April 30, 2024 • 50 mins
Ever walk out of a warehouse club and realize you bought way too many things that weren't on your list? It’s time we turn you into a pro-bulk shopper, not an impulsive one! In this episode, Jen and Jill explore the myths about warehouse clubs and discuss pro tips on bulk buying.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode four h two, Grocery Store versus Warehouse Club Savings Showdown.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your
hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill. And for the last five months,
I have been conducting a research project specifically for listeners
of Frugal Friends, and I wanted to know is a
warehouse club worth it over a grocery store in my
(00:46):
own life, in my own.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Circumstances, anecdotally, your experience, your own research for five months now, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You've been doing this quietly. I didn't know what was happening. Well,
it was the spur of the moment thing in that
I got a deal for a fifteen dollars Sam's Club membership, right,
and you put me as your partner, yes, which is
I wanted to and that inspired me to say, I
wonder if this is a good deal.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, it also allowed it to be a write off, correct,
so that you and I could go get hot dogs.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Correct also logistics, So this is that the episode culminating
in all of that research and we asked you, guys,
what do you think about warehouse clubs? And most of
you is thirty six percent of you said I couldn't
live without mine, And then just under that, maybe about
(01:43):
thirty percent of the answers were like, yes, I have
a warehouse club membership, but I'm not sure if it's
helping or hurting my wallet. So I am very interested
for all of you who answered this pole question to
hear this episode and to hear the results I'm about
to share.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Send us an email two down, send an email over
a review. That's just what we'll say about that. But first,
this episode is brought to you by bulking up. Whether
you're preparing for your next wrestling match or heading to
the tundra, it's important to bulk up, put some meat
(02:24):
and muscle around those bones and be ready to face
your opponent. And if you also want to beef up
your savings, put into aie old savings account like the
one at CID offering four point sixty five percent Apy
Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash ciit, bulk it up, bulk
up that month, beef it up, well it up.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
H So, if you are interested in saving on your groceries.
We have a ton of episodes for you. A couple
of the recent ones we've done episode three ninety one
Best Seasonal Grocery Sales and episode two ninety six Grocery
Saving Strategies that will cut your bill in half with
Gina Zacharia, a really really good interview that we did
(03:06):
at a online summit that we replayed on the show.
But I think it's time. I think it's time to
share the results. We're going to do this while looking
at what the internet has to say about. If you
go to Google and ask am I going to save
money by getting a warehouse club membership? Should I do it?
(03:28):
These are the things you're gonna find, and we chose
the ones that we liked the best. Some of the
rejected ones were was an article that said you could
save over one thousand dollars WHOA with a warehouse club membership?
And was it sponsored? That's the thing. It felt sponsored
to me. I don't think it was sponsored, but it
(03:50):
was just wildly inaccurate to your experience, to my experience.
I think it was definitely a higher cost of living
area like New York or LA, but still the price,
the price discrepancies or the price differences are not what
(04:11):
I experienced. And we're going to talk about Sam's Club,
which was the one I went to, but also cost
go because that's the one most people go to and
has the best reputation when it comes to warehouse clubs.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, and to not bury the lead, I think ultimately
we will say and what these articles are saying is, yes,
warehouse clubs can save you money, but they can also
cost you more. So I think it depends on how
prudent and judicious we are in shopping them. So this
first article comes from AARP and asks the question is
(04:49):
it cheaper shop at a warehouse club and kind of
goes through some of the myths the things to watch
out for, and then we'll take you through an article
of some do's and don'ts, which I think will be
really helpful because it could be right for some people
and it could be very wrong for others. So I
think finding where you're at in it and really refining
(05:10):
the way that you shop anywhere. We have to be
mindful whenever we shop, but also just not assume this
is going to be the best deal for us, is
what we're going to be saying.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Even if you're a large family. I want to put
that out there because we are a family of four.
So that's why I specifically wanted to do this research.
But so this article says, well, it asks will warehouse
clubs save you money? And that's the myth and the
fact is not exactly so they're saying it can. Prices
(05:44):
on most products will be lower compared to the regular
grocery store prices. When you are comparing price per ounce,
that's going to be on a lot of things. But
the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and a
Life purchases made at forty thousand households, fifty two markets
at warehouse clubs, superstores, and dollar stores from two thousand
(06:05):
and four to two thousand and six. On average, you'll
save twelve percent on meat, eleven percent on dairy, and
six percent on grain products. But that's an average and
it doesn't take into account a couple important factors that
can actually make warehouse clubs cost you more money in
the long run.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So we want to go through those factors. First, is
where you shop, not just what story you're shopping at,
but what location are you currently in can really dictate
whether or not you're actually going to get a deal.
So they give this example that in the Baltimore, Washington area,
about ninety percent of products that they surveyed showed lower
(06:45):
prices at the warehouse clubs than your typical grocery store,
but in San Antonio only fifty five percent of products
surveyed costs less than at a typical grocery store. And
why so, citing that in areas such as San Antonio
with more shopping options, grocery stores offer relatively low prices
(07:07):
in order to compete, but in sprawling urban areas, the
competition isn't there to drive down grocery store prices, so
the savings at warehouse stores are greater. So this is
a massive factor. I don't think I totally put this
into perspective previously, but I have noticed again anecdotally in
my own experience, that certain grocery stores, even locally, will
(07:29):
have different prices, like the Walmart near you has better
prices on butter than near me, and different products vice versa.
Of course, that takes a really aware person who's going
to a lot of different stores even know the different pricing.
But I didn't even think about it on a larger
scale that in cities it might make more sense, but
(07:50):
in your more suburban areas it may not.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
So yeah, it's so that has been my experience in
a lot of things. A lot of things I was
surprised about. It was actually cheaper ounce per ounce to
shop at the grocery store, and I was blabberg acid
Because I have there are four people in my families,
(08:13):
I have no problem buying bulk, so that I shop
less often. But as I was comparing, and I use
the Walmart app, so that's typically I'll do a Walmart
grocery pickup every Sunday or Monday. And then what I've
been doing is going to Sam's Club once a month,
and whenever I'm in Sam's Club, before I get something,
(08:37):
I'll compare it to the price per ounce at Walmart
a for the most comparable product, because it's not realistic
all the time to do identical products like a product
at Walmart is not available at Sam's Club, so I
wouldn't even be able to buy buy the things. So
(08:58):
what I found was that on some of the things
I was buying most frequently, it was more especially the
perishable items, better for me to shop at a grocery
store for us, there's a grocery You cannot drive three
minutes without passing a grocery store. Though there's every grocery
store you can think of, and more coming like all
(09:21):
these coming in every year, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, like
they are all in addition to the ones that have
already been here. So I think that is a huge
factor in why a lot of the things that I
wanted to buy didn't save me money at sam Club.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, yeah, really important to keep in mind. I don't
know how you exactly would know that. I guess you could.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Search your area for pricing, right, So what I would
do is you can't always check the price on things
like milk or eggs, Like I was trying to price
compare to Costco, but I'm not a member there, so
I couldn't see those. But you can compare things that
are available for shipping. So I pulled up a price
(10:07):
comparison on diapers. Then I'll go through a little later
and I could see the price per each because those
were available for shipping on Costco. But I'll just go
through the Walmart app and pretend like I'll just add
things to my cart and then compare the prices, you know,
(10:29):
pull them up while I'm in Sam's Club to compare
the price per ounce. And you can even do that
if you're concerned about the prices being different at different
grocery stores in your area. Walmart, at least I can
put everything into my cart and look at it at
the one closest to me, and then I can just
quickly switch it to a different Walmart and then see
(10:53):
if the price in my cart changed. So that's a
quick way to see what the difference is in total
price to see if it's worth driving to another Walmart. Yeah,
most likely probably not. Yeah yeah maybe dollars yeah. So
second that these this myth doesn't account for the forty
(11:15):
to fifty dollars you have to pay just to walk
into the door of a BJ's Costco or Sam's Club,
And so you really do have to sit down and
do the math. I think for these entry level like
forty fifty bucks, I definitely made back my fifteen, Like
I more than save fifteen dollars so far. For sure.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That sometimes you can get deals and discounts on the memberships,
that's worth stating.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But when it jumps up to fifty, then you do
have to do some thinking, some math these premium memberships though,
so I just I didn't know this. I went to shop,
I dropped off my kids at daycare and school, and
then went to Sam's Club. They let me in the door.
I shopping. I finish at nine to twenty, and they
(12:05):
will not let me check out. I cannot check out
because anything before ten am is for Sam's Club like
premium members. I had no idea. No, so they made
me up like upgrade in order to check out because
they were gonna. I talked to several people and they're like,
you either have to wait till ten or upgrade, but
(12:28):
they're like it is, there is right, there is a
money back guarantee, so I paid. I think it was
pro rated for me. So I paid thirty five dollars
so I could check out and then no, I think
what it was. I probably would have stayed the forty minutes,
but no, this was on spring break and I had
KAI and I wasn't gonna wait forty minutes guy. So
(12:50):
I paid the thirty five dollars, went back the next
week and got a refund because I loved had to
go back and I had to go back fund and
I look at all of the features and they were
just not worth the extra money is double the price
often to get these premium like free shipping, free pickup,
(13:11):
like all these quote unquote freebies. We're absolutely not worth
it for me and my family. So that's another thing,
Like I think maybe you could cut it with the minimum,
but there's I just don't see how you can do
it with the premium.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yeah, and you might be able to get the deal
for the first time sign up, but if you choose
to keep it, then eventually you're going to be paying
forty five fifty dollars to keep your membership, potentially more.
