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I want to live like Costco people

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Re: I want to live like Costco people

#671

Post by stasomatic »

ZeWaka wrote: post #154
ASinclair wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is you can save a ton of money on a few non-food items to make it worth it. Just over-the-counter medicines save me a huge chunk of the membership fee. Then there are just random household goods: paper products, trash bags, dishwasher detergent, etc.

It's great for canned goods and anything bulk for cooking, see: salmon.

We've been buying their "fresh" salmon (not freeze-packed) for years, until parasites started crawling out of one fillet. Statistically nothing, but the wife will never buy it again ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#672

Post by stasomatic »

farmeroy wrote: post #142
yabones wrote: post #137

I get the allure, but it's not for me and my partner. We live in a small apartment. We drive a small car. The pantry has a good amount of dry bulk & canned food, but we largely shop one week at a time. Sure, we could "lock in" on two or three foods, buy weeks worth of them at a time, and save some money. But like most people we like a bit of verity. It's just not possible to buy such massive quantities of things with…

sounds like you just want to live in europe (or probably anywhere outside of the US?). You can typically go buy a half (or quarter) loaf of bread from a baker, and street markets let you buy all the small quantities you want by the kilo

One of the few things I miss about living in Charlotte a few years back, it's the brand spanking new Lidl stores that popped up. Like mini Costcos' with decent pricing. Bright and cheery. I must've gone there daily, not least for exploring the middle mystery isle. There were Aldis' too, but they were 2 tiers below Lidl. I've been to both chains in Germany and Aldi and Lidl seemed on par there.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#673

Post by cucumber3732842 »

gessha wrote: post #438
JoshTriplett wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it really higher quality? Yes, genuinely. At most stores, "store brand" equates to "cheap, lower quality". Kirkland Signature is sometimes higher quality than other brands, and there are items for which they're my preferred brand.

I’ve learned from FarmTok that Costco is a big reason farms maintain