First things first, I promised you a report of our Sam's Club trip last Saturday. Here's what we ended up buying:
48 10-inch tortillas–$4.46 (this was about the same price as Aldi, but the tortillas were much nicer than theirs)
10-lb bag of pinto beans–$6.23 (beats Aldi price by about $0.30 per pound, I believe)
72-oz bag of Nestle chocolate chips–$9.34 (beats Aldi price by a few cents per 16-oz.)
1 pint pure vanilla–$6.88 (I'm not entirely sure if this beats the store prices of vanilla since I never buy vanilla but I've been told this was a good price. Is it? Anyone know?)
1 5-lb block of cheese–$10 (beats Aldi price by $0.60 per pound)
Total: $39.26 (We used all of the leftover grocery money from September to make these bulk purchases as well as a few dollars from this week's grocery budget.)
So far, I was very under-impressed with Sam's Club. Yes, we saved a small amount of money by shopping there, got a bit higher-quality food than Aldi offers, and got it all in larger quantities. However, some of these prices I can beat with a good sale and coupon on occasion. In addition, I was very careful to only buy those items which would truly be a better deal than the prices I normally pay. I found such deals to be far and few between.
Most of the items at Sam's Club were priced much higher than I usually ever pay. And that's not even factoring that it costs at least $35 to buy a year-long membership to Sam's Club. I am not convinced at all that in our area, it would be worth spending $35 a year. In fact, I am doubtful that I'd break even in savings. However, we are blessed to live very close to Aldi and to stores which double
coupons. If we didn't have either of these, I can see where it
definitely might be less expensive to buy a lot of your groceries at
Sam's.
I'm not giving up on Sam's Club yet. I'm going to try a few more times and see if my perspective changes at all. I'll keep you posted!
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In other savings news for this week: we had Great Flu of 2009 at our house this week and everything was a bit topsy-turvy, including shopping. I couldn't really get out to do any shopping because I was taking care of two very sick little girls, but I still managed to get some great deals without even walking into a store!
My husband went to Dillon's late Tuesday night to buy some drinks for the girls to help them stay hydrated so I also had him get a few of the deals while he was there. Here's what he came home with:
After coupons, he spent $23.54 for everything pictured above.
Some friends gave us a bunch of peppers from their garden.
We used some of them this week and I chopped and froze the rest to use this Winter. That will definitely save us some money to have plenty of peppers ready to use in casseroles, stir-frys, and so forth.
I also got a box of diapers free from Amazon thanks to Swagbucks and I got a 64-oz. bottle of Snuggle for $0.40 shipped thanks to Alice.com. (I thought this deal was no longer available, but a reader said she was able to get it. Login/signup here and then go here to see if it shows up for you. I'll be posting more deals from Alice.com as they surface! They offer free shipping and coupons every week so some of their deals are the same or better than what I can get locally with a store sale and a coupon. But you have to pick and choose as many of their prices are much higher than most of us usually pay.)
And last but not least, I had a Baking Day and stocked my freezer. What was most exciting to me about this Baking Day was that I was able to make a lot of dinners and breakfasts and I didn't spend any extra grocery money to do so. I've just been stocking up on good deals for the last 6 weeks or so and I had enough stuff on hand to make almost a month's worth of meals–all on a $40/week budget!
All totaled this week, we spent $63.20. However, $35 of that was leftovers from September's budget so we're starting week one of October out a little under our $40/week budget again–and our freezer is filled. I'm totally loving that! It just goes to show how a little creativity can certainly go a long way in maximizing the mileage of your dollars, can't it?
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below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you
personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order
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What worked for us when we had a sam’s club membership was that our sam’s club had a gas station and with the club card you got 5 or so cents off per gallon of gas. It wasn’t out of the way for us to go there and it made the gas the cheapest in town so over a year it payed off in gasoline for us.
Yes, that is a VERY good deal on vanilla…at least for Houston, TX. I paid that much for a tiny bottle of pure vanilla. It is hard to find real vanilla…it’s usually imitation. So, you did good on the vanilla part!
How did u get Snugle at Alice .com for $0.40? it is $3.38….thanks
I’m not sure if you have a Costco in your area, but it is like Sam’s Club in that it’s a store where you buy in bulk for member’s only. I was just mentioning them because I noticed their prices were a little better than the Sam’s prices you mentioned. They also have a gas station for members only and their gas is almost always the cheapest in town. And… they send out coupons about every other month that you can use only in their stores. So, just by buying our gas there we save enough money to pay for membership, but we also find several things cheaper there than at Walmart or other grocery stores. Anyways, if you have one in your area you might want to check them out.
I just moved from a Sams Club area to a Costco area (4 hours to Sams from here) and I miss Sams Club! Prices vary by region, but Costco was more expensive for everything I buy.
After I started couponing, I shopped a lot less at Sams Club. But I still bought french bread (a huge loaf for just over $1), big #10 cans of tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes to make a big batch of spaghetti sauce and freeze, parmesan cheese, whole wheat tortillas, milk, eggs, and produce, both fresh and frozen. I didn’t think their cheese was cheaper than sales. Some of their baking goods are a good price–like the big thing of baking powder. Just depends on what other stores you have and what your family uses!
HEB is our main grocery store and they don’t double coupons. We don’t get the paper or have access to said recycling bins, so I don’t really play the coupon game. Sam’s may not be comparable to coupons+sales, but it is often equal to or better than just sales. I regularly buy gasoline, kitty litter, paper products, eggs, milk, meat (chicken, ground beef, round steak), orange juice, vanilla (and YES it is an excellent price), and some spices there. Luckily I have an extra card on my mom’s account, but I think I would pay for a membership if we didn’t. My husband and I love to go there on Saturday’s or Sunday’s around 2 … there are usually enough samples to make lunch 🙂
I just had to comment on the Sam’s club. Even for a larger family (we have 6) I don’t find shopping at Sam’s to be a savings at all. We do not have a grocery store that doubles coupons and we don’t have an Aldi’s nearby. I exclusively buy locally at our Piggly Wiggly, Wal-mart, and Walgreen, but because I only buy on sale and stock-up, I am able to avoid any need for the $35 fee each year, plus the temptation to buy things that are seeminly a good deal, but hard to compare because they are bulk. To add to that all, Sam’s is as close as Aldi’s so if I need to stock up, I’ll drive to the next town and comparison shop at another grocery store or Aldi’s if I need the savings (or even Target if I need to.) Just thought you would like some extra info.
