Most people I know have a warehouse club membership. My family have always been Sam’s Club members because of where we’ve lived. Mac and I got a membership way back in 2010 when we moved in together. These days, we shop there about once a month and spend about $200, so I’m sharing how we get our money’s worth out of our membership.
What we buy:
Meat
In the areas we have lived, buying meat in bulk at Sam’s Club is the cheapest option per pound (to include the commissaries). I stock up on packages of ground beef, chicken breasts, and chuck or round roasts. I intentionally find meat trays that are close in weight to the whole pound, and I normally buy two trays of chicken (8-12 pounds), one tray of ground beef (4-6 pounds), and one roast (also 4-6 pounds). We have a FoodSaver, and I break down the bulk trays into one pound freezer packs. The pound packs are a good size for us and will last one meal with an extra meal or lunches made from the leftovers. Depending on how much we cook at home, this meat will last us 6-10 weeks.
Cat food and litter
Our little princess is quite particular about her food, and she loves the canned Friskies pate. It’s much cheaper to buy in the large box and lasts us about six weeks. We do buy smaller bags of dry food as necessary at Target. Litter is soooo much cheaper in bulk. We buy whatever Tidy Cats is stocked every few months.
Bell peppers
Our club carries a mix of six total yellow, orange, and red peppers. I buy greens peppers and onions at the grocery store, prep them, and freeze them.
Mac’s razor blades
Y’all. Men’s razor blades are crazy expensive. Mac has a particular kind of blade he likes, and we buy the big pack when we can find it. He shaves 20+ days a month, so he goes through blades regularly.
Paper products
This might be a weird over-share, but I’m a fan of Sam’s Club toilet paper. We buy that, their store brand paper towels, and Kleenex. We keep a few unused packs in the various linen closets around the house and store the extra in the garage. Yes, you can coupon and get these for free, but I have yet to find a worthwhile deal in my area that is easier than these options.
Random cleaning supplies
We get trash bags, dishwasher detergent, laundry supplies, toilet cleaner. I prefer to buy the large packages to avoid having to buy them frequently. Last year when we moved to Colorado, we bought two containers of dishwasher pods. We needed to wash every single dish after unpacking them from a year in the storage unit, and I wildly overestimated how much we needed. We are still using the second container.
What we splurge on:
Fresh pizza
I love Sam’s pizza, but the pies are huge and way too much for us to eat on the reg. Occasionally, we’ll get one and have it fun lunch and dinner (and every meal for the next few days).
Bottled water
Mac loves the ICE brand sparkling water. We don’t always get them, but these are a lot cheaper to buy in a case instead of by the bottle or in the packages sold in normal grocery stores.
Snacks
Sometimes, we will buy various lunch snacks (crackers, cookies, applesauce, fruit cups). I don’t always do this because eating fruit cocktail with cherries every day for a month is rather boring.
What we pass on:
Produce
While it is a good deal, we rarely can finish whole packages of bulk produce before it spoils. Also, most of what our club stocks is grown in hothouses out of season.
Bakery items
Same as the produce, the packages are too big for us to eat quickly (slash we don’t need the calories of eating 3 dozen cookies).
Do y’all shop at Sam’s Club?
Jane Davidson says
We don’t have a Sam’s Club near us so I’m a Costco gal, and I totally agree on produce. It is such a great deal, but living on my own for a long time, and then moving in with Tom, two people just can’t go through those MEGA bags of lettuce or, 64 oranges lol. But, it’s saves so much money buying the other stuff that doesn’t go bad in bulk!
Jen says
YES! We absolutely love Sam’s Club and it has saved us so much money. Especially when it comes to buying meat in bulk. Thank goodness for a foodsaver and deep freezer.
Whitney Jordan says
We love Sams! Can’t beat their deals on kitty litter, toilet paper, lettuce, meats and soft pretzels 🙂 We go once a month to stock up on things and I also love using their photo lab for prints or holiday cards.