In one of our first monthly debt repayment updates (where we show exactly what we earned, spent, and paid on debt), I mentioned that the $244 we spent for groceries that month (yes, for the entire month for our family of 5) consisted of only 3 transactions: Winco, Grocery Outlet, and Sam’s Club.
I knew from the start that sharing all of our financial details would open us up to criticism, but I was surprised that it was spurred by this post. A reader told me, among other advice, to stop shopping at Sam’s Club.
I’m Not Your Typical Sam’s Club Shopper
I assume the reader was thinking of all the brand name bulk items at Sam’s Club which in most cases are not a great deal. I pass by the double boxes of name-brand cereal, the crackers, the granola bars, and even the frozen cream puffs. No mini quiches or taquitos for us.
Sam’s Club isn’t the place I stock up on pantry items. While some people push around the flat bed carts loaded with bulk everything, my cart is relatively empty unless my kids are tired of walking. In fact, one time the cashier commented on my low total saying, “Wow! I never see people make it out of here under $100.”
So What DO I buy?
Sam’s club usually has the best price on dairy products. Milk, cheese, butter, sour cream, and cottage cheese are cheaper at Sam’s. Yes, you do have to buy 4 pounds of butter or a 5 pound block of cheese, but that is fine with me.
We also buy some fruits and veggies at Sam’s. Bananas and spinach, for example are cheaper at Sam’s that any of the other places we shop. I also like to get the #10 cans of pineapple chunks. It’s much cheaper than buying that amount of standard cans of pineapple. I use what I need then freeze the rest in smaller portions.
Other grocery products that are a good deal include cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soup (only in November-December), yeast, and craisins (when thy have the $3 off sale a couple times a year), just to name a very random few.
Some Perks
Most Sam’s Clubs also sell gas. It is always the cheapest place to get gas and usually it’s about $.10 cheaper than anywhere else. We always fill up when we are at (or near) Sam’s Club. Since we live in the boonies and my husband commutes, any savings on gas are appreciated.
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved trying food samples at Sam’s Club. My husband doesn’t appreciate teasing his taste buds with samples, but the rest of us love them. Every time we go, there are 5 to 10 different samples available. I’m often surprised with the generous portions.
I love their large shopping carts. You can buckle two kids side-by-side into the regular cart. For a mom with kids close in age, this is much-needed improvement on typical grocery carts.
Of course none of these perks merits paying for a membership, they are nice fringe benefits.
The Kicker
While it’s nice getting some grocery items cheaper and getting less expensive gas, do you want to know the real reason why a Sam’s Club membership is worth it for us? The TIRES!. We buy tires at Sam’s Club, which includes free balance and rotation whenever you want and free flat repair for the usable life of the tires. Also, for the first 3 years you get 24 roadside tire change service.
When our membership runs out (which it will this month), we go without a membership until we need our tires serviced. Last year we renewed our membership when the van tire got a nail in it. We paid $45 to renew our Sam’s membership and they fixed the tire for free. That’s definitely cheaper than what it would cost us to get our tire serviced elsewhere.
We have always had wonderful service from the technicians at Sam’s Club. Once we had an irreparable flat, but since the tire was still under warranty we got two new tires free (since you are supposed to replace them in pairs)!
Current Deal on a New Membership
Occasionally Groupon, Zulily and Living Social will have a deal on purchasing a Sam’s Club membership where you get a Sam’s Club membership, Sam’s Club gift card, and free merchandise vouchers all for the normal price for just the membership. When you find a deal like this, it’s a great time to sign up!
I’ll keep the current offers that I find here:
- Get a Sam’s Club membership for just $25 right now! That’s 50% off!
How about you?
- Do you have a club membership anywhere (Sam’s, Costco, BJs)? Is it worth it?
- What do you love to buy there? What do you NOT buy there?
You’ll Also Enjoy:
We have a Sams Club membership. I got 1 free at my work in 2013. I really didnt do anything w/it back then.
