I favor one trip to Costco each 3-4 weeks (often enough to catch the in warehouse savings intervals) and stock up on the items I purchase at Costco + gas on that rare trip, rather than go out of the way to Costco every week and shop nowhere else. During other weeks, I’ll save time and choose a different, closer store. Which store I choose varies based on what is on sale that week, what foods I am low on, and which plazas I am passing by for other reasons besides food shopping. I have some foods I regularly purchase at Costco, a largely different set of foods I regularly purchase at Walmart, and a largely different set of foods (increasingly few with price inflation) I regularly purchase at my nearest supermarket. Rotating through different vendors like this reduces overall food cost and increases variety + available selection. A similar principle can be applied with discounts beyond just food, as described earlier in the thread…
There’s a Trader Joe thread so there certainly could be a Costco thread - it does seem like people have lots to talk about so a dedicated thread would be logical. Costco appears in lots of other threads - medical and travel, for example. Might be convenient to have a central place for discussions? (I myself never have shopped there.)
Husband goes every Sunday to a major farmers market, where he gets much of our fresh produce, price no object. Then he goes to Whole Foods and Ralph’s grocery. It’s his routine and he will do that regardless of my grocery shopping. So I only need to shop when I get a hankering for something, or prefer to find it myself.
Is it because it is so mobbed? Our nearest Costco is over 50 miles away, so we don’t go. But anytime we drive by it, that gigantic parking lot is completely full. I can’t imagine how awful it would be inside. I get irritated if there’s more than 1 other person in my aisle in Walmart.
–re: sw card; i believe the option is over to sign up for that. it was in late feb; early March. If i see anything like that again, I’ll let you know.
Thought of this thread just now. Older S was eating breakfast with us. He’s planning a trip with GF to Europe next spring. He signed up for a high end Amex earlier and got 150K miles. And at breakfast he found a one way first class tickets to Amsterdam for 50K points per person vs the usual 500K. Booked them while eating. They will look the the return trip from Paris later. They’ve (And us for that matter) have never flown first class, so they are excited.
He also reminded me that I get 10,000 points every year free on my Venture X Card. So that along with my $300 statement credit for booking through the portal makes the card essentially free. He thrives in knowing the ins and outs of every card and how to best use it. I’m too lazy for that.
Don’t let him become spoiled flying first class, or he would never fly coach again. 
He’s too cheap to pay for it full price!
I have a friend whose daughter is also into playing with miles/points. She and her boyfriend recently redeemed miles for a pair of last-minute first class outbound tickets to Japan on ANA. They’re still in Japan, waiting for a couple of seats in premium cabins to open up for miles redemption for their return. Fortunately, they both WFH, so they’re flexible.
I don’t like shopping very much anyway. If I have to go to a big box store I prefer Target, but only the “good” Target in my area. The other one is a little chaotic. We also have a “baby Target” that is a small urban store. I go to the CVS there for my prescriptions, but I used to go to a local drugstore. It’s all the same with my insurance. Luckily my meds are cheap (like $2.87 for a 90 day supply cheap).
That list of stuff that one person posted from CostCo just doesn’t help me. I don’t have hearing aids. I have glasses, but order from Zenni so they’re like $30. I don’t eat meat. I have an online subscription from Who Gives A Crap for toilet paper, paper towels, etc. They build toilets in developing countries. I don’t buy gas. I drive an EV. I have a subscription from Chewy for pet foods or my Vet Tech kid can get me stuff at a discount. Oh, and our mortgage is almost paid off.
But honestly I do not scrimp on food and groceries. I’m great at not spending on clothing or shoes, but I do splurge on food.
We have excellent credit and follow blog that posts when good bank and credit card bonuses come up. We made tens of thousands of dollars on bank bonuses and mostly have free stays or travel on credit card bonuses. As far as groceries we just shop at local ethnic stores, Smart and Final or TJ.
I definitely get what you are saying.
I like to order my food from Walmart and pick it up. I order stuff to come to the house. The nearest Costco is an hour away, why would I want to travel there?
I still don’t get my gas there, we never need it when we are actually at Costco.
But since my husband retired we can go during the week. We only go when it’s part of a larger trip. There’s a Costco on the way home from my in laws so we stop on the way home. Or when we are in the area because of doctors appointments or things like that.
