Is it worth getting a membership to Costco or Sam's just for the meat?


 

Pete D.

TVWBB Member
My wife and I don't purchase enough stuff to justify a membership in a place like Costco, but I keep hearing about people who buy superior cuts of meat there. Is the quality that much better at one of these stores vs a regular grocery store?

Thanks
Pete
 
Pete: Not sure about Wisconsin, but here in LV we have both and both sell gasoline as well. That makes the price of the membership worth it to us. Between gasoline prices, $5 roasted chickens, water conditioner salt, coffee, etc. It is worth it here. We have memberships at both, but prefer Costco since their meats are definitely better and blow the doors off of what the supermarkets sell here. Back when we lived in Rhode Island, we had Sams and BJ's. Sam's finally waved the white flag and closed up shop in RI and SE Massachusetts. Like any other place, you have to hit the sales for added value. I get Mobil 1 oil when it is on sale along with bags of Dunkin coffee.
 
Like Dan said above, coffee,paper products, dairy products, flour olive oil (really good ) and killer meats,fish (depending what your looking for) but you can find wild caught walleye and cod regularly. I will also say costco card has a very robust rewards program thats well worth looking into all on its own. Just my opinoin.
 
Groupon routinely has discount offers for both of these, that give freebies also.
It almost offsets the membership fee completely. Both places have items we like
that the other does not offer, so we belong to both.
 
As others have said between paper products, fuel, booze, batteries I would say it’s worth it. Then you get to the $3.29 prime briskets!
 
Also: I don't know about Costco but, here in my area, you could walk into a Sam's without a membership just to look.
 
I think so.
Mine has decent prices
But best selection really.
And they always have it.....no driving to 3 different stores and none have what you want.

I dont think other prices are that great, given the bulk. And you never know what they might have....or not with some things. Which makes not desireable to shop there for most things. But you can count on good meat selection. And cheap milk.

Pork butt and loin is cheaper frequently at Albertsons, and wal mart usually has baby back ribs, but can count on good selection of prime brisket at costco, and they are one of best places for pork belly.
 
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MartinB, that's not always true. Just because Costco has it today doesn't mean they'll have it tomorrow. It all depends on what Costco's buyers source.

My g/f & I have had a household membership for several years, and had our own before we moved in together. Warehouse clubs work for us, as we buy in bulk (carve up whole tenderloins and vacuum pack, etc.) as well as some common electronics. The meat counter alone generally pays off on the membership, due both in quality as well as selection. I've had much better luck with brisket purchased from Costco than anywhere else.

Pharmacy savings might pay off for some people.
 
We enjoy the meats from Costco, including the pork belly that I love to process into bacon. Additionally we love e to have a bottle of wine with our steaks and Costco has a nice selection at reasonable prices.
 
If your gonna shop the entire Sams store, ya better know your prices. The prime brisket at $3.25 is a great price. But for example, I saw an end display for " On The Border " tortilla chips at $3.99 a bag, as if that was a special price. And I'd just bought them at my grocery store , same size bag, for $3.29.

I just bought a case of spare ribs from US Chefs Store Saturday. It was four packages , with two racks per package. I paid $1.50 pound . They were unfrozen " Prairie Fresh " brand, natural/not enhanced. Smoked four racks yesterday and was very happy with them.

And Kosmos, a comp barbecue YouTuber located here, says Chef Store has the best baby backs in OKC. I don't doubt that and will be buying a case.
 
Lynn has a good point there, sometimes the “Big” place does NOT have the best price, you need to know who has when and when. If you can freeze, sometimes other places might be the “deal” other times, Costco is great. They have the very, very delicious Kiolbassa sausages, not super cheap but, they do have them! The organic beef ones are really amazing, I just picked up some of the roasted garlic smoked pork sausages to try this weekend.
My local grocery store has half pork loins for $1.69/lb. Costco was $1.99/lb.today. Prime brisket was $3.39 up a dime from last week, “tis the season” after all.
I sampled some of their N.M. Hatch restaurant salsa last week, yippee! Brought home two bottles!
Don’t get distracted by some of the other deals and you can get out for under a hundred bucks! Shop smart. I think the membership can be worth it, if I had more family in the house, absolutely a good thing.
 
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The battle at Sams is to resist impulse buying. Its tempting to walk out of there with stuff ya had no intention of buying.

We have a Costco opening here, next month. First one here. But its a good 30 minute drive for me, IDK if I'll be a regular patron.
 
Not much I can add but we've had a Costco membership for at least 36 years. Their gas is always the cheapest in town and yes when Safeway or Fry's have sales they will beat Costco prices but they won't beat the quality. I always buy my baby backs, pork belly and brisket from them. I just took two empty propane tanks and had them filled and got change back from a ten dollar bill.
Like Lynn and others have said be careful of impulse buying, when Barb and I go we have a shopping list and get only the items on the list.
Interesting facts Costco sells more hot dogs than all the major league baseball stadiums combined and they are also the largest new car dealership in the country.
 
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We use the Costco Citi Visa card and the rewards more than pay for our yearly membership fee.
The way they treat employees is what made me choose them over Sam's a long time ago.
Their Choice beef is at the high end of the grading scale.
 
Listening to a podcast last week with John Lewis, who helped Aaron Franklin in his original trailer. He now has a barbecue joint in Charleston and he says there's a lot of choice brisket being sold as prime.
 
Another way to combat the impulse buy is to shop on-line.
We usually order paper towels, TP, coffee, sugar, garbage bags etc and they have it by the front desk, in a cart, ready for pickup.
If you order meat, they keep it in a fridge.
Makes it super easy on a Saturday morning.

Tim
 
Listening to a podcast last week with John Lewis, who helped Aaron Franklin in his original trailer. He now has a barbecue joint in Charleston and he says there's a lot of choice brisket being sold as prime.
Possible, I guess, but I doubt it.
I'm sure the Primes AF gets are at the very high end of grading, and the others are more at the low end.
 
Remember that Costco will refund your membership fee at any time, so you can try it risk free for a few months or up to a year and then go to the Membership Desk and ask for a refund.

Someone mentioned prescriptions. It should be mentioned that you DO NOT have to be a Costco member to purchase prescription drugs. Also, depending on local laws, some Costcos allow the purchase of alcoholic beverages and gasoline without a membership.

Another way to shop free at Costco is by using a Costco Cash Card. You need someone with a Costco membership to purchase the cash card for you, but having a cash card gets you entry to the store and you can buy whatever and however much you want once inside. For example, you can enter the store with a $25 Costco Cash Card and purchase a $1,000 television, paying with $25 from the cash card and the balance on a VISA or debit card.
 

 

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