However renewed in 2016 after switching states. Was perfect timing cause that year a few states including TN hit a major gas shortage. I hadnt done anything with it til the gas shortage. Every gas station in a town of 200k people were out of gas, surrounding towns were also out of gas (I called towns 30 mins away see if they had gas). Then i remembered i had a Sams Membership. The only places in town that had gas was Sams club and Coscos. Im a deliver driver so i really needed gas for work! Sams was a Life saver!!
Also go for a few things. We also love their rotissere(sp) chicken!! Walmarts is always way more burnt than Sams Clubs. Also love rolls so the 32 count of Hawaiian Rolls for like $5 is just great!!
Oh and grapes…i wont get grapes anywhere else. At walmart, their grapes comes in bags that are always open…and sometimes it looks like people ate half the bag. Sams comes in square egg shell type containers that are harder to open. They usually dont looked touched like walmarts do. Bein a delivery driver for 3 jobs…the gas is key for me!! Its def paid back what i spent in membership price. Except for Coscos, sams is about .20/.30 cheaper than the rest of the town. This week gas has been around 2.50+ at Sams while reg gas stations have been around 2.90+ i also perfer Sams gas pump situation vs Coscos… straight line vs stacked
I just discovered your blog today and I am signing up for your newsletter. I was researching Sam’s Club and found you. Thank you for your great information and I look forward to reading your newsletter.
I use walmart for tires for the exact same reason here–free flat repair and free re-balancing/rotation. FTW!
Need help getting a Sam’s card.
This past year I purchased a SAMs Club card with my sister meaning I got a discount by buying when she renewed. I haven’t tracked how much I saved. I enjoy shopping there. However, yesterday they told me it was time to renew my card, ok, $100.00. Shocker no thanks!
I just updated the post with the latest Sam’s Club membership deal through LivingSocial.
I like SAMS Club better than COSTCO. For one thing, their membership price is cheaper and they give a % discount to veterans. I don’t know if Costco does the same. The prices are about the same in both stores but SAMS is more convenient for me.
Cool! I didn’t know about the veteran discount! Thanks for your service!
Yeah.. your big reason for staying with them isnt a good one. Almost any tire store will fix a nail out of a tire for free. Look up discount tire or even American tire. They rotate, balance, air free as well… sorry to break that for ya.
Free balance and rotation whenever you want and free flat repair for the usable life of the tires is what Sam’s claims but once your membership runs out they will not do anything to your tires because your forced to renew. Ridiculous !
How are there meat prices? Me and my wife are low carbers which means lots of meat! We have a Costco and BJ’s membership now which are better than normal supermarkets but figured anything related to Walmart probably has the best prices.
I’m not familiar with the Costco and BJs prices, but I’m sure Sam’s is comparable. The quality of meat is better than at the grocery store too.
We shop at Sam’s Club for diapers/wipes for our daughter when they have the buy a box of diapers and a box of wipes and get $10 off. That equaled for us this last time 152 diapers and 808 wipes for $64. It adds up quick to not have to shop for diapers again for probably close to a month and at normal price of $35 for just a box of diapers.
In Canada our Sam’s Club is Costco. You can get caught up buying all the prepacked goodies but once I started meal planning and making a list of items needed I walk by them now. The kids and I eat the samples as treats as we go through the store. We save big on dairy, meat, some staple items, toiletries, baby supplies diapers and wipes, and sometimes on clothes. We also have found household and hardware items better priced at Costco without compromising quality. Gas is always cheaper at Costco but I have never checked out the tire service which I will now. But as it stands now we buy the executive membership with cash back for $115 and at the end of the year it pays for the membership plus a little extra to apply to your groceries.
I was just comparing tire prices between Sam’s and the local tire chain, to see if it’s worth getting a membership.
Don’t know where you live, but here the same tires cost over $10/per tire more at Sams, than what the tire chain is charging, which also offers free balance, rotation, etc. Add the cost of membership and taxes, and it would cost $100 more to buy the tires at Sams.
