Wholesale Club Memberships

Last week, my wife and I had to make a frugal decision. Our membership at BJ’s Wholesale Club was set to expire at the end of the month. Our choice was to pay the $45 yearly membership fee for another year, or choose not to extend the membership. This was a decision that I had been debating for several weeks. I was trying to justify how spending the wholesale club membership fee was worth the money. We originally joined the club last year after our 2nd son was born to purchase diapers and baby wipes. We also used the membership to make other purchases, but the baby products was the main reason.

Recently, I have been posting a lot about potential passive income opportunities by using coupons and shopping at pharmacy’s. As part of this experience, I have been able to work various deals to purchase diapers and baby wipes at the same price or better than BJ’s. Since this was the main reason to keep the membership, I began to question if it was worth the yearly fee to renew. Below is a breakdown of why I thought we should renew and why I thought we should NOT renew our yearly membership to BJ’s.

Why we should renew

• Meats - While our family does not eat a lot of meat, we have found that meats tend to be cheaper on average at wholesale club’s compared to grocery stores. For example, we typically purchase boneless/skinless bags of frozen chicken breasts for around $2.25 per pound at these places. On average, it is difficult for us to find the same value at our local grocers where we pay between $3.00 - $5.00 per pound for the same product.
• Coupons - BJ’s is unique compared to it’s competitors (at least I still think so). They send out their own coupon books every month to use and allow you to combine their coupons with other manufacturer coupons which increases your savings. We typically knock off several dollars in savings by combining both sets of coupons for diapers and baby wipes.
• Bakery - They have a good bakery and we have purchased several cakes from them for special occasions (i.e. birthday, baptism, etc.). We have also bought fresh breads and baked goods from them which have been cheaper in most cases then the local grocers.
• Diapers - You can still get good deals on diapers, baby wipes, and other baby products by shopping at these wholesale clubs.
• Gas - Many of these wholesale clubs have gas stations that offer gas a few cents cheaper than the local competition. I have never actually purchased gas at BJ’s but often would buy gas at Sam’s Club in the past.

Why we should NOT renew

• Membership Fee - The membership fee to renew at BJ’s is $45 for the year.
• Gas - As I mentioned above, many of these wholesale clubs offer gas prices that are a few cents cheaper than local competition. While I have found this to be the case most times, I have also found on more than one occasion that if you go a few miles further away from these stores, you can get cheaper gas than these clubs. I often find gas about $.05 cheaper a few miles away from the store.
• One Day Memberships - From time to time, BJ’s and other wholesale clubs offer one day free memberships to come and try out the store. Since we go to BJ’s about once per month and there are these offers on the same frequency, we can actually shop at the store without spending the yearly fee.
• Pop/Soda - I just had to include this one. I recently noticed that pop (soda as some call it), was selling for 2 12-packs for $8.00! This is crazy. Any given week, you can find pop cheaper in a pharmacy or grocery ad. I am amazed to see people stocking up on pop when we are at BJ’s.

In the end, we choose to let our membership expire. I could not justify spending the extra $45 yearly membership. Any costs savings on diapers and baby wipes would not equal the fees over the course of 12 months. In addition, using the free one day memberships from time to time will allow us to continue to shop at the store.

Do you belong to any of these wholesale clubs? Do you make up for the yearly membership fees in savings at the store?

Tagged as: Frugal Shopping