Ok What am I missing on alice.com, I went to your link and I registered, then I went to your other link but there was no coupon 🙁
I shopped at Publix and Albertson’s this weekend and saved 78% at Publix and 74% at Albertson’s. Taking advantage of their sales and my coupon stash. I now have an official stockpile of cereal, among other things! AND I stayed within our budget! Actually have $6 left!!
I read your blog daily and really enjoy it, but I do have to say that there are not any double couponing where I live. I can really see why you can live under $40/wk. As a single mom I do not have time to be printing off coupons on the internet and going from store to store. I live very frugally and I just shop wherever the weekly ads have some good sales. I do love Sams for almost everything. It might be higher for some things, but I can walk in and get what I need and do not have to return for about 1-2 mos. Of course this is what works for the 3 of us.
Laurie
Hey Crystal, the only items I purchase at Sam’s Club are Flour, Yeast, Vanilla, Paper Plates, and Paper Towels.
Amy/MomAdvice suggested the flour/yeast is cheaper and it is (she’s so smart)!! I’m not sure of the Vanilla, but it’s around $2 in my grocer so that large bottle is surely a better deal, especially when you bake a lot.
Also, I don’t know that the membership costs would be worth it, but I share the cost with a good friend. Since you can have two cards for one membership, we have been able to each have a card and just split the cost. Granted, my DH can’t shop without me but it’s not a bit deal. At least it’s only half the price for the little that we use it.
I have also heard that there are certain times they discount meats. I haven’t been in the store to see this yet, but if you ask the butcher what times/days they do this, you would be able to get some really good meat prices.
I notice their everyday Tyson Fresh Boneless Chicken per pound (in our region) is $1.99. I usually wait to purchase chicken at the grocer when it’s around $1.79/pound. But, if I’m in a pinch and need chicken, it’s always cheaper than regular stores.
I really do love Aldi though! I’m so thankful we have a few around us!
Has nobody mentioned the price of b/s chicken? At 1.88 (or on high weeks 1.95) per pound, I can’t beat this price with sales, and I rarely find coupons for produce. Also, Lea, the hamburger meat also comes in a tube at a cheaper price that you have to ask for. I usually buy around 9 pounds for less than $17 (1.89/lb). Their bananas are cheaper, apples are always 5.88/5lb bag, etc. Also, if you ask their meat packing manager when they reduce their meat, they often reduce these cases even further, so if you take it home, cook it and put it into 1lb bags and then freeze, the date doesn’t matter. Finally, their brand (members mark) is usually great. I love the members mark diapers (cheaper than I can get ANY diaper w/ sales and coupons) and the dishwashing liquid detergent (NOT the fabric detergent – it is a rip off). Finally, as others have stated, spices, vanilla, yeast, etc ARE cheaper there. I know you have to be careful, as most of the individually packaged stuff is more expensive. But the price of chicken and meat alone make it worth my membership price, not to mention I don’t have to spend time couponing for the things there that ARE cheaper. Crystal- when Samuel reaches size 3 in diapers, you should try members mark. They are always 16 cents a diaper. OH, and Sams is beginning to send out coupons like Costco. I wish I lived near a BJ’s, where they do store AND mannies.
After reading your post and all these comments, I realize how fortunate I am to live near a highly populated area. We are in PA and have Aldi, Walgreens, CVS, Costco and BJ’s within 20 minutes of our home. After doing a lot of comparison shopping, I have to say that BJ’s is awesome! Unlike Sam’s or Costco, they accept coupons. Their B&J powdered formula can’t be beat! Also, their brand diapers and wipes, any kind of baking ingredient, sometimes cereal (depending on what coupons I have)but we don’t buy the processed stuff- it’s no cheaper than the stores and I try to keep us on a whole foods diet as much as possible. Overall, I would say it’s possible to score good bargains many places and you just have to constantly watch where you spend the money.
When doing baking day, how do you store your food? My fiance wants us to get an expensive gadget after we get married that sucks all the air out of packaging when we do once a month cooking and freeze foods to prevent freezer burn, but I’m not sure that it’s worth the money. I’m wondering if there is a cheaper way to store food in a way that it still won’t get freezer burn, but also won’t be so expensive to store.
Thanks!!!
I buy big cans of crushed tomatoes at Sam’s so I can make my own spaghetti sauce. We live in no coupon land so it definitely is cheaper for me than buying smaller cans of tomatoes on sale.
Plus it saves a lot of time when bulk cooking since I only have one can to open instead of 10 smaller ones.
I also buy cheese, milk, yeast, flour and canned fruit. If you don’t have access to coupons and want to buy in bulk Sam’s is a good place to go as long as you use a price book and know your prices.
We just purchased
Milk is occaisionally cheaper there than Aldis for us.
Wind Fresh laundry DTG there…I think it was about $9 and it is HUGE I imagine we (a family of 6) will get a good 2 months out of it. My kids have very sensitive skin and this is not hurting them…that was my biggest fear but I am happy to know now that that is not an issue for us with this brand.
Dryer sheets were cheaper there..off brand..I forget what we paid but it was cheapter than $1.00 boxes for 40 at the Dollar General.
Years ago Yeast was a good price there..I do not bake much so I have not checked lately..but that might interest you.
Our Sams is right next to our Aldis..so like you..I am very careful and have not found much to shout about. I hope to get rice there with our next paycheck..flour was pretty good too, but not sugar…they only carry domino brand and it is more than store brands.
Loved your baking day post! You are an inspiration!
Crystal,
The one thing we have found the Sam’s Club membership to be worthwhile is when we’ve had to buy tires for our cars. They have been cheaper in the past. I know tires isn’t something you need to buy often, but thought I’d mention this as something you might want to check on for the future.
Amy,
Have you bought your bath soap at Sam’s? It is much cheaper than Walmart. I have sensitive skin, and I get the Oil of Olay there. My husband uses Zest and it’s half the price of the Oil of Olay; it is $6 at our Sam’s for a lot of bars.