The gasoline at Sams is also NOT top tier, unlike Costco. I wish we had Cosco near, but the closest one is 50+ miles away…
I’m a bargain shopper and couponer myself and joined sam’s in Jan 2014 with a great groupon deal with several freebies for joining which covered the cost of the membership fee. I shop at walmart a lot and I’ve compared prices with sam’s. What I’ve found in my price comparisons is you pay the exact same price per unit/ounce/pound at walmart as with sams for the same products. This is WRONG!!! Sams is a warehouse club and should have LOWER prices than wamart. I’ve only been to sams now 5 times since I joined and am very disappointed in the prices. I won’t be going back nor will I renew my membership. They have sent me an offer for a $20 gc if I renew but I’ll just pass on it unless they can match the offer I received to begin with.
That’s great that you are conscious of the price per unit. There are lots of things we don’t buy at Sam’s for this very reason (plus there are only name brands of a lot of things, which is always more expensive than a comparable generic). With the tires and the other things like cheese, we have still found a membership to be worth it for our family, but it depends on what sort of things you buy.
I go to SAMs to get meat. I divide it up into gallon freezer baggies, pit the date and what meal to use it for. That automatically helps me create some type of menu which then reminds me to transfer what I’m cooking the next day from the freezer into the fridge. I get the 4-packs of butter and freeze. Their frozen green beans and corn in those big bags are great and under five dollars. Inside the big bag are smaller bags which one bag is perfect for my family of three. Nuts are cheapest at SAMs. I just freeze them in their re-closeable bags and use as needed. Their Aquafina is only 3.98 for a 32 bottle case. We take water on the go a lot, so this is way cheaper than any grocery store.
Great ideas Heather! We love putting our freezer to good use too! Sam’s is definitely the best place to buy butter! 🙂
Costco is closest to us and we love it! They do seem to rotate items so when something we love is in stock we stock up on it. We have a huge amount of toilet paper in our garage right now … lol! I wonder what the neighbors think;0) I do enjoy going to Sam’s with my sister once in a while! I always find things I love!
One thing that Costco has that Walmart doesn’t is uncooked tortillas. Whenever I’m at Costco with my sister (who lives 1,500 miles away) I get some to bring home.
Toilet paper is something you never want to run out of! The neighbors know where they are going when the town shuts down and they’re out!!
I just saw this Living Social deal in my email this morning. I took advantage of the Costco/Living Social deal last month to try the membership. The free merchandise vouchers and gift card almost paid for the membership so I thought it was worth a try since so many people rave about Costco. A Sam’s club is opening next month nearby, but I don’t think I need two warehouse memberships.
That’s great! I know people who have both, but you’re right that one is probably sufficient! 🙂
I am a Wal-Mart Cashier in Oklahoma City and the membership would be ideal due to my limited resources. $7.90 do not go very far…
I’ve got to say that I agree with most of your assessment, however when recently had to replace 4 tires we checked the price at a Tireman also and found that we could save with them. We don’t buy our meats any place else though.
I’ve never heard of Tireman before. Sam’s does have great meat!
Trying to decide if family of 3 will come out ahead by purchasing a SAMs Club membership. This was a helpful post! We go through a gallon of milk every day and a half so that could pay for the membership. (17 year old boy in the house.) How is the quality of meat?
I think the quality of the meat is great! I am always very impressed.
We let ours lapse, but I have been seriously tempted lately to buy it back. I almost ALWAYS spend too much money in there, but it’s because like you, it’s a drive for us to get to it. However, once I drop that big amount of money, I don’t have to do it again for about 3-4 months, so it really is worth it in the long run. These are some of the things we buy from there:
Olive oil- SUPER cheap compared to our grocery store
Spices- Bulk spices that we only have to buy once every 6 months to a year!
Produce- Usually cheaper than the grocery stores, especially if there isn’t a sale, and on top of that it LOOKS and TASTES good. Our grocery stores stink in that department lately. The Romaine lettuce here has 6 heads in a bag for less then $4.
Trash bags- Lasted us a year
Toliet Paper- Still my favorite! Lasts about 4 months
Dairy- All dairy products are cheaper there!
