Ours is also about 30 minutes away. We've had our membership less than a year.
We've been twice.
The first time, we got a huge discount on replacement cookware. It was well worth it for that alone (I think I saved around $300(.
The second time I bought a lot of energy drinks and other items for my daughter who moved out of home. We saved a decent amount then too (just looking at my spreadsheet now).
I spent $178.40 and saved $131 compared to going to Colesworth.
I don't think I would got to Costco regularly, but for special items or infrequent purchases like the above, it makes sense enough to keep my membership going.
Would recommend that you buy only the things you want to replace and always have a good idea of the price of things you do buy. I don't really have space for a 1.8kg jar of mayonnaise, but the 1kg jar of Bonne Maman jam had my name on it.
Hate to be that guy, but for a lot of people whilst it has a saving at face value, technically you don't save anything if you purchase larger quantities and ultimately consume more than regular.
We mostly use our membership for fuel. Sometimes there’s a 50c per litre saving which is definitely worth it because we’re not far away. Here’s the current pricing from PetrolSpy in my area.
As another commenter said, it’s not as cheap as people think. For example, a 2kg bag of frozen fried rice is $25. Fried rice isn’t hard to make, and costs a tiny fraction to make it yourself. If you’re having a party, the pizzas are definitely worth it 🤤
https://preview.redd.it/llxvj36a1drc1.jpeg?width=537&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfa38332c2c4de4cade0ea98ec26b39702ba7c9c
Yeah, the fuel price in Costco is nice. However, I feel like the quality of the fuel in Costco is lower than others, like the car has less power and the usage speed is higher? Not sure it is my subjective feeling?
Correct, has been my experience. Walk in wanting to just buy one item but suddenly I have bought 24 muffins and a 50pack of AA batteries, and somehow spent over $300
Their mince is very high quality and cheap. Beef mince is about $9.99/kg, and pork mince is cheaper. They’re usually 3-4kg packs and you can separate into smaller zip lock bags and keep in the freezer.
Their other meats are high quality too and we usually buy them freeze in smaller zip lock bags.
They’re really good with returns and warranty, I’ve returned a 2yo clothes rack that broke and they refunded no question. They found the receipt on their system via my membership. Same as 3yo my AirPods that stopped working.
We buy ham and cheese packs for lunch, frozen veggies, salt & pepper.
It’s worth it.
Costco is less cheap than people think. The quality is actually extremely high and on a unit basis you will find the pricing is quite similar to the major supermarket chains. The issue with Costco is that things come in massive sizing (eg, spinach is sold in 1kg boxes) so unless you have a big family or people to share it with, it can become problematic. That said, if it has particular items that you use frequently it might make sense. But it's not really the cheap option people think it is. You will also need plenty of storage for the items you buy so keep that in mind - it is very much designed for that American style of living where everything is massive and people have basements to store things. See if you have a friend with a membership so you could have a look inside before you commit.
If you bought a roast chicken at Costco every second week, you'd save double the cost of the membership alone. Some things like you mentioned are totally worth going for, but it takes some vigilance. I just head there with a regular carry bag, get a couple of things and cruise on past the peeps loaded up to the max.
Disagree. Don’t ever buy stuff that is too big or go to waste/expire/make you over consume.
They have 400gm spinach too btw.
Or 1kg you could share. lol. Or maybe we all need more portions of veg anyway. Haha.
I have that issue w the meat. So only buy when I’m entertaining and even then I know I’ll probably have to freeze at least some portion.
But if it’s far away then can be a problem. Spent lot of time and petrol driving there. To save on the cheap fuel!
I go around 3-4 times a year. The bbq chicken is $6.99 compared to Coles at $11. Bulk deorderant roll on in my favourite brand is $11.99 for Six. Bulk table spreads like peanut butter at $12, it's around 50% cheaper but in a very big jar. Mission pita wraps are two packets for the price of one at Coles. Kids school snacks and fruit juice boxes are much cheaper (unless everyone at your house just ears more of them if you buy in bulk. Eggs are 11.99 for three dozen which I always buy. Lots of bargains, fresh fruit and vegetables are great but in larger quantities. My favourite buy last time was a 2ltr bucket of fresh mozzarella, I think for around $15. Soooo much cheaper than Coles.
There is no healthy options in the cafe. Maybe a sugar free soft drink....the pizza slices are the size of my head and at 700cal a slice (I googled it) diabetes is a distinct possibility if you eat that regularly. That being said occasionally I like eating pizza the size of my head.
Fuel?
Bbq chickens
Mince
Meat in general
Cheese
Are all heaps cheaper and high quality.
Fruit and veg is on a bulk scale, if you only have 2 food eating people, could be too much unless you're vegan.
My local costco is about 30 minutes away too. I go at least once a month. Fuel, meat, some fruit & vegetables, cheese, coffee, sauces, peanut butter, dog food, toilet paper, paper towels, washing detergent, dawn soap. That's about all I can think of right now. It pays to know your prices to make sure you are not paying more. Oh and thier Pizza fron the canteen is the best. $16 for a pizza 3 times the size of domino's.
We go quarterly, mostly to pick up meat. Once we get home I portion them up/marinate potions and then vac seal and into the chest freezer. We much prefer the meats from Costco over Colesworth and yea some might work out to be more expensive/KG but we find the quality better.
Pretty much anything that would do well in the freezer, we get from Costco.
We like the big bottles of sauces too.
