I joined Costco

[kc7jty]

Did a tour of the store today:

Jarlsburg $4.49/lb
Cambozola $9.99/lb
Pecorino Romano $5.79/lb
Columbus dry Italian salami $15.99 for 3lb stick.

I'm getting a $10 coupon bringing the membership cost to $40. I'm going to have to eat a lot of freebie lunches (samples) there to break even Steven.

A lot of their prices suck. I can do much better milking the supermarket specials.

I have over 110 bottles of wine in my stash and most of them were half price.

The supermarkets will put an $11 bottle of wine on sale for $8.
Buy 6, get 10% off = $7.20
Get $3 per bottle mail in rebate = $4.20
It starts adding up, at least one store does it every week.

Latest acquisition was 6 bottles of Toasted Head Cabernet. Heard it was decent stuff (I never had it before).

[W3MIV]

Costco is not a good substitute for a supermarket unless you have a battalion to feed.

It is, however, best for bulk kitchen commodities and staples (rice, flour, sugar, oils, coffee, canned tomatoes and beans, etc) and for items such as toilet paper (if you eat, you'll need it), paper towels, laundry and cleaning supplies.

Here in MD, we don't have wine and beer available in other than "package goods" stores, unlike many other states. If you have a freezer chest, buying meats and poultry in Costco can result in a substantial "savings" over most supermarkets, but the cash outlay does not make sense for most people -- better to pay a little more and do so over a longer time (and not have to amortize the cost of the freezer chest).

The Costco I use does, however, have an excellent butcher department, including lots of prime selections as well as the more usual supermarket choice grades. I must buy four to six large steaks, or two loin roasts, etc, at a time -- which does not always make it practical.

The Costco gas station here is priced under market by a dime or so on average, but you must use either a debit card (a "no-no" in gas stations so far as I am concerned, even when patrolled) or AMEX -- the only credit card they take.

[W1GUH]

"Here in MD, we don't have wine and beer available in other than "package goods" stores, ...."

When I was there in '01 that was a county-by-county thing. That change? Tried to find a liquor store and all I could find were "Beer....Wine....snacks/pizza/sandwiches...", but no Liquor. Finally bought a bottle of wine at one of those & asked where the heck the liquor was...he directed me to the county package store. Also said right across the county line there were liquore stores on every block. Location was somewhere around Greenbelt.


'jty has bottles of "Toasted Head Cabernet...". How do they come up with those names. Personally, I'd rather have a "Baked Head." :cool2:

[WØTKX]

Toasted Head. That's funny!

http://youtu.be/jqKZEoY1rgU

[ka4dpo]

Costco is like the hardware store, I can't walk out the door without dropping at least $120.00 minimum on stuff I probably don't need.

[NA4BH]

Buy you a decent vacuum sealer and buy dry goods in bulk. Pre-measure everything out, so when you need 1 or 2 cups of rice/beans/sugar all you have to do is cut open the pack and cook.

[W3WN]

< snip >
Here in MD, we don't have wine and beer available in other than "package goods" stores, unlike many other states.
< snip >

It could be worse. You could be in Pennsylvania, land of the State Store, and the Temporary Johnstown Flood Tax on booze... which was enacted after the 1936 flood as a 10% tax, and still exists today as an 18% tax.

[kc7jty]

@Paul:
The heads or oak barrel covers on both ends of the wood barrel are toasted on the inside to impart a unique flavor characteristic to the wine. I won't touch a big Cabernet unless it's at least 3 years old, so it'll be another year before I taste a bottle of it.

@Albi:
There is a very famous beer (I think they have wine too) store just over the line from Delaware in Cecil County, MD. Many go there from PA, NJ, DE for their enormous selection. Looks like they have wine and booze too.
http://www.statelineliquors.com/
Must be a package goods place.

[kc7jty]

It could be worse. You could be in Pennsylvania, land of the State Store, and the Temporary Johnstown Flood Tax on booze... which was enacted after the 1936 flood as a 10% tax, and still exists today as an 18% tax.

PA is one of the worst states for corruption and graft. Remember when vehicle inspections were bi annual? At least Thornburgh (I think it was) got it changed to once annual.

PA (and CT too I believe) also have some antiquated requirement for all baked goods sold in the state too.

[NQ6U]

Costco is not a good substitute for a supermarket unless you have a battalion to feed.

I dunno, Albi; doesn't everybody need a 55-gallon drum of vanilla extract?