Chicken breasts- They are about the same price as the grocery store here and they are trimmed to perfection.
Great, I think I just convinced myself to get a membership again.
Haha! I know what you mean Jill! Thanks for sharing your favorite Sam’s Club deals! 🙂
Foil, plastic wrap, are sooo cheap here! I bought a restaurant suze of foil because we use it everyday… I think it is a great bargain because it is not cheaply made like Walmart brand or dollar tree junk! And the price for a double roll is about the same as one roll at Walmart or Publix. Butter is cheaper. At Costco (I have a membership to both and if you do the executive membership at Costco you earn 2% back on all purchases, you get acheck at the end of a year which pays for the membership, plus you get to take advantage of discounts through exec mem coupons) we buy Udi’s gluten free bread which is twice the size of the one at Publix and it is only .75 cents more! Soy milk bought in the beverage section that is packed so that you do not have to refrigerate it until you open it is a great bargain for us. Also, we get organic Chicken stock for a lot less too! We found French Roast Starbucks coffee, whole bean for less than 7 dollars per pound this past trip! We have to eat gluten free so we basically cook every meal and knowing there are so many gluten free options at Costco is so great. (There are gluten free chicken nuggets in the freezer section, 21 servings for 13.00, beats McDonald hands down in taste and cost and nutrition!!!) Microwave popcorn is 44 packs for 9.99, and it is certified gluten free! We love the chicken at Costco, it comes pre divided into one pound pouches ready for the freezer which saves on baggies or using the foodsaver. Plus shopping once a month keeps you on budget with less grocery store trips. I just buy produce at grocery store. And I know I cannot blow the budget at Publix because I have already spent 75% of my food budget at Cosco!
We generally get Eggs, chicken and my husbands drinks for work at Sams Club. Oh and you can’t forget the 5/8 Italian Meatballs, which just happened to be gluten free. When we lived in Pennsylvania we would get our spices at BJ’s because it ended up being cheaper than Sams Club or the store. Now we’re considering making our own (homemade taco seasoning is better then McCormick).
We’ll have to look into Cosco since they have gluten free options, as that is the biggest chunk of our food budget. We’re working up to shopping only once a month, we can go three weeks right now without having to run to the store, which helps tremendously.
I’ve heard that Costco has some good organic produce, so it doesn’t surprise me that they would have gluten-free options too! Going 3 weeks without running to the store is great Amanda!!
Thanks for sharing your favorite Sam’s and Costco deals Jennifer!
My trick with Sam’s is to make my list of necessities, get the prices off the website, and take exactly that amount of cash to the store with me, plus $20 for a treat. It’s so easy to go nuts in there!
Smart! Cash is a great way to prevent going over budget!
Another “kicker” reason – we buy our membership purely for the savings on ALLERGY medicines! The hubs has a Zyrtec prescription. The Sam’s brand Zyrtec costs us around $20 for 350 tablets! So we end up paying about $65 dollars for a full year’s supply of Zyrtec (generic), which is far cheaper even than purchasing the same amount of generic at any other retailer. We can also get two bottles of Children’s Zyrtec (Sam’s brand) for $5.
That’s awesome Carolyn! We rarely buy medicines, so I had no idea about the generic Zyrtec!
I love the Evalues they do at $6 off Huggies and $3 off Goldfish!
Awesome Michelle!
Big box memberships really can be a drain on the budget. Thankfully we have a Costco card through my parents (I’ve offered-and even asked-several times over the years to take it over ourselves, but they refuse). So we only use it to stock up two or three times a year for parties. Though it is tempting to go there more regularly for produce…we spend a TON of money on produce every week!
That’s nice of your parents. There are some temptations at Sam’s Club and Costco! 🙂
I’ve had a Sam’s Club membership previously, but now have a BJs membership (I moved). They also have a gas station and the gas alone would pay for the membership. They are consistently 15¢ less per gallon. With two people filling up weekly, it makes a huge difference. I always buy my toilet paper and dairy items there (except milk, which I also buy at Aldi like another person above commented). The meat is hit or miss. Sometimes they have great deals and sometimes it’s not that great, but the seafood is always excellent quality and price. I know some people say they do better matching sales with coupons, well BJs gives members a coupon book each month AND also accepts manufacturer’s coupons so I use those for ziploc bags, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.