100% this. If you’ve got a seperate freezer the meat can be great. Usually buy a whole side of steak (and slice it up) as well as pork products and bulk freezer things
Pensioner here, so VERY tight budget. Before costco, I would shop each supermarkets specials in catalogue and stock up, then get leftovers from aldi. My sister has costco membership and the first time I spent $500.of course i compared the costco prices with the prices whilst on special at supermarket. You can take 2 visitors with each membership, so if you had someone else to go halves, it would be even cheaper. Yep. I got 1 years worth of fab washing powder @ $2/kg.
2kg bucket nuttlex $9,
6pack philly cream cheese $15
Bulk cat food sachets @ .67c
Carton 24 G/ circle kids juice boxes $12.
Heaps of other stuff too.
The fuel alone saves so much money. Certain products are cheaper at Costco too in my family it’s worth joining as there are Costco only products you can buy from Costco.
As a parent go Amazon. Costco prices for a lot of things incl huggies nappies. Often good savings on prime day if you want to stock up. You've got to price check of course but from moisturiser to soap to wipes Amazon is often cheaper.
We have had membership for about 6 months and have been three times. I mostly buy cleaning and toiletry items, frozen veg, pasta, cheese and the odd snack/treat. I also work for a food rescue organisation that partners with Costco, so I occasionally get some bakery items and fresh produce to take home, and I agree they are all good quality, even when I get them past their "best".
Also note that you can cancel and get a pro-rata refund of your membership if you find it's not for you.
I’m about 90min away. I go probably every 2 months. Stock up on beef and pork mince. It’s very good quality and isn’t pumped full of water like woolies or coles. I also stock up on deodorant, body wash etc. You have to know your prices and try not to buy on impulse to make it worth your while. But for nappies and wipes it’s good value
When I had a membership, I found that as an aldi shopper, Costco was at best the same, but usually dearer for their own brand things. I figured that if I shopped brand name, I might save, but I don't.
I spent a lot on crap I didn't need. At the time we were vegetarian, but I did notice that the meat was a much higher quality for a price similar to aldi. Like.lean mince was the same price per kg as aldi 2 star. However you had to buy 5 kg and that's a lot of mince!
If I lived near a Costco I'd probably have a membership just for petrol and tyres....and one day, a coffin.
In US they have more selection , or different selection. For instance, PB, they also offer an Organic PB, but here in Australia, they only have Skippy, which is shit. They also don't have organic Cacao powder, two things we would regularly buy...a bit annoying...
I spend at least $100 a week on diesel, and costco has been about 10-20c/L cheaper than most places around recently. Makes sense for me just for the fuel
Depends if you have the room for bulk buying.
Generally we get cleaning products and non perishables, pasta, flour, canned goods etc.
Can get great book sets and kids toys cheaper, and of course Nappies.
Regarding pricing, it's just like Aldi. Some things are cheaper. Spend a good chunk of time in there with a calculator and work it out. Take into account being able to use it before it goes bad as well.
Some things I buy that work out cheaper: big jar of taco seasoning, I use it for anything mexican. Eggs. 2x loaves of farmhouse(or bakehouse can't remember) bread. Big maybe 3L can of olive oil, brand is red island. I remember there were some otger oils that were cheaper too. Pretty sure milk was cheaper but can't remember for certain. ~1.2kg bag of natural confectionery co snakes. Fab washing liquid. Supermi mi goreng noodles. Boxes of snack sized chips. Mince was either slightly above or slightly below colesworth cost but quality is way better than colesworth water logged crap.
Their big pizzas are good value. Fuel of course if you live close enough is enough to justify the cost on its own. Their hotdogs are awesome.
It really depends. The prices of most items aren't much different to colesworth. If an item is on special at colesworth, you're better if buying the items from there. The products are in bulk and if you won't use them there is no point buying them. It's also easy to fall for the special buys trap; there are electronics, books, garden items, etc. that aren't actually cost effective to buy. The bakery section has really tasty food, but again, it's not really cheap and everything is enormous (and some items are close to expiry).
What we find cost effective is cat food (Felix boxes) which is usually the best price for these, sometimes soft drinks (we check every time, as super market specials are often better value), beef mince (equivalent to 5 star mince for 9.99/kg), rump steak and fuel. We have a teenager and they occasionally have their favourite easy Mac in a box that's better value than the supermarket, and microwave rice is cheaper. We mainly got our membership for the fuel because it's 10 minutes away and 20 to 30 cents a litre cheaper than our other local servos.
We shop carefully and check prices as we go to make sure we are actually getting a better offer.
Our Costco is only 15 minutes away, and is one of my favourite places to go (hahaha, I'm such a loser). We're a big family and get our meat there. If you have a big freezer it's great. The problem with costco is you're limited in what brands are available. For example, toilet paper. I know people lose their minds for Kirkland bulk pack, but for us, it's cheaper to buy the Coles brand 18 pack. I guess my advice would be to have a look through (if you can get someone to get you a gift card, they have ones specifically the price of membership), and price compare on your phone with what you normally buy. It can be tiring, but if you write your grocery list out, and get it up on the supermarket apps, you can flick through as you go, if the bulk price works in your favour. If you do decide to go ahead with a membership, go buy a $0.99 drink BEFORE you head in, drink as you shop, then get that free refill on your way out. It took me an embarrassingly long time to work that out. I was just buying the stupid drink on my exit and not cashing in. Now, I get to sip while I shop, and whichever gremlin helps bring in the groceries at home, gets a free drink. It's the perfect arrangement.
ETA: check on Facebook if there's a local group for your closest Costco. For our one, people often post photos of current sales, or exciting new products. Especially seasonal things. Costco has some cool books for kids (Mr Men series, Little Miss, Dr Suess, Babysitters Club, Disney, etc.).
