re: Costco ~ factor? I live in the DC area.
I regularly buy Charmin TP and Bounty paper towels. It is maybe once a year, if I'm lucky, that I can touch Costco's prices on either, especially when Costco has a coupon for them in their coupon book. Bounty runs a little over a $1 per roll without them there (and they're the longer/more sheets per roll), my P&G insert is only for a $1/6-pk at this point. And while I used to get $1/any Charmin, they're now $1/2.
I'm there for organic baking supplies (flour, sugar, eggs, etc), and decent sale prices come at the grocery store about once a year but with the amount of baking I do I can't just really "stock up" once a year.
Dog snacks, in particular dehydrated chicken breasts, with the price of 3 pounds (around $15) running less than that of 2 pounds ($19.99) at Petsmart. And while I wouldn't feed it to my dog, Kirkland's brand dog food is leaps and bounds above that of the likes of Purina and Nestle, and much better quality than what one would find at the grocery store.
Fresh fruit is great. Quality (tastewise, it exceeds expectations) and price speaking, fabulous. Unless it is in season and a loss leader at a grocery store, I'm not finding a better price. Asparagus, $2/lb. And fresher as well. Yukon gold potatoes and Vidalia onions under $1/lb. And I can't get fresher, nicer whole heads of garlic anywhere.
Their meat is top quality, above and beyond that of the super market. I live near the Chesapeake Bay, so I'm not a supermarket seafood kind of girl and travel 20 miles to a place that brings in their own fish fresh daily, but I happily buy Costco frozen Ahi tuna steaks (3 pounds, 6-8 steaks individually cryovacked, under $20).
Christmas time, this year they had $100 Starbucks GC (5 - $20 cards) for $80, which was a great buy (plus if you register the card with STarbucks, added syrups are free, which saves me $0.50+ each latte). A couple other deals in GC too from other stores. Glasses are at a great price too, and they routinely beat out Lenscrafters, independant optometrists, as well as WalMart and Target for accuracy of their lenses.
But the vast majority of my food that I eat does not come with coupons (yes, I'll hear a "but there are fruit/meat/milk WTs, trade for them or find them!"--haven't found NBPN, and trading is not worth my while). My pets food, my shampoo/bodywash, cosmetics, etc come from specialty stores, so if there is a sale I stock up or buy with a discount.
Coupons are good for me to buy lots of things to donate. Fewer are used for my person use. But if I get a great deal at the supermarket, I'll buy there instead of Costco and stock up if it is indicated.
Being brand loyal is great when it comes to Costco as they routinely carry my brands, but not great when it comes to coupons. Though I haven't had to pay for any type of toothpaste, so... |