Does anyone buy your groceries at BJ's or Sam's Club? Our three-year olds will be home for the summer and we normally buy our food at Walmart and get a few things on sale at Price Chopper. I am just wondering if anyone finds it worth it to buy in bulk at these types of stores?

Thanks,

Jennifer

Personally, I have never been able to shop solely at any one store. In CA, we have Costco. It's similar to BJ's or Sam's Club. Big warehouse store.

I love Costco's store brands and the quality is amazing. I'm a big fan of the meats and find so much of my groceries there. But the stock is ever changing and you may try a new product, love it, and can't find it the next time. Customer service is limited. Can get crowded at times. But I LOVE my Costco!

However, I still have to get things at my local grocery store. I prefer specific brands for some items that are not available at Costco. It's closer and faster for when I run out of something and need it quickly.

I buy in bulk for many but not all items. It depends on your household habits.

Sharon
15 year old b/b/b + 19 year old son

We are Costco shoppers too, go about once every month or two. We do go every week or two to the local grocery though.

Our Blog http://tripmomma.blogspot.com/

I go to Sam's club once a month and buy what we eat all the time there. For everyday items I go to the local grocery store once a week.

I almost exclusively shop at BJ's, because they are the only store nearby where I can take my 3.5 yr olds with me, they have a few 4-seater carts with benches and cars. Costco only has carts for 2 so one needs to ride in the cart or I go with my mom and 2 carts.

I pretty much buy everything there, going to an actual grocery store for only a few things, like frozen squash I can't find anywhere else, or a normal size jar of mayo.

To me it's easiest to stock up, I have a little pantry area in an old office cabinet.

Costco favorites: 10 lb bag of uniform-thickness chicken breasts, 10 lb bag of organic brown rice, frozen Bourbon Chicken (probably not the best for you but a great last minute meal starter that even my kids like), their bakery apple streudels (dangerous) or olive oil/rosemary bread.

>
>Costco favorites: 10 lb bag of uniform-thickness chicken
>breasts, 10 lb bag of organic brown rice, frozen Bourbon
>Chicken (probably not the best for you but a great last minute
>meal starter that even my kids like), their bakery apple
>streudels (dangerous) or olive oil/rosemary bread.


We shop at Sams Club maybe once a month. We don't need the "stock up" foods anymore, since our kids are all older. We only have one left at home.

But we went to Sams Club a couple months ago and purchased a family pack of boneless chicken breasts. When I got home, I opened the package so I could repackage the breasts to more meal size portions. OMG, those breasts were huge. I cut each one into 3 pieces because they were so big. Frankly, that scared me. Chickens should not be that big!!!! There was also a fair amount of fat on the breasts. I will not ever purchase those again at Sams. I don't know what they fed those chickens, but I do not want to comsume that stuff.

mom to:
Ryan 32 The Lawyer
Jason 30 The Chief Meteorologist
Chris 30 The College Student
Tim 30 The college grad

I love hearing their versions of their childhood memories!!

Depends on what you eat. I break the bank everytime I go to BJs or Sams. It is never a good idea for us to buy anything other than olive oil, cooking oil, detergent from there. Everything else we get from Stop and shop and local farmers market. I don't buy what I don't have a coupon for except produce.

Mom to BBB triplets born on 6/24/09 @ 29 weeks - 2 months in NICU
Baby Boy 9/19/2010

Yes, I find it much easier to buy what I can at BJs. Stuff like goldfish crackers, graham crackers, crushed tomatoes, cereal, cheese, yogurt, dried fruit, nuts baking supplies and all paper products are cheaper for us to buy there than at our regular grocery store. I clip a ton of coupons each month and then see what I need when I'm there. Milk is also cheapest for us there than anywhere else, but our local Walmart is small and has very limited groceries, if you have a Super Walmart you might find it cheaper without the need to buy in bulk.

I try to use the coupons as much as I can. It's also one of the few places locally where there are carts big enough to hold all my kids, so they can come with me on those trips. The only thing I find difficult is the produce - I don't need a bag of 12 bell peppers or 5 lbs of broccoli. But if you have pantry or storage space in your house, it is such a relief to just grab another bag of cheerios from the basement instead of having to run out to the store.

DS 03/06
BBB 03/09 @ 35 weeks, 1 day
Baby A - 5 lbs 1 oz
Baby B - 6 lbs 8 oz
Baby C - 4 lbs 5 oz