Is it worth buying a Costco membership

The weekend before last was my second trip to Costco. Second trip there but only first time inside. The first time was a lovely 1.5h return trip to see a giant line snaking out the door that we were not going to join.

The second time, Will was away for the weekend so we headed out with Grandma and Auntie Anna for what ended up being an entire day of shopping. For Mr Ollie it started and ended like this with lots of fun in between.

(if you don't want the full run-through scroll down to the bottom for the answer to if it's worth the 60 bucks)

Costco Northlakes is about a 30-40 minute drive from Brisbane depending on traffic and to get in the door, you have to become a member for $60. This entitles you to bring two guests but you can only have one transaction at the end so only bring friends you trust to pay you back. Children under 18 aren't counted as guests they're bonuses.

As soon as you walk through the doors, prepare to be overwhelmed. This place is like Myer met Aldi and had a jumbo baby with Kmart and Prouds the Jeweller. It has everything. Seriously, think of something you can buy and you will probably find it at Costco. We were actually in the market for a new fridge but this one wasn't quite right. I don't think they deliver either so might have been a bit tricky to get home.

They even sell engagement rings and not tacky ugly ones - really nice ones. I'm not sure on the quality or source of the diamonds but they were sparkly at least.

If you're in the market for a Vitamix blender then the membership is worth the $60 just for the discount you will get on that. I must admit I was tempted by the smart fryer that can make deep-fried chips in just one tablespoon of oil.

Now onto what I'm sure you all want to know about - the food. If you come to Costco to buy food you have to be prepared to purchase giant quantities of it. Even the cupcakes were really more like cakes for 3-4 people than a single serve. 1kg of fresh pesto anyone?

Between the three of us we managed to fill the boot of my Pajero with just enough room left over for Ollie's pram.

What I didn't expect to find at Costco was organic ingredients so was very happy when I spotted all of these goodies at a significant saving compared to what I normally pay.

They didn't have a huge range of baby foods but they did stock Ollie's organic formula which was a great find. Yes that is a 2kg jar of jalapeños. That was Will's present - he loves them! The long-life milk is perfect for my homemade yoghurt. I'm a Devondale fan if I'm not buying organic. I won't go into why, it would involve me and a soap box and I'm sure not everyone wants to hear about it.

Seeing as I make so much of our bread, I couldn't pass up a 12.5kg bag of bakers flour could I? My policy for buying things like this in bulk is that it has to be Aussie and this one was. That's one thing I was surprised by, most of the food items at Costco were made/grown in Australia. It's great to see a big international company supporting Aussie business.

What I was really excited to see what a whole lot of boxed sets of kids book classics at seriously discounted prices so a few came home with me for Ollie. There's a Hippopotamus on My Roof Eating Cake was one of my favourites when I was young so that was his present for being such a good boy all day and the rest went away for Christmas and Birthday.

So the bottom line - is it worth buying a Costco membership? Because I'm a secret maths nerd I prepared a little comparison...

(the jalapeño price is for 2kg)

The above is just a small selection of what I bought and that's just buying one of each item. If you add up the savings on the number I actually bought, the total comes to $59.93. Just the Mr Men books saved me at least $25 so I will say a resounding yes, it is worth the membership.

There are a few things to keep in mind if you want to make the most of your membership:

1. Do you homework: you need to know your prices. I'm a maths nerd so I know the best price per roll I can pay for toilet paper and Costco was a lot more expensive than that. Buying a whole heap of something might make it seem like you're getting a bargain, but for some items you're better off getting them at the supermarket when they're on sale. I thought toilet paper, nappies and soft drink cans were a good example of this.
2. Write a list: If you really want to get the best value for money then you want to avoid making too many trips out there. I would suggest making a list of all the items you buy regularly that you can store or freeze and then stock up on them if they meet criteria one.
3. Make sure you have room: Might sound silly but if you don't have room to store it don't buy it. Buying 10kg of meat might seem like a good idea, but if you don't have the freezer space for it and it goes off, it makes it pretty expensive. That also applies for space in the car. You have to get it all home!
4. Plan ahead: This is related to points 2&3 but apart from stocking the laundry and kitchen, I'd go with a list of gifts you need for the next few months or however long it will be before you return. As I said, the kids book sets are fantastic and would make wonderful gifts. They also have quite a few fancy food items that would be good as hostess gifts and the big-ticket things are great for special occasions.
5. Take a cooler bag: I wish I'd thought to do this. I most definitely would have bought the 1kg of organic cheddar for $12.49 rather than pay the $59.93/kg regular price.
6. Take time: You will need longer than you think. We spent about 3 hours there and I don't think we saw everything.
7. Pack snacks: If you're anything like me you will get hungry and unless you chow into your purchases before you pay for them you'll starve. There are heaps of taste samples available though so if you're not fussy about what you eat then you'll be all set.

So in summary, yes, in my opinion, a membership to Costco is well worth the $60.