What To Buy At Costco To Save Money

What to buy to help you save money at Costco each week. Buying certain foods in bulk can really help your meal planning and budget!

Anyone who has spent any amount of time at our house, or even in conversation with me surrounding food and grocery shopping, knows that Rob and I have a deep love for Costco.

There is actually a joke among our family and friends that everything we own and eat is from Costco, which is not far from the truth.

When we first started shopping at Costco, Rob and I went about once a month. It was more for the excitement of trying something new, having a bunch of samples for lunch, and spending too much time looking at the books.

That once a month trip eventually turned into every other week as we started eating more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods.

A little over two years ago, we committed to eating vegetarian meals a minimum of twice a week and tightened up our grocery budget. Those two things brought us to Costco weekly.

Now, with three kids, Costco is our main grocery store and we consider it a success if we do not have to shop a smaller, “regular” grocery store for the week.

The kids adore our Costco trips just as much as Rob and I do. They crawl into the cart, help push, get samples, and help us load the cart.

You should also know that this post is no way sponsored by Costco, I just love the store and we have been able to save so much money shopping there.

My statement when I feel like we spend too much time there is an overexcited, “Time to save big on bulk foods!”

With meal planning and the help of Costco, our weekly grocery bill is consistently under $150 a week for a family of five. Keep in mind that we cook at home six nights a week, pack our lunches each day, and Rob makes his coffee at home, which are all habits that help us keep that bill low.

Check out my other tips and tricks for how busy people save money on their grocery budget here.

Before we dive into what we typically buy at Costco, please know that Rob and I do not eat any specific way. We are not vegetarians or gluten free and we do not eat everything organic. We do try to eat as healthy as possible in terms of lots of fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, and portion control.

You can find the best gluten free items to buy at Costco here.

Fresh Fruit

We go through a lot of fruit during the week. The kids adore it and have it with just about every meal (except dinner) and snack. Rob and I usually snack on fruit as well, so it is no wonder that we can only keep up with the amount we go through as a bulk buy.

Weekly Buys

• Berries – You have to watch the price, but when it is good, we get all of them – blueberries, strawberries, raspberries.
• Bananas – Our family averages eating four bananas a day, so Costco is the best place for us.
• Apples – The kind we buy varies based on the price and what is available, but we eat at least four a day.

Occasional Buys

• Pears – We store the bag of pears in the fridge and they last through the week.
• Clementines – The kids eat two a day each when we buy them. I love packing them for on the go snacks as well.
• Grapes – Somehow this amount of grapes is overwhelming. We usually do not get through all of them, but we come seriously close.
• Pineapple – Costco’s deals on pineapples are the best I have ever found.

Meal Prep Tip:

If you buy more than you need, just freeze them and use them in future smoothies or muffins. Make it easy and make a smoothie pack that includes a handful of frozen berries, a few cubes of frozen Greek yogurt, a frozen banana, and a few cubes of frozen spinach. Simply add it all to a blender with some water or almond milk and you are done!

Frozen Fruit

• Morning Blend
• Kirkland Blueberries

Dried Fruit

• Dried Mango
• Apricots
• Dates
• Raisins

Dairy

As Needed

• Greek Yogurt – We use it for smoothies, breakfasts, and as a spread.
• String Cheese – Another item we use as a snack for the kids.
• Block Cheese – A block of sharp cheddar lasts us about 2-3 weeks. It works for cheese and crackers, as snacks, for shredding our own, and on sandwiches.
• Shredded Cheese – Mexican-inspired food is a highly requested dinner around here. A Costco-sized amount of Colby Jack shredded cheese lasts us 3-4 weeks.
• Feta – I sprinkle feta on salads, pastas, and homemade pizzas. Salty goodness right there.
• Eggs – By the five dozen. Be warned that this amount of eggs comes in a box that I find hard to store in the fridge. We bought a few two dozen egg cartons and saved them to reuse with the boxed eggs.
• Almond Milk – Technically not dairy, but we stopped buying cow’s milk almost a year ago. Costco sells shelf-stable or fresh almond milk depending on your preference. We tried shelf-stable Kirkland brand and did not love it, but everyone enjoys the Silk brand you can buy in three half gallons.
• Parmesan –

Vegetables

Weekly

• Cucumbers
• Bell Peppers
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Avocados

As Needed

• Carrots
• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Zucchini
• Broccoli
• Mushrooms
• Snap Peas

Meat / Fish

The savings on meat are very real.

