Or should the title be “Love in the Time of Costco”?
Ever notice how the Costco phenomenon has a lot in common with magical realism? I mean…it LOOKS real. But if you can shake yourself out of the dream and back to reality it’s kinda…weird.
Lately I’ve been working hard to stay away from Costco. Ideally, I’d like to keep the journeys into the Magical Land of Costco down to one a month, thereby cutting the Magical Overspending by a factor of God only knows how much.
Right now, I need (or crave) the following:
• tomatoes with flavor, affordable (i.e., Campari or “cocktail” tomatoes)
• shredded Parmesan cheese, lifetime supply of
• spectacularly delicious baby back ribs
• bottle of cheap but potable white wine
• bag of fingerling potatoes, preferably of the purple (i.e., higher in nutrients) variety
All of these are available at Costco. In addition, I need, not readily or sanely available at Costco:
• 1 can of anchovies
• a modest number of kalamati-style olives
The olives are also available at Costco, only in a lifetime supply. If I were to go to Safeway, I could buy some in bulk but only in the amount I need for the proposed recipe.
Let us consider what will happen if I go to Costco…
• I will see a gigantic chunk of the Swiss cheese I favor and decide to buy it, on the theory that this will be one fewer thing to tempt me to return to CC in the future
• CC will have size 8 Gloria Vanderbilt jeans in one of the colors I’ve been coveting but that they seem to have forgotten. I will buy at least one pair of jeans, possibly two.
• I will buy a lifetime supply of dog chicken and dog pork.
• Realizing that the cost of hamburger is relatively modest and, especially, realizing that I’d like to avoid as much work as possible by way of making dog food and that if I take Pup off the canned ickum and start feeding her real food I’ll have to triple the current store of dog meat, I will buy a lifetime supply of expensive hamburger to supplement the lifetime supply of pork and the lifetime supply of chicken thighs.
• I will see a lifetime supply of anchovies and think “hm…this will obviate an annoying trip to the grocery store” and so, even though I do not need a dozen cans of anchovies and will not use them all before the end of the 21st century, I will buy them.
• And so it will go…
If I bought fancy heirloom tomatoes at Whole Foods and scrumptious exotic cheeses and the fingerling potatoes next door at Trader Joe’s and the giant-size cut-rate package of hamburger and the spareribs and the wine at Safeway along with the bulk olives and the Parmesan cheese, I still would not spend as much as I would likely spend in one visit to Costco.
See what I mean about staying out of Costco?
Yep. This is one of the key reasons why I gave up my Costco membership several years ago. I really don’t miss it at all. Even if I end up spending a few cents more for some of the products I used to buy there (mostly paper products) I don’t get sucked into buying other stuff I really don’t need. Not to mention the time I save by not navigating there through traffic and waiting in long lanes at the check out.
I know that we save a lot of money at Costco on the things we buy, but it is worth considering that we probably undo a lot of that saving with the ‘extra’ stuff you always walk out with. Still, we throw little if anything away of the stuff we buy, so it’s not like we’re being wasteful.
I buy practically everything I eat, wear or use at Costco. It’s an amazing company, in terms of what it does with logistics (fresh, healthy bedding plants in northern Canada), its return policy, the meat department (oh those ribs) and the consistency from store to store. Having been ripped off by the large grocery chains for so many years, I buy as much as I can at Costco and just plain live without anything they don’t stock. I have no problems storing their huge capacity items (although the olives usually go funny by the time I get to finish them) and the hot dogs are great. GF and I consider it a date night.
I can usually resist their other junk items, although I once bought a $300 compressor there on impulse and immediately regretted it.
So don’t feel bad about supporting a good organization, they treat their employees well and seem to show some social conscience. The store I shop at is reputed to be the 4th busiest Costco in the world, but their service is pretty good. I’m thinking about switching my prescriptions there to take advantage of the kick-back on my membership.
Costco is an amazing company,,,,but I don’t think it would work for us. DW and I find our biggest challenge is not having food go bad. DD2 is away at school or when she is home does her own thing some of the time. Sooo buying a gallon of mayo makes no sense…In addition I guess it’s a sign of getting older but shopping in general is a “pain”. Which is why I like Aldi….great prices, excellent fresh produce and a “limited inventory”. So I can be in and out in 35 minutes and shop at the BIG grocery store about once a month. IMHO shopping has been elevated to a type of “sport”…a cross between big game hunting and a treasure hunt…..
We don’t have Costco in my neck of woods. I’ve heard so many good things about them, I’d like to see what all the fuss is about! ;o)
One of my sons swears by Costco, my next door neighbor loves Aldi.
I’ve shopped at Costco and Aldi.
Costco often has product in waaay too large amounts and Aldi taste does not often go over well with my family.
There are two Aldi’s and one Costco relatively close.
The only thing I really wish is that Costco would at least let you walk thru the store to see if you would use it enough to get a membership.
Every time I get seduced by the idea of Costco, I read something like this that reminds me of why I don’t have a membership. As a single person, it’s awfully difficult to use up the items I buy, and to save enough to pay for the membership.
That being said, I *do* get my prescriptions there – you don’t need a membership to get your prescriptions at Costco. For the commenter in MN, you might try just telling the door guard “picking up a prescription” – and they should let you in without a card. While you’re in there, nothing stops you from wandering down every aisle 😀
This is why I always feel like we should share a membership with someone, or should share a farm share (meat or veg) with a few neighbors. If we had a decent sized one, everyone should be able to get what they want/need for a reasonable price!