I'm about to go pick up a few things from Costco today, and a friend wants to go with me sometime so I can suggest to her how to avoid going Costco-nuts. I admit, it's an easy thing to do. I have made a few mistakes, myself... the extra large box of Bisquick, purchased with the idea that I was going to start making pancakes every weekend... an idea that does not match my lifestyle! ... the oversized pack of kiwis that did not get used fast enough to justify the savings or the storage room space.
But if you've got a knowledge of what can be found in Costco that is a regular purchase of yours, you can get some really great stuff. A case of tomato sauce. A giant bag of frozen chicken breast fillets (make sure you've got freezer space before purchasing any Costco sized frozen goods). A giant bag of pine nuts that you'll use this weekend for making pesto with all that great basil you've been growing all summer... these are things that are worth their weight in gold.
And if you've got a large enough storage space, the costco sized toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins are great. They've got no expiration date, and nearly every family needs them from time to time, shopping for these things in costco will save you time and money if you have the space to store them.
As long as we're talking about resisting the traps, I can't miss talking about the free samples. You'll get and taste all kinds of free stuff if you're there on the weekend. It's a regular carnival of new products to sample. And lots of those products sound fun. If you're NEW to the Costco experience, it's best to avoid these things entirely, sample, but know that you do not want to BUY. ALWAYS tell yourself that if you really need it, you'll come back for it later. If you're an experienced Costco shopper, you need to have a formula that you use when you choose whether to purchase one of these wonderful new things that you're sampling... The formula needs to include, WHEN will I use it? Do I have the space to store it? Will my family like it? Is the flavor (because usually it's a food item that creates the worst temptations) worth the price? And of course, is this item better than what I will am using already?
An example of what is a good idea in Costco... Frozen Taquitos are the easy lunch or dinner that Wayne likes if we're not in the mood to cook and we're each going to forage for leftovers or whatever... good for a couple times a month. So when we found that Costco sells frozen taquitos, for half the price that I can get them at the supermarket on sale... of COURSE we get them. I just have to make sure there's enough freezer space to store them. And we use chicken breast fillets at least once a week, so the costco-sized frozen fillets are perfect for us. And cashews are great. We love eating them by the handful and they contain some good nutrients, so getting a large container of them is something my family can work with. Same with slivered almonds. But we don't have as much use for whole almonds, so buying whole almonds makes no sense. At the beginning of any holiday season, I'll buy a large bag of flour, a large bag of sugar, of chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts. And if I've got a baking weekend coming up, I'll do the double-pack of eggs. Luckily, NUTS last a long time if you have the freezer space for the leftovers.
Today I'm going to pick up eggs and pepperoni for pizza night this evening. No reason to get pepperoni from the grocery if it's the same stuff, freezable, and a much better price at Costco! And for all those freezable Costco sized purchases, I'll get some Costco-sized ziplock baggies. I wash baggies for re-use, but eventually I do need a new supply, and this is the moment... we're running low.
As part of the purpose of this new blog, we will explore issues about storage of stuff, about usage, about price... we'll look to see whether we're being wasteful, cluttering up our houses or our environment with stuff that will not do us any good... or whether we're being frugal, using every last bit of things that can be used. I AM trying to avoid excess junk in the footprint I leave on this earth... We DO get our water filtered rather than through little plastic bottles... but I'm not exactly turning our shower into a "grey water" system for the garden (and switching to the higher priced, environmentally friendly soaps needed to do it right.)
The trick in Costco is to not get anything that you can neither store nor use before it's expiration date. If your family does not eat rice, what's the point of having a 100 lb bag of white rice cluttering up your pantry? But if you eat rice every day, the opportunity to have that much rice for a great price without having to shop every week for it, is a great thing.
So those are the things that need to go through my mind as I contemplate my trip to Costco. I need a list. I need to avoid the pretty, interesting, impulse buys. And as Wayne says, I have enough NUTS to last me through the next 3 holiday seasons... so no more costco sized bags of walnuts... taking up space in the fridge where his Taquitos might usually live.
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