And when you're only saving between five to twelve percent
on your items, you really have to look at am
I going to go there often enough where the five
to twelve percent that I'm saving on my total bill
(13:52):
is that equating to the fifty dollars that I've spent
on the membership. And depending on how far away it
is from you, I know for many people, well you're
driving a further distance to get to these warehouse clubs,
and so just your time investment, your mileage, how much
it might end up costing you, they're all worth weighing
(14:13):
out yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I know some of the people in our poll on
the front letter said they split their membership fee with
someone else, and so that makes it a little more palatable.
So again, that's if you enjoy the experience of shopping
at a warehouse club and you want to keep it,
that's a thing to think about. Making the person you
add to your account pay you half. That's just free load.
(14:40):
Here's looking at me. Huh okay.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
So the third thing that we've got to keep an
eye out for is that the clubs are luring you
in with let's say, a great price on chicken or
pork chops, but the entire store is designed in a
way that's going to encourage you to spend and their massive.
They are ware houses, so you're not just going in
(15:04):
to grab yourself some pork chops and getting out of there,
especially not out of there before ten without spending more money.
But once you're there, there is this well, now I'm here,
I've made it through the door, I showed my card.
Now let me just browse, And there is no version
of just browsing without getting something additional. Even for the
(15:27):
best of us who are not huge impulse buyers. It's
designed for that, So it is it really a great
price on porkchops when you're spending impulsively on something that
maybe you didn't even need, it wasn't on your list.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
I saw this. I've been directly victimized by this. It
is like when you get in there with your big cart.
The carts are bigger, so you don't feel like you're
putting as much in right, So what you think is
just like a few things is actually a lot if
you had a normal sized cart, but you can fill
(16:02):
it up and things are put around the store chaotically
for a reason. Yeah, to get everything you need, you're
going to go to so many different places. You have
to pass by things they know you don't need in
order to get to everything you need. And the samples,
(16:23):
and there's always a sample.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I do love samples, but I think that that is
another ploy too. You're trying it, you like it, you
want to buy it. This is just occurring to me too.
This is not listened in the article, but I'm realizing
for myself. The prices are high because you're getting a lot, right,
You're buying in bulk, so you're seeing a lot of
things at twenty two, twenty six thirteen eighteen, and I
(16:50):
am just now realizing for myself when I see something
below ten at a warehouse club, that.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Feels like a good deal.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Oh, this box of Taktos for nine eighty seven or
this bag of berries for eleven twenty five. Yet it
feels like a decent price because you've now been in
this store seeing all these kind of higher ticket items.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But then to realize, if.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I were in a regular grocery store and I saw
something listed for close to ten fifteen dollars, that's a
lot of money and maybe I'll eat it all, maybe
I'll get through all of it. But that's just a
lot of money to drop all at once on one
singular item that usually for me is not worth it.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, anchoring, anchoring. You see all these high prices, so
the low prices feel like a really good deal. Yeah,
because you've just seen so many high prices.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Well, at the regular grocery store, things that are four
and five dollars are like, nah, that's that's a little
bit too high for me. But then at Sam's Club,
it's okay, Well, nine ten is the good price because
twenty is the high price.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
So so that is the first article. The second article
is bulking Up pro tips for buying in bulk. So
we know that some of you who love your Costco
membership are not going to be deterred by our experience
(18:21):
in not really saving that much at a warehouse store
if you look at the price per ounds. So we
want you to be a successful bulkshopper. Though, if you're
going to keep your membership because you like it, then
here are the dos and don'ts for buying in bulk. First,
(18:42):
do buy things that won't go bad. So that's actually
been my strategy going in. I only go in once
a month, so everything I buy has to either be
freezable or shelf stable, and so the only perishable things
I will actually buy are things like fruit that I know,
(19:02):
like my kids go through like bandits, bananas, mandarins, apples, crazy,
So I'll do those. But everything else really is frozen
or shelf stable. So do not if you can't, if
your kids or you or your partner are not going
(19:24):
through these perishable things like crazy, don't be tempted by them.
Don't even walk by them, because I mean, these stores
are are convincing you like as you walk through, like
I wasn't going to get this perishable thing. But look
at the sale, look at how you like.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And I'm not going to get month from now, so
you better get it now.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It's a better deal than the grocery store. No, because
it gon' go bad. You're not gonna eat at all.
Don't clutter your home. The last thing you want is
for your home to look like a warehouse. And so
a lot of people that were saying they didn't they
didn't buy in bulk, were because we don't have room
(20:13):
to buy in bulk. We don't have room to store
this stuff. For me, I have maxed out my freezer
because of Sam's Club, Like I can't I probably can't
buy any more frozen stuff because of Sam's Clubs. So
and I'm not going to get a deep freezer, Like
there's no reason I need a deep freezer. I don't hunt.
(20:37):
Nobody around me hunts where I need to, like have
room for an entire steer, you know, Like that's not
I don't need a deep freezer. I just need to
use what's in my freezer. And so yeah, and now
I have space in a pantry for things, but I
also don't want to clutter it, so just use buy
(21:00):
what you think you'll use the next month, or if
STU like toilet paper, trash bags like things you know
you will use, you know quickly and you don't have
to have multiple boxes.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Of it.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Next.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Do make a plan. You've heard this one from us before.
It's not just a warehouse shopping tip. It's an always tip,
but especially when it comes to food. So if you're
utilizing a warehouse club for your kind of once a
month shopping and you're stocking up, make a plan. Consider
what those meals are going to be before you make
any purchases. Know whether or not you're going to be
(21:38):
going on vacation.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Will you actually use.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
All the stuff up and look for ingredients stuff you
can buy that you can use in multiple different types
of meals. I remember when you and I went at
one point to Sam's Club gen you had price compared
dice tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
It's something that.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
You use a lot, and so knowing that this goes
into a lot of the different soups and stews and
whatnot that you make, it was advantageous for you to
stock up on their bigger Kansa dice tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
But that was because you had a plan. Yes, don't
bulk shop every week.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So while we don't want you to be spending more
just because you only go once a month, Also, don't
go every week. No one needs well, I guess unless
you've got like twelve children. But most people do not
need to be buying in bulk weekly. We're most likely
not going through all of these items. So trying to
(22:38):
limit bulk shopping too once maybe twice a month, depending
on your situation, could be a great tip to decrease
some of the impulse buies and help you make the
most of your Warehouse Club shopping. So this is, shopping
for fruits and vegetables that you need weekly at a
smaller store or farmer's market is going to do you
(23:00):
better than getting all of these things in bulk that
aren't going to last for that long. You're probably not
going to make it through all of that fresh produce.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, if you have a habit of impulse shopping when
you go to the warehouse Club, the best thing you
can do for yourself is go to the warehouse Club less.
And I know we have this thing because we paid
for the membership. We want to go more often and
get our money's worth. But the opposite is true. The
more you go, the more opportunity you have to spend
(23:30):
on things you don't need. So go, make a plan
and go once a month, Do not go more. Another
thing they'll do is the gas. The gas at Sam's Club.
I have been using that. I've been getting gas there
and one of the things is like, oh, I'm already
here getting gas. I'll hop in and just pick up
this one thing. Don't do that either. The way to
(23:53):
break bad habits is to make the queue invisible. So
just don't step in. Don't do it. You are getting
your money's worth better by only going once a month.
Believe that. Believe that, believe it the next do and
don't do. Keep track of what you have. So if
(24:14):
you are shopping a warehouse club, then you now should
be the proud owner of a very organized and easily
viewable storage system, pantry, inventory list, stuff like that. Not
everybody needs it, because if you don't have a pantry
and you can just see everything you have right in
front of you, you may not you don't need an
organized some kind of pantry organization method or list, but
(24:40):
if you are, this is the time to start at
least the list. Start the list so that you know
what you need. I planned before every every Sam's Club trip,
and this is part fun. It's fun for me because
I get a dough bamine hit just planning for a
(25:02):
shopping trip. Right. The dopamine hit does not just come
when you buy something. It comes with the anticipation of buying.
So that's one of the great things about budgeting and
planning is that you get that extra dopamine hit because
you planned right. It's better than impulse buying. So but
I'll plan like in bed at night, and I'll be
(25:22):
comparing the prices Walmart to Sam's Club in bed, so
I don't have to be comparing while I'm there and
spending more time there because I already know, like what's cheaper.
