Friday, May 29, 2009

Sam's Club Run!

A couple of weeks ago, I asked you, my blogging friends, what to take advantage of with a 1-day Sam's Club membership! Thank you sooooooooooo much for your expertise! Seriously, I never would have thought of yeast, and that was the biggest score of the day :)

But, the trip didn't exactly turn out as planned...


See, I didn't fully read the small print on the coupon. Everything I purchased today would be charged a 10% service charge. :( Well, that just about takes care of some of the savings.


But, Sam's Club is running a sale on summer memberships (good today for just over 100 days) for $15. That sounded appealing. Just for kicks, I thought I would ask about their student membership. It's $40... but, when you sign up, you get a $15 gift card, in effect making the membership $25. Thus, for 10 more dollars, we could have a full-year membership rather than just a summer one. So, we took the plunge.

This means, we can now enjoy bulk shopping on a regularly scheduled basis. We purchased a few good items today, and took time to scope out the store and the prices.

Here's what we brought back with us today....


Oatmeal - 100+ servings (9lbs) for $6.76
Peaches - 106oz (6+cans) for $5.38
Raisins - 4 lbs (90 servings) for $6.84
Yeast - 2 lbs for $4.16
Mushrooms (16oz) - $2.87
Brown Sugar (7 lb bag) - $4.39
Raspberries (12 oz) - $3.88
Cheese (2lbs) - $4.67

I'm super excited to make dried fruit and fruit leathers (see recipes under snacks on the left side of the blog) with the peaches, and am thrilled to have more oatmeal. We seem to go through oatmeal like water at our place.

Normally, this would have cost...

Oatmeal -- $23.00
Peaches -- $6.00
Raisins -- $18.50
Yeast -- $64.00 (yikes!)
Mushrooms -- $4.00
Brown Sugar -- $5.25
Raspberries -- $7.50 (when on sale)
Cheese -- $5.32 (when on sale)

Which, when totaled yields 133.57, and we spent $23 (out of pocket) + our gift card. We saved roughly $95!


What we noticed during our trip was that not all things are a good deal. Frozen veggies -- not good. We can get those on sale (especially when coupled with coupons) for a better price at our regular grocery store. The mushrooms are only a good deal on the weeks when our mushrooms are not on sale -- when they go on sale, we can score those for $1!

But, here are the items we found to be a really good deal -- things we'll come back for again:

-Cheese (unless we find a sale cheaper than $0.14 an ounce)
-Yeast
-Oatmeal
-Dried fruit (raisins, Craisins, cherries and blueberries)
-Pickles (speaking of which, how long do these last in the fridge once opened?)
-Spices (e.g., cinnamon, basil)
-Diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste
-Half and half
-Whipping cream
-Oscar Meyer Lunch Meat
-Turkey bacon
-Frozen blueberries (and fresh ones)

So, we're pretty excited. There's a few more items I'm calling the companies to find out if they are safe for me to eat (with my nut allergies) and then, we might be able to add olive oil to our list too!

6 comments:

  1. That's a bummer that there was a service charge but great that you were able to get a student membership! I was shocked by the price of yeast that you listed from the regular grocery store. It must be much more expensive in the states because mine is not nearly that expensive.

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  2. You can save on certain items, as you did. But I have found, like you say, there are other items you would not buy there. You have to be a very smart shopper. Good luck to you, and happy savings.

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  3. Thanks for scoping out the deals. I've been wondering myself what sort of deals I can get at a bulk warehouse like Sam's. Pickles are good for a very long time, but I can't give you an exact time frame. The brine the cukes are pickled in keeps them fresh. At least, I think that's the ticket. :)

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  4. I love shopping at Sams and bulk buying. Your right though, not everything is a deal and I have to make myself stick to my list or I'd be buying too much - lol.

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  5. Yes, yeast is crazy expensive, Lucy!

    Thanks for the tips, ladies -- we'll have to get pickles next time, Bird :)

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  6. You did well. Thanks for the details.

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.

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