Tired of Throwing Your Money Away at Costco? Make These 3 Changes

The main reason I do a lot of my shopping at Costco is to save money. The prices at Costco are considerably lower than at my regular supermarket. And since I have a larger household, it makes sense to buy a lot of our food in bulk.

But if you're not careful, you could end up in a situation where you continually waste money at Costco. I'm not judging, because I've been there myself. But making a few simple changes to your Costco shopping could help you spend less and save more.

1. Stop buying national brands and choose Kirkland instead

I have kids, so trust me when I say that I understand what it's like to have a house full of picky eaters. Worse yet, mine are all picky in different ways, so it's hard to find products everyone enjoys. 

If you have picky eaters at home, too, then you may be inclined to buy the brands you know at Costco. But it pays to give Kirkland products a try, because you never know what items your household members might enjoy. And if you're able to replace some national brands with Kirkland alternatives, you could free up a ton of money for your savings account.

Costco itself says that its practice is to price Kirkland products at 20% less than national brands at a minimum. So a $20 purchase might only cost you $16 if you choose the Kirkland version. Now, multiply a few dollars in savings across dozens of items you might buy each month. The difference could be huge.

Also, Costco has a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. If you buy a Kirkland item your household doesn't enjoy, you can bring it back for a full refund provided you're returning most of the item. 

2. Stay out of aisles that don't have an item on your shopping list

Costco is great at introducing new items, which can make shopping there a lot more fun. But it can also make it a lot more expensive. Trust me, I would know. I've made far too many Costco impulse purchases to count.

But making unplanned buys at Costco could wreak serious havoc on your budget. If you tend to fall prey, do what I do. If you're trying to spend less, make a Costco shopping list and pledge to stay out of aisles that don't contain a list item. If you don't wander down that rabbit hole, you won't know what you're missing.

3. Split bulk purchases strategically to avoid food waste -- or stop buying certain products in mass quantities

Buying food in bulk can save you money -- but only if you actually eat it all and don't let a big chunk of it go to waste. If you keep throwing out Costco perishables because they go bad before you've had a chance to eat them, you should rethink your bulk-buying strategy.

One option may be to ask nearby friends or neighbors if they're interested in splitting certain items, whether it's meat, produce, or cheese. This way, you can benefit jointly from the savings without losing money to food waste. 

If that's not an option, it may be time to rethink the items you buy in bulk. If you find that your family can't get through a bulk pack of Costco strawberries without throwing half of it out, that item should probably come off of your list. That said, if Costco's price for a given item is so much cheaper than your regular supermarket that you're getting a better deal even with throwing some of the product away, then it could pay to buy from Costco regardless. 

For example, my kids all like cheddar cheese, so I often buy the bulk pack from Costco. Some months, I'll unfortunately end up throwing out a few slices when we don't get to them before they start to go bad. But based on what my supermarket charges, I could honestly throw away almost half of that cheese and still pay less at Costco due to the much lower price. 

Now, because I'm someone who just plain doesn't like food waste, this system isn't ideal. I've learned to portion my cheese out and wrap sections of it tightly to make it last longer. This approach doesn't work for all food products, though, so you will want to be careful with your bulk buying in the context of perishable foods. 

The whole point of joining Costco, at least to me, is to save money. These changes could help you do a lot more of that.