So keep track of what you have so that you
can more easily plan ahead of time. Because don't assume
(25:43):
buying in bulk is cheaper. And I think that's the
main message of this episode. Not all bulk items actually
save you money. Sometimes stores market products as bulk, but
the price per unit or outs is not any cheaper
at the buying standard quality. Sometimes there will not be
a Member's mark or a Kirkland brand. They will only
(26:05):
have a name brand of the thing where you could
have gotten like a great value at Walmart. So sometimes
it may be like more expensive to shop per ounce
at the warehouse store. So it's a good idea to
keep track of sales because they will do sales. We
(26:27):
in writing our book, we are doing some research on
the stores that have sales, and because we've all seen
it that these stores will have quote unquote sales, but
it's always on sale. Amazon's the worst at this because
they're individual retailers, but like it's just always quote unquote
(26:49):
on sale, but that's actually just the regular price. So
Consumer Checkbook I think did a study at a bunch
of major retailers over three weeks for key products and
found that only two and they were testing Walmart, Target, Amazon,
(27:09):
all the big boys. Only two stores did not have
deceptive sales marketing. Two they say who they were, Yes,
Apple was one of them, because they ran no sales,
because they never say they ran no sales, so they
don't ever give you the idea that they're running a sale.
The only other store that did not run deceptive sales
(27:32):
like their sales were legitimately sales was Costco. Whoa yeah,
so all you Costco lovers you can rest assured that
the sales there are actually sales, but research the sales.
You can find the sales online. Their sales cycle is cyclical,
so you'll be able to know when the thing you
want is on sale there.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Yeah, oh that's so good. Okay, last do and don't do.
Buy only what you need and use. This one seems obvious,
but it is worth mentioning because sometimes we can get
caught up in buying something that we just think sounds
cool or we'd like, and we think it's on sale
(28:17):
or it's a deal, let me get it, and then
you just end up with something enticed by a good price,
but a large amount of something that you don't actually Yeah,
I feel like with food, like you try it out
and then it's like I don't like that brand of
cliff bar, but now you've got one hundred and fifty
two of those cliff bars.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And what you're gonna do. Yeah, it's shelf stable, so
it'll never go bad, but it'll never go away. I
wanted you buy what's your thing. I bought protein drinks,
like ready made protein drinks, but they were special edition
chocolate mint and I know I like the chocolate, so
I don't know why I bought chocolate. I do love
(28:57):
min chocolate chip ice cream is my favorite ice cream.
So I bought these thinking it would taste like that,
and it didn't. It wasn't bad, but I just got
tired of them very quickly, Like I didn't want to
drink twenty six of them. Yeah, yeah, Actually Travis ended
up drinking them. He does not like chocolate mint flavored things,
(29:19):
but he drank them after working out, and I kept
offering him. I was like, here's my just regular chocolate
protein powder, like you can have this, but he was
lazy and he didn't want to make a protein drink.
These were just ready made in this That's why he drank.
So they all got gone. That's good. But I also
bought a big thing of OURX bars, knowing that our
(29:39):
X bars are my last resort meal. I don't like
them a lot, but they are like it's so protein
bars are so hard, and so I know I'll have
those forever. But that was a strategic move.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Don't go bulk all at once if you're catching the
vibes over here and you're like, oh, that was a
good deal.
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Unless you're doing research for a potty don't go thinking
that you got to do everything in bulk, especially because
your home most likely cannot handle everything to be bulk.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Like Jen said, you don't want it to look like
a warehouse at your home, So start slowly. Only purchase
the bulk items that you know you're going to use
and that are actually a deal above and beyond what
you could get at a regular grocery store. What makes
sense for your family, your spending plan. Just be really mindful.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Don't assume, I guess is the main thing. If you're
starting to put bulk items in your guest room, your office,
a spare closet, if it is overflowing outside of the
kitchen area or where you normally store those items, to stop.
It's time to sit a take a break.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
You know what it's time for now. It's a version
of a break, But it's not us stopping, it's us
continuing to go the vill of the week.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
That's right, It's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is Williams. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, Maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Duck bills Buffalo bills. Bill Clon, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Hi Jen and Jel. This is Laurie from Central Florida.
My bill of the week is my two American Express
credit card bills. One year ago, my balance was twenty
five twelve dollars. They were both at zero percent for
twelve months. I'm happy to say I just made the
last payment on both without a cruing interest at all.
It does pay to have frugal friends and a new
(32:07):
outlook on my money and spending or lack bearro Thanks
for all you do, Lorie.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Twenty five thousand dollars in credit card debt paid off. Congratulations,
without accruing interest. That's fantastic. You well done. Beat the
credit cards at their own game. I love that everyone again,
like the man, don't transfer them to a zero percent interest.
You won't pay them off? Girl? You did. Yeah, you
(32:39):
beat them at their own game.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
And that's why I love saying that we can make
our own decisions as long as they're informed decisions. I
feel like this conversation about warehouse clubs is really similar
to conversations about credit cards. Like it's not it's very gray. Yes,
it can be really good for you. Or it might
not be the best decision for you. Just eyes wide open,
(33:03):
and that's what you did, and you used it to
your favor and now you got that debt gone and
well done girl.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
And in Central Florida shout out, Yes, I went to
Central University of Central Florida.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Hey, if you all listening, have a bill you want
to share with us. If it's about paying off credit
cards not accruing interest, If it's about a bill, you
don't mind paying a bill you didn't have to pay.
Your name is Bill, you know the drill Frugal Friends
podcast dot com slash Bill. We're ready for it, and
now it's time for the lightning round.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
All right, girl, this is where I'm gonna go. I'm
dive in. You're gonna dive in because you've gotten going on.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
All right, Jen, all your research the last five months,
which items do you prefer buying at a warehouse store
compared to a grocery store and vice versa.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
All right, So, and granted I'm gonna say again, I
live in an area where there is a lot of
competition among grocery stores. This may not be the case,
and you should do your own research. Don't assume that
warehouse clubs are the best way to go because they
were the best way to go for someone else. And
(34:23):
don't assume just because the warehouse club works for you,
it should work for everything. Do your own experiment, Do
your own experience. So in my experience, the things that
I have not and will not buy at the Sam's
Club strawberries, I can get two pounds of strawberries at
Walmart for a dollar less than I buy two pounds
(34:47):
at Sam's Club. They are these same strawberries in season
or out of season. It's always cheaper at the grocery store. Diapers,
I buy the great value or the parent's choice. Yes,
at Walmart I did, so this was actually something I
was able to compare across Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club. Granted,
(35:10):
I'm looking at the store brand for all these The
quality of the store brand may differ across brands, right,
But I am fine with the parents' choice from Walmart.
My both my sons have used. That works for us
may not work for you. But it is the least
expensive diaper. So we're looking at our size one hundred
(35:33):
and twenty six, which is not even the biggest. The
biggest is two hundred ten, but they don't carry that
in the store. It's only one hundred and twenty six.
It's like less than seventeen fifty. It's seventeen forty eight
for one hundred and twenty six diapers. That's under fourteen
cents of diaper. At my Sam's Club it is for
the size three. It's forty bucks for two hundred and
(35:57):
thirty four, so that's seven nineteen cents a diaper. So
I'm saving fourteen fifteen, sixteen sent three cents a diaper
by buying a Walmart and over a lifetime, that's significant pricing.
So I don't buy diapers at Sam's Club. I'm looking
at Kirkland. And while I didn't get to compare any
(36:21):
other prices at Costco, I was able to compare this one.
They're diapers. So two hundred and twenty two diapers in
size three, which is the size we are in, which
is less than the two hundred and thirty four at
Sam's Club is forty five, So five dollars more expensive
for the Kirkland brand for fewer diapers, and it doesn't
(36:43):
is price per diapers twenty cents per diaper, so I'm
not and I've heard Costco referred to as the Trader
Joe's of warehouse clubs. So Sam's Club's obviously the Walmart
of warehouse clubs, and then Kirklan and Costco is like
the Trader Joe's, so a little bit of a price
(37:06):
premium there, but yeah, that's what we're looking at for diapers.
So diapers I still buy at Walmart. The same with eggs,
like the egg verbiage is super confusing. They have cage free,
they have organic cage free, they have pasture raised. I
just buy them from Walmart because I know the ones
I like they have, and they're cheaper than the ones
(37:30):
at Sam's Club, which may be higher quality, but I
don't need them to be higher quality, right, I don't
need the best of the best. I get my brown
cage free. They're not organic, but I'm okay with that.
I get my snacks for my baby at the grocery
store because members Mark doesn't have Maybe snacks, it's all
(37:52):
the name brand Gerber stuff, and Walmart does. Walmart has
really good parents' choice selections for snacks. Frozen broccoli is
cheaper at Walmart than it is buying in bulk at
Sam's Club.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
It's so weird, and obviously you've got to do some
of these deep dives to know what is your best
price pricing.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah, and then milk, like I was able to compare.
