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EatingWell
Like everyone else who shops at Costco, there are certain things Ialwayspick up there—and sometimesonlythere. For instance, no stop is complete without a $5 rotisserie chicken, unless I’m scoring a $9.99 pizza instead, and I’m hard-pressed to ever pass the bakery section without grabbing a dozen of their buttery, flaky croissants. Then there are exclusive products that are top-notch, like the Kirkland extra-virgin olive oil and Costco-only Himalayan Sea Salt Kettle Brand Krinkle Cut potato chips.
1. Milk
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2. Sandwich Bread
It can feel like a no-brainer to grab a double-pack of soft sandwich bread at Costco. When you’re paying $5 to $7 for two loaves, it looks like you’re only paying a dollar or so more than buying a single loaf at the grocery store. But depending on the type or the brand you choose, you might be overpaying.
Supermarkets like Publix and Kroger often offer “buy one, get one” specials on premium brands like Pepperidge Farm, Sara Lee, Nature’s Own and Arnold, which brings the price down to as little as $2.15 a loaf in my Atlanta suburb. And you don’t actually need to buy two loaves to get the half-off deal, saving you money and the stress of trying to find space in your freezer before any mold appears.
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3. Bagged Salad Kits
As these kits grow ever more popular, I’ve been noticing brands like Taylor Farms, Fresh Express, EatSmart, Dole and more on sale at Kroger, Publix, Sprouts and Lidl for anywhere between $2.75 to $3.50 a kit. And when you can purchase the smaller sizes individually, you get to enjoy a wider variety of salads.
4. Raw Chicken
There are some meat buys at Costco that are well worth it. The salmon and steak are known for their exceptional quality and, of course, that famous rotisserie chicken. But the raw chicken is always a pass for me. While they’re tempting in their neatlyvacuum-sealedfreezer-friendly bundles, at around $3 a pound forbreastsorthighs, I’d rather save a dollar a pound at the supermarket and portion them out in freezer bags myself. I’ve bought large family packs of chicken breasts for as low as $1.79 a pound at major supermarkets, and chicken leg quarters in a bag are often a bargain for as little as 59 cents a pound at major supermarkets and Walmart.
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5. Herbs and Spices
Dried herbs and spices lose their potency and coloring over time, and unless you cook at a restaurant or some other kind of commercial kitchen, the odds of a home cook finishing one of those enormous tubs of crushed red pepper, granulated garlic, nutmeg or Old Bay seasoning before its flavor dulls are slim to none.
Case in point: I personally go through a lot of expensive, hard-to-find dust-fine onion powder since I throw it all over my potato chips nearly nightly. But despite this heavy usage, I’ve had the same container sitting in the fridge (to avoid clumping) for a year and a half. And according to the EatingWell Test Kitchen, ground spices are best used within a year.
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6. Canned Soup
There’s nothing more reassuring than having an emergency stock ofsick-day soupin your cupboard. It’s a gentle promise that if you catch a sniffle, you don’t have to brave the world outside. It can be tempting to stock up at Costco, but you’d actually be better off doing so at your local supermarket when they go on sale.
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7. Cereal
If you’re lucky, after buying a couple of boxes on sale, you might get some printed on the coupon machine at checkout, allowing you to stock up with triple savings! I’ve used this multi-savings method to get name-brand cereals for $1.50 a box with the purchase of six boxes. Suddenly, that $7 Costco box doesn’t look that good anymore!
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Bottom Line
If you’re already at Costco and need one of the things on this list but don’t want to go to another store, of course you should just buy it while you’re there—no need to make a special trip. But if you’re shopping to stock your pantry staples or buying perishable products for a small household and it isn’t a grocery emergency, you’re better off keeping a running list of the items above and snatching them up when they go on sale at your local supermarket. You just might find it’ll save as much as half off your spending … and more storage space in your kitchen.
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