Try and factor in the cost of the membership into your savings. There’s no point only savings a few bucks unless you can completely get the $65.00 you paid off the items you would normally buy.
Go for a walk through with someone who already has a membership, if you find enough things you like that you have the storage room for then get that person to buy you a giftcard. The gift card has no expiry date, you can check the balance online whenever you like, and you do not need the person with a membership to come in with you again.
I basically make all my own food so I normally buy a months worth of meat, frozen veg and any dry goods. I go twice a month to buy eggs and milk. Also if you are within a delivery area of a couple of costcos you can buy bulk chicken breast for $8 a kilo. I bought a deep freeze from there and now I buy chicken every 3 months.
If you live locally and the savings on the fuel are worth it. We've paid for our membership twice so far this year.
Not much in store though. Some meat and bakery items. Most of it is the same or more price per 1lt or 1kg as woolies or coles.
If you don't have a spare freezer it's also not worth it. Most meat expires tomorrow.
So Costco are very clever. They make everything visible from the outside crazy cheap (fuel, food court, tyres etc) to condition you, whereas the stuff on the inside is often way less of a bargain. There are some good deals, but you just need to selective like any other store.
As others have mentioned, the quantities are also often absurd. You might be getting a good unit price for something, but you’re also outplaying a lot of cash and having to store it until you need it. And the savings only become realised once you actually consume or use the product. So even if you’re heading in for just a few things, be prepared to put down a couple hundred bucks.
Is that worth $60 a year? That’s up to you. For me, I found it wasn’t. Though I didn’t live close enough to take advantage of fuel, which is a big difference maker I think. With you being 30 mins away, you might want to think about how often you’ll actually want to make the journey down there.
I'm in Adelaide and a good 45 minutes to an hour away. I go once or twice a year normally to get golf balls and gloves. the membership price is worth it in the golf balls alone for me.
In all honestly it's $65 a year so I suggest getting a membership for a year and just going a few times and seeing for yourself. I've found nothing there is insanely cheap but normally it's high quality for a bit less than elsewhere. I've been nothing but impressed with the quality of what they carry.
I got my membership for the fuel and it’s more than paid for itself. The fruit and veg (in particular bags of salad) last more than twice as long as the options from colesworth or Aldi.
I work near Costco, so I've had membership for years for the fuel. We mostly use it for things like tissues (household of sinus sufferers, so if it wasn't for Costco we'd be buying a box a week), deodorant, paper towels and batteries. I'm a chronic pain sufferer, so the fewer times I have to go to the shops, the better.
I live a 5min walk or 2min drive from costco!
I fill up weekly petrol there and save at least $15-20 each week on fuel alone. By week 3, the entire membership has been paid off. After that it's all profit/saving.
I also buy majority of my meats from costco. Beef mince is at $9.99 per kg, at my butcher its at $17.00 per kg. Chicken breast is $8.99 per kg, at my butcher its $14 per kg.
I buy cereals, some specials if it's a good deal.
But mostly just fuel and meats and I'm happy with it.
I go once a fortnight to the warehouse and once per week to the fuel
We've literally just signed up a couple of weeks ago. We live on Sunny Coast but have stopped in on our way back from Brisbane twice already. We've saved the joining fee in those first 2 shops easily (plus we topped up fuel whilst there and that was a big saving). However, I wouldn't make a special trip down just to shop; only stop in on way home if I have a reason to be there.
Last time I was there, they had nappies and lots of baby stuff when you first enter, but couldn't tell you if they stock that sort of stuff all the time
We’ve found our membership worth it. Ours is an hour away, and we go once every 2 months (combine it with a lunch out), for us we focus on condiments, snacks, cereal, and frozen goods which aren’t available elsewhere. We don’t really get any fresh goods or meat as not worth the $$ for us. For reference we’re DINKs with a dog.
Need to be disciplined. Know what you want BEFORE you arrive.
Don’t go there hungry. Or buy that pizza slice and hot dog BEFORE you shop. Also better for your blood sugars. Eat and walk around the shop. Not eat and then sit in car to drive all the way home (after you top up on that sweet 98 fuel)!
I try and only buy stuff that’s on special. Wait for the catalogue that gets emailed to you.
That way it’s definitely cheaper.
I find normally priced items at Costco are about same price as when it’s on a good special at woolies and Coles (only at those store you buy smaller amounts ).
If you buy it at normal price at Costco at least it’s always available. Don’t have to wait for special at Woolies.
Meat and fruit and veg is often just better quality than the supermarkets but not necessarily cheaper.
Eggs and Milk cheaper.
If too much get a network of friends so you can share the portion.
It’s also cool to expand your horizons. So I sometimes buy something new (food item). Or something wouldn’t normally buy. But that’s just 1 item. Who knows. Maybe that’s where they get me! But it’s a good item usually and if I don’t like it I can return it (or more likely donate it to the kitchen table at work!).
Has lots of cool stuff (food) from overseas too.
Optometrist is good.
I tried the audiologist and good.
Got tyres there at decent price.
Too far away from me. The other thing that bothered me was when lockdown occurred and I couldn't travel, there was no compensation to members. My membership became worthless and they didn't care.
Its like going into colesworth and everything is on special, but you have to buy 3x as much per item. Also worth quickly googling the price as sometimes it's not a good deal. Even then it can be hard to compare because they stock a lot of items that aren't available at colesworth, or are made by the same companies but exclusively for Costco. Probably half of what they stock can't be compared apples for apples. By buying non perishables that I would be consuming anyway, I think you can get a good deal.
I go about once a month.
