Why I Bought A Sam's Club Membership

As we started into our journey of debt freedom, I was couponing to help cut our grocery & household costs. I was quite skeptical about getting a Sam’s Club membership at first. While it is the only warehouse store we have available in our area, I wasn’t sure pahing $45 a year for access to bulk items would help keep our grocery costs down. Especially when I hear people complain that they can never get out of Sams Club without spending over $100 each trip. Here’s some reasons why I finally bought a Sam’s Club Memnership.

It had quite a while since I was in a Sam’s Club. The last time we had a membership, it was given as a gift while we were in graduate school. But the closest store was over an hour drive away and in another state, so Hubs and I didn’t think the cost in fuel to get there was worth keeping up with the membership, especially for as little as we had used it at the time.

Back in October, there was a coupon in the paper for a free 30 day membership to Sam’s Club. After the 30 days were up, I could either pay for $45 for a year’s membership, or not. So with my free membership coupon, and Lady Bug in tow, we went to Sam’s Club to scout out some of their prices. After doing some research for prices in our area, I paid for the membership in November. Here’s what I found that makes the $45 membership fee worth it for our family.

Some Items Are Priced Lower than My Price Points

The whole point of stocking up is buying items at a price that’s lower than retail. Over the last 2 years that I’ve been couponing, I’ve learned what prices I’m comfortable paying for certain items. For instance, boneless, skinless chicken breasts I would buy when they went on sale for $1.99/lb. Retail price for them in my area is $4.49. Their $1.99 sale was lower than many other sales they promoted.

But recently, I noticed Giant would pack their chicken breasts at 5 per package during that sale, rather than 6. I don’t know why it bothered me. I was paying per pound anyways, but I really wanted to get the most chicken out of the two packs I would buy. When Lady Bug and I did our research at Sam’s Club, their price on boneless, skinless chicken is $1.88 per pound. Less than what I was buying it for at Giant!

Perdue whole roaster chickens were $0.99 per pound, when the closest I could get to that elsewhere was for the store brand fryer chickens. Their prices on chicken, coupled with my irritation with Giant, aided in my decision for a membership.

I can buy items in bulk without worrying about the next sale

To be honest, there were many months this summer we ate more meals based around chicken and pork than I think anyone in this house cares to think about. Ground beef prices rose so much in the last year, that my price points on 80/20 beef went from $1.88/lb in 2013 to $3.49/lb by the summer of 2014. That’s because prices were rising so fast that I rationed what we had left in the freezer. Then I got to the point that I gave up tracking prices.

When we were checking out Sam’s Club prices, I saw their 90/10 ground beef was $3.78 per pound. As I type this, 90/10 is on sale for $5.49 at Giant, where I had been buying our meat before. On. Sale!! I’ll give you a minute to absorb that. Back yet? That’s a difference of $1.71/lb. Since our initial scouting in October, I’ve bought 2 packs at Sam’s Club each month. Or roughly 7 pounds of ground beef a month. If I were to buy that much ground beef in a month at Giant, I’d spend nearly $12 more each month, and break even for my $45 membership fee after 4 months just buying ground beef for my family. That means I’ll break even next month!

But for me. juice boxes were the same way. The boys pack a lunch for school every day, and Lady Bug packs one in her lunch pail when we do our grocery day. That’s 11 boxes a week! I’d either have to buy it by the case at a sale. And I simply don’t have enough room for that. Canned peaches and pears are also a go to as they’re cheaper per can buying from Sam’s Club than at any other store in the area. When Weis has their 10/$10 sale or $0.88 sale on them, that’s the time to buy them elsewhere. Cottage cheese is an item we’ve bought occasionally, but only when we know it’ll be gone through in a reasonable time {usually when we haven’t had it for a while}.

The prices on staples in our house are lower at Sam’s Club

There was a while I’d buy a box of butter each week at Giant for $3.79. I cringed one night when I had to stop at Walmart for butter after piano lessons. Yeah, I had neglected to notice that I had no more in the freezer. The price tag said $4.28. Ouch! Over the course of a month, that’s over $15 in butter if I buy it at Giant alone. At Sam’s Club, their 4 pound pack of butter is $9.98, or $2.50 per pound. If I keep buying 4 pounds of butter a month, this savings {$67!!} will have paid for the membership over the course of a year as well.

Silk, bananas, romaine lettuce, spinach, carrots and celery also take precedence here. If there is not a coupon for Silk available, it’s cheaper for me to buy the three pack at Sam’s Club. We go through that amount in the course of two weeks anyways, so it’s not going to waste. Carrots and celery are staples in our broth, soups and even skillet meals, while the leafy greens and fresh bananas are a nice way to add in some fresh produce at a great price.

Every month they have instant savings

This was a surprise to me. I’m not sure why because I’ve heard my in-laws discussing it before, but it still took me by surprise. One of their instant savings was $1 off a pack of bananas. Their 3 pound packs of bananas run $1.49, so I got 3 pounds of bananas for $0.49! Another instant savings I was really excited about was their $3 off a rotisserie chicken, which is priced at $4.98. I haven’t seen rotisserie chickens priced that low, ever. I’ve also taken advantage of instant savings on yogurts, and fruit snacks as well.

Other perks

Sam’s is almost a necessity when it’s Monkey’s turn to bring in class snack. Since the items are by bulk, I can make sure that there will be enough for his entire class without having to buy multiples at other stores.

Their gas prices are the cheapest in the area if I’m filling up the tank and I don’t have any gas points through Weis. This doesn’t mean that I specifically drive there to fill up because it is a little out of the way for that.

Is the cost of a Sam’s Club membership worth it?

In the end, only you can determine if the membership is worth it to you. After Lady Bug and I spent some time researching, I felt that their membership was worth it for our family. Some items they sell I don’t feel are much of a savings for our family because we can get them cheaper by using coupons. Things like cleaning items, cereal/oatmeal, and personal care items for instance. Other items I don’t need to be buying in bulk. Yes, I’m talking to you gigantic aisle of chocolatey sweet treats.