I get organic Vitamin D milk, and at Sam's Club
for three half gallons, it's like eleven something. At Walmart
it is ten ninety four. Wow. Yeah, if I bought
(38:40):
a full gallon and a half gallon huh yeah, all right,
So what will you buy at Sam's Club? So the
things I have been buying at Sam's Club, let me
scroll down. Baby wipes, so those are less expensive because
they don't have the big cases at the Walmart that
(39:02):
I order from, So I'll buy the wipes. I buy
Huggies pull ups because we use the name brand Huggies
pull ups for kai okay, So they do sell those
at Sam's Club. It is cheaper because it's the brand name.
We're gonna buy the brand name. So I do get
those at Sam's Club, and I save a pretty good amount,
(39:24):
like enough to where I think Huggies alone has justified
the membership because Huggies ain't cheap meat. I do buy
all of my meat from Sam's Club. Now I like
to get the organic, free range meats. And the crazy
(39:48):
thing is that the ninety ten beef is cheaper than
like the eighty five fifteen beef, even against Sam's Club. Like,
I don't know why, but it's definitely cheaper than Walmart.
So the meat also has made up for the cost.
(40:10):
If you're a vegetarian or vegan, I don't know if
it's right, Like, yeah, you get your bulk beyond burgers,
but like I don't. I don't think they're that good.
Those are not good. So yeah, I don't think you
would get a lot of value from a Warehouse club.
(40:31):
Bananas I will get because my kids go again, fruit apples, bananas, mandarins,
the and then some of the specialty stuff you can
only get at Sam's Clubs. So they have a Mediterranean
kale salad that I am obsessed with. I get it
every time. I'll get two pounds of it. I'll add
(40:52):
shredded chicken to it, and I will eat that for
lunch for a week. I love that salad. They have
a better nut bar. I love that nut bar. No
other bar compares. I'll buy fit crunch bars. So those
are the protein bars that I'm loving now. And I'll
get those in bulk because it's my two favorite flavors
(41:12):
are in the bulk one. It's not like just the
one I like and the one I deal with in
the two best flavors in this one box. And then
chicken corn on blue in bulk.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
It's something my kids like, yeah, and I like they always. Yeah,
I can't go wrong with it. So once you find
something your four year old likes, you just you buy it,
keep buying it, keep going in bulk. It's all we're
eating now. So that is my analysis. There are more
things that I've tried that these are just the things
(41:44):
that are most notable to me. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
No, I mean it's really helpful, but I think it
does show that it's not a definitely no or definitely
yes yet again, And everyone's going to have their own
version of this, probably like well, especially if location has
to do with it, my Sam's Club or my Costco
has better deals on this. I think the point is
really doing some research and knowing that you are getting
(42:07):
the better deal, and that that better deal is worth
it to maybe make an extra trip or go out
of your way, because sometimes for me, it's worth it
to just one stop shop at a singular place, even
if it means I'm spending fifty cents or a dollar
more here and there, because I'm not wasting time, I'm
not wasting gas. I'm just not wasting It's more efficient
(42:30):
for me that way.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
And something I was thinking about when I was in
the deli section of Sam's Club is something that may
not a feature that may be underutilized with these memberships
is that they have fantastic like ready to cook or
ready to eat family meals, so not just like one
or two servings, but multiple servings, which could be great
(42:51):
if you're on vacation, or you're traveling, or it's a
late you know there's going to be a late night
where you're not going to want to cook. This could
be really great option to avoid takeout and restaurants.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Yes, that was going to be my answer. So I
rarely go to a warehouse club. It can be fun
for me to kind of see, you know, what's happened
on the other side.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
I get everything from the grocery store, but I do
like warehouse clubs for what you're describing. Like recently, my
in laws were in town and I was just recovering
from not feeling well, and I wanted to provide dinner
for everybody the night that they arrived, but I knew
I wasn't going to feel well enough to cook. And
they had amazing actually more as in the frozen section
(43:37):
butter chicken, and they've got big packets and non bread
and it was just a big meal for all of us,
Whereas at the grocery store, frozen food frozen prepared foods
usually only feed one to two people, so they've got
a really nice selection there. I also really like warehouse clubs.
Whenever we host a party, which we have been doing
(43:58):
a lot in the past couple of years, we've got
twenty thirty people coming over, then it's a great spot
to get your big salsas kso big bags of chips,
things of bread, like all feeding a large quantity, not
just a big family, but a lot of people all
at once. You can get the really good deals. But
(44:19):
when else are you going to need fifty patties of burgers?
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Never only then your cholesterol will overcompensate. The savings on
your warehouse club will be overshadowed by the money you
will have to spend hovering from eating fifty burger patties.
Speaker 3 (44:40):
And I know that we were primarily talking here about
grocery items, so food items, but I do think there's
something to be said for warehouse clubs and they're non
food items, like especially Costco. They vet all of their
brands pretty well, they stand behind them. You can return
things I think up until a year, possibly even beyond.
(45:02):
They've got a really great return policy that I know
people love. So I've gotten really great towels and bedding
and storage bins from them, and recently even at Sam's Club,
they will have really good deals on gift cards, like
they'll sell discount gift cards.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
So we were one of the.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Things I'm sure you've heard us talk about in the past.
Eric and I really aren't doing a ton of travel
this year or spending a lot of money all at
once on renovations or big trips.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
We have not gotten paid a goal for the book yet.
Please buy the book when it's available for free order.
We need money, but we still wanted to do something funny.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
We went on a double date recently with friends and
we've been really wanting to try top golf.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
It's expensive typically yeah, I've never done it, but on Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Nights they have half off, and we got one hundred
dollars gift card for eighty dollars to Top Golf at
Sam's Club, so forty bucks per couple. We were able
to go and enjoy a few hours at Top Golf,
which felt like, yeah, it's more than what a typical
Tuesday night night cost me, but it's something local, fun
(46:14):
to try, fun to do, and at a twenty percent
discount that was pretty dope.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
That's fun. Yeah. Yeah, I have horrible hand eye coordinations,
so there is no way I should anybody should put
a golf stick in my hand. It's just unsafe.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
Yeah, but just not all their gift cards, Like some
gift cards are only like two cents less. But sometimes
you can find really good deals on gift cards. So
if you already know this is the place I go,
or oh I have been wanting to try out that restaurant,
it can be a nice specialty thing to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
A discount world gift cards sometimes. Yeah, like if you're
planning a trip to Disney to get a gift card
there first, you could save a little bit of money.
Speaker 6 (47:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, So thank you for listening. If you are a
die hard warehouse club fan. I hope he gave you
a little bulk food for thought, and if you were
unsure if it was saving you money, then maybe some
strategies you can use to compare prices and see if
it's worth renewing your membership or maybe ways to take
(47:24):
better advantage of the full membership. And if you love
saving money, then you're definitely gonna be wanting to get
the Friend Letter as well. Frugal Friends podcast dot com.
And we love hearing your sweet feedback, your very nice
emails that you reply, like this one from Tangy. Love
love love this. Thank you for the excellent question, the
(47:45):
answers struggles real, thank you for the awesome newsletters will share.
Thank you Tangy.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
I wonder what email that was back to. But we
do send out some questions within the friend Letter, like
prompts to be thinking about it, especially over the weekend,
for you to be able to really understand your perspective
on money, your own money story, So we kind of
provide some journal prompts sometimes probably something like that.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Thanks Danny, So thank you for listening again Frugal Friends
podcast dot com. If you want to get the front
letter Freebies, Savings, hacks, things to think about to make
sure you're optimizing where your money goes. See you next time.
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. I mean, but
(48:41):
hot dogs, Yeah, that is definitely a draw.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
But here's the thing. I'm pretty sure you can go
into the food court without a membership. I'm pretty sure
Eric and I. Whether or not we just didn't get
caught or we were allowed, I don't quite remember. But
I really thought that you could like go in the
exit to the food court and take advantage of the food.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Here's an unethical thing you shouldn't do. Oh, are we
gonna get canceled?
Speaker 4 (49:14):
You?
Speaker 1 (49:14):
We're not gonna get canceled. But in my I when
I was trying to check out and I couldn't. I
had to pay thirty five dollars to check out, I
was like, why did they let me in? Why was
I allowed in?
Speaker 6 (49:26):
Right?
Speaker 1 (49:27):
And They're like, they don't check to see what kind
of membership you have, just that you have a membership.
And I was like, so, why could have just screenshotted
that picture from the app? Uh huh and just showed it.
Nobody checks. They just look look to see that there's
a bar code in a name.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
But I don't think you can check out and buy
anything with you. You would not be able to check out,
uh huh. But you could buy food without a membership.
They don't check that food.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
You could walk in and like the cafe or whatever
they call it. It's not quite a cafe. So if
they give you trouble letting you in, then that is
an option. Quick. Yeah, something unethical. You shouldn't do it.