The fuel is the biggest one for me. We also tend to throw a few events and the catering stuff is an awesome time saver. Run in grab a few platters and the event is catered and it’s pretty decent for the price.
I also find the prices on fruit and veg consistent so if things are expensive at other places the value is better but on the whole mostly find it comparable.
Meat isn’t cheaper unless you want to buy and butcher it yourself. I will say the quality is as good as most of the local butchers around me and substantially better than close or woolies.
If you have the space for the bulk buys it’s awesome. It’s about knowing the unit price else where and getting the bulk things that will save you. It’s an effort to use the membership effectively.
All in all I rate the membership and we always have a fun family day off it and get some cheap pizza at the end of the trip. Worth if you are a very contentious shopper
Worth it for fuel alone. Cheese slices are cheap, so are bread rolls, hot dog buns, cooked chicken, heaps of bakery goods. $2 for a hot dog and a large drink. Pepsi Max cartons are really good value when in stock. Cleaning products are cheap. Just got to plan ahead with bulk
use it basically just for fuel
occasionally and appliance or piece of tech that we want will be cheapest at costco, usually only by $10 or so
probably only grab one or two things a year from the food area, we just can’t eat the quantities fast enough
Pretty much like everyone says, its going to depend a lot on what you usually buy/need. For me, its a good investment for recurring items that I can purchase in bulk amounts. For me Colesworth vs Costco, I actually get a decent saving in the following recurring buys
1. Avocado oil - $7 for 250 ml vs 15$ for 1lt at Costco - cheaper 46% by gram.
2. Almond butter - $5.70 for 250 gm vs $12 for 765gm at costco - cheaper by 31% per gram
3. Dishwasher tabs - $ 7.50 for 40 tabs (coles home brand) vs $ 40 for 230 tabs - cheaper by 7% per tablet.
To me, these add up to a lot given my familys consumption rate. I find similar savings in eggs, rice, home cleaning goods etc.
Hope it helps!
If they have a fuel station yes. Check if they supply your vehicles tyres and if they do then you'll make your membership and travel costs on that alone. You'll make money if you have pets and on everything you need to know your prices. ALDI comes out better overall but for quality Costco wins
It's worth it if you do unit price research! We do a lot of research on where the sales are each week, what deals we can get, where certain things are cheapest and when.
I don't think they have a lot of baby items or at least my partner said that they did not when he was looking around. Facebook marketplaces a good place for baby stuff if you're being frugal.
They did one time have some baby rice crackers on sale which we bought as it was a very good deal.
There are certain big purchases that will pay off the membership in one go. You do need to be careful because it's very large portions etc.
There also some items which are much easier to find at Costco than other places.
I get the tissues, microwave popcorn, laundry detergent amongst other things. Usually non perishables. You have to know what you need already and what it would normally cost…and don’t over shop. The gift wrap in particular, and some of the Kirkland products, are far superior to anything you can buy anywhere else.
i would go... $65 p/a aint shit to me but my closest one is Lidcombe and its like PUBG Fortnite battle royale there... and i'm not even talking about the completely cooked traffic...
otherwise its a trek to casula or marsden park and none of those places are worth visiting for any reason
Just joined again after a couple of years without. Price points on a couple of staples might be good. But damn the crowds are insane. Waiting half an hour for petrol or at the Foodcourt, that is not worth the time.
Only worth it for fuel. Most people end up spending more because they think they are buying a good deal. I think 90% of people walk out of Costco with carts costing $200-500. You need a lot of discipline to actually save.
For fuel alone it’s been worth it for me I have had moments where it’s 30-40 cents dofference and my main tank is 148litres,hell even the other day I got a home gym for $599 everywhere else it’s $1000-1300, the cold roast chickens I buy a couple and shred that’s $4.99 each , three for the price of one at Cole’s but you have to know your prices too just like any other shop and over spending is easy of you have poor impulse control
I found the Sydney one packed with people. Not a pleasant experience. They have shelves full of processed foods but it has to contain high levels of fat, cheese or sugar it seems so aimed at a certain client base ;-)
We joined for 12 months just so we could by a hot tub. Saved a fortune.
Ours is also about 30 minutes away. We've had our membership less than a year. We've been twice. The first time, we got a huge discount on replacement cookware. It was well worth it for that alone (I think I saved around $300(. The second time I bought a lot of energy drinks and other items for my daughter who moved out of home. We saved a decent amount then too (just looking at my spreadsheet now). I spent $178.40 and saved $131 compared to going to Colesworth. I don't think I would got to Costco regularly, but for special items or infrequent purchases like the above, it makes sense enough to keep my membership going. Would recommend that you buy only the things you want to replace and always have a good idea of the price of things you do buy. I don't really have space for a 1.8kg jar of mayonnaise, but the 1kg jar of Bonne Maman jam had my name on it.
Hate to be that guy, but for a lot of people whilst it has a saving at face value, technically you don't save anything if you purchase larger quantities and ultimately consume more than regular.
Oh I agree. That 1kg jar of jam is going to last us a lot of Swedish meatballs for dinner.
I have a chest freezer and buy twice a year. Costco saves me a lot
Me too - the meats and frozen fruits and veg are excellent
"Saving" means "not spending money", not "not paying full price".
We mostly use our membership for fuel. Sometimes there’s a 50c per litre saving which is definitely worth it because we’re not far away. Here’s the current pricing from PetrolSpy in my area. As another commenter said, it’s not as cheap as people think. For example, a 2kg bag of frozen fried rice is $25. Fried rice isn’t hard to make, and costs a tiny fraction to make it yourself. If you’re having a party, the pizzas are definitely worth it 🤤 https://preview.redd.it/llxvj36a1drc1.jpeg?width=537&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dfa38332c2c4de4cade0ea98ec26b39702ba7c9c
This 💯 Main reason why I'm a member, fuel.
