky to have both so close to you! Costco is over an hour away from me, but we have a card. I go there once or twice a year. Sam's is a lot closer and I go there at least weekly.

[freesia39]

i only have costco, so i go there all the time.

 

except lately we don't want to deal with the weekend crowds, so we went to smart and final the other day. costco is SO much cheaper.

[msomnipotent]

I have never had a membership to Sam's and haven't been there in years. They offered about the same sizes as Costco from what I remember. I was just at Costco today. Unless you are willing to eat pounds of fresh fruit and meat per day, neither may be your best bet if you are just going for groceries. I go to Costco for alcohol, dirt (you just can't beat them on their bags of potting soil), and frozen foods. I simply cannot use 10 pounds of tomatoes, onions or potatoes before they rot, even though it is pretty cheap per pound. I mainly buy baby clothes, alcohol, Bagel Bites, and tomato sauce at Costco, along with the occasional rotisserie chicken, and look for better bargains with my coupons at the grocery stores, which can be done quite easily if you know how to shop.

[Kayakmom]

Personally, I would choose Costco. If you do a search in the forums, you will find other threads on this topic that are from a month or two ago and have a lot of details and responses.

 

I have BJ's and Costco and I like them both very much. Costco is much further from my house, but I'll be going there tomorrow. I look forward to it! I bought the membership because I wanted a digital camera and a laptop that they had. Getting to go to the store on occasion is a bonus for me! BJ's is much closer and I go there a lot to get stuff for Cub Scouts, bananas for ds4 (he's a monkey, lol), and a few other things on a regular basis.

 

Edit: Here's the link to that other thread: http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=30040

[Marcster]

In addition to the link Kayakmom provided, you can also check this one out:

http://forums.gottadeal.com/showthread.php?t=31672

[tt600triumph01]

Well, I have a card at both places Sam's and BJ's. The good thing is that BJ's takes coupons. Sam's doesn't. BJ's also sends you coupons via the mail, when you become a member and they even have them at the customer service desk. You can even cut your own coupons and use them from Sunday paper for example. Sometimes Sam's is cheaper and sometimes BJ's is cheaper. It just all depends.

[elena_398]

I dont' have a Cosco but I am a member of Sams Club. Love it

[Guest Rosemarie1977]

You can always use SAM'S Club One Day Guest Pass.

I found one at californiafreebies.com. 10% service fee applies. (not applicable in CA, SC and Elmsford, NY)

[AndreaInNC]

You also have to sit down and figure out how much you have to spend in order to have the membership pay for itself. If it is just you, it might cost you more in the long run to join than say shopping at your local grocery store.

 

I know that I always price stuff at my local grocer or even Target before I buy stuff at Sam's. With sales and coupons, I usually don't find myself shopping at Sam's that much. Just because the items are packaged in twos and threes, doesn't make them cheaper.

[angel-too]

Yeah, I bought a HUGE 5lb. tub of butter at Sam's, and I cant wait till its gone! Its not real convenient hauling it out just to butter a piece of bread and it takes up so much room in the fridge!

[hpowers]

I can't see where it would be beneficial with only one person. We have a family of 6 so I like to buy in bulk for the convience of not having a cart full at the Supercenter every time I go.

[psiu]

Costco does have the lifetime guarantee (except on computers) remember?

 

Depends really on what your needs are, Costco has a lot fewer items at any given time and there is much greater turnover in the items they stock.

 

I think in your case you might get a better use out of Costco, going once every week or two to get a few food items and maybe some nice piece of (furniture, grill, stereo, book, etc) while I do think Sams might be a better choice for someone with a family to feed.

 

I do think the lifetime guarantee owns all, especially if you are planning on any big-ticket type items.