Are warehouse clubs like Costco and Sam's Club worth it?
We were members at costco, but decided not to renew.  Meat was a definite cost savings, and laundry detergent as well.  Diapers used to be a huge savings, but loblaws seems to be pricing things better now.  We did by a bunch of Kirkland brand diapers and wipes before the membership ended. The problem we had was that you just get too much stuff - you save a bunch on that laundry detergent that you buy once every two years, or the chicken you have in your freezer forever. In Canada, the basic membership is $55 and we could not be certain we made that back, nor that we weren't over consuming as we walked the aisles.  I have heard that the more expensive membership ($100) which gives you 2% back on purchases is a good way to gauge your usage and determine if it is worth it. It also costs nothing to give it a try - their policy is a full refund at any time, so in theory you could go in on your 364th day and get a refund. I know that for me personally, if I buy that giant box of Goldfish instead of the bags, it doesn't mean I'm saving money... just eating a lot more Goldfish.  The trick, I think, to buying in bulk is to make sure that you're not consuming in bulk.  You're not likely to go through more dishwasher detergent just because you bought the big bottle, but you may find the kids are eating a lot more fruit snacks, or you're throwing away half of that huge bag of baby carrots that went bad, because you bought in bulk. Whether or not they are worth it depends entirely on your situation. For my family, they are worth it, but I know a number of people who it would not be worthwhile for.  The big things that we find are cheaper to get at bulk stores are toiletries, detergents (laundry, dishwasher), meats (only if you have a big freezer), bread, and certain types of prepackaged foods. Right now, it's just my wife and me, but once we have kids it will become even more worthwhile with things like diapers, wipes, and various other items. If you have a large family, or a large freezer odds are they are worth it. One thing to be careful of however is that they usually don't accept coupons. So if you're a big time deal shopper the gain may be minimal.  They only cost $40 a year, so worst case scenario if you don't get back your full investment you're not out too much. Also don't just assume that everything that Costco or Sams (we use Costco) sells is cheaper.  Still shop around and look for the best price.    For us it is definitely worth it. Only select items. First - I agree, beware the Goldfish Factor - any of those items may very well lead to greater consumption, which will impact your waistline worse than your bottom line. And, in this category, chips, and snacks in general, you'll typically get twice the size bag for the same price as supermarket. For a large family, this might work ok. If one is interested in saving on grocery items, the very first step is to get familiar with the unit cost (often cents per ounce) of most items you buy. Warehouse store or not, this knowledge will make you a better buyer.  In general, the papergoods/toiletries are cheaper than at the store but not as cheap as the big sale/coupon cost at the supermarket or pharmacy (CVS/RiteAid). So if you pay attention you may always be stocked up from other sources. All that said, there are many items that easily cover our membership cost (for Costco). The meat, beef tenderloin, $8.99, I can pay up to $18 at the supermarket or butcher. Big shrimp (12 to the lb), $9.50/lb, easily $15 at fish dept. Funny, I buy the carrots JCarter mentioned. They are less than half supermarket price per lb, so I am ahead if we throw out the last 1/4 of the bag. More often than not, it's used up 100%.  Truth is, everyone will have a different experience at these stores. Costco will refund membership up to the very end, so why not try it, and see if the visit is worth it? Last year, I read and wrote a review of a book titled The Paradox of Choice. The book's premise was the diminishing return that come with too many things to choose from. In my review, I observed how a benefit of Costco is the lack of choice, there's one or two brands for most items, not dozens. If you give this a bit of thought, it's actually a benefit. I'm guessing it depends on how much you'd be paying for membership. If you save more than the membership costs you and you actually use the products you buy and they don't get thrown away, then it's worth it. I'm not a member of a warehouse club but I do have a membership for another wholesale outlet, so I know a little bit about buying in bulk.  You need to take the same approach to buying goods wholesale as you would in an ordinary outlet, and do a few more things besides. Things like writing a list and sticking to it, making that list logically, so that you minimise the amount of time you spend walking around the shop. The less you see, the less you are likely to buy. Don't be taken in by offers, it's only a bargain if it's something you would have bought anyway. Don't shop on an empty stomach or with you children. And with bulk buying, you have to stick to things with long dates, unless your family gets through something at a phenomenal rate. Things like pet food are good, sugar too if you do a lot of home baking, that kind of thing. Toilet paper and kitchen roll are great to buy in bulk if you have the storage space and toothbrushes are good too. You'll always need them, always need to replace them, they don't take up much space and don't have a use by.  The rules differ from family to family. Look at what your family uses and how much time it takes to get through something. That's the best place to start. Silly as it sounds, we belong to both BJ's and Sam's club (we don't have Costco in this area).  The produce at our local Sam's is top-notch, especially in the winter. The prices on fruit there are unbeatable in the winter time, and more than cover the membership cost. I also find the price/quality of canned/box grocery items like tomatoes, flour, etc is better than our supermarkets. Our local BJ's has an excellent meat department, and we tend to buy alot of non-perishable groceries like ketchup, cheese, etc  as well as soap/cleaning stuff because they accept coupons. They are closer to my home and also have a member-only gas pump that is $0.10-0.30 cheaper.