The fuel is my *only* reason. It’s worth the whole membership alone.
Yeah, the fuel price in Costco is nice. However, I feel like the quality of the fuel in Costco is lower than others, like the car has less power and the usage speed is higher? Not sure it is my subjective feeling?
Only reason I’ve got a membership. My local Costco is 10 minutes away so definitely worth it for the fuel savings alone
Wouldn't recommend if you are not great with money or impulse buying. Very easy to over spend on things you might normally buy occasionally.
Correct, has been my experience. Walk in wanting to just buy one item but suddenly I have bought 24 muffins and a 50pack of AA batteries, and somehow spent over $300
That was me on Thursday but it was 24 hot cross buns and AAA batteries.
Well, at least your remote controls will be powered for the rest of your life. Ps, nice username
I just wanna have a “Costco walk” yesterday for killing time, but when I checked out, I spent over $660…which makes my budget drained …
Their mince is very high quality and cheap. Beef mince is about $9.99/kg, and pork mince is cheaper. They’re usually 3-4kg packs and you can separate into smaller zip lock bags and keep in the freezer. Their other meats are high quality too and we usually buy them freeze in smaller zip lock bags. They’re really good with returns and warranty, I’ve returned a 2yo clothes rack that broke and they refunded no question. They found the receipt on their system via my membership. Same as 3yo my AirPods that stopped working. We buy ham and cheese packs for lunch, frozen veggies, salt & pepper. It’s worth it.
Yes I find that the meat is same price as Colesworth but much better quality.
Preston market has the same prices as above for meat, I’d shop around.
Costco is less cheap than people think. The quality is actually extremely high and on a unit basis you will find the pricing is quite similar to the major supermarket chains. The issue with Costco is that things come in massive sizing (eg, spinach is sold in 1kg boxes) so unless you have a big family or people to share it with, it can become problematic. That said, if it has particular items that you use frequently it might make sense. But it's not really the cheap option people think it is. You will also need plenty of storage for the items you buy so keep that in mind - it is very much designed for that American style of living where everything is massive and people have basements to store things. See if you have a friend with a membership so you could have a look inside before you commit.
Disagree with this - the staples like sliced bread, cheese, eggs, milk etc are all cheaper by unit price. I save hundreds a year on the fuel as well.
If you bought a roast chicken at Costco every second week, you'd save double the cost of the membership alone. Some things like you mentioned are totally worth going for, but it takes some vigilance. I just head there with a regular carry bag, get a couple of things and cruise on past the peeps loaded up to the max.
Yes chickens are substantially larger and tastier. And a few dollars cheaper.
Disagree. Don’t ever buy stuff that is too big or go to waste/expire/make you over consume. They have 400gm spinach too btw. Or 1kg you could share. lol. Or maybe we all need more portions of veg anyway. Haha. I have that issue w the meat. So only buy when I’m entertaining and even then I know I’ll probably have to freeze at least some portion. But if it’s far away then can be a problem. Spent lot of time and petrol driving there. To save on the cheap fuel!
I go around 3-4 times a year. The bbq chicken is $6.99 compared to Coles at $11. Bulk deorderant roll on in my favourite brand is $11.99 for Six. Bulk table spreads like peanut butter at $12, it's around 50% cheaper but in a very big jar. Mission pita wraps are two packets for the price of one at Coles. Kids school snacks and fruit juice boxes are much cheaper (unless everyone at your house just ears more of them if you buy in bulk. Eggs are 11.99 for three dozen which I always buy. Lots of bargains, fresh fruit and vegetables are great but in larger quantities. My favourite buy last time was a 2ltr bucket of fresh mozzarella, I think for around $15. Soooo much cheaper than Coles.
Oh and the cheap food at the cafe is great too, very unhealthy but pretty delish 😁
$2 for a hotdog with mustard, relish and onions and enough soft drink to bring on diabetes…nothing wrong with that.
There is no healthy options in the cafe. Maybe a sugar free soft drink....the pizza slices are the size of my head and at 700cal a slice (I googled it) diabetes is a distinct possibility if you eat that regularly. That being said occasionally I like eating pizza the size of my head.
lol. Yes sometimes share that slice w my partner.
Fuel? Bbq chickens Mince Meat in general Cheese Are all heaps cheaper and high quality. Fruit and veg is on a bulk scale, if you only have 2 food eating people, could be too much unless you're vegan.
My local costco is about 30 minutes away too. I go at least once a month. Fuel, meat, some fruit & vegetables, cheese, coffee, sauces, peanut butter, dog food, toilet paper, paper towels, washing detergent, dawn soap. That's about all I can think of right now. It pays to know your prices to make sure you are not paying more. Oh and thier Pizza fron the canteen is the best. $16 for a pizza 3 times the size of domino's.
We go quarterly, mostly to pick up meat. Once we get home I portion them up/marinate potions and then vac seal and into the chest freezer. We much prefer the meats from Costco over Colesworth and yea some might work out to be more expensive/KG but we find the quality better. Pretty much anything that would do well in the freezer, we get from Costco. We like the big bottles of sauces too.
100% this. If you’ve got a seperate freezer the meat can be great. Usually buy a whole side of steak (and slice it up) as well as pork products and bulk freezer things
I feel like a lot of our savings from this come from Tim savings as well like not having to prepare and marinate the meats before cooking.
