Costco Comparison

I did a little comparison shopping at Costco this week, here is what I found. We were OUT of toilet paper, usually our family prefers Cottonelle, so I looked for a coupon (only found 0.50/1) an headed to the store. I bought a 12 pack for $11.99 minus coupon (highway robbery!!). Later at Costco I saw an 30 roll pack of Charmin for $18.99. Score one for Costco!

Baby Wipes(for you Nicole): last week at Albertsons after coupons and catalinas I was able to get 1080 Pampers wipes for $14.95. Costco had 1000 Huggies wipes for $23.99 and 900 Kirkland brand wipes for $18.99. I have yet to try Kirkland brand, but I have heard they are superior, however if you are not brand specific I still have to give this one to Albertsons.

Pop Tarts: Albertsons has this deal were you buy 10 packs of 12 count Pop Tarts, get 2 movie tickets and $10 in concessions cash. They are priced at $2.50 and you can use the $1/3 coupon from kelloggs.com. Plus they have a catalina for buy 5 get $4 catalina. So, you would spend after coupons and catalinas $14 for 120 Pop Tarts (not including the movie items) at Costco 48 Pop Tarts are $7.89. Always assuming you need 120 Pop Tarts...I would be sick of them for sure by then.

Final Score: Costco: 1, Albertsons: 2!

Costco Comparison

I went to Costco and I was extremely overwhelmed to say the least. (Sidenote: I have not been in a Costco for like 15 years and I haven't been in a Sam's Club for 8!) My kids thought this was "the best store ever" because of the large amounts of samples they inhaled! All in all, it is a good store and one I think I can find deals at. I am going to do some comparisons every week or so, just to get a ball park on where things sit. I am going to ignore the membership fee (which I thought was reasonable at $100/yr because I am sure I spend at least $100 a year on coupons from the paper...I live in a "rural" area and the paper deals just aren't there. I am working on something though, I will share with you soon!) Three items that I caught the prices of and remembered recent sale prices for.

24 pack $6.99, the lowest I have seen these lately is $3 a box, plus catalina $4 when you spend $12, so it averages out to $2 for a box of 6 or $8 for 24. Costco is the better deal here.
Canned veggies, $9.59 for 12 or 80 cents each (S&W brand). Right now canned veggies are 39 cents at Albertsons for Green Giant, which I think is considered a more "expensive brand". I regularly see canned veggies go on sale for around 50 cents anyway. I would have to give this to the grocery store. (By the way, you can still get a rain check through today, if your store is out of the fabulous veggie deal!)

Milk, this one is tricky. Costco $3.96 for 2 gallons. I like the taste of Kirkland milk, but the jug is horrible. I am constantly dribbling down the side. Is there a trick I don't know? Last week Rite Aid had Umpqua milk on sale for $1.99/gallon and this week Fred Meyer had Mountain Dairy milk on sale for $1.99/gallon. So, I think this deal is basically a wash. However, I don't know if I will be buying the milk again just because of the jug?

I will compare more each week as I explore. I still didn't find the "diapers" and I really curious about that price!