The Reluctant Joiner

Welcome to the blog. I'm the other half of the membership. And, I have been the reluctant part of our duo to make the leap into warehouse shopping.

What's my beef with buying in bulk?

Certainly I'm not opposed to good prices relative to value on items you need or want. That's a no-brainer.

Rather, my reluctance has been a desire and long-held belief in simpler living and not getting swept up in the high tolerance we Americans seem to have for buying, buying, and buying more! Don't you get the sense in talking with friends that sometimes we buy to, well, just to buy!? That kind of buying (and spending) gives me a money hangover. To better illustrate my ideas:

* A few years back, a coworker and I both commented on a Monday morning about our delicious (albeit separate) dinners of Lamb over the weekend. I purchased our Lamb at Lunds, our local grocery store (and definitely not a warehouse or bargain shoppers mecca), he bought at Cosco. "HA!" he exclaimed, "You paid WAY too much!" To which I replied, "No, I purchased $20 in lamb (our per pound price was about $2 different) and you walked away spending $150 on lamb and bulk toilet paper," (He sheepishly conceded that one).
* I've had friends tell me a trip to Costco garners great savings on milk and gas. By my estimation a gallon of milk is about 20 cents cheaper and gas is about 5 cents cheaper per gallon. 2 gallons of gas (40 cents) and 15 gallons of gas (75 cents) barely makes it worth the 11-mile trip.
* We live in a 2,000 square foot house with limited storage.
* There are only 3 of us (2 adults and one 6-year old child); bulk isn't a true need for us.
* I've recently switched a lot of our shopping from Lunds to Target and secured the Target Red Card for 5% savings at each visit. Target is a short drive and I can cover grocery and household needs in a convenient trip.
* I try to avoid buying processed, prepared foods.

O.K., so why did I succumb to the lures of the Warehouse? Well, why not. As my better-half noted, a $50 annual membership isn't a hardship for us. Further, I am in the market for a laptop and having my specifications in hand, we found a laptop on our first trip to Costco for $100.00 less than on the HP website.

Our first visit was a lot of fun. We bought the Lamb we're both fond of and had a great time walking the aisles and enjoying the free samples. We bought some items we use (Bananas, Olive Oil, Contact Solution); some items we didn't need but knowingly bought as a splurge (Chicken Wings for watching the Super Bowl), and passed on some items (I love laughing cow cheese, but it was the wrong flavor, the bulk grapes would have gone bad, I didn't want 4 packages of butter).

Our first trip was fun. Will I go back? Sure, but Target and Lunds have nothing to worry about.