What You Should And Shouldn’t Buy At Costco
Is there any place more magical than Costco?
The bulk, the shopping, the many, many, things to buy, it's just a great store with a lot
of great... well, things to buy.
But what if we told you that not everything should be bought at Costco?
What if we told you there was a comprehensive list of all the things (especially groceries
and food) that you should and shouldn't get from Costco?
Well, we'll dive into that list...
But first, before we begin this video, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel for more
daily tips like this and turn on notifications so you never miss our new videos!
Alright, now on to that Costco store shopping list.
When it comes to food and grocery, what are the best things to buy at Costco?
What are the worst things to buy?
Well, we here at Bestie like to start on positives, so let's first go over all the things you
should definitely shop for when you're visiting the bulk shop.
DISCLAIMER: The prices we quote in this video are the prices listed at the time this video
came out, and are subject to change.
1) Baked Goods.
When you're shopping for groceries at one of the world's biggest bulk stores, then definitely
consider picking up some of these sweet treats.
Founder of MYFRUGALADVENTURES.COM Charlene Haugsven tells us that pies, cakes, and cheesecakes
are some of the best things to buy when you're shopping at Costco.
In her own words: "People swear by the sheet cakes that they sell for birthdays and parties".
For $18.99 (at the time this video goes out) you can buy a cake that can serve 48 people.
But it's not just sweeties you should grab from the bulk store, it's bagels too.
They offer Einstein Bros. bagels for $5.99 a dozen, which apparently is half of what
you'd pay for that at the bagel shop.
What a steal!
2) Cheese.
Another food item you should consider when you're grocery shopping at Costco is cheese.
Their prices are considerably lower than what you'd pay at a regular grocery store and they
have the numbers to prove it.
For a 32 ounce block of their signature Kirkland brand mild cheddar cheese, you'll be paying
around $4.59.
That doesn't seem too cheap until you consider that at your average grocery store, an 8-ounce
block of cheese sells for about $4.99.
If that's not enough and you're the lazy type, Costco has you covered for shredded cheese
as well.
For a two pack of Kirkland shredded cheese, you'll pay around $10.49, which is about 26
cents an ounce.
Compare that to other places to buy groceries, where you'll usually get bags of cheese for
$2.38, or about 30 cents an ounce.
Try to avoid gourmet cheeses, however.
HAUGSVEN tells us that you should try to stay away from them because the portions are too
small.
Who cares, with all the non gourmet cheese you'll be eating you'll be all cheesed out
by the end of it!
3) Chicken.
This might just be us, but when we want "fresh, gourmet meat" Costco isn't the first place
that comes to mind when we think about doing a grocery run for that stuff.
Heck, before this video, we wouldn't have associated Costco with quality meat at all!
That's until we found out that not only does Costco have great, fresh chicken, but their
in house cooked rotisserie is incredibly popular as well.
According to CNBC, it's in such high demand that the company is building a brand-new production
center in Nebraska to keep up with that aforementioned demand.
And it's only $5, which is insanely well priced.
It's not just the price that we love, but the size as well.
Costco chickens, especially the pre made ones, tend to be bigger than the chickens you'd
buy at your local grocery store.
It's not just pre cooked chicken that they do well either.
Organic, skinless chicken tenders are usually sold in 6 pound bags for $4.99 per pound,
which CNBC reports is a pretty darn good price.
They also sell tenderloins for one dollar more a pound, which is still a steal if you
want to contrast it to other places.
In comparison, Trader Joe's chicken is $7.49 per pound.
If you don't want to do the math because you're one of those aforesaid shredded cheese people,
Trader Joe's sells it for 1 dollar more than Costco does.
4) Frozen Fruit.
Is there anything better than frozen fruit?
You can put it in smoothies, iced cream or if you're brave enough to withstand a brain
freeze, eat it right out of the bag.
It also lasts longer, which means you'll have frozen, almost ready to eat fruit whenever
you so desire.
If you're shopping for frozen fruit, then Costco is your best bet.
Our old friend HAUGSVEN confirms it, saying that "The prices really can't be beat at Costco
for the organic frozen fruit".
They also have a great variety, offering everything from mixed berries to pineapples.
Let's talk price: a 4-pound bag of Kirkland organic frozen strawberries is $4.99, which
compared to Trader Joe's 12-ounce bag for $2.69 is a great deal.
So stop worrying where you're going to get your fruit from, just go to Costco.
5) Olive Oil.
The slippery staple from Greece is another thing you should definitely buy from Costco.
When CONSUMER LABS compared the prices of various olive oils in grocery stores around
the country, they found that Kirkland's organic extra-virgin olive oil at $16.99 was in the
top three in terms of value.
Walmart sells Colavita (another popular brand) extra-virgin olive oil for $17.98.
As far as we're concerned, and we're pretty sure you're concerned with it too, that's
a much better deal.
So now that we've examined all the things you should buy from that beautiful shop known
as Costco, maybe we should look at all the things you should definitely NOT buy from
the glorious bulk super store.
We'll try not to dig too hard at Costco because we love it so much, but we have to do this
in the interest of fairness.
1) Breakfast cereal.
Like most of the other things you shouldn't buy at Costco, you'll find that you can get
this stuff for the same price at other local grocery stores.
Also, Costco doesn't typically have these kinds of products on sale, whereas your local
grocery store or even drug store might do those kinds of sales more frequently.
Finally, you probably won't even get more bulk at Costco, which isn't usually what you'd
hear.
CNBC reports that the sizes at both Costco and your local grocery stores are very similar,
if not the same.
So when you're shopping at Costco, avoid the cereal aisle.
2) Spices.
Ahh, who doesn't love spices?
Some garlic and onion powder on your stewing beef, some sage on your turkey, some chili
powder in your... well, chili.
You use spices a lot so it would make sense to buy spices in bulk at Costco, right?
Wrong.
The problem with Costco's spices isn't their price, but their quantity.
According to CNBC, families will have a hard time getting through all the spices they buy
from Costco and eventually they'll have to throw it out.
3) Flour.
Oh, flour, you'll want to get that from Costco, especially if you do a lot of baking.
The same thing that's said about the Costco spices can be said about their flour.
While flour usually comes in a five pound bag, Costco sells it in 25-pound packages,
which is way too much.
It's also really hard to find a place to put all that flour.
CHARLENE HAUGSVEN sums up our sentiments about that amount of flour: "I would never want
to store 25 pounds of flour.
That's a whole year's worth of flour in advance,"
All in all, this part can all be summed up by a quote from our friend CHARLENE HAUGSVEN:
"I think everyone is getting super competitive with Costco and I don't think, in order to
save money on your groceries, you necessarily have to shop there".
And that's it!
Did we cover all the food and grocery items that you should buy at the buy at the bulk
store?
Is there anything that isn't groceries related that you should buy at the Costco store?
Let us known in the comments section below all about the best and the worst Costco purchases!