I don’t know what you use for lotion, but the Aveeno baby lotion is what I use; it doesn’t bother me like most other lotions. I get it at Target with coupons.
Having a large family make shopping at Sam’s better for me. I do coupon and try to get the deals but as time goes by and my kids have a 101 activities I find I have less time to do deals and collect coupons. I agree the prices at Sam’s are higher but the one thing I notice is that it helps me cut down trips to the grocery store and in a sense I pay less for groceries. No more impulse buys at the store. Buying in bulk helps me. I had stopped going to sams, but decided a couple of months ago to rejoin and for about a $150, got lots of staples and have only had to go to the grocery store for milk and bread..and yes I got impulse items…but didn’t have to restock on meats!!
So it might not have saved me much money but it saved my sanity.
Still, I do love freebies and will never give that up!!!
I am new to couponing and find it very difficult to grocery shop with my toddler, who is now into everything, and still get the best deals. I need to concentrate and pay attention to the store flyer and match things against my coupons, etc. I usually wait to shop until my husband is home and I can get out by myself. What do others do? I’d love to see a thread on “grocery shopping with kids.”
I live in WV and our Sam’s marks down the meat on Wednesday. You can get some great deals on quality meat if you get there early. Also, if you have a business, you qualify for a business membership that allows you to shop at 7am, before regular members – still $35/year membership. We also use the windfresh detergent, which is the cheapest I’ve been able to find that cleans well and doesn’t make anyone itch. I also like their click and pull service – I have 3 boys under the age of 4 – somedays it’s very nice to just walk in, give them my card and they bring my order and even carry it out and put it in my van. Very nice!
I had a Sam’s Club membership, but found that it wasn’t worth it. I just wanted to remind people that you can get a refund at any time before your membership is due for renewal. We got a refund, no questions asked. Also, you can use their pharmacy without being a member (not sure about the optical).
I love Costco though! 🙂
My price for Snuggle through Alice.com is $3.48. How can I get it for $.40?
As always I am so impressed by your baking/cooking day. I’ve been thinking about taking time to make a large batch of ONE THING (meatballs) — but I still don’t know if I will even get to it.
We don’t buy as much at Sam’s Club as we used to, but we do buy our gas there. We figure that has saved us the cost of our membership. We do have Aldi in our town, and Price Rite, although we don’t buy much at the latter because I can usually beat their prices. We do the majority of our shopping at Walmart. There are two other grocery stores, one which has adopted a “consistent low price” policy, and has only a handful of specials each week. The other store rarely has good sales, although this week they did; normally even their sale prices are higher than Aldi or Walmart. And no one doubles coupons. I’ve also noticed that our Walmart prices are significantly higher than yours. It’s tough.
We will be buying a lot of the paper goods for our daughter’s upcoming wedding from Sam’s, but have been comparing prices to get the best deals!
I’m very interested in swag bucks, and want to learn more about it. I went to your post about it and then tried to follow the link to Lavonne’s post to read more about it, but a site called economicendeavors came up. Is the link wrong? Any info would be appreciated.
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Money Saving Mom here: Unfortunately, it appears Lavonne no longer has her blog. 🙁 However, I can tell you that I’ve been using Swagbucks for almost a year now and have earned lots of gift cards and definitely highly recommend it!
A random item at Sam’s…I love that raspberry chipotle sauce that goes with cream cheese and crackers, or on pork chops or whatever. It is not cheap–like $7 for a 20 oz bottle at our grocery store. It was a major splurge. Well, at Sam’s they have a 40 oz bottle for $8. So I decided to splurge. It’s lasted a long time.
And yes, the formula is a steal at Sam’s. And I love their brand of diapers.
I don’t see the snuggle deal on alice.com. Am I missing something?
I am not sure if someone mentioned this yet, but I HAD to share.
I haven’t been to Sam’s Club in awhile because the closest one is a bit far for me for where I live, but I used to go regularly for Milk, Eggs, Salad (a big container for the same price of a little bag at my grocery store), pasta (6 lbs for about $3), their spicy spaggetti seasoning mix (just add tomato paste and you have spaggetti sauce), garlic powder, Goat cheese (yum!). If you have a big family or want to freeze some of their bread products are cheaper and meat. Check out their filet mignon/lb.
Happy shopping!
I have learned a lot about using coupons and looking for sales from your blog. However, my grocery bill remains high . My problem areas seems to be medications, bath soap and skin care products. Any ideas on how to save?
My daughtert takes Zyrtex daily and its bout $11.00 a bottle. It is cheaper at Sam’s club, but its still pricey. I take Zyrtex-D and its about $22.00 for 24 pills ( 2 are taken daily). I have tried the ” generic brands” and they do not work as well.
Costco has the Ecos Brand Planet-Friendly Laundry Detergent for the best price around. It’s a giant 210 fluid ounce jug for around 12 bucks and there is a $3.50 off coupon in the 10/15 -11/1 coupon booklet…Limit 2. That is an amazing deal.
Costco also has a $2 off Nestle Toll house chocolate chips, limit 2 this month… Coupons vary each month…but its well worth looking into if you have a large family.
I gave up Sams and joined Costco. Their food is far superior in quality. Their beef is very high quality and I have seen local chefs buying it there. We try to do steak as a treat once a month when my son comes home. He goes to college 4 hrs away and we do not allow him to come home but the once monthly due to cost and we want him to have the college experience. If he wanted to be home all the time, he could go in town, right?
You might beat the dollars and cents, but when the quality counts, theirs is worth it. Spices, vanilla, coffee, milk, butter are much cheaper. We have 3 in contacts and they are way cheaper. Gas is way cheaper. Tires are great, too, with free road hazard warranty on top of that. Batteries for the car and lawnmowers are great. It is worth the extra cost of $50/yr instead of the $35 or so for Sams. I have the $100/yr one that gives the 2% rebate. It always pays 100% of my membership cost if I use the rebate check to pay it. I also get bathing suits for $10 or so every summer, as well as towels, sheets, sometimes shoes, Christmas gifts, lawn chemicals. I think it is worth it. I do have kids ages 20, 15, and 11. They eat more than little ones like some of you have and I do spend more than most of you. We try very hard not to eat out so we can do the better quality at Costco. The processed foods everyone hates (me too) are great to send with my son to school. He eats whatever I can get and really likes the lipton noodles and such to pair with a broiled chicken breast most nights. He is blessed to share a house with a roommate. He hardly ever spends more than $10 a month on food out of pocket since I send meat and dairy home with him, too. Couponing has allowed me to provide that for him so he can go to school without loans.
