What I buy at Costco (small family style)

Thanks for stopping by for week 4 of Thrifting Thursday. A few years ago I learned how to coupon shop which meant I really had no need for Costco. Now, I find I do not have the time commitment needed to keep up with the coupons year round. I will however try to coupon shop a few months of the year in order to restock our health and beauty supply cupboard. Otherwise I am checking sales and shopping our discount grocery store for most of our food. I have found that shopping Costco lately has been beneficial to our family. Here is what I buy at Costco for our small family of 3.

I will say up front that Costco is at least 45 minutes from where I live. So I only make it there about every other month and when I do go I want to make it count. I will also usually go with someone else and split the gas or go when I have other errands in that area too. Also this is a partial list, I will do an updated post when I get other items next time.

First up is toilet paper. When I coupon shopped I rarely got a 12 pack for under $4. I still to this day can't figure out how someone would have gotten it for free, lol! I personally think that Costco brand toilet paper is great. It is a 30 roll pack, 425 sheets a roll, 2 ply. For a family of 3 it is a lot of tp- we will never run out, but more importantly, when mom stops buy I can offer her some which helps her budget stretch even more. I will also buy the paper towels when needed and this time I bought the kleenex. We go through a lot of tissues (allergies). Usually I will pay around a $1 a box for 86-120 count store brand somewhere. When I was at Costco this time they had them on sale for $14.99 for 10- 230 count 2 ply. It makes it only $1.50 for a more than double size box of what I usually buy. It's a great deal for us! Also this time I am trying Costco's brand of dishwashing tablets, it was $10 for 120 count. We will see if I like them?? Something else that I bought is a 500 count box of ziploc sandwhich bags ($9.49 for 500 count). We don't need 500 however my sister bought the big box of gallon size bags and we are swapping some out for the other size. This is a huge benefit of buying in bulk- split the bag or box with someone!

A couple of items I always buy here are the 60 count string cheese for $12.99 (22 cents each) and the 24 count yogurt for $9.99 (42 cents each). These are two foods my small family has no problem eating within the sale by date. Another item that I don't really think is a savings- price wise, except it saves from "going to waste". It is the individual size packs of hummus. Two of us love it! I have have not had success yet with making my own (need to keep trying), so I buy it. When I buy a regular size container of it, it ends up in the back of the fridge and eventually going to waste. Buying this pack of 16 for $6 makes them only 38 cents each and all of it always gets used. I feel the "no wasting" is a huge savings!

Fruits and veggies when bought here usually are split with someone. But this time I bought the big bag of organic baby greens ($4.29) to freeze for my smoothies and my made from scratch spinach dip.
Since I have started my own party business I have been making more cakes and frostings; I was needing some cream cheese and powdered sugar, so to save time bought what they had.

Sunshine loves to go with me to Costco because of all the samples. So I will usually allow one splurge purchase. This time we bought the Baked Fry's for $5.29. They are yummy for sure!

My total purchase was $101.32 (inc tax). That is a big chunk of our budget so I always go with a limit of only spending $80-100 each time. And most always try to pay in cash so I won't go over board.

There are other items I will purchase here, and will share in another post next time I go. Do you shop Costco? What items do you purchase there? 

Thrifting Thursday: Saving at a discount grocery store

Welcome to the 3rd installment of Thrifting Thursday. Today I want to share with you one way I save money on groceries. It is at our local discount grocery store here. Not everything in the store is the best deal such as toys or milk. But what I find there is always worth the extra few minutes it takes in driving time.

First off, if you are thirsty and want a soda they have some on sale 3/.99 cents. Now this is soda that will expire soon so you need to be aware of that. But to have a cold drink on the way home once in a while- it is a great price. Candy is comparable to Walmart's price and even cheaper depending on what you want.

Their fridge section is usually great priced. Meats can have a store coupon on them to sell quickly. Such as the Jennie O link sausage. This store's regular price is $3.49. It had a $2 off store coupon on it, I purchased it for only $1.49! I will always buy what we need and freeze them. Even lunch meat can be frozen. The lunch meat (Oscar Meyer turkey) was $1.99, the big summer sausage was $3.99 (needed this for co-op Open House). The havarti cheese was only $1.79. Butter and yogurt are usually a great deal too. Creamer (Coffee Mate) brand is a great price there. You are just limited to what flavors they have. If they have a flavor I enjoy or one I am willing to try I will grab several of them. The small 16 oz are usually 99 cents and the big ones are 1.99 or less!

If I have a snack I have signed up for and know I will not have time to make one I will see what I can grab at this store. The 2 packages of donuts were $1.69, each and in some bananas and I have got the whole 2nd floor of co-op homeschool group covered!

Some of the bread is a great deal, such as the Sara Lee- it is always 99 cents at this store. I will also check out the health and beauty isle. I usually can find my allergy medication there. They have a store brand comparable to Zertec. A 30 day supply is only $2.99. I have used it for over 2 years and it works just fine for me.

Produce is another area where I can save money. Since I am already at this store I will check out what they have. I can usually find great deals on a lot of the fruit and veggies that we eat. And depending on what we are needing I may find some canned and frozen food deals as well.

My total for this trip was $58.12. The receipt says that I saved $49.76 but if I compare to Walmart I believe I am closer to saving around $30- which is still a hugs savings. 

Do you shop at a discount grocery store? Would you be willing to try one? You might be surprised!