I asked this in #baltimore because it could be dependent on location-specific considerations, but figure I'll cross-post here.

I just got a membership and went shopping there for the first time in a long time today. This was my comparison: • Chicken (has an OU Glatt hechsher) was $2.00 - $2.59/lb depending on which you got. At my local grocery its $3.79/lb. ◦ 31%+ savings • Cheerios were $6.79 for about 40oz. At target 18oz were $4.99 ◦ 38.75% savings • Juice boxes: 36 6.5oz were about $12.00. At the local grocery they were $4.79 for 8 6.5oz. ◦ 44% savings • I didn't take down the prices, but fruits and vegetables are all way cheaper (40%+) than Jewish groceries (haven't compared them to others like Aldis though) Overall I dont see how I can't cut my food budget overall by at least 25% (maybe more) and save $3-400 per month, which pays off the membership fee in less than 1 week.

Interesting. I happened to have a free one-year membership recently. Finally used it to buy a battery for my van, so I spent half an hour in the store checking random items and prices and was totally unimpressed. 🤷‍♂️

At the end of the day its just a math problem. How much are you saving vs if you got everything else at a different store. (I misunderstood your original question. I thought you were considering getting one for the first time)

Checked out deli and cheese - same price. Wandered the aisles looking for products that I buy regularly, be it food, detergent, whatever. The ones I looked at were around the same price as Walmart/Target. Not a scientific analysis, but after checking a bunch of products, the whole thing didn't seem worth it anymore.

We generally shop off of the monthly sales.

The savings on gas alone cover the membership fee by far for us.

Whenever I pass the Costco near me, each pump has at least a 10 car line... Maybe I just have a lousy Costco 😂

It also depends where you live. I live out of town where kosher food is more expensive and the items like chicken, cheese, deli, chicken nuggets are much much cheaper at Costco. When I lived in NY, I didn’t feel I was saving as much at Costco because i could get these items for similar prices at my kosher grocery store (especially when they were on sale there). And gas is definitely much cheaper there. Items like tissues, detergent, etc. we stock up when they’re on sale and they do come out cheaper than Target/Walmart.

Also note if you're not careful it's very easy to buy other things you would not have normally bought which can easily eat up the savings from shopping at costco in the first place.

@broad-australia-98095 I hear that, but Walmart and Target ship, or for some things we do drive-up at target, which is right near us. Would need to go to kosher supermarkets regardless. I accept the possibility that I might be spending extra because of that 🤷‍♂️

Ya it definitely sounds like Costco isn't worth it for you. Drive up definitely saves tons of time

@nutritious-raincoat-28876 at least in Baltimore, the shredded cholov Yisroel cheese is way cheaper at costco at $10/bag as opposed to $14-15 as jewish stores

If the truth of Proposition p and Proposition q together is true, then Proposition p is true.

I'm basically the only one who eats shredded cheese, and I still have bags and bags in the freezer from the NJ free food boxes 😂