The Alice deal is definitely gone now.
I think car stuff like batteries and tires are a good price at Sam’s
I agree that you have to buy only basics to save $$ at Sams. We had a membership for one year and will not be renewing it. While the produce and milk & butter were good deals, most of the other stuff isn’t what we’d buy. Both my husband and I were kind of repulsed by the mass consumption that seemed to be the norm at Sams. I’m more of an Aldi’s & local produce market kind of gal anyways. And since I do a lot of scratch baking and cooking, my grocery bill isn’t big anyways. That said, I’ll still ask my friends with memberships to pick me up yeast when I run out — it’s one of the really good deals (like your vanilla!). 🙂
A few other things that I get there that I haven’t seen anyone else mention:
Construction Paper
Chicken Base
Feta Cheese
Spices like garlic powder, chili powder and cinnamon
Also FYI, Sam’s puts things on clearance especially after the holidays. If you find something that ends with .81 then it is clearance priced. I’ve found fun things like hot cocoa, chocolate chips, hot cider mix, dried fruit and other stuff for only a few dollars and I’ve even found stuff for only 81 cents like a box of salt shakers, some suckers and ranch dressing.
I prefer Costco over Sam’s. We will be cancelling our Sam’s membership soon, as we got a great deal on a Costco membership through my baboo’s work. Costco has, imo, a MUCH better selection of organics and minimally processed food than Sam’s. Plus, I have a family of seven. It seems I am going to the regular grocery store every other day, but I can go 2 weeks between Coscto trips.
Love the meat dept. at Sam’s. Steaks and whatnot.
Bakery is very good also.
It just depends on what you buy. We get great deals on quality products!
I agree that is a great price for vanilla…I have been geeting great deals on vanilla lately…there have been a lot of McCormick coupons lately . In the fine print it says for seasonings or extract…so it’s good for vanilla. Paired with a sale..I have been able to score the small bottles for $1. Great timeto stock up before the holidays!
Dang, I tried the Alice.com thing and it didn’t work 🙁 Thanks for sharing though, now that I’m signed up I can try for other deals later!
We mainly drop in at Sam’s for a few items like certain toiletries and chicken salad and we enjoy the free samples. But we mainly save money by shopping at Aldi. We get the other items that Aldi’s doesn’t carry by shopping at Walmart.
That vanilla was an excellent deal (it’s normally about $4 at the store, and it’s about $5 at Costco for the bottle you got). I use Costco personally, and the vanilla is a bit cheaper there. Sam’s and Costco’s are a great deal on several things save produce. I always find produce way cheaper elsewhere.
We used to have a membership to Sam’s but we gave it up when Guant Eagle moved in and they double coupons here up $1 (so $1 coupons are worth $2) and the dollars I spend there are totaled toward my gas points (I get free gas about 8 times a year!) I really hadn’t found Sam’s or Costco any cheaper than coupons and sales here in our area. I get my flour and yeast through our local co-op along with most of our other baking supplies.
We don’t really save at Sam’s through groceries…even though occasionally you can snag a great deal (especially blueberries in the summer, baking items, etc.) But we always buy our tires there…In the past we have used Wal-Mart, but we live in metro Atlanta, far from a Walmart, and Sam’s is right around the corner. Also, I do buy mostly used furniture, but I refuse to buy a used mattress. Sam’s has amazing prices on name-brand mattresses. We have saved many times our $35 just in the few mattresses we have had to buy in a few years. Right now my happiest time of the day is laying down after a hard day in my pillow top that is soft and wonderful!
What’s the deal with Target cashiers not taking coupons? ( I’ve never tried to use a coupon there, and I know from this site that the corperate policy is to take them.)
Anyway.
I get a cheaper and longer Bj’s membership through my office and am debating not renewing. We used to get a lot of cat supplies there, but they stopped carrying the one kind of food and we use horse bedding for litter now.
We love Sams! But you have to be careful. They have the cheapest prices on a lot of items (bananas, milk, butter, and gas to name just a few) around.
I just read a post somewhere else that you can purchase items on Costco’s website w/o a membership and they will add 5% to the cost. With a $50 membership fee, you would have to spend more than $1,000 on-line in order to have the membership make sense. So if you find the lowest priced item on Costco’s website, it may be worth pay the extra 5%! Just FYI.
We LOVE Sam’s Club, but we don’t pay for our membership. My husband has the 2nd card on my MIL’s membership. At ours gas is almost always cheaper, milk, most veggies, bread, some eggs, magazines, some clothes, absolutely vanilla (by a lot), some cheese, their bakery breads are great, tires, card stock, envelopes, spices, any meds (I had a prescription a few months ago for Sudafed — because of the amount that they were giving me it had to have a prescription, but it was an over the counter med — and the box of it was about 4 times the size of the one at Wal-Mart on the shelf, and only cost $1.46!) My allergy medicine was also tons cheaper there, close to a years supply for less than a month’s supply at Wal-Mart. Ours also has an awesome clearance section where we’ve gotten a ton of great deals.
Just a tip – anything they have where the price ends in a 1 is the lowest price that it will be marked down to. And in the upper right hand corner, there is a code that has 1 letter with several numbers, if the letter is a C it is a clearance item. About a year ago (I think that it was after a holiday) we got that same bag of chocolate chips for $2.81, right on the shelf where it was always kept, they didn’t even move them to the clearance area. Just keep an eye out for that C & the prices ending in a penny and you’ll get some really great deals!