You shouldn't do that, but you should be able to
buy a hot dog, your dollar fifty hot dog. Then
(50:18):
know that and don't shot before ten a m at
zamp Club
Episode four h two, Grocery Store versus Warehouse Club Savings Showdown.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life here your
hosts Jen and Jill.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen,
my name is Jill. And for the last five months,
I have been conducting a research project specifically for listeners
of Frugal Friends, and I wanted to know is a
warehouse club worth it over a grocery store in my
(00:46):
own life, in my own.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Circumstances, anecdotally, your experience, your own research for five months now, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
You've been doing this quietly. I didn't know what was happening. Well,
it was the spur of the moment thing in that
I got a deal for a fifteen dollars Sam's Club membership, right,
and you put me as your partner, yes, which is
I wanted to and that inspired me to say, I
wonder if this is a good deal.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, it also allowed it to be a write off, correct,
so that you and I could go get hot dogs.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Correct also logistics, So this is that the episode culminating
in all of that research and we asked you, guys,
what do you think about warehouse clubs? And most of
you is thirty six percent of you said I couldn't
live without mine, And then just under that, maybe about
(01:43):
thirty percent of the answers were like, yes, I have
a warehouse club membership, but I'm not sure if it's
helping or hurting my wallet. So I am very interested
for all of you who answered this pole question to
hear this episode and to hear the results I'm about
to share.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Send us an email two down, send an email over
a review. That's just what we'll say about that. But first,
this episode is brought to you by bulking up. Whether
you're preparing for your next wrestling match or heading to
the tundra, it's important to bulk up, put some meat
(02:24):
and muscle around those bones and be ready to face
your opponent. And if you also want to beef up
your savings, put into aie old savings account like the
one at CID offering four point sixty five percent Apy
Frugal friendspodcast dot com, slash ciit, bulk it up, bulk
up that month, beef it up, well it up.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
H So, if you are interested in saving on your groceries.
We have a ton of episodes for you. A couple
of the recent ones we've done episode three ninety one
Best Seasonal Grocery Sales and episode two ninety six Grocery
Saving Strategies that will cut your bill in half with
Gina Zacharia, a really really good interview that we did
(03:06):
at a online summit that we replayed on the show.
But I think it's time. I think it's time to
share the results. We're going to do this while looking
at what the internet has to say about. If you
go to Google and ask am I going to save
money by getting a warehouse club membership? Should I do it?
(03:28):
These are the things you're gonna find, and we chose
the ones that we liked the best. Some of the
rejected ones were was an article that said you could
save over one thousand dollars WHOA with a warehouse club membership?
And was it sponsored? That's the thing. It felt sponsored
to me. I don't think it was sponsored, but it
(03:50):
was just wildly inaccurate to your experience, to my experience.
I think it was definitely a higher cost of living
area like New York or LA, but still the price,
the price discrepancies or the price differences are not what
(04:11):
I experienced. And we're going to talk about Sam's Club,
which was the one I went to, but also cost
go because that's the one most people go to and
has the best reputation when it comes to warehouse clubs.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, and to not bury the lead, I think ultimately
we will say and what these articles are saying is, yes,
warehouse clubs can save you money, but they can also
cost you more. So I think it depends on how
prudent and judicious we are in shopping them. So this
first article comes from AARP and asks the question is
(04:49):
it cheaper shop at a warehouse club and kind of
goes through some of the myths the things to watch
out for, and then we'll take you through an article
of some do's and don'ts, which I think will be
really helpful because it could be right for some people
and it could be very wrong for others. So I
think finding where you're at in it and really refining
(05:10):
the way that you shop anywhere. We have to be
mindful whenever we shop, but also just not assume this
is going to be the best deal for us, is
what we're going to be saying.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Even if you're a large family. I want to put
that out there because we are a family of four.
So that's why I specifically wanted to do this research.
But so this article says, well, it asks will warehouse
clubs save you money? And that's the myth and the
fact is not exactly so they're saying it can. Prices
(05:44):
on most products will be lower compared to the regular
grocery store prices. When you are comparing price per ounce,
that's going to be on a lot of things. But
the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service and a
Life purchases made at forty thousand households, fifty two markets
at warehouse clubs, superstores, and dollar stores from two thousand
(06:05):
and four to two thousand and six. On average, you'll
save twelve percent on meat, eleven percent on dairy, and
six percent on grain products. But that's an average and
it doesn't take into account a couple important factors that
can actually make warehouse clubs cost you more money in
the long run.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So we want to go through those factors. First, is
where you shop, not just what story you're shopping at,
but what location are you currently in can really dictate
whether or not you're actually going to get a deal.
So they give this example that in the Baltimore, Washington area,
about ninety percent of products that they surveyed showed lower
(06:45):
prices at the warehouse clubs than your typical grocery store,
but in San Antonio only fifty five percent of products
surveyed costs less than at a typical grocery store. And
why so, citing that in areas such as San Antonio
with more shopping options, grocery stores offer relatively low prices
(07:07):
in order to compete, but in sprawling urban areas, the
competition isn't there to drive down grocery store prices, so
the savings at warehouse stores are greater. So this is
a massive factor. I don't think I totally put this
into perspective previously, but I have noticed again anecdotally in
my own experience, that certain grocery stores, even locally, will
(07:29):
have different prices, like the Walmart near you has better
prices on butter than near me, and different products vice versa.
Of course, that takes a really aware person who's going
to a lot of different stores even know the different pricing.
But I didn't even think about it on a larger
scale that in cities it might make more sense, but
(07:50):
in your more suburban areas it may not.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
So yeah, it's so that has been my experience in
a lot of things. A lot of things I was
surprised about. It was actually cheaper ounce per ounce to
shop at the grocery store, and I was blabberg acid
Because I have there are four people in my families,
(08:13):
I have no problem buying bulk, so that I shop
less often. But as I was comparing, and I use
the Walmart app, so that's typically I'll do a Walmart
grocery pickup every Sunday or Monday. And then what I've
been doing is going to Sam's Club once a month,
and whenever I'm in Sam's Club, before I get something,
(08:37):
I'll compare it to the price per ounce at Walmart
a for the most comparable product, because it's not realistic
all the time to do identical products like a product
at Walmart is not available at Sam's Club, so I
wouldn't even be able to buy buy the things. So
(08:58):
what I found was that on some of the things
I was buying most frequently, it was more especially the
perishable items, better for me to shop at a grocery
store for us, there's a grocery You cannot drive three
minutes without passing a grocery store. Though there's every grocery
store you can think of, and more coming like all
(09:21):
these coming in every year, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, like
they are all in addition to the ones that have
already been here. So I think that is a huge
factor in why a lot of the things that I
wanted to buy didn't save me money at sam Club.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Yeah, yeah, really important to keep in mind. I don't
know how you exactly would know that. I guess you could.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Search your area for pricing, right, So what I would
do is you can't always check the price on things
like milk or eggs, Like I was trying to price
compare to Costco, but I'm not a member there, so
I couldn't see those. But you can compare things that
are available for shipping. So I pulled up a price
(10:07):
comparison on diapers. Then I'll go through a little later
and I could see the price per each because those
were available for shipping on Costco. But I'll just go
through the Walmart app and pretend like I'll just add
things to my cart and then compare the prices, you know,
(10:29):
pull them up while I'm in Sam's Club to compare
the price per ounce. And you can even do that
if you're concerned about the prices being different at different
grocery stores in your area. Walmart, at least I can
put everything into my cart and look at it at
the one closest to me, and then I can just
quickly switch it to a different Walmart and then see
(10:53):
if the price in my cart changed. So that's a
quick way to see what the difference is in total
price to see if it's worth driving to another Walmart. Yeah,
most likely probably not. Yeah yeah maybe dollars yeah. So
second that these this myth doesn't account for the forty
(11:15):
to fifty dollars you have to pay just to walk
into the door of a BJ's Costco or Sam's Club,
And so you really do have to sit down and
do the math. I think for these entry level like
forty fifty bucks, I definitely made back my fifteen, Like
I more than save fifteen dollars so far. For sure.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That sometimes you can get deals and discounts on the memberships,
that's worth stating.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
But when it jumps up to fifty, then you do
have to do some thinking, some math these premium memberships though,
so I just I didn't know this. I went to shop,
I dropped off my kids at daycare and school, and
then went to Sam's Club. They let me in the door.
I shopping. I finish at nine to twenty, and they
(12:05):
will not let me check out. I cannot check out
because anything before ten am is for Sam's Club like
premium members. I had no idea. No, so they made
me up like upgrade in order to check out because
they were gonna. I talked to several people and they're like,
you either have to wait till ten or upgrade, but
(12:28):
they're like it is, there is right, there is a
money back guarantee, so I paid. I think it was
pro rated for me. So I paid thirty five dollars
so I could check out and then no, I think
what it was. I probably would have stayed the forty minutes,
but no, this was on spring break and I had
KAI and I wasn't gonna wait forty minutes guy. So
(12:50):
I paid the thirty five dollars, went back the next
week and got a refund because I loved had to
go back and I had to go back fund and
I look at all of the features and they were
just not worth the extra money is double the price
often to get these premium like free shipping, free pickup,
(13:11):
like all these quote unquote freebies. We're absolutely not worth
it for me and my family. So that's another thing,
Like I think maybe you could cut it with the minimum,
but there's I just don't see how you can do
it with the premium.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yeah, and you might be able to get the deal
for the first time sign up, but if you choose
to keep it, then eventually you're going to be paying
forty five fifty dollars to keep your membership, potentially more.