That’s cool that BJs accepts manufacturer’s coupons! I didn’t know that (I’ve never been to a BJs)!
I also stock up on trash bags and Ziploc bags at Sams.
We go through lots of Ziplock bags (even though we wash and reuse them), so buying them in bulk at Sam’s is the way to go for us too!
I have never had a Sams’ membership but for years I did have one to Costco. I am still using the massive restaurant sized plastic wrap that I purchased 10 years ago for $8.00. I agree with your strategy. On your first trip, go in with you price book and compare prices. From then on, shop with a list. Only get the things that are on your list and things that are special purchase deals that really will save you $ on something that you needed or would have purchased elsewhere.
In 2008 we had a daughter graduate college, getting married and another daughter graduating high school in the span of just a few months. Shopping Sams’ and Costco saved us a ton of money on the wedding and the graduation parties!
I love that I’m not the only one with the giant plastic wrap that lasts forever!!
This is kind of funny to me, but apparently my dad (being a pastor and an extremely generous and nice guy) got a really good deal on Sam’s Club memberships because he bought memberships in “bulk” and so although he never said how much he paid, he told anyone in the church who would actually use the membership, that he (or the church?) would pay for it. Well, I never asked for one because at that time many years ago, I wasn’t even married, so didn’t have much of a use for it. Well, apparently he got me a membership anyway since I am his daughter, but he never told me. And I guess whoever asked him for one, they had to just go to customer service and ask to have their picture taken and get their card. Well, fast forward at least 12 years and I called up a Sam’s Club to ask them questions about membership and they told me that I already AM a member and had been for years! Apparently my dad is a really nice guy and had been renewing everyone’s memberships for them for YEARS. I felt bad that all that membership money for me had been wasted without my knowing, but it also made me laugh. Now that I am married with 2 kids, I’m sure I could get good use out of the membership–only problem is that I don’t live ANYWHERE near this store. 🙁
That’s crazy that you had a membership all along and didn’t know it! And how funny that now that you know you don’t even have a Sam’s close!
That is sure a funny story, and to top it off, you don’t live near a Sam’s Club! Perhaps your Dad should cancel this membership and put the money toward someone else.
Love your story.
Thanks for sharing and linking up with us at the #WWDParty!
We have a Costco membership and it’s definitely worth the fee for us. We like getting discounted gas and on a general note everything is a little less expensive. I just wish I had the time and energy to go shopping on weekday instead of the weekends. Our local Costco is total chaos on the weekends.
Yes, Saturdays can be crazy! In fact, I’m heading there tomorrow (with 3 kids in tow)!
I have a Sam’s Club membership, and I recently (January) got an Amazon Prime membership.
I have had a Sam’s club membership for 4 years. I used to live less than a mile from one in Louisiana. I work across the street from one in Reno. I figured out that by only filling up my car at the Sam’s club gas station the Card pays for itself in gas savings. Then any savings in the store is lagniappe. I normally buy butter, meat (if the price is right), cheese, paper plates, bulk seasonings, deodorant, and hubby’s razors at Sam’s club. I also bought bulk flour and sugar -when I used to buy that- there for the cheapest prices anywhere.
I received the Amazon Prime membership FREE as an AMEX perk. I have yet to decide if I will renew it next year. I have comparison shopped and bought toilet paper, my razors, my deodorant, my feminine hygiene products, and toothpaste through Amazon prime.
Being close enough to fill up at Sam’s all the time would be awesome! We’re an hour away (but to put that into perspective there isn’t anything within 45 minutes of us). Thanks for sharing your list CeCee!
I do the same groceries plus my 3 favorite things of all time are cheapest at Sam’s! Coconut oil! For the $15 I spend on a MASSIVE tub from Sam’s I get only get a quart at the grocery store. Also I do a bulk of my cleaning with baking soda and vinegar. Did you know it’s a 5lb bag at Sam’s…5lbs of baking soda! I love Sam’s
Ps I’m still using plastic wrap we bought when we got married…9 years ago!