If you want to make homemade pizza dough instead, and save some $$$, here is a bread machine recipe. 1 1/3 cup water, 1/4 olive oil, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/2 tsp. salt, 4 cups bread flour and 2 t. yeast. Put in bread machine on dough cycle in that order. Makes 3 large pizza crusts. If you bake it on a pizza pan with holes in it (I prefer that to a stone), it turns out perfect. Top with the Hunts garlic spaghetti sauce (.98) (with 1/8 cup sugar added), mozzarella and pepperoni (another thing I buy at Sam’s) and you have a quick meal. You can also make breadsticks, calzones, stromboli, whatever. We eat a LOT of pizza around here and we have it for company a lot and everyone LOVES our homemade pizza. For an alternative, use Alfredo sauce, chicken sauteed with garlic, parmesan and mozzarella. Then, when almost done, top with fresh tomatoes and green onions (A Papa Murphy’s knockoff!)
I had a sams club membership and let it expire. I am trying to decide if I am going to get a costco membership or not. To me I looked at 1 item and could see that my $45 a year membership would be worth it. Even with coupons my yeast for the envelopes came to $.67 a week. At Sams the 2 lbs comes out too .11 a week if I use all 2lbs in one year (which I won’t so the savings would be better). That is $29.12 a year for just yeast. Then I average some of the other things i would buy there in bulk and I think it does pay if you are careful. However if you can find someone to share a membership with even better! The reason I am thinking of switching to costco is because it is closer to the other stores I frequent. I don’t like Aldi’s for most things because I agree the quality was lacking. I especially don’t like there cheese. Between my garden, fresh local produce and baking from scratch I think wholesale may win with me.
I know that much of your produce is gifted from friends(lucky you, we are hoping to do a garden next year), but i do find that produce in our area (North MS) seems to be a good deal at Sams. We buy apples, bananas, the frozen green beans, and sometimes meat there. Often I shop there out of convenience rather than to buy in bulk to save. I purchase the frozen sister schubert rolls too since i havent done much baking from scratch yet and those are great for any meal and you can cook only as many as you need.
Samsclub for us is great for purchasing medicines in their pharmacy — so much cheaper! — and for purchasing my contacts. Again, no one can beat their prices and just with those two items, it more than covers are membership fees.
I’ve been wondering how your trip went.
It’s interesting to see how your prices are different from mine (and also other people’s in the comments; our yeast is NOT $7 like Lea’s; it is a few DOLLARS less).
Also, our chocolate chips are $7.98 for that package.
However, I have seen them go up in price during the holidays in the past, so they could be higher right now (as is cheese; it is cheaper in the spring. On June 29, I paid $9.02 for the cheddar).
We find it cheaper to buy a less-expensive brand of tortillas at Sam’s, and we like them just fine.
We have a big family, and until just recently, had 3 children in diapers for the last 4 years (as we have continued to have children). We do not have Aldi’s and our stores do not double coupons. For the amounts of food that I buy, I find that Sam’s in still the best price for my bulk shopping, and we continue to feed our family of 7 for $5 or less a meal for all of us. Thanks for looking at my Sam’s Club list!
I know others have said so, but that price for vanilla is very good!! I always buy my vanilla at Costco cuz no other store can beat that price!!! Good job!
None of our stores here double coupons…I don’t shop at Aldi’s because I have found the quality of some of their products to be lacking…our Target has gotten persnickety (and sometimes downright rude) about taking coupons…so for us, it’s Walmart or Sam’s (or very occasionally, Hyvee when they are having a great sale). I agree that you need to check prices, but for most of our staples, Sam’s has the best prices.
Our local grocery has 4oz of vanillia for $4.75. I think that’s actually fairly cheap.
I agree – Sam’s is not always as cheap as matching prices and coupons. Where we are it’s usually cheaper on yeast ($7/2lbs), spices, milk ($1.79 compared to $2.50+ here), eggs ($1.48/18ct), yogurt ($6 for 12 6-oz organic), and sometimes coffee and the things you purchased. They have higher quality meat than anywhere else we have, so I’m willing to pay $2.50-ish/lb for high end 90+% lean mean (I don’t buy anything less than 90% lean). If I’m going to buy meat, it needs to be high quality and very low fat. Occasionally we can find produce etc. on a better deal there too.
Diapers – even name brand – and formula were way cheaper at Sam’s than anywhere else. About 22cents per diaper for Pampers (I don’t have good enough sales to match that anywhere here) and $26 for a container of powder formula more than double the size you can buy anywhere else for about $15 (it’s been a while so I don’t remember exact sizes). Since we had twins and went through 2 cases of diapers a month and one of those huge containers of formula a week, it was so worth it.
We don’t have an Aldi handy (there is one about 20 minutes away but it’s in a very inconvenient location for us) and our stores don’t do double coupons. Occasionally I will go to Aldi but find that I can match most things and that our local stores have better produce for about the same price.
Long way of saying, Sam’s is worth it for us!
Thanks for your blog!
We are just entering the “flu realm” in our home. I have an 18 month old and a 4 year old that are feverish, coughing and NOT sleeping. SO, I am amazed with what you DID get done!
Some of the best prices at SAM”S Club are on the spices, like the vanilla you bought. But since they are not something that you’d buy every week I don’t know that they justify the annual membership fee. You can always just shop with a member to get those prices. Their gas does tend to be the cheapest in town, usually by several cents a gallon. Since SAM’S is much more convenient to us than Aldi is, I do buy milk, eggs and bananas there often. Otherwise for most things it is cheaper to stock up at the grocery store when things are on sale and you have coupons to go with the sale items.
I found that Sams Club in NJ is worth the yearly fee for our family (we have the two-card business membership). Princeton Sams Club has alot of organic produce, milk, butter (and some snacks!) that are much cheaper than the regular stores. We have found that Sams Club is better for veggies/fruit/baking supplies vs. BJs which is mainly expensive convience foods.
The other great savings I found at Sams was when I needed the battery replaced in my van. When you buy their battery they install it for free. Their prices were very comparable for the battery, but the best was the free installation. In my Chevy Venture van it is almost impossible to replace it yourself and in the AZ hot summer you wouldn’t want to be out there doing it yourself anyways. So I definately saved on my yearly membership cost with this free installation.
I forgot one more thing about Sam’s. I am REALLY scatter-brained today as my parents are making their one week annual visit tomorrow.
If you want to “try before you buy”, they always have days around Christmas where you can go in and browse for free. If you buy anything, there is a 5% surcharge, so you would generally be better just to get a membership but you can check it out for free.
