A few months back, I did something I don’t normally do. I paid a store to let me and my family shop there. I became a Costco member, and while the closest store to me is almost 100 miles away, I can shop for bulk supplies online and have them shipped to me. There is no shipping fee if you order $75 or more in dry/household goods and/or $100 in cold/frozen goods. The price online might be a couple of bucks higher than in the warehouse (sometimes but not always), but if there is any price difference, there will be a notice on whatever product you are looking at advising that the cost may be less in warehouse. I like that because it allows me to roughly figure if I’m saving money overall by ordering online, or if it’s more cost effective to actually drive to the warehouse while figuring in the cost of gas it would take to get me there and back.
I put my first grocery/pantry order in on January 1, it shipped January 3, and it arrived today, January 5. This is what came in:
If you’ve ever ordered or shopped at a Sam’s Club or Costco, you know you can get some pretty good deals. Of course, buying in bulk is expensive initially, but when you break down the cost of each individual item, sometimes you can save a significant amount of money in the long run.
Let’s look at the Kirkland Signature brand AA batteries. I bought two packs of batteries, one pack of AAA, and one pack of AA. They were $18.99 each, and each pack contained 48 batteries. If you break down the price, each battery cost me 40 cents.
Now, if I check the website for my local Dollar store, a 16-count package of generic AA batteries costs $8.75, a 16-count package of Duracell batteries cost $16, and a 16-count package of Energizer batteries costs $15.75. With the Kirkland batteries, 16 of them cost me $6.40. Oh, and a quick Google search of who makes these particular batteries returned a surprising result. According to multiple websites, it is Duracell. If that’s true, that’s great. These batteries have a 12-year shelf-life guarantee, and if I try them and I’m not completely satisfied, Costco will return my money.
The Spam comes in an 8-pack. I ordered 2 8-count packages, and each can wound up costing $3.37. They are $3.65 at the local Dollar store. The 2-liter (2-quart 3.6 fl. oz.) bottle of Kirkland brand Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil was $15.99. The Skippy Peanut Butter came in a 2-pack for $12.69. The jars are 48 ounces each. One of the tops did get busted in transit, but the seal was still there.
The 33-count box of Grandma’s Cookies was $12.99. The 40-count box of Nabisco Variety Pack crackers and cookies was $14.49. The 45-count box of Goldfish crackers was $13.99.
The Planters Peanuts Variety Pack was $12.99, and the packs are anywhere from 1.5 ounces to 1.75 ounces. The 30-count Nature Valley Almond Butter Biscuits was $19.99. The Welch’s Fruit Snacks cost $16.99 and contained 90 .8-ounce packages, perfect for little hands. The 18-count Kraft Mac N Cheese was $18.99, or $1.06 per box. The 18-ounce bottle of Garlic Powder was $7.99.
I got 2 6-count packages of Kirkland Chunk Chicken Breast, and each can is 12.5 ounces. They cost $15.49 per 6-count package or $2.58 per 12.5-ounce can. The Folgers coffee comes in a whopping 43.5-ounce container and cost me $14.99 online.
I did also order some Kirkland brand heartburn relief pills that are coming in later this week. I bought 2 2-count packages of that for $11.79 each package. I was trying to wait and be able to make the trip to the warehouse to do my shopping, but as I’m sure you guys are aware, the prices of things in the grocery stores and Dollar stores just keep rising. Gas prices are rising again now as well. I know that eventually places like Costco and Sam’s Club will have to do the same thing, and already have in some cases.
By going ahead and buying these items in bulk, I was able to save a little money when comparing prices per item, and that made sense to me. I don’t feel like I went overboard because the snack foods will be split between the grandkids, my truck driver husband, and our 20-year-old son who is in college. The batteries will never last 12 years around this house, the canned meat will be rotated and eaten, and the coffee? Well…let’s just say I’m not a very nice person without coffee.
What about you? What do you think about bulk purchase warehouses?