Erin
Upsideofchaos.com
I’ve never noticed coconut oil at Sam’s! I’ll have to look next time! We use vinegar and baking soda a lot too!
I love that you’re still using the same plastic wrap! 🙂
Yes! I have bought their organic coconut oil there as I try to cook with it, make body scrubs, etc. great savings there ounce-wise!
Sams club pharmacy saves us a ton of money every year. You can get a 3 month supply of your mantaince medications if you live a distance from sams. They are the cheapest pharmacy around our area.
Great tip Kim! Thanks for sharing!
We have a Costco membership (and not just the regular one – the “Executive” one). We buy almost all of our meat there. We can get a better price elsewhere, but we’ve never been able to beat the quality we can get at Costco. (I’ll pay $2.99/lb for chicken breasts from Costco over the $1.99/lb sale ones from Wal-Mart any day!) We also buy our meat in 40-70lb increments (for 5-6 months at once), and there’s a limit to how much you can buy on sale at other stores. Our Costco also sells wine, and for comparable wines, we’re saving almost half. And their store brand wines aren’t half bad. We also buy our tires there for the same reason you use Sams’.
We can beat Costco milk prices at ALDI’s, but not their butter prices.
As for the executive membership, we spend enough at Costco throughout the year that the 1% cash back we get pays for the membership for us.
Thanks for the tips! That’s cool that you stock up on quality meat there. We haven’t bought much meat lately so I’m rusty on my meat prices (though I do notice that they are going up… grrr). Wine is another thing we don’t buy. Thanks for sharing!
I wish we had Aldi here!
I love Sams Club. I shop there for the things I use a lot of..The toothpaste, diapers for my grand kids, cleaners, etc. I don’t think its a waste of money at all. It saves me from going to the store every time I need something..I love to stock up on non perishables and going to Sams helps me to do just that.
I have lots of friends who use the Sam’s brand diapers too! It’s nice to get things in quantity so you’re not always running to the store.
I think when people know their prices, like you do, they can find some serious deals anywhere, including Sams\Costco. And if the prices at your Sams are less than your grocery store it makes total sense to shop there for those items.
My husband had a Costco membership when we met 10 years ago and we try to do the same thing in terms of buying things that we know we would pay more for at our grocery store. We find that our Costco has fresher produce, better prices and a better selection, so we definitely stock up on those when we go.
You’re right Sicorra, the key is knowing your prices!
My husband had a Sam’s membership when we met. In fact one of the first things we bought was one of those giant rolls of plastic wrap (polyvinyl film) and we just finished it two days ago. It lasted 8.5 years. I would have lasted much longer, but I use it to package some of the items I sell on Etsy!
We buy most of the the same items you do at Sam’s. Dog food is a good deal too for our big dog! Olive oil is another thing I buy regularly.
We also buy toilet paper, laundry soap, Oxi-clean, etc. at Sam’s. These may not always be the cheapest but it saves me from having to shop around and the big containers last us a while making it worth a few extra pennies.
When I don’t have home canned tomatoes the #10 cans of tomato products are a good price.
My in-laws give us a Sam’s membership every year so we make good use of it! I love Costco for all their organics but it’s too far away and since we have a free membership to Sam’s, I can’t justify Costco at this time!
Our grocery shopping consists of Aldi, Sam’s and one other grocery store usually. Plus the farmers market this time of year!
I’ve hear the canned tomatoes are a good price. I don’t keep up with tomato prices since we always can our own. Good tip on dog food. That’s another thing we don’t buy!
Oh I miss Aldi!! When we lived in the midwest for law school we did almost all of our shopping there with a $200 per month grocery budget. When we moved to CA, our budget went up to $300 because there’s no Aldi!
We do our staple shopping at Sam’s. They really do have the best prices on butter and sugar. I just discovered your blog and I love it!
Thanks Kristie!