Also, if you go to their website, samsclub.com, enter your zip code for the closest store, then go to the CIick and Pull section, you can see all the prices for your particular Sam’s and see if they are a good deal. This is really helpful as it is impossible to remember every price. Their prices do fluctuate, for example, milk is up about .30 this week. I would not buy eggs there as they are .84 at our Aldi. If you do join Sam’s you can use the Click and Pull and actually have them gather all your groceries for you FOR FREE and then you just pick them up and pay. The downside would be that you could not pick out the freshest or best items yourself. =) For example, I always get the milk with the best date, etc.
I agree that Costco is better, (they have chocolate cake and Ghiradelli brownies!) but we are only an hour from Bentonville, so Sam’s/Wal-Mart rule this market. =)
How much does it cost you a year to buy the paper and all the other coupons?
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Money Saving Mom here: Kendra, I actually spend $0.00 on coupons–aside from printing costs which are very minimal since we have a laser printer. I don’t buy the paper, instead I just get coupons from our local recycling bin and sign up for the free coupons online and print the high-value coupons which I know I’ll use.
I would research the Mexican vanilla, lots of information about it online that made me STOP going that route. I second the towels at Sam’s. Got some there for us and at Target for kids, same time, same price, Target’s didn’t last. I don’t have a HUGE pantry, but 25 lbs. of flour fits in a 5 gallon bucket, so I just have that in the bottom of my pantry where there isn’t a shelf and it works. The boneless pork loin is also a good deal at Sam’s. I used to think that tires were a good deal, but I just bought new ones last week and the small shop in my small town beat Sam’s and was faster. If you REALLY go through Sam’s sometimes, you can find some unusual items that are cheaper and are just what you need, it just takes time to find the deals, like walking the perimeter at Target to get their deals. Don’t ya’ feel like you spend half your life either looking for deals, couponing, cooking and freezing, pouring from larger to smaller containers (refilling), meal planning, budgeting, planning for future needs, going over bills to make sure they are correct, etc. etc. etc.? Some days, it is fun, other days, pure work, but it does save money. =) I did have a great one last week. I went in to get my elderly parents a cell phone and they upped the discount from my dh’s employer from 8% to 22%. That was a huge blessing from God that allows us to bless my parents with a phone for free. =)
I shop at Sams every other week and I love it. It saves us a lot of money, especially in produce. I didn’t, however find it to be worth the membership cost until I reached my 4th or 5th child. I now have 5 and one on the way, and we eat a ton of food! I’m blessed with very good eaters, so we really save on baby carrots, fresh spinach, bananas, cherry tomatoes, etc. There are some other things that I find a lot cheaper as well…feta cheese, hummus, pita chips, yeast, honey, some meats. All that combined with the fact that time is money makes Sams one of my favorite places. I used to be really big into couponing and shopping all the great sales at the different stores, but during this season of my life it’s just not possible. My husband is in dental school and has a packed schedule, we homeschool, have five children and are expecting, and I just don’t have the time or the energy to be dragging my children in and out of the van to multiple stores all the time. All that to say that Sams can be a great thing during certain stages of life!
Costco has saved us a lot of money on quality baking and cooking staples. And we are coffee drinkers and think their Kirkland brand Columbian Roast coffee (in the big brown can) is the BEST! Even better than Starbucks and an awesome price. I get olive oil, eggs, real butter, vanilla, sour cream, yeast, etc. I also think their spices are really high quality at a great price. Especially the cinnamon! Low quality spices just aren’t worth cooking with so it is nice to get good quality spices at a great price. It is definitely easy though to overspend at wholesale clubs if you don’t go in knowing exactly what you are after and sticking to it.
Our favorite at Sam’s is the pizza crust dough balls. They are NOT a great price except for the fact that the pizza made from them tastes like pizza from out. Worth the price of $20 for 20 if your family prefers pizza from out. Pepperoni is a great price at Sam’s. Just keep the entire bag in the freezer-it is useable right from the freezer and then just put it back before it thaws. I hate to tell you all that the active ingredient in fabric softeners is formaldehyde-do consider that if anyone in your family suffers from allergies or skin problems-my constant itchy skin stopped when we quit using it and we had less static and our clothes were softer-I think we’ve all been duped.
Do you do anything special to the peppers to freeze, or do you just wash and cut…do you let them dry off? and just freeze them in a zip lock? Ive never frozen peppers before.
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Money Saving Mom here: I just wash, core, chop, and freeze on a cookie sheet and then transfer to a freezer bag when they are frozen.
YES. I compared Pure Vanilla at the grocery store, Aldi and Sams and it was BY FAR cheaper at Sams. Especially with the amount of baking (it’s almost Christmas!) we do, and for as much as you do, too!
… speaking of BJs ~ are you aware of anyone in frugal blogging world that does BJs pricing w/ coupon match-ups? If not, would it be a possibility to toss that question out to your readers and see if anyone else knows??
THANKS!
🙂
Looks like some good deals at Sam’s … I’m looking forward to comparing those w/ a local BJs and see if there is further savings. I still think it’s hard to beat sales combined with coupons!!
IMHO–for a large family…9 kids.. I do find that Sam’s and Costco are very cost effecitve. I’ve been couponing for many years…but now that my family is large…I shop a bit differently.
Many of these regular grocery store deals are limited in quantity and for a large family—many times the time and energy..and gas to go get 3 cans of .10 cent greenbeans, One small .50 cent bottle of juice, Two small containers of laundry detergent for $1 each, …that just doesn’t cut it around here….
As for Aldi’s–I’ve tried to like the store…but I can’t stand Aldi’s–the food quality is very poor —I’ve returned more food there because of poor quality and I don’t waste my time there anymore. Plus the small packaging was really problematic for our large family pantry…and the amount of trash from packaging was astonishing.
I use Costco coupons regularly and so far have been able to beat grocery store prices by a long shot. Yes..I still occasionally get my free couponing stuff—like toothbrushes, feminine products …etc.. However, I have found that growing my own garden, buying bulk foods (grain,oats,rice,beans) and using Sam’s and Costco save me a ton of money, a ton of time…and it keeps my family away from so many overly processed foods. —And it keeps us away from the weekly store trips which is very helpful in the fall/winter flu season where it is very important to me not to be making little trips each week
In my opinion, if you have a lot of people to feed… Sam’s and Costco are a great resource that you should consider that will be well worth it in saving lots of money and time.