And when you're only saving between five to twelve percent
on your items, you really have to look at am
I going to go there often enough where the five
to twelve percent that I'm saving on my total bill
(13:52):
is that equating to the fifty dollars that I've spent
on the membership. And depending on how far away it
is from you, I know for many people, well you're
driving a further distance to get to these warehouse clubs,
and so just your time investment, your mileage, how much
it might end up costing you, they're all worth weighing
(14:13):
out yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
I know some of the people in our poll on
the front letter said they split their membership fee with
someone else, and so that makes it a little more palatable.
So again, that's if you enjoy the experience of shopping
at a warehouse club and you want to keep it,
that's a thing to think about. Making the person you
add to your account pay you half. That's just free load.
(14:40):
Here's looking at me. Huh okay.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
So the third thing that we've got to keep an
eye out for is that the clubs are luring you
in with let's say, a great price on chicken or
pork chops, but the entire store is designed in a
way that's going to encourage you to spend and their massive.
They are ware houses, so you're not just going in
(15:04):
to grab yourself some pork chops and getting out of there,
especially not out of there before ten without spending more money.
But once you're there, there is this well, now I'm here,
I've made it through the door, I showed my card.
Now let me just browse, And there is no version
of just browsing without getting something additional. Even for the
(15:27):
best of us who are not huge impulse buyers. It's
designed for that, So it is it really a great
price on porkchops when you're spending impulsively on something that
maybe you didn't even need, it wasn't on your list.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
I saw this. I've been directly victimized by this. It
is like when you get in there with your big cart.
The carts are bigger, so you don't feel like you're
putting as much in right, So what you think is
just like a few things is actually a lot if
you had a normal sized cart, but you can fill
(16:02):
it up and things are put around the store chaotically
for a reason. Yeah, to get everything you need, you're
going to go to so many different places. You have
to pass by things they know you don't need in
order to get to everything you need. And the samples,
(16:23):
and there's always a sample.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
I do love samples, but I think that that is
another ploy too. You're trying it, you like it, you
want to buy it. This is just occurring to me too.
This is not listened in the article, but I'm realizing
for myself. The prices are high because you're getting a lot, right,
You're buying in bulk, so you're seeing a lot of
things at twenty two, twenty six thirteen eighteen, and I
(16:50):
am just now realizing for myself when I see something
below ten at a warehouse club, that.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Feels like a good deal.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Oh, this box of Taktos for nine eighty seven or
this bag of berries for eleven twenty five. Yet it
feels like a decent price because you've now been in
this store seeing all these kind of higher ticket items.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
But then to realize, if.
Speaker 3 (17:15):
I were in a regular grocery store and I saw
something listed for close to ten fifteen dollars, that's a
lot of money and maybe I'll eat it all, maybe
I'll get through all of it. But that's just a
lot of money to drop all at once on one
singular item that usually for me is not worth it.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, anchoring, anchoring. You see all these high prices, so
the low prices feel like a really good deal. Yeah,
because you've just seen so many high prices.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Well, at the regular grocery store, things that are four
and five dollars are like, nah, that's that's a little
bit too high for me. But then at Sam's Club,
it's okay, Well, nine ten is the good price because
twenty is the high price.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
So so that is the first article. The second article
is bulking Up pro tips for buying in bulk. So
we know that some of you who love your Costco
membership are not going to be deterred by our experience
(18:21):
in not really saving that much at a warehouse store
if you look at the price per ounds. So we
want you to be a successful bulkshopper. Though, if you're
going to keep your membership because you like it, then
here are the dos and don'ts for buying in bulk. First,
(18:42):
do buy things that won't go bad. So that's actually
been my strategy going in. I only go in once
a month, so everything I buy has to either be
freezable or shelf stable, and so the only perishable things
I will actually buy are things like fruit that I know,
(19:02):
like my kids go through like bandits, bananas, mandarins, apples, crazy,
So I'll do those. But everything else really is frozen
or shelf stable. So do not if you can't, if
your kids or you or your partner are not going
(19:24):
through these perishable things like crazy, don't be tempted by them.
Don't even walk by them, because I mean, these stores
are are convincing you like as you walk through, like
I wasn't going to get this perishable thing. But look
at the sale, look at how you like.
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And I'm not going to get month from now, so
you better get it now.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
It's a better deal than the grocery store. No, because
it gon' go bad. You're not gonna eat at all.
Don't clutter your home. The last thing you want is
for your home to look like a warehouse. And so
a lot of people that were saying they didn't they
didn't buy in bulk, were because we don't have room
(20:13):
to buy in bulk. We don't have room to store
this stuff. For me, I have maxed out my freezer
because of Sam's Club, Like I can't I probably can't
buy any more frozen stuff because of Sam's Clubs. So
and I'm not going to get a deep freezer, Like
there's no reason I need a deep freezer. I don't hunt.
(20:37):
Nobody around me hunts where I need to, like have
room for an entire steer, you know, Like that's not
I don't need a deep freezer. I just need to
use what's in my freezer. And so yeah, and now
I have space in a pantry for things, but I
also don't want to clutter it, so just use buy
(21:00):
what you think you'll use the next month, or if
STU like toilet paper, trash bags like things you know
you will use, you know quickly and you don't have
to have multiple boxes.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
Of it.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Next.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Do make a plan. You've heard this one from us before.
It's not just a warehouse shopping tip. It's an always tip,
but especially when it comes to food. So if you're
utilizing a warehouse club for your kind of once a
month shopping and you're stocking up, make a plan. Consider
what those meals are going to be before you make
any purchases. Know whether or not you're going to be
(21:38):
going on vacation.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
Will you actually use.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
All the stuff up and look for ingredients stuff you
can buy that you can use in multiple different types
of meals. I remember when you and I went at
one point to Sam's Club gen you had price compared
dice tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
It's something that.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
You use a lot, and so knowing that this goes
into a lot of the different soups and stews and
whatnot that you make, it was advantageous for you to
stock up on their bigger Kansa dice tomatoes.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
But that was because you had a plan. Yes, don't
bulk shop every week.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
So while we don't want you to be spending more
just because you only go once a month, Also, don't
go every week. No one needs well, I guess unless
you've got like twelve children. But most people do not
need to be buying in bulk weekly. We're most likely
not going through all of these items. So trying to
(22:38):
limit bulk shopping too once maybe twice a month, depending
on your situation, could be a great tip to decrease
some of the impulse buies and help you make the
most of your Warehouse Club shopping. So this is, shopping
for fruits and vegetables that you need weekly at a
smaller store or farmer's market is going to do you
(23:00):
better than getting all of these things in bulk that
aren't going to last for that long. You're probably not
going to make it through all of that fresh produce.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
Yeah, if you have a habit of impulse shopping when
you go to the warehouse Club, the best thing you
can do for yourself is go to the warehouse Club less.
And I know we have this thing because we paid
for the membership. We want to go more often and
get our money's worth. But the opposite is true. The
more you go, the more opportunity you have to spend
(23:30):
on things you don't need. So go, make a plan
and go once a month, Do not go more. Another
thing they'll do is the gas. The gas at Sam's Club.
I have been using that. I've been getting gas there
and one of the things is like, oh, I'm already
here getting gas. I'll hop in and just pick up
this one thing. Don't do that either. The way to
(23:53):
break bad habits is to make the queue invisible. So
just don't step in. Don't do it. You are getting
your money's worth better by only going once a month.
Believe that. Believe that, believe it the next do and
don't do. Keep track of what you have. So if
(24:14):
you are shopping a warehouse club, then you now should
be the proud owner of a very organized and easily
viewable storage system, pantry, inventory list, stuff like that. Not
everybody needs it, because if you don't have a pantry
and you can just see everything you have right in
front of you, you may not you don't need an
organized some kind of pantry organization method or list, but
(24:40):
if you are, this is the time to start at
least the list. Start the list so that you know
what you need. I planned before every every Sam's Club trip,
and this is part fun. It's fun for me because
I get a dough bamine hit just planning for a
(25:02):
shopping trip. Right. The dopamine hit does not just come
when you buy something. It comes with the anticipation of buying.
So that's one of the great things about budgeting and
planning is that you get that extra dopamine hit because
you planned right. It's better than impulse buying. So but
I'll plan like in bed at night, and I'll be
(25:22):
comparing the prices Walmart to Sam's Club in bed, so
I don't have to be comparing while I'm there and
spending more time there because I already know, like what's cheaper.
So keep track of what you have so that you
can more easily plan ahead of time. Because don't assume
(25:43):
buying in bulk is cheaper. And I think that's the
main message of this episode. Not all bulk items actually
save you money. Sometimes stores market products as bulk, but
the price per unit or outs is not any cheaper
at the buying standard quality. Sometimes there will not be
a Member's mark or a Kirkland brand. They will only
(26:05):
have a name brand of the thing where you could
have gotten like a great value at Walmart. So sometimes
it may be like more expensive to shop per ounce
at the warehouse store. So it's a good idea to
keep track of sales because they will do sales. We
(26:27):
in writing our book, we are doing some research on
the stores that have sales, and because we've all seen
it that these stores will have quote unquote sales, but
it's always on sale. Amazon's the worst at this because
they're individual retailers, but like it's just always quote unquote
(26:49):
on sale, but that's actually just the regular price. So
Consumer Checkbook I think did a study at a bunch
of major retailers over three weeks for key products and
found that only two and they were testing Walmart, Target, Amazon,
(27:09):
all the big boys. Only two stores did not have
deceptive sales marketing. Two they say who they were, Yes,
Apple was one of them, because they ran no sales,
because they never say they ran no sales, so they
don't ever give you the idea that they're running a sale.
