Thursday, September 26, 2013

Sam's Club And What We Buy There


A new Sam's Club just opened in our town. We've been looking forward to this for a long time! Sam's Club is one of the only places we need to go out of town for. Now there is a store one mile from our house!

Andy's parents generously give us a Sam's Club membership each year for Christmas. I really like Costco but if we already have a Sam's membership then I'll be glad to save money by using that membership and get what I can there!

Regular items on our monthly Sam's Club list include:
  • Cheese--under $3 a pound.
  • Olive oil
  • Vinegar
  • Baking soda
  • Organic salad greens
  • Romaine lettuce
  • Sour cream
  • Cottage cheese
  • Butter
  • Milk
  • Alka-Seltzer Cold
  • Acetaminophen (store brand Tylenol)
  • Raisins
  • Spices
  • Crushed tomatoes --#10 can--perfect for this recipe for spaghetti sauce
  • Diced tomatoes --#10 can-great for freezer cooking sessions where I'll be using multiple small cans of diced tomatoes
  • Toilet paper
  • Kleenex
  • Dog food
  • Dates
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Walnuts
  • Coconut oil
  • Cornstarch
Some of these items last more than 1 month so I don't have to buy everything every month but these are our regulars. Not everything at warehouse stores is a good deal so it's important to know your prices before going crazy!

Baking supplies and dairy products are usually pretty good buys at Sam's. We like to buy toilet paper and Kleenex there even though they may not always be the lowest price. There's something to be said for buying at a good price and saving myself the time of running all over the place to get something on sale.

Do you shop at warehouse stores? What do you like to buy?

3 comments:

Trish said...

We got a Sam's Club membership last year before our baby was born and we love it! Our big purchases there are paper towels, toilet paper, diapers, wipes and formula :)

Monica Wilkinson said...

I got a Sam's membership in January for the first time ever. I'd debated and debated before trying it and you know, I've been really glad to have it. It is not super convenient - 45 minutes at least, but as you pointed out, I don't have to go very often.

The thing that has helped me the most is not running out of things. I know that is so profound :) ha! Really though, just having certain staples that I don't run out of has been a huge time saver for me.

I've also appreciated not having to watch the store sales as religiously because I can get comparable to the sale price anytime at Sam's.

A lot of our items match yours - but we also get all of our meat there. Cheese and baking items would be my next top purchases.

I try to go about every 6-8 weeks and by the way, have you ever tried the click and pull? Oh my. You will just thank yourself for typing your order in, cruising in and picking up your groceries and heading out again! I tried this on our way home from Colorado - we'd been gone for six weeks and I was at a friends house in VA. One evening, I got on and found the closest Sam's to our house {2 1/2 hours from Sam's to our house in this case since we were coming from a different direction} I typed in our order and we made a quick stop off the interstate to pick up our groceries. It was a lot to do that day, but oh, how glorious to arrive home WITH groceries! Ok, I guess you get the point - I'm happy with my membership :) Sorry to write a book!

Kathryn said...

Since our move, Sam's Club is our closest grocery store and the cheapest place to get milk...$2.66/gal. So now we go every week instead of a big stockup trip once a month. We can get 25 lb bags of unbleached flour here at Walmart, so I get that there instead of Sam's. Your list is very similar to mine, except for the spices-I like to get those bulk at Earthfare, Natural Grocer or HEB. We also got blueberries and raspberries for good prices this summer.