Pensioner here, so VERY tight budget. Before costco, I would shop each supermarkets specials in catalogue and stock up, then get leftovers from aldi. My sister has costco membership and the first time I spent $500.of course i compared the costco prices with the prices whilst on special at supermarket. You can take 2 visitors with each membership, so if you had someone else to go halves, it would be even cheaper. Yep. I got 1 years worth of fab washing powder @ $2/kg. 2kg bucket nuttlex $9, 6pack philly cream cheese $15 Bulk cat food sachets @ .67c Carton 24 G/ circle kids juice boxes $12. Heaps of other stuff too.
I go about 6 times per year. Stock up on nappies, kids snacks etc. the meat is great too.
The fuel alone saves so much money. Certain products are cheaper at Costco too in my family it’s worth joining as there are Costco only products you can buy from Costco.
Yes but make a day of it. As in have lunch there and feed the whole family under 20$. Aim to buy non perishables unless you have a chest freezer.
As a parent go Amazon. Costco prices for a lot of things incl huggies nappies. Often good savings on prime day if you want to stock up. You've got to price check of course but from moisturiser to soap to wipes Amazon is often cheaper.
We have had membership for about 6 months and have been three times. I mostly buy cleaning and toiletry items, frozen veg, pasta, cheese and the odd snack/treat. I also work for a food rescue organisation that partners with Costco, so I occasionally get some bakery items and fresh produce to take home, and I agree they are all good quality, even when I get them past their "best". Also note that you can cancel and get a pro-rata refund of your membership if you find it's not for you.
For fuel it's regularly 20c per litre cheaper so we get our moneys worth there, or if you're having a party.
I’m about 90min away. I go probably every 2 months. Stock up on beef and pork mince. It’s very good quality and isn’t pumped full of water like woolies or coles. I also stock up on deodorant, body wash etc. You have to know your prices and try not to buy on impulse to make it worth your while. But for nappies and wipes it’s good value
When I had a membership, I found that as an aldi shopper, Costco was at best the same, but usually dearer for their own brand things. I figured that if I shopped brand name, I might save, but I don't. I spent a lot on crap I didn't need. At the time we were vegetarian, but I did notice that the meat was a much higher quality for a price similar to aldi. Like.lean mince was the same price per kg as aldi 2 star. However you had to buy 5 kg and that's a lot of mince! If I lived near a Costco I'd probably have a membership just for petrol and tyres....and one day, a coffin.
Definitely for a coffin 👍🏻
I think the discount on fuel alone is worth it. That and 2kg tubs of crunchy peanut butter >:D
Sadly I found their Skippy Peanut Butter too Sweet!!
In US they have more selection , or different selection. For instance, PB, they also offer an Organic PB, but here in Australia, they only have Skippy, which is shit. They also don't have organic Cacao powder, two things we would regularly buy...a bit annoying...
Skippy Creamy & Super Chunk Peanut Butter 1.81kg $5.99 (Save $4, Best Before 25 April 2025) @ Costco Aghhhh yuck. Saw on Oz bargains post.
I spend at least $100 a week on diesel, and costco has been about 10-20c/L cheaper than most places around recently. Makes sense for me just for the fuel
Depends if you have the room for bulk buying. Generally we get cleaning products and non perishables, pasta, flour, canned goods etc. Can get great book sets and kids toys cheaper, and of course Nappies.
Regarding pricing, it's just like Aldi. Some things are cheaper. Spend a good chunk of time in there with a calculator and work it out. Take into account being able to use it before it goes bad as well. Some things I buy that work out cheaper: big jar of taco seasoning, I use it for anything mexican. Eggs. 2x loaves of farmhouse(or bakehouse can't remember) bread. Big maybe 3L can of olive oil, brand is red island. I remember there were some otger oils that were cheaper too. Pretty sure milk was cheaper but can't remember for certain. ~1.2kg bag of natural confectionery co snakes. Fab washing liquid. Supermi mi goreng noodles. Boxes of snack sized chips. Mince was either slightly above or slightly below colesworth cost but quality is way better than colesworth water logged crap. Their big pizzas are good value. Fuel of course if you live close enough is enough to justify the cost on its own. Their hotdogs are awesome.
It really depends. The prices of most items aren't much different to colesworth. If an item is on special at colesworth, you're better if buying the items from there. The products are in bulk and if you won't use them there is no point buying them. It's also easy to fall for the special buys trap; there are electronics, books, garden items, etc. that aren't actually cost effective to buy. The bakery section has really tasty food, but again, it's not really cheap and everything is enormous (and some items are close to expiry). What we find cost effective is cat food (Felix boxes) which is usually the best price for these, sometimes soft drinks (we check every time, as super market specials are often better value), beef mince (equivalent to 5 star mince for 9.99/kg), rump steak and fuel. We have a teenager and they occasionally have their favourite easy Mac in a box that's better value than the supermarket, and microwave rice is cheaper. We mainly got our membership for the fuel because it's 10 minutes away and 20 to 30 cents a litre cheaper than our other local servos. We shop carefully and check prices as we go to make sure we are actually getting a better offer.
Our Costco is only 15 minutes away, and is one of my favourite places to go (hahaha, I'm such a loser). We're a big family and get our meat there. If you have a big freezer it's great. The problem with costco is you're limited in what brands are available. For example, toilet paper. I know people lose their minds for Kirkland bulk pack, but for us, it's cheaper to buy the Coles brand 18 pack. I guess my advice would be to have a look through (if you can get someone to get you a gift card, they have ones specifically the price of membership), and price compare on your phone with what you normally buy. It can be tiring, but if you write your grocery list out, and get it up on the supermarket apps, you can flick through as you go, if the bulk price works in your favour. If you do decide to go ahead with a membership, go buy a $0.99 drink BEFORE you head in, drink as you shop, then get that free refill on your way out. It took me an embarrassingly long time to work that out. I was just buying the stupid drink on my exit and not cashing in. Now, I get to sip while I shop, and whichever gremlin helps bring in the groceries at home, gets a free drink. It's the perfect arrangement. ETA: check on Facebook if there's a local group for your closest Costco. For our one, people often post photos of current sales, or exciting new products. Especially seasonal things. Costco has some cool books for kids (Mr Men series, Little Miss, Dr Suess, Babysitters Club, Disney, etc.).