The only other store that did not run deceptive sales
(27:32):
like their sales were legitimately sales was Costco. Whoa yeah,
so all you Costco lovers you can rest assured that
the sales there are actually sales, but research the sales.
You can find the sales online. Their sales cycle is cyclical,
so you'll be able to know when the thing you
want is on sale there.
Speaker 3 (27:54):
Yeah, oh that's so good. Okay, last do and don't do.
Buy only what you need and use. This one seems obvious,
but it is worth mentioning because sometimes we can get
caught up in buying something that we just think sounds
cool or we'd like, and we think it's on sale
(28:17):
or it's a deal, let me get it, and then
you just end up with something enticed by a good price,
but a large amount of something that you don't actually Yeah,
I feel like with food, like you try it out
and then it's like I don't like that brand of
cliff bar, but now you've got one hundred and fifty
two of those cliff bars.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
And what you're gonna do. Yeah, it's shelf stable, so
it'll never go bad, but it'll never go away. I
wanted you buy what's your thing. I bought protein drinks,
like ready made protein drinks, but they were special edition
chocolate mint and I know I like the chocolate, so
I don't know why I bought chocolate. I do love
(28:57):
min chocolate chip ice cream is my favorite ice cream.
So I bought these thinking it would taste like that,
and it didn't. It wasn't bad, but I just got
tired of them very quickly, Like I didn't want to
drink twenty six of them. Yeah, yeah, Actually Travis ended
up drinking them. He does not like chocolate mint flavored things,
(29:19):
but he drank them after working out, and I kept
offering him. I was like, here's my just regular chocolate
protein powder, like you can have this, but he was
lazy and he didn't want to make a protein drink.
These were just ready made in this That's why he drank.
So they all got gone. That's good. But I also
bought a big thing of OURX bars, knowing that our
(29:39):
X bars are my last resort meal. I don't like
them a lot, but they are like it's so protein
bars are so hard, and so I know I'll have
those forever. But that was a strategic move.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
Don't go bulk all at once if you're catching the
vibes over here and you're like, oh, that was a
good deal.
Speaker 5 (30:09):
Unless you're doing research for a potty don't go thinking
that you got to do everything in bulk, especially because
your home most likely cannot handle everything to be bulk.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Like Jen said, you don't want it to look like
a warehouse at your home, So start slowly. Only purchase
the bulk items that you know you're going to use
and that are actually a deal above and beyond what
you could get at a regular grocery store. What makes
sense for your family, your spending plan. Just be really mindful.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
Don't assume, I guess is the main thing. If you're
starting to put bulk items in your guest room, your office,
a spare closet, if it is overflowing outside of the
kitchen area or where you normally store those items, to stop.
It's time to sit a take a break.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
You know what it's time for now. It's a version
of a break, But it's not us stopping, it's us
continuing to go the vill of the week.
Speaker 6 (31:26):
That's right, It's time for the best minute of your
entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name
is Williams. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, Maybe your
car died and you're happy to not have to pay
that bill anymore.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Duck bills Buffalo bills. Bill Clon, this is the bill
of the week.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Hi Jen and Jel. This is Laurie from Central Florida.
My bill of the week is my two American Express
credit card bills. One year ago, my balance was twenty
five twelve dollars. They were both at zero percent for
twelve months. I'm happy to say I just made the
last payment on both without a cruing interest at all.
It does pay to have frugal friends and a new
(32:07):
outlook on my money and spending or lack bearro Thanks
for all you do, Lorie.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Twenty five thousand dollars in credit card debt paid off. Congratulations,
without accruing interest. That's fantastic. You well done. Beat the
credit cards at their own game. I love that everyone again,
like the man, don't transfer them to a zero percent interest.
You won't pay them off? Girl? You did. Yeah, you
(32:39):
beat them at their own game.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
And that's why I love saying that we can make
our own decisions as long as they're informed decisions. I
feel like this conversation about warehouse clubs is really similar
to conversations about credit cards. Like it's not it's very gray. Yes,
it can be really good for you. Or it might
not be the best decision for you. Just eyes wide open,
(33:03):
and that's what you did, and you used it to
your favor and now you got that debt gone and
well done girl.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
And in Central Florida shout out, Yes, I went to
Central University of Central Florida.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Hey, if you all listening, have a bill you want
to share with us. If it's about paying off credit
cards not accruing interest, If it's about a bill, you
don't mind paying a bill you didn't have to pay.
Your name is Bill, you know the drill Frugal Friends
podcast dot com slash Bill. We're ready for it, and
now it's time for the lightning round.
Speaker 1 (33:42):
All right, girl, this is where I'm gonna go. I'm
dive in. You're gonna dive in because you've gotten going on.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
All right, Jen, all your research the last five months,
which items do you prefer buying at a warehouse store
compared to a grocery store and vice versa.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
All right, So, and granted I'm gonna say again, I
live in an area where there is a lot of
competition among grocery stores. This may not be the case,
and you should do your own research. Don't assume that
warehouse clubs are the best way to go because they
were the best way to go for someone else. And
(34:23):
don't assume just because the warehouse club works for you,
it should work for everything. Do your own experiment, Do
your own experience. So in my experience, the things that
I have not and will not buy at the Sam's
Club strawberries, I can get two pounds of strawberries at
Walmart for a dollar less than I buy two pounds
(34:47):
at Sam's Club. They are these same strawberries in season
or out of season. It's always cheaper at the grocery store. Diapers,
I buy the great value or the parent's choice. Yes,
at Walmart I did, so this was actually something I
was able to compare across Costco, Walmart, and Sam's Club. Granted,
(35:10):
I'm looking at the store brand for all these The
quality of the store brand may differ across brands, right,
But I am fine with the parents' choice from Walmart.
My both my sons have used. That works for us
may not work for you. But it is the least
expensive diaper. So we're looking at our size one hundred
(35:33):
and twenty six, which is not even the biggest. The
biggest is two hundred ten, but they don't carry that
in the store. It's only one hundred and twenty six.
It's like less than seventeen fifty. It's seventeen forty eight
for one hundred and twenty six diapers. That's under fourteen
cents of diaper. At my Sam's Club it is for
the size three. It's forty bucks for two hundred and
(35:57):
thirty four, so that's seven nineteen cents a diaper. So
I'm saving fourteen fifteen, sixteen sent three cents a diaper
by buying a Walmart and over a lifetime, that's significant pricing.
So I don't buy diapers at Sam's Club. I'm looking
at Kirkland. And while I didn't get to compare any
(36:21):
other prices at Costco, I was able to compare this one.
They're diapers. So two hundred and twenty two diapers in
size three, which is the size we are in, which
is less than the two hundred and thirty four at
Sam's Club is forty five, So five dollars more expensive
for the Kirkland brand for fewer diapers, and it doesn't
(36:43):
is price per diapers twenty cents per diaper, so I'm
not and I've heard Costco referred to as the Trader
Joe's of warehouse clubs. So Sam's Club's obviously the Walmart
of warehouse clubs, and then Kirklan and Costco is like
the Trader Joe's, so a little bit of a price
(37:06):
premium there, but yeah, that's what we're looking at for diapers.
So diapers I still buy at Walmart. The same with eggs,
like the egg verbiage is super confusing. They have cage free,
they have organic cage free, they have pasture raised. I
just buy them from Walmart because I know the ones
I like they have, and they're cheaper than the ones
(37:30):
at Sam's Club, which may be higher quality, but I
don't need them to be higher quality, right, I don't
need the best of the best. I get my brown
cage free. They're not organic, but I'm okay with that.
I get my snacks for my baby at the grocery
store because members Mark doesn't have Maybe snacks, it's all
(37:52):
the name brand Gerber stuff, and Walmart does. Walmart has
really good parents' choice selections for snacks. Frozen broccoli is
cheaper at Walmart than it is buying in bulk at
Sam's Club.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
It's so weird, and obviously you've got to do some
of these deep dives to know what is your best
price pricing.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Yeah, and then milk, like I was able to compare.
I get organic Vitamin D milk, and at Sam's Club
for three half gallons, it's like eleven something. At Walmart
it is ten ninety four. Wow. Yeah, if I bought
(38:40):
a full gallon and a half gallon huh yeah, all right,
So what will you buy at Sam's Club? So the
things I have been buying at Sam's Club, let me
scroll down. Baby wipes, so those are less expensive because
they don't have the big cases at the Walmart that
(39:02):
I order from, So I'll buy the wipes. I buy
Huggies pull ups because we use the name brand Huggies
pull ups for kai okay, So they do sell those
at Sam's Club. It is cheaper because it's the brand name.