Well, yeah.  Costco sells items in bulk, Whole Foods does not.  A better comparison would be Whole Foods against Aldi, Albertson's, Smith's, Vons, WinCo, etc.  These are the companies that sell groceries in similar sizes, but perhaps of lower quality. You can pay a lot in that store, but there are very reasonable prices. If you cherry pick sale items TJ's is no more expensive than any other store. Who knows the sales better than the employees? Also, grabbing a few things after work without making another stop is very convenient. Throw in the employee discount and those are definitely good enough reasons for employees to shop at their store. These services are immensely popular in big cities where grocery shopping time is scarce and a lot of younger people are foregoing car ownership. The price is a little high (base package is $60/week for 3 meals for 2 people) but provides good value if you're willing to cook the food.  I think their biggest hurdle though is retention. These services are fun for the first few months until they start to feel like a chore. And if you don't end up cooking the food you throw out a ton compared getting takeout on your way home from work. I thought that for a while, but then i actually got it with a groupon. Once in there, I liked it, especially since we were going through a move. Because people pay to get in, the reviews are a little better actually. I was pleased.  For a company that does work on houses/etc., such as plumbing, it is a necessity to establish a positive presence there. Square prices are hard to beat for a small operation. I've looked around when I was considering starting up a business, and they're definitely one of the cheapest. Paypal are the second best, but I do not trust Paypal in general. However, looking locally may provide you some more options. If you walk in to one of the local banks, you may be able to get offers for merchant accounts with better rate, depending on your relationships with that bank. You can also check out Costco merchant services, they seem to be quite competitive with the rates, but there may be other costs (they will probably charge more for equipment). There is a trade-off. It can be worthwhile because you save those extra trips. (On the other hand, don't you need to go shopping all the time for perishable items anyway?) On the other hand, having those items on stock implies inventory costs (the space they take up might be limited, the money they represent is sleeping and cannot be put to other usage, some of them might break...). This trade-off gives you the economic order quantity. Your stock levels over time based on that would look like a saw-blade. In addition, you might want to keep a safety stock for emergencies (if you use them faster than expected, if there is a supply shortage...). Check out the bulk stores like BJs, Sam's Club or whatever else is available to you.  You can definitely save money shopping there but you also need to keep your wits about you as well.  Example, if you're buying in bulk only to let food go to waste, obviously that's not good either... It's not a benefit when that's the main reason I don't go there.  I can't get everything I need there, especially if I want things like tooth paste or paper towels or any other household products. If they even have it, then there is one choice and so they charge like four times what'd I'd pay at a real grocery store.  Once people catch on that 19¢ banana isn't even a really great price just a marketing gimmick, they're sunk.  The grocery store of the future doesn't have any employees anyways.  Once amazon proves they can make an automated grocery store they'll license that tech to everyone   I do like some of their TJ brand things and they have a great selection of cheap wine. I will be sad to see them go I like the produce at Whole Foods,  prices are comparable to other markets in my area and the quality is much better. I don't subscribe to prime, I tried it and it is not worth it to me the $99 a year price, many products are not on prime and I can still get free shipping if I am willing to wait a week or so.   What I am trying to say, I hope Amazon doesn't mess with Whole Food's quality and selection just to show better prices, I can go to plenty other stores for that. I'm not specifically referring to forced acceptance of returns. You can produce a product that's excellent with minimal quality issues, but it doesn't mean that Costco won't squeeze you out on other things. In the end it's a numbers game, and the vendor will always lose when the performance of their product begins to drop, regardless of quality issues. That's when the large retailers start squeezing you. Prime sucks because it's all weird storage issues pulling it down. Amazon Fresh, though, seems okay. That's the one where they go into Sprouts or other stores and do the shopping for you, so selection is better.  Fresh, I believe, is what will be incorporating whole foods as an option.  What interests me the most is price differences between using the Fresh serviceable just going to the store. If it's like $5-10 more for online shopping with exactly the same goods, I might consider it. After all, I save gas and time. But more than that for a small trip? Doubtful. Awesome to see this.  Costco is a much better company and they treat their employees well.  I'm happy to see Walmart employees stand up for their rights and make a stand.  It must be incredibly difficult for them as well, considering their financial situation. Find a physical activity or programme that interests you.  Memberships only have real value if you use them.  Consider learning a martial art like karate, aikido, kung fu, tai kwan do, judo, tai chi chuan. :-)   Even yoga is a good form of exercise. Many of these are offered at local community centres if you just want to try it out without worrying about the cost initially.  Use this to gauge your interest before considering more advanced clubs.  One advantage later on if you stay with it long enough - some places will compensate you for being a junior or even associate instructor. Regardless of whether this is your interest or if the gym membership is more to your liking real value is achieved if you have a good routine and interest in your physical fitness activity.  It also helps to have a workout buddy or partner.  They will help motivate you to try even when you don't feel like working out. Their product count is significantly lower than that of a Walmart or Conventional grocery store, this allows them to hire less people with higher pay and still keep the stores well maintained.  Costco choose to employ less ppl with higher pay but the trade off is that they hire less ppl.  all and all this is still great business practice. "This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.ceps.eu/publications/why-are-central-bankers-shifting-goalposts) reduced by 87%. (I'm a bot) ***** &gt; Given its comfortable position today, it is difficult to explain why the ECB is continuing unconventional monetary policy measures, such as negative interest rates or QE. The theme of this year&amp;#039;s meeting of the world&amp;#039;s central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, had little to do with monetary policy.  &gt; Central banks are made independent precisely because it is understood that they are accountable for achieving their own objective of maintaining price stability, regardless of the economy&amp;#039;s underlying growth rate.  &gt; In 1999, a core inflation rate of around 2%, combined with unemployment below 5%, justified a federal funds rate of 5%. 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