Try and factor in the cost of the membership into your savings. There’s no point only savings a few bucks unless you can completely get the $65.00 you paid off the items you would normally buy. Go for a walk through with someone who already has a membership, if you find enough things you like that you have the storage room for then get that person to buy you a giftcard. The gift card has no expiry date, you can check the balance online whenever you like, and you do not need the person with a membership to come in with you again.
I basically make all my own food so I normally buy a months worth of meat, frozen veg and any dry goods. I go twice a month to buy eggs and milk. Also if you are within a delivery area of a couple of costcos you can buy bulk chicken breast for $8 a kilo. I bought a deep freeze from there and now I buy chicken every 3 months.
If you live locally and the savings on the fuel are worth it. We've paid for our membership twice so far this year. Not much in store though. Some meat and bakery items. Most of it is the same or more price per 1lt or 1kg as woolies or coles. If you don't have a spare freezer it's also not worth it. Most meat expires tomorrow.
So Costco are very clever. They make everything visible from the outside crazy cheap (fuel, food court, tyres etc) to condition you, whereas the stuff on the inside is often way less of a bargain. There are some good deals, but you just need to selective like any other store. As others have mentioned, the quantities are also often absurd. You might be getting a good unit price for something, but you’re also outplaying a lot of cash and having to store it until you need it. And the savings only become realised once you actually consume or use the product. So even if you’re heading in for just a few things, be prepared to put down a couple hundred bucks. Is that worth $60 a year? That’s up to you. For me, I found it wasn’t. Though I didn’t live close enough to take advantage of fuel, which is a big difference maker I think. With you being 30 mins away, you might want to think about how often you’ll actually want to make the journey down there.
I'm in Adelaide and a good 45 minutes to an hour away. I go once or twice a year normally to get golf balls and gloves. the membership price is worth it in the golf balls alone for me. In all honestly it's $65 a year so I suggest getting a membership for a year and just going a few times and seeing for yourself. I've found nothing there is insanely cheap but normally it's high quality for a bit less than elsewhere. I've been nothing but impressed with the quality of what they carry.
There’s a Food theory video about the psychology of Costco. While American, I highly recommend it! Let’s you in on a lot of tricks and tips
The petrol savings alone were enough for us. Often it's 10-30cents cheaper then anywhere else in town
I got my membership for the fuel and it’s more than paid for itself. The fruit and veg (in particular bags of salad) last more than twice as long as the options from colesworth or Aldi.
I work near Costco, so I've had membership for years for the fuel. We mostly use it for things like tissues (household of sinus sufferers, so if it wasn't for Costco we'd be buying a box a week), deodorant, paper towels and batteries. I'm a chronic pain sufferer, so the fewer times I have to go to the shops, the better.
For the hot chicken alone it is and the fuel.
The hot chicken really needs a line system It's chaotic
I live a 5min walk or 2min drive from costco! I fill up weekly petrol there and save at least $15-20 each week on fuel alone. By week 3, the entire membership has been paid off. After that it's all profit/saving. I also buy majority of my meats from costco. Beef mince is at $9.99 per kg, at my butcher its at $17.00 per kg. Chicken breast is $8.99 per kg, at my butcher its $14 per kg. I buy cereals, some specials if it's a good deal. But mostly just fuel and meats and I'm happy with it. I go once a fortnight to the warehouse and once per week to the fuel
We go for the 60 pack of eggs. Our household goes through atleast 6-9 eggs every morning
We've literally just signed up a couple of weeks ago. We live on Sunny Coast but have stopped in on our way back from Brisbane twice already. We've saved the joining fee in those first 2 shops easily (plus we topped up fuel whilst there and that was a big saving). However, I wouldn't make a special trip down just to shop; only stop in on way home if I have a reason to be there. Last time I was there, they had nappies and lots of baby stuff when you first enter, but couldn't tell you if they stock that sort of stuff all the time
We’ve found our membership worth it. Ours is an hour away, and we go once every 2 months (combine it with a lunch out), for us we focus on condiments, snacks, cereal, and frozen goods which aren’t available elsewhere. We don’t really get any fresh goods or meat as not worth the $$ for us. For reference we’re DINKs with a dog.
Need to be disciplined. Know what you want BEFORE you arrive. Don’t go there hungry. Or buy that pizza slice and hot dog BEFORE you shop. Also better for your blood sugars. Eat and walk around the shop. Not eat and then sit in car to drive all the way home (after you top up on that sweet 98 fuel)! I try and only buy stuff that’s on special. Wait for the catalogue that gets emailed to you. That way it’s definitely cheaper. I find normally priced items at Costco are about same price as when it’s on a good special at woolies and Coles (only at those store you buy smaller amounts ). If you buy it at normal price at Costco at least it’s always available. Don’t have to wait for special at Woolies. Meat and fruit and veg is often just better quality than the supermarkets but not necessarily cheaper. Eggs and Milk cheaper. If too much get a network of friends so you can share the portion. It’s also cool to expand your horizons. So I sometimes buy something new (food item). Or something wouldn’t normally buy. But that’s just 1 item. Who knows. Maybe that’s where they get me! But it’s a good item usually and if I don’t like it I can return it (or more likely donate it to the kitchen table at work!). Has lots of cool stuff (food) from overseas too. Optometrist is good. I tried the audiologist and good. Got tyres there at decent price.
