I appreciate your questions. I do my best to answer each question personally, however I may also include them in future blog posts.Reader question: Just wondering what your thoughts are on SAMS club? Have you ever had a membership there or gone to know what deals are deals?
I hesitate to give my opinion about Sam's Club. I know that many folks love Sam's. Currently, we do not have a membership. We have never had a membership and I do not foresee us buying one in the near future.
I believe the current membership price is $40. I would have to save $40 in food purchases just to break even. Then, I would have to save more money to make it worth my extra time in going there.
I have "researched" some of the prices at Sam's Club. There are some items that are "hands down" a good deal. The price on yeast and cheese is really good. Does it warrant me to buy a membership for these items? For me, no.
I think you need to be cautious when shopping. You can not assume it is "cheaper" because it is in large quantity. They are counting on you to do that!!!
The convenience of Sam's is a whole different ball game. However, from a pure price stand point, I can't justify it.
Please hear me. I am not implying that a Sam's membership is bad for you!! Each family is in a different situation. Maybe you have a membership you get for free!!
Is a Sam's Club membership a way to save money? It is just like anything. You have to do your homework!
Do you have a question regarding today's topic or any other? Feel free to leave a comment or email me at frugalflamingo@gmail.com. I will do my best to address it in a future post.
great post. BJ's was worth it for us when we used diapers. Now, it is not enough of a money saver to justify the trip.
ReplyDeleteJust a quick comment. (Our Sam's membership is a gift each year for Christmas) I have found that with limited time to search & travel to multiple stores for some of your awesome deals... Sam's has consistently lower prices on their meat and the quality is better than Giant's. It's not a huge savings- but I'll take a $0.50/lb savings on ground beef or a $2/lb savings on Chicken breast over nothing at all. Also the savings I have found are at the normal price- it's even more when they go on special!
ReplyDeleteBekah,what a great idea to ask it for a Christmas gift! I hope I conveyed it enough that I do not think Sam's is evil:) I agree...it is much cheaper than paying full price at Giant! And like you said, you don't have to watch for deals!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to add my 2 cents. I googled, " Is Sam's Club worth it " before I got my membership yesterday. I got a lot of mixed reviews. Well I went the plus membership and paid the $100. So far I love it. I had to come to every board I looked at yesterday and share my experience. That is the kind of person I am. When I love it, I blog about it non stop and when I hate it, I blog about it none stop. I love Sam's Club. I went to the container store about 1 week ago and got a spice rack for $40. Well yesterday I see a spice rack at Sam's club for $20 and it comes with free spice refills for 5 years. Watch the shipping prices though that's where they get you. So I went to spicerefills.com to register my product and they are selling it for $39.99, on sale normally $49.99. So I am like wow I saved $20 -30. Then I google my product to see how much it cost at other places. It is $35 - 40 on amazon. Even the one's that pretended to be $25 turned out to be like $30 plus after they add that $11 shipping charge to the bill. Some even were as high as $50 with shipping. Or the site wouldn't let me purchase the item, I could add it to my wishlist, but couldn't purchase it. I got the Kamenstein stainless steel 20-jar revolving spice rack. So I saved between 20 - 30. That's 1/3 to 1/2 what it cost to upgrade to plus. That's 1/5 to 1/4 what it cost for my total membership and that's with 1 item purchased. Woo Woo!! I know I am geek, but I love my spice rack!
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I walked around and priced various items we wanted to save on and it's worth it, even for just us. You just have to be careful. We found ourselves wanting a lot of things we didn't need. If you join with the mindset to save on things like contact cleaner, dog food, coffee, meat, and gas you will accomplish your mission. If you are a person with a tendency to buy impulse items or something you weren't planning on getting don't join because you will absolutely over spend. And if it's 5-10 miles from the grocery store forget it.
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