I stopped by your blog to verify that you were still hosting your Saturday “theme day”.
In case you aren’t sure why I would do that, please first go here: http://thehousethatlovebuilt.xanga.com/712911712/today–/
and then read this one:
http://thehousethatlovebuilt.xanga.com/712911311/sept-theme-days/
I see that you still are, so I shall leave you on the lists 😀
If you should wish to contact me, please do so via: pink bunnies (at) sbc global (dot) net
THANKS!!!
Cheryl B.
I went and checked out Alice.com. I was able to get the same 64 oz bottle of Snuggle for $0.40, shipped today (Saturday, Oct 10th)! I’ve been making due without fabric softener for a couple of months now, so this is a special treat for me! Interesting site (alice.com). People might want to know that you can only check out if you are buying at least 6 items, unless it is the first time you buy something.
Yesterday I bought a 2 oz pure vanilla extract at Target. It is the target brand and was $3.50!!! It sounds like you got a steal on the vanilla. I may have to consider joining Sams because the stores around here do not double coupons. I am struggling to get my grocery budget down to where I want it to be.
I am doing a pantry/freezer challenge this week, but I think I am going to start shopping at Walmart next week even though it’s a bit of a drive. Hopefully the savings will make it worth it. The next few months will tell… wish me luck!
I think BJ’s is the best of the “bulk buying” stores. They send coupons out all of the time, and they take mfg coupons as well. They allow you to stack them with BJ coupons, so its often a great deal.
The only way to get a better deal on vanilla is if you know anyone who travels to Mexico. We have a friend who goes each year and he brings me and my mom a HUGE bottle (about the size of a wine bottle) of pure vanilla (it lasts at least a year) and I think it’s usually about $5-10.
Sam’s is great for produce, cheese, bread, and larger items like furniture–even clothes and books. My husband and I have gone there when we need to eat cheaply and are out. We can each get a huge drink and a big slice of pizza (they have the best pizza) and it’s only about $5.50.
It would be great if you would continue to let us know about deals you find on Alice.com. I’ve ordered from there once and got a few good deals. But I never seem to have a lot of time to hunt through the site. Thanks for all your hard work on this great blog!
I shop at Costco and love their produce. The butter is also cheaper there than anywhere else (I don’t use margarine) and so is the vanilla. I also regularly buy pinto beans there and some seasonings.
Besides groceries, things for the house like rugs and towels are priced very reasonably. I think it’s worth having the membership (also for the photo lab) for these few things, but I definitely don’t buy cereal or anything like that there!
Sam’s and similar stores can be a good bargain if you watch carefully what you buy and know your unit prices. I’ve seen way too many people do their regular grocery shopping at Sam’s and walk away with a huge bill.
I just bought the same bottle of vanilla at Sam’s this week! It’s definitely a killer deal. I do keep a bottle of vanilla paste on hand, though, for usages where high-quality vanilla (complete with bean specks) really counts, like frosting and ice cream.
Butter and other baking supplies are a good deal if you have room for a 25 lb bag of flour (I don’t). Milk is often cheaper at Sam’s, and eggs sometimes are.
Another killer deal at Sam’s is french fries. A 8lb bag of Ore-Ida crinkle cut fries are $6.54.
We are blessed to have Aldi’s and SuperTarget near us, but our stores never double coupons.
For the first time, I stayed under budget this week for groceries! 🙂 (We even lowered my set amount.) I was determined to do so. I even bought over 8 lbs of hamburger. I think I am finally getting this!
I think what I have learned the most from this site, is to make the most of what you have. Use everything completely-try not to let anything go to waste. Thank-You!
I loved your Baking Day and have a book to suggest you read: Mega Cooking by Jill Bond. She has stock-up cooking down to a science. I will never be on her level but she did show me some new tricks, such as chopping up a whole bag of onions at once and then freezing them (similar to your green peppers). Onions are BI bag GI free this week!
I agree with you, Crystal, about Sam’s – I used to call it the $100 store but now I call it the $200 store – it seems like everyone is purchasing cartloads of stuff and thinking they are saving when they aren’t. I only go when I am near it and have a list – except I always check their gas if I am near. Sometimes it is not cheaper but many times it is (this week I saved 10cents a gallon). Sam’s is impulse buying at its best.
Does your Sam’s Club have a gas station? We use Costco and always fill up for gas there, they give us cash back on our gas purchases if we use their american express card (that’s all we use it for) and that ends up paying for our membership at the end of the year, plus extra. It’s worth it for us for that.
What we always buy from them are tomatoes and spinach and carrots, we get huge bags for super cheap, I’m sure Sam’s club is the same…and then toilet paper, even with coupons, I can’t beat their price for toilet paper…yeah, it’s not as fluffy or soft, but it is a good deal.
I share a membership with a relative, so between our households it works. I buy lunch meat, butter, nesquick (I know, I know… it’s my DH’s one vice!), tomato paste, flour, brown sugar, yeast, spices, veg oil and occasionally something else if the price is right.
Don’t forget that they also have gas stations that are often cheaper than others, and you can get eyeglasses at SAMs too.
We got our DD’s ‘big girl’ twin mattress and boxspring there, Serta, for under $200 for the set, and having priced them out all over, that was the best deal on a quality set by far.
I went to Target on Thursday and was happy to see they have started price matching! We’re in north Texas but I’m assuming it’s at all Targets.
I third (or fourth) the yeast at Sam’s …WAY cheaper!!
However, with Aldi’s having their baking supplies out for Christmas – their MILK chocolate chips and butterscotch chips are WAY cheaper than anywhere else (including Sam’s) – only $1.69/bag in WI Aldi’s – I see that you got semi-sweet though, so that could be the difference – but we are milk chocolate chip lovers to the core, so it’s all we buy. 🙂
I definitely need to start doing a baking day. I hate cooking so it would be fantastic to get it all done in one big scene.
You inspire me!