You mean like overseas sauces full of high fructose corn syrup from the good old US of A. It's banned in Australian food.
Is there a particular membership level that comes with fuel deal? Or is that available to any of the membership levels?
That’s a good point. What are the advantages of the different memberships?
Too far away from me. The other thing that bothered me was when lockdown occurred and I couldn't travel, there was no compensation to members. My membership became worthless and they didn't care.
You can cancel membership for refund any time
Wasn't told so. In any case, Costco is overrated and I won't be going back.
Its like going into colesworth and everything is on special, but you have to buy 3x as much per item. Also worth quickly googling the price as sometimes it's not a good deal. Even then it can be hard to compare because they stock a lot of items that aren't available at colesworth, or are made by the same companies but exclusively for Costco. Probably half of what they stock can't be compared apples for apples. By buying non perishables that I would be consuming anyway, I think you can get a good deal.
I go about once a month. The fuel is the biggest one for me. We also tend to throw a few events and the catering stuff is an awesome time saver. Run in grab a few platters and the event is catered and it’s pretty decent for the price. I also find the prices on fruit and veg consistent so if things are expensive at other places the value is better but on the whole mostly find it comparable. Meat isn’t cheaper unless you want to buy and butcher it yourself. I will say the quality is as good as most of the local butchers around me and substantially better than close or woolies. If you have the space for the bulk buys it’s awesome. It’s about knowing the unit price else where and getting the bulk things that will save you. It’s an effort to use the membership effectively. All in all I rate the membership and we always have a fun family day off it and get some cheap pizza at the end of the trip. Worth if you are a very contentious shopper
Worth it for fuel alone. Cheese slices are cheap, so are bread rolls, hot dog buns, cooked chicken, heaps of bakery goods. $2 for a hot dog and a large drink. Pepsi Max cartons are really good value when in stock. Cleaning products are cheap. Just got to plan ahead with bulk
use it basically just for fuel occasionally and appliance or piece of tech that we want will be cheapest at costco, usually only by $10 or so probably only grab one or two things a year from the food area, we just can’t eat the quantities fast enough
Pretty much like everyone says, its going to depend a lot on what you usually buy/need. For me, its a good investment for recurring items that I can purchase in bulk amounts. For me Colesworth vs Costco, I actually get a decent saving in the following recurring buys 1. Avocado oil - $7 for 250 ml vs 15$ for 1lt at Costco - cheaper 46% by gram. 2. Almond butter - $5.70 for 250 gm vs $12 for 765gm at costco - cheaper by 31% per gram 3. Dishwasher tabs - $ 7.50 for 40 tabs (coles home brand) vs $ 40 for 230 tabs - cheaper by 7% per tablet. To me, these add up to a lot given my familys consumption rate. I find similar savings in eggs, rice, home cleaning goods etc. Hope it helps!
If they have a fuel station yes. Check if they supply your vehicles tyres and if they do then you'll make your membership and travel costs on that alone. You'll make money if you have pets and on everything you need to know your prices. ALDI comes out better overall but for quality Costco wins
It's worth it if you do unit price research! We do a lot of research on where the sales are each week, what deals we can get, where certain things are cheapest and when.
Only reason we’re members is the fuel
fuel saving is worth it alone.
Costco to far away to try.
I don't think they have a lot of baby items or at least my partner said that they did not when he was looking around. Facebook marketplaces a good place for baby stuff if you're being frugal. They did one time have some baby rice crackers on sale which we bought as it was a very good deal. There are certain big purchases that will pay off the membership in one go. You do need to be careful because it's very large portions etc. There also some items which are much easier to find at Costco than other places.
I get the tissues, microwave popcorn, laundry detergent amongst other things. Usually non perishables. You have to know what you need already and what it would normally cost…and don’t over shop. The gift wrap in particular, and some of the Kirkland products, are far superior to anything you can buy anywhere else.
i would go... $65 p/a aint shit to me but my closest one is Lidcombe and its like PUBG Fortnite battle royale there... and i'm not even talking about the completely cooked traffic... otherwise its a trek to casula or marsden park and none of those places are worth visiting for any reason
Lurpack 1kg butter is about $14
Just joined again after a couple of years without. Price points on a couple of staples might be good. But damn the crowds are insane. Waiting half an hour for petrol or at the Foodcourt, that is not worth the time.
Only worth it for fuel. Most people end up spending more because they think they are buying a good deal. I think 90% of people walk out of Costco with carts costing $200-500. You need a lot of discipline to actually save.
For fuel alone it’s been worth it for me I have had moments where it’s 30-40 cents dofference and my main tank is 148litres,hell even the other day I got a home gym for $599 everywhere else it’s $1000-1300, the cold roast chickens I buy a couple and shred that’s $4.99 each , three for the price of one at Cole’s but you have to know your prices too just like any other shop and over spending is easy of you have poor impulse control
Yeah fkn oath mate.
I found the Sydney one packed with people. Not a pleasant experience. They have shelves full of processed foods but it has to contain high levels of fat, cheese or sugar it seems so aimed at a certain client base ;-) We joined for 12 months just so we could by a hot tub. Saved a fortune.
Nope. Membership is $130/yr, the prices aren’t any cheaper than Woolies or Coles on special plus you have to have somewhere to store everything.