• Chicken Breast
• Ground Turkey
• Mahi Mahi
• Salmon

Occasional

• Deli Meat
• Rotisserie Chicken
• Chicken Nuggets
• Fish Sticks

We buy chicken breasts at about 6 pounds for $20 and ground turkey at about 5 pounds for $18. We freeze them when we get home and restock as needed. Since we do not eat red meat on a regular basis, I am not certain how those prices compare to a regular grocery store.

Pantry

• Tomato Sauce
• Pasta I have a deep love for pasta and we usually have some type of pasta dish once a week around here. There are incredible deals at Costco on good quality pastas and the tomato sauce comes in individual jars so you can store a few in the pantry. The parmesan is also a seriously insane deal if you like the shaker bottle kind as opposed to fresh grated.
• Black Beans
• Canned Corn
• Quinoa
• Rice
• Tortilla Chips
• Nuts. While nuts are expensive no matter where you get them, the price point is much better at Costco. They have a large tub of mixed nuts for $17 and a large tub of peanuts for under $6.
• Crackers

Frozen

Frozen Pizza – 4 for $10. Cheapest deal in town and not bad at all. Sometimes we doctor them a bit and add peppers, onions, and feta.

Cereal & Granola – Cereal is so expensive at the regular store! Two boxes of Cheerios are under $6 at Costco. The prices on granola and other types of cereals is much better as well.

Oils & Spices

Avocado Oil. Seriously, do not buy your Avocado Oil anywhere else (unless you get it off Amazon). For the quality and price, getting it at Costco is your best bet.

Some Spices. We frequently use taco seasoning, basil, and a special Kirkland brand no salt blend of seasoning. Buying them in bulk is a little crazy, but the prices are too good to resist compared to the tiny portions of seasonings you get at the grocery store for insanely high prices.

Bread. Sliced whole wheat bread is about $5 for two giant loaves.

Kid-Friendly Snacks

• GoGoSqueez Yogurt Pouches
• Kirkland Fruit & Vegetable Pouches
• Goldfish
• Beef Jerky

Snacks. Items like raisins, granola bars, fruit leathers, M&M’s, tortilla chips, and RX Bars that we know we love are ideal to get at Costco. They are inexpensive in comparison and last us quite a while. These are some of our favorite snacks for on the go.

Coffee & Alcohol. In an episode of The Office, Erin the receptionist asks for a drink. The way she phrases it is, “I would like an alcohol please. Kirkland if you have it.” Costco junkies everywhere are rolling with laughter at that line. While Costco has great deals on brand name alcohol, their brand of vodka and whiskey is good as well. Rob also buys his coffee at Costco and grinds the beans himself at home, though they do have grinders in the store.

Non Food Items

While the food is tasty and offers good savings, Costco’s non-food items are also reasonably (or better) priced. These are the non-food items we get as needed.

Diapers. We have not braved the Kirkland brand of diapers yet, but the Huggies are insanely cheap when you compare them to Target.

Formula. Zoey was a fan of the Kirkland brand of formula and it saved us some serious cash when we were in the bottle feeding stages of her life. Hopefully baby #2 enjoys it just as much as Zoey did!

Socks. Every single one of my crew cut socks say Kirkland. They are colorful and I do not feel bad throwing out a pair that gets too muddy or too dirty.

Foil baking pans. I am currently in the throws of pre-baby freezer meal planning and was getting upset over the cost of foil baking pans I can just put in the freezer. Well, Costco to the rescue! 30 pans for $7. Seriously.

Detergent. We used to buy Tide, but now have a gentler brand that cleans our clothes just as well.

Tissues & Toilet Paper. If you have a place to store it, get it. As a teacher, I am always bringing tissues into school and knowing that they are cheaper helps a ton.

Brush head replacements. Rob and I both have electric toothbrushes and Costco sells 8 replacement heads for $40. That is the best deal we have ever seen.

Clothes. Some of my favorite sweaters, workout pants, and Rob’s shorts and t-shirts are from Costco. The quality of their clothes is really good and the prices are competitive.

As you can see, we get quite a lot of our food and other items from Costco. There is just something about saving money on the foods I know we eat each week that makes me really happy. When we head into Costco, I have to be sure I have my list in hand after doing some meal planning because otherwise I am prone to throwing things the cart that look delicious and get a little over confident in our ability to eat it before it goes bad.