The Cost of Costco

Originally published February 8, 2009

Someone asked me tonight what we buy at Costco.

Well, everything. And way too much. In fact, I’ve decided to stop going so much because I spend too much money, but I haven’t figured out where to go shopping instead!

Costco has LOTS of organic veggies, all frozen. They have a huge bag of mixed organic frozen veggies that's our staple -- corn, peas, carrots and green beans. I think it's five pounds for $12 or something close to that.

They usually have frozen organic green beans and soy beans. Their organic eggs are cheaper than I've ever seen anywhere else, and they sell them in packs of 18, for about $3.50. Whole Foods sells a dozen for $4.50!

They have lots of organic fresh fruits and veggies, but only in season, which is how it should be, I suppose. In June, they have organic strawberries. In November, they have organic apples, and in February, well, I guess you buy canned or frozen stuff.

I did buy a big (another five-pound bag) of frozen organic peaches that I'll turn into cobbler or smoothies or ice cream. But there's not always a lot of fresh organic stuff.

They have lots of staples that are cheap and organic: tomato sauce, rice milk, soy milk, juice, juice boxes, bottled water (if you buy it -- we don't,) coffee, peanut butter and crackers. Oh, lots of stuff like oatmeal. If you're not gluten-free, Costco is the bomb! Even you are gluten-free, they still have a lot of good stuff. But my kids always want to buy the organic pop tarts, and I keep having to turn them down. And I’d like to buy the mega-bag of steamed dumplings. And I always buy two books I don’t need.

Three big drawbacks:

1: You spend WAY too much money, because there's all sorts of stuff that you think you need and don't. There are books, movies, iPods, clothes, tools, lightbulbs that will save the planet and cut your electric bill in half, a gadget you didn’t know existed but you must have NOW, and oooh, look, there’s a vacuum sealer, just like on TV, and there’s a labelmaker that will organize your whole life. Yeah. It’s always $300 to go to Costco.

2: There's no organic meat or cheese to speak of. They have $14 organic chickens. Pass!

Or they have hormone-laden, antibiotic-pumped, poison-fed pork and beef, really cheap!

No thanks. They do have organic ground beef sometimes.

3: It's CROWDED. Really. Since we homeschool, we can go during the day, but if you go on a weekend or after 3 p.m., it's just pure mayhem. There are old people fighting for the last handicapped spot, and the cafe in front (drinks are like 50 cents and pizza's super cheap) is always packed full of baskets and sulking husbands with whiny kids.

Other than that, we love Costco!

They never do more than 11 percent markup on any item, ever. They give almost all of their employees health insurance, the average pay is like $15 an hour, and they always have the same people working there, so you get to know them and they're friendly and they seem to like kids. Completely different feel from Sam's, and you’re not supporting WalMart!