What I buy from Costco to save money


I've had a Costco card for years. The first two I spent wandering up and down the aisles not really sure what to buy, sampling the tasters and maybe coming out with a multipack of walkers and a ten pack of kinder bueno. A total waste. Since getting my own home though it's become a game changer. If you have a little space to store stuff, and the cash flow to buy some things in bulk then I cannot recommend enough going to Costco (or equivilent) for some pantry essentials and seeing what money you can save!

My first tip, which is one that I failed to do for a good year and then couldn't work out why I was always over budget, is to include the Costco shop in your weekly planning. I budget in an extra £5 every week to account for the things that I'm going to buy from Costco across the year. Sometimes I'll buy extra things (I've got my eye on a pair of Hunters wellies that are seriously discounted), but that will come out of a savings budget. Putting the money aside means I don't end up short at the end of the month.

Onto the things I buy!

For everybody this is going to be different, so please don't take this as law. With Costco, it's mainly a branded shop, so if you are someone who just can't get away from the brands then this is the place to do it and save a fortune. For most things I still use my supermarket, as regular groceries (especially the home brand stuff) tend to be cheaper. However, there are a few Costco products that I just couldn't go without buying and that save me a LOT of money in the long run so here we go....

MILK


I make my Costco card fee back on milk alone. Most shops sell a 4litre milk bottle at £1.09 whilst Costco does a two pack for £1.60. Our 4 bottles a week saves us £60 across the year. That's a huge amount on a staple item! You would only need to buy 2 bottles a week to have made your money back on a Costco card so well worth investing in.


WASHING POWDER


This is another HUGE saving for us. We spent so much money on washing products before (even using the cheapest Aldi versions) and then we discovered this bad boy. It doubles up as a floor cleaner (I'm not sure how I feel about that yet), and has a really subtle scent, but one box does 400 loads. That's enough for the entire year. I tend to use two a year because I do a ridiculous amount of washing but at only £16 for the tub, that's a giant saving. I did some calculations and I'm saving £70 since switching from the Aldi brand to the Kirkland signature. Prefer brands? Costco have most well known brands in their aisles for a lot cheaper than you'll be paying supermarket cost so worth checking out!

SOFTENER


Nothing beats the feel of a soft towel and I find softener really adds that extra silkiness. It's an unnecesssary purchase if you're trying the minimal approach, but I've got so used to it being a part of my routine that I'm not sure I'd give it up. It costs me just under £5 for a bottle this big. What a steal!



UNSTOPPABLES


Okay, so I may have become a bit of a washing snob, but with everything else so cheap I can buy these and STILL save money on my washing so I'm probably going to continue. I pay for a larger size at less than the cost of the smaller size at most supermarkets. It's a nominal saving - a few £ a time - but across the year is a little bit of pocket change to save/spend else where.



DISHWASHER TABLETS


I got a bit tired of running out of dishwasher tablets every month so when I found this 100 pack in Costco I was very excited. Plus each tablet isn't wrapped individually which is an added bonus for those trying to reduce waste! It's just over £10 for 100 tabs, which is a similar cost price to the magnum versions from Aldi but we love the ease of this and it makes sense to buy the bigger bulk and save packaging and time.



VANISH


How do any parents survive without Vanish? This 1kg tub is just shy of £10 which is such a steal! You can get non branded versions of this stuff, but all the ones that I've tried (yes, even the Atonish) just aren't as good. I like the smell. I like the texture. I like the pink. 





TOILET ROLL

The price of this varies each time I buy, but getting a multipack (usually 48 rolls) works out at the same price as the Aldi version and for a nicer brand too! Some weeks it's Velvet, some weeks it's Andrex. At the moment we have the kirkland signature stuff which is pretty great. It just depends what's on offer, but because we have the storage space we go ahead and buy in bulk.

BLEACH


I buy 12 bottles of bleach for just shy of £3 and place a mini stock in each bathroom ready to go. I bleach my toilets every day, but two of these pretty much covers my yearly toilet bowl cleaning stash. Again, the ease of this makes it so worth it. You can buy really cheap bleach (home bargains do a version at around 40p), but it's normally quite thin and not all that great. This is thick, limescale dissolving stuff at half the price of regular good brands bleach. A good buy.


Everytime we go to Costco we always find new things that work out cheaper than the supermarket. When we host parties we try to buy our alcohol from there. Depending on the offers, we might buy our weekly crisps too (sunbites and doritos are a firm favourite that are often on offer), and we've bought most of our large items for the kitchen and garden from the Costco aisles. It's a fab place to find a bargain but, as always wisdom needs to be applied. There's no point bulk buying an item if you'll use it just as quick and need to buy more the following week (biscuits Lee!), and there's no wisdom in buying an item because it's a good deal if you wouldn't normally buy it anyway. If you can use that sense when you're shopping then a Costco card is a highly recommended option!

Across the year I've worked out that I'm saving over £350 just by buying these items at Costco rather than my local supermarket and these are just a few of the items that I buy routinely - there are a whole host of items that I buy more adhock that still see me saving the pennies! For me, getting a Costco card has been one of the best financial decisions I've made and it's something I will continue to do for many years in the future!

Let me know what items you find yourself purchasing from here! I'd love to see where else I can save!

Until next time...














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