We do struggle with buying large quantities of things we don’t need.
But last week, we found azalea bushes that were much nicer than the ones we see locally. For a while they had topo Chico water, which I really enjoyed. My husband liked the turkey sausage egg witches that are better than the ones I bought at Walmart.
So it works. We are spending enough to justify the cost.
I’m not a person who is great at getting points to work for me. One reason is that my husband is not fond of new credit cards. No applying for cards for the points. If it was up to him, we’d still use the card he got 40 years ago from his work affiliated credit union. I finally persuaded him the first time we went to Europe to get a new card with no foreign transaction fees! So when we signed up for Costco, they talked us into the Costco credit card.
Big deal for him and now we can accrue some savings. Works for us.
Did you compare the cap 1 card to the chase card? I’ve got one of the chase cards (got 100k points), and I’m thinking of getting another, eatery chase or cap 1.
I did not. I’m too lazy to do such things. Older S told me I should get it, and I did.
(Sorry…another Costco note): I recently checked for their home mortgage referrals, and could find nothing. One article said it quietly discontinued that program May 2022. Perhaps location specific?
I’m also in Southern California and curious what solar company you went with. Four years seems like a great ROI.
We have a Safeway store a mile from our house. I did almost all of my shopping there for decades. It was just quicker and easier to go someplace where I knew the aisles.
I still shop there a lot, especially if husband is along (he knows store too). But I am retired now and have more time. So I use the Safeway app to get deals there and also shop a lot at other places.
My favorite new place is the local Simply Bulk store. Sometimes things are cheaper there, and it is great to be able to buy just the amount I need. Also nice to be able to use own containers. Even when items not cheaper, I often buy there to give them extra business. Funny tidbit - my “splurge” there on principle to sometimes buy local eggs ($7.50) for a little while was a decent deal.
I purchased solar when NEM 2.0 was in place. Unfortunately NEM 2.0 ended in April. Under NEM 3.0, ROI is notably lengthened. Some differences include a new grid participation fee of roughly $100/yr * KW of your solar system, and reducing the value of excess generation during daylight hours to what may be far below retail rates (specific number varies by hour). How much payback period increases under NEM 3.0 varies depending on who you ask and the details of your specific system. I’ve seen estimates ranging from a 40% increase in payback period to 90% increase.
I am in SDG&E region, which has the highest retail electric rates in CA (likely whole country). I also live in an area with a large number of sunny days, no snow, and little precipitation. When you combine with getting a good deal on solar installation, 30% tax credit, and having a clear roof without shading/soiling; the result is a low ROI. Under NEM 3.0, solar still likely has a positive return in southern CA with lots of sun and high electric rates, just not as positive as in the past.
You can see how much people in your area paid for solar with different installers at CaliforniaDGStats . I reviewed and received quotes from many installers. I ultimately chose a local company with excellent reviews, a 25+ year history, and uses Sunpower equipment. PM me, if you want the specific company name.
Not sure this counts much as savings tip since it is related to a big splurge for us. In late Sept we’ll be taking a Viking cruise with another couple, and we got a 3% discount to pay via checking account instead of credit card. (That did mean forgoing points on our United Visa, but that’s OK).
Another fun tidbit - a discount code mentioned by a CC poster maybe helped us get free Silver Spirits package (alcohol, beyond the free beer/wine at meals). Can’t be sure because I had a few codes and the AAA agent had a few codes/deals… and we just threw them all in and hoped for the best.
Funny Costco story. We haven’t bought gas at Costco, we don’t live close and whenever we’ve been at Costco we haven’t needed gas.
Well today, we were at Costco and hurray! Needed gas.
Gas in my town, that we passed on our way was 3.06
Gas at the Costco, 3.14 
@deb922 - The way that Costco gas prices have been explained to me is that they attempt to be the lowest price in their area. Here in San Diego H used to fill up with gas at a Costco near his work until he figured out that the Costco that was closer to our house actually had gas priced lower. I guess you are fortunate to live where gas is less expensive. I can’t remember the last time we paid $3.06 for gas. I filled up on Friday and gas was $4.55 at our Costco!