We don’t have an Aldi in our town. There is one in the next town, but I’ve never been there. We do shop at Sam’s. Some things are cheaper, but I agree that many are not. You really have to pick and choose. As a family of 7, I love that I can get large quantities of the things we use most. The tortillas are one we always do. The cheese is too. I usually buy 2. I freeze one, and then cut the other in half. I shred one half in my food processor and put the other in the fridge for slicing. I agree with Deb on the butter deal. I can rarely beat there price for real butter. Although I have on occasion, and their prices do vary sometimes. I only go to Sam’s about once every 3 months and then just stock up. I like to get the big boxes of Hunt’s tomato sauce also. I don’t know if the price is cheaper or not on that one. We just use a lot of it. My MIL says nobody can beat their prescription prices, although I haven’t tested that one either. I think it really depends on what you buy as to whether or not it is worth the monthly fee.
That’s a great price for vanilla. 🙂 Sams is best for the following items:
frozen berries
fresh produce
baking supplies (vanilla, yeast, baking powder (aluminum free too)
Nuts, raisins, tortillas
milk (hormone free) and eggs
Otherwise, all boxed and most frozen things are better elsewhere with sales and coupons. 🙂
I have a costco membership and it souds like its a better deal then sams! I bought that exact same bag of chocolate chips at costco for 8.99 this week! I also think if you use your membership only for groceries…it may not be worth it. We buy gas when its cheaper there, some clothes, toys sometimes. Of course there is no aldi’s here and stores dont double!
Contact Lenses are super cheap at Costco (our wholsesaler). Much cheaper than even Walmart. We also buy milk there for a better price than on sale at grocery stores. Hamburger and Hotdog buns are a good purchase from there too. And if you ever need a sheet cake for a party or shower…can not beat 16 bucks!! And it is SO good. (c:
We do not pay for our Sam’s membership because we got tacked on to a family member’s business membership.
Some things that definitely are cheaper at Sam’s in our area — we have shopped around: tires; Zyrtec (I have allergies and I can get almost a year’s worth of generic Zyrtec at Sam’s for less than $18);, diapers, wipes, pull-ups, swim diapers (I have only been able to do coupon match-ups that beat Sam’s on a handful of occasions—I hardly ever earn any Swagbucks, so Sam’s it is); gas–ours has gas, not every Sam’s does; our TV came from there after much shopping around — TV + longer service plan = cheaper than anywhere else with shorter service plans; mattresses.
I know you buy used furniture and we do too, but once there was a piece I was looking for for about 2 years—an entryway bench in dark wood. I found many for over $2,000 and found many in other colors that did not match our decor. One day there it was in Sam’s $150—could have gotten it used cheaper, maybe?? but how much longer would I have searched?? We love it–it keeps dog leashes, towels to wipe dogs’ feet (and sometimes toddlers’), diaper bags, shoes, etc. organized instead of in a pile!
Others tell me that no one beats Sam’s on formula prices, but I never bought formula, so I never really priced it!
I’m sure there are other things that I am forgetting and of course, we don’t pay a membership fee, so we are a bit different!
You inspire me so much, and I just want to let you know that! Thank you so much for posting your Sam’s Club prices, that was my next thing that I was going to start researching so that is tremendously helpful. I don’t doubt for a second that the providence of a soverign God led me to your blog, you have inspired me to live like no one else and to do it for the glory of God, not so that I can have more things…Thank you so much again, God has totally changed my life (in the realm of money) by using you as a tool in that! To Him be the glory!
I went to Target this week and stocked up on Motts apple juice. Only .75 per bottle!
Costco is a wonderful place to shop if anyone has one nearby. In fact, we switched from Sam’s to Costco because of savings. Coupons are often sent to members.
My local stores don’t double coupons. I live about 45 min from any stores. So CVSing and Wags isn’t usually practical. I can’t get there every week. I have a 3 yr old, a 1 yr old and will be have #3 in a few weeks so many stops just doesn’t work out for us esp, when you consider the 1.5 hrs in the car we have to drive.
My MIL got a business card at Sam’s and gave me the 2nd card that came with it. I watch what I buy there but I can save a lot of money on certain items (cheese especially). I also buy their brand of diapers if I haven’t been able to get a better deal anywhere else. I really like sam’s. I like their produce a lot too. Oh, and I always buy my whole chickens there. I go there about every 2 or so weeks. I hit Walmart matching ads and coupons every week or 2 and then Aldi about once a month. That is just what works for me right now in my area and situation. 🙂 But I can agree that if you have better stores and sales Sam’s may not be worth it.
Wow, it looks like you did pretty good at Sam’s. The closest one to us is about 45 min. drive. Wish it was closer. I’m still lovin’ Aldi’s in the meantime.
Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
Yeast is WAY cheaper at Sam’s. I also love Honey Maid graham and they are cheaper there. But that is only if it is worth it to you to may more for name brand.
I really appreciate your efforts in this Super Savings Saturday. I am such a visual person and it really helps me to sit and go through every link and see what others have done. It gives me great ideas and I get the opportunity to check out blogs that I many not otherwise.
Thanks so much for your hard work,
Amber
For a PINT of vanilla??? That is defnitely an excellent price. You would easily pay over six dollars regular price for just a few ounces of vanilla at the grocery store.
I meant to put ARE cheaper at ALDI in my last post. Sorry about that.
I do shop at Sam’s. Here are some other things to look at: yeast, bread flour if you make bread, minced garlic, butter (we only use REAL butter and it was $4.78 for 4 lbs. yesterday), milk (cheaper than Aldi’s and our grocery stores here in SW MO are not good on milk prices), shortening was cheaper than Aldi last time I compared, raisins, craisins, nuts, sometimes they will have a really good deal on a clothing item if you watch carefully, like a coat for $10 I got last year. I agree you have to watch the prices very carefully and most of what I see people buy there is not cheaper than Aldi, but the things I get there do save the $35 a year and it is convenient for me to buy larger quantities to not have to replace so often. I have three teenagers, though. =)
I do not have an Aldi near me where I currently live and I miss it. The stores where I live also do not double coupons. I used to be a member of Sams Club and I do agree that some of those items really are not cheaper than what you could get on sale with coupons.