This guest article is by Julia Scott, who helps people save on groceries, gasoline and household bills at BargainBabe.com.
If you’re a Costco member, you can take advantage of the bulk buying, especially for certain products. You can also obtain a great balance transfer and cash back rewards card like the American Express Rewards Credit Card which offers a $25 bonus.
But for those of you who aren’t members of Costco, you can still benefit from some deals offered by this warehouse club. Here are some great tips for shopping at Costco even if you’re not a member!
No Costco Membership? Shopping At Costco Still Saves Money
1. You do not have to be a Costco member to get a flu shot there. Unless you have access to a free shot, Costco has the lowest price I have found so far for the flu shot, at $20. The pneumonia shot is $35. Call ahead to see what dates and times they are administering the vaccines. Some restrictions apply. Prices creep up if you go elsewhere. Walgreens is giving flu shots for $25, a slight drop from last year’s standard $30 charge. A benefit of the recession! Rite aid has the flu shot for $30 and the pneumonia shot for $45.
2. Non-members can use the pharmacy. Just tell the employee at the entrance that you are headed there and they will waive you in without a membership card. The Costco pharmacy takes cash and credit cards. I paid $5 for a generic prescription with my Visa that another chain wanted $80 for. One of my blog readers saved $200 getting prescriptions filled at Costco.
3. Members can purchase Costco cash cards and give them to non-members. This was a little known fact about shopping at Costco that a new friend shared with me. Recipients can get a free one-day membership to use the cash card on gas or warehouse items. The cards are also good online.
Cash cards make great gifts and they are useful for employees, students living away from home, and friends who are dying to buy 20 pounds of strawberries. Costco’s page on cash cards lacks details but it may be possible for the recipient to re-load a card as long as they leave some money on it. It also looks like recipients can buy goods for more than the card is worth as long as they can pay for the remainder in cash.
It is unclear if a non-member who receives a Costco cash card is limited to a certain number of uses per year. I suppose if they start recognizing you, you’ll need to pony up $50 and get a membership. Otherwise, the usage guidelines are somewhat open to interpretation. Just remember to bring cash.
4. Non-members can purchase items at Costco.com, though you’ll pay a small surcharge for not being a member. Not a bad idea to price check before making purchases, especially if you are in the market for a coffin.
5. Consider splitting a membership with a friend if you do want to take advantage of the full warehouse. Costco has no problem if the second person on the membership lives at a different address! (If you need prescription glasses, this would be a fabulous deal that makes it worthwhile to join.)
Costco can be a major money suck: huge carts, huge portions, huge bills. That’s why I am not a member. But strangely enough, some of their best deals are open to non-members!
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
You can just borrow a card for filling gas and stuff, if your friend or whoever it is that’s lending you doesn’t mind.
Great info about the non-member benefits. You are right also about Costco being a money suck!
Ahh, Costco…… the reason why they are so profitable is because they are making a lot of money off their members. Stay away from bulk buying. The membership psychology inadvertently causes you to buy more.
I hate their parking lot as well. Always a mad house. Even if the place saved me 5-10% on something, I wouldn’t go because the stress in the parking lot is enough for me to stay away forever.
Buy variable not in bulk!
I’m a Costco member and I actually like shopping there. I bulk buy on some items — the non-perishables — and I find it extremely convenient. I’m surprised about some of the comments about them. Actually, the Costco close to where I live is not too bad (not too crowded) since we shop at non-peak hours.
Costco does not accept Visa. Checks from members, cash or American Express only.
I stopped shopping at Costco because I found that bulk boxes made my family consume more. When we got a 20 back of paper towels, we used them more often. When we got the triple sized box of cereal, the kids ate it for breakfast, lunch, and 2 snacks a day.
I’ve gone back to the local grocery store, buy normal quantities, and now we use less.
I know everyone hates Costco but there are certain instances where paying the 50 bucks for a membership isn’t such a bad thing. I almost never buy groceries there except when my daughter was born and the money I saved on diapers, wipes and formula paid for the membership many times over but now that she’s almost out of diapers and my other one no longer uses them at all, I have let my membership go.
Great post. I had no idea that there were ways around the membership if you were interested in shopping there. I don’t think I would shop there enough to take advantage of the $50 membership fee. I think if you have a family you may need to buy in bulk and can come out ahead.
If you are a single or married DINK …yes, I can see where Costco could be a money sucking temptation. With no real benefit in the long run. In that case, your tips hit the mark!
However, when the family starts growing, Costco bulk and special services provide savings far greater than the annual fee. As our family of five started 16 years ago, the money we have saved on diapers, formula, pet food, milk, cheese, coffee (great!), tires, eyeglasses, gasoline, occassional electronics, and even the food court/deli has far exceeded the annual fees. Annual fees which, if you play it smart, in some years are negligible if you take advantage of cash back rewards.
I will agree though, it takes some self control and comparison shopping savvy. Be a smart shopper. All bulk foods are not created equal. To save 5% on a product, only to waste 10% of it due to spoilage or excess is no bargain. Again, your mileage will vary depending upon your family needs.
I’m single and while CostCo *can* be a money suck, I’ve figured out how to use it to my advantage.
I buy green peppers there in the fall and flash freeze them so I have them all through the winter, when prices on peppers soar in my area.
I save $10 compared to my favorite grocery store’s prices every time I buy dog food for the dogs that rule my life (2x a month).
I do find that I absolutely cannot shop at CostCo hungry — danger! impulse buys ahead! — and I avoid making purchases that seem like deals but aren’t by shopping with my shopping list and price book in hand.
My CostCo takes my Visa Debit card, by the way, which is very convenient.
I save scads of moolah every time I buy new glasses.
I buy ground beef in bulk, season and cook it in bulk, and freeze it in individual serving sizes. Some of it becomes hamburgers, some sloppy joes, some taco meat, etc. Same thing with ground turkey.
I get one prescription that is $9 at CostCo and ran me $30 at Walgreens.
I save about 20 cents per gallon on gas when compared to the other local gas stations. My CostCo is 2 miles from my house and isn’t out of my way at all, so this is very handy. This saves me about $5 a month, since I drive a fuel efficient car, but that alone covers the cost of my membership. Everything else I save on is just gravy.
I was not aware that you could buy at Costco without a membership. I have compiled a list of what to buy at Costco & what to avoid at Costco that many may find helpful.
My Costco membership more than pays for itself. I get the executive membership–$100/yr, but at the end of the year you get 2% back on everything you’ve bought! For the last couple of years that has meant more than $150 (I buy more than half of my groceries, all my dog and cat food, tires for my car when needed, most gifts and lots of miscellaneous things–batteries, light bilbs, etc, sometimes furniture. . .)
Now that they have a deal with American Express I get cash back from the card, too–I’m careful to pay it off every month so there are no charges to me!
I never knew you could go to the pharmacy without being a member. I wonder if it’s cheaper than walmart’s. I stopped using costco. Just not enough room for all of it.
I’ve been told:
Membership is not required for purchases of alcohol in the following states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas and Vermont.
Membership is not required in most states for purchases of glasses at the optical department.