We're gonna buy the brand name. So I do get
those at Sam's Club, and I save a pretty good amount,
(39:24):
like enough to where I think Huggies alone has justified
the membership because Huggies ain't cheap meat. I do buy
all of my meat from Sam's Club. Now I like
to get the organic, free range meats. And the crazy
(39:48):
thing is that the ninety ten beef is cheaper than
like the eighty five fifteen beef, even against Sam's Club. Like,
I don't know why, but it's definitely cheaper than Walmart.
So the meat also has made up for the cost.
(40:10):
If you're a vegetarian or vegan, I don't know if
it's right, Like, yeah, you get your bulk beyond burgers,
but like I don't. I don't think they're that good.
Those are not good. So yeah, I don't think you
would get a lot of value from a Warehouse club.
(40:31):
Bananas I will get because my kids go again, fruit apples, bananas, mandarins,
the and then some of the specialty stuff you can
only get at Sam's Clubs. So they have a Mediterranean
kale salad that I am obsessed with. I get it
every time. I'll get two pounds of it. I'll add
(40:52):
shredded chicken to it, and I will eat that for
lunch for a week. I love that salad. They have
a better nut bar. I love that nut bar. No
other bar compares. I'll buy fit crunch bars. So those
are the protein bars that I'm loving now. And I'll
get those in bulk because it's my two favorite flavors
(41:12):
are in the bulk one. It's not like just the
one I like and the one I deal with in
the two best flavors in this one box. And then
chicken corn on blue in bulk.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Huh.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
It's something my kids like, yeah, and I like they always. Yeah,
I can't go wrong with it. So once you find
something your four year old likes, you just you buy it,
keep buying it, keep going in bulk. It's all we're
eating now. So that is my analysis. There are more
things that I've tried that these are just the things
(41:44):
that are most notable to me. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
No, I mean it's really helpful, but I think it
does show that it's not a definitely no or definitely
yes yet again, And everyone's going to have their own
version of this, probably like well, especially if location has
to do with it, my Sam's Club or my Costco
has better deals on this. I think the point is
really doing some research and knowing that you are getting
(42:07):
the better deal, and that that better deal is worth
it to maybe make an extra trip or go out
of your way, because sometimes for me, it's worth it
to just one stop shop at a singular place, even
if it means I'm spending fifty cents or a dollar
more here and there, because I'm not wasting time, I'm
not wasting gas. I'm just not wasting It's more efficient
(42:30):
for me that way.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
And something I was thinking about when I was in
the deli section of Sam's Club is something that may
not a feature that may be underutilized with these memberships
is that they have fantastic like ready to cook or
ready to eat family meals, so not just like one
or two servings, but multiple servings, which could be great
(42:51):
if you're on vacation, or you're traveling, or it's a
late you know there's going to be a late night
where you're not going to want to cook. This could
be really great option to avoid takeout and restaurants.
Speaker 3 (43:03):
Yes, that was going to be my answer. So I
rarely go to a warehouse club. It can be fun
for me to kind of see, you know, what's happened
on the other side.
Speaker 1 (43:12):
Of the world.
Speaker 3 (43:13):
I get everything from the grocery store, but I do
like warehouse clubs for what you're describing. Like recently, my
in laws were in town and I was just recovering
from not feeling well, and I wanted to provide dinner
for everybody the night that they arrived, but I knew
I wasn't going to feel well enough to cook. And
they had amazing actually more as in the frozen section
(43:37):
butter chicken, and they've got big packets and non bread
and it was just a big meal for all of us,
Whereas at the grocery store, frozen food frozen prepared foods
usually only feed one to two people, so they've got
a really nice selection there. I also really like warehouse clubs.
Whenever we host a party, which we have been doing
(43:58):
a lot in the past couple of years, we've got
twenty thirty people coming over, then it's a great spot
to get your big salsas kso big bags of chips,
things of bread, like all feeding a large quantity, not
just a big family, but a lot of people all
at once. You can get the really good deals. But
(44:19):
when else are you going to need fifty patties of burgers?
Speaker 1 (44:24):
Never only then your cholesterol will overcompensate. The savings on
your warehouse club will be overshadowed by the money you
will have to spend hovering from eating fifty burger patties.
Speaker 3 (44:40):
And I know that we were primarily talking here about
grocery items, so food items, but I do think there's
something to be said for warehouse clubs and they're non
food items, like especially Costco. They vet all of their
brands pretty well, they stand behind them. You can return
things I think up until a year, possibly even beyond.
(45:02):
They've got a really great return policy that I know
people love. So I've gotten really great towels and bedding
and storage bins from them, and recently even at Sam's Club,
they will have really good deals on gift cards, like
they'll sell discount gift cards.
Speaker 1 (45:19):
So we were one of the.
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Things I'm sure you've heard us talk about in the past.
Eric and I really aren't doing a ton of travel
this year or spending a lot of money all at
once on renovations or big trips.
Speaker 1 (45:32):
We have not gotten paid a goal for the book yet.
Please buy the book when it's available for free order.
We need money, but we still wanted to do something funny.
Speaker 3 (45:44):
We went on a double date recently with friends and
we've been really wanting to try top golf.
Speaker 1 (45:50):
It's expensive typically yeah, I've never done it, but on Tuesday.
Speaker 3 (45:53):
Nights they have half off, and we got one hundred
dollars gift card for eighty dollars to Top Golf at
Sam's Club, so forty bucks per couple. We were able
to go and enjoy a few hours at Top Golf,
which felt like, yeah, it's more than what a typical
Tuesday night night cost me, but it's something local, fun
(46:14):
to try, fun to do, and at a twenty percent
discount that was pretty dope.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
That's fun. Yeah. Yeah, I have horrible hand eye coordinations,
so there is no way I should anybody should put
a golf stick in my hand. It's just unsafe.
Speaker 3 (46:32):
Yeah, but just not all their gift cards, Like some
gift cards are only like two cents less. But sometimes
you can find really good deals on gift cards. So
if you already know this is the place I go,
or oh I have been wanting to try out that restaurant,
it can be a nice specialty thing to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (46:51):
A discount world gift cards sometimes. Yeah, like if you're
planning a trip to Disney to get a gift card
there first, you could save a little bit of money.
Speaker 6 (47:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, So thank you for listening. If you are a
die hard warehouse club fan. I hope he gave you
a little bulk food for thought, and if you were
unsure if it was saving you money, then maybe some
strategies you can use to compare prices and see if
it's worth renewing your membership or maybe ways to take
(47:24):
better advantage of the full membership. And if you love
saving money, then you're definitely gonna be wanting to get
the Friend Letter as well. Frugal Friends podcast dot com.
And we love hearing your sweet feedback, your very nice
emails that you reply, like this one from Tangy. Love
love love this. Thank you for the excellent question, the
(47:45):
answers struggles real, thank you for the awesome newsletters will share.
Thank you Tangy.
Speaker 3 (47:52):
I wonder what email that was back to. But we
do send out some questions within the friend Letter, like
prompts to be thinking about it, especially over the weekend,
for you to be able to really understand your perspective
on money, your own money story, So we kind of
provide some journal prompts sometimes probably something like that.
Speaker 1 (48:10):
Thanks Danny, So thank you for listening again Frugal Friends
podcast dot com. If you want to get the front
letter Freebies, Savings, hacks, things to think about to make
sure you're optimizing where your money goes. See you next time.
Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirianni. I mean, but
(48:41):
hot dogs, Yeah, that is definitely a draw.
Speaker 3 (48:49):
But here's the thing. I'm pretty sure you can go
into the food court without a membership. I'm pretty sure
Eric and I. Whether or not we just didn't get
caught or we were allowed, I don't quite remember. But
I really thought that you could like go in the
exit to the food court and take advantage of the food.
Speaker 1 (49:09):
Here's an unethical thing you shouldn't do. Oh, are we
gonna get canceled?
Speaker 4 (49:14):
You?
Speaker 1 (49:14):
We're not gonna get canceled. But in my I when
I was trying to check out and I couldn't. I
had to pay thirty five dollars to check out, I
was like, why did they let me in? Why was
I allowed in?
Speaker 6 (49:26):
Right?
Speaker 1 (49:27):
And They're like, they don't check to see what kind
of membership you have, just that you have a membership.
And I was like, so, why could have just screenshotted
that picture from the app? Uh huh and just showed it.
Nobody checks. They just look look to see that there's
a bar code in a name.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
But I don't think you can check out and buy
anything with you. You would not be able to check out,
uh huh. But you could buy food without a membership.
They don't check that food.
Speaker 1 (49:55):
You could walk in and like the cafe or whatever
they call it. It's not quite a cafe. So if
they give you trouble letting you in, then that is
an option. Quick. Yeah, something unethical. You shouldn't do it.
You shouldn't do that, but you should be able to
buy a hot dog, your dollar fifty hot dog. Then
(50:18):
know that and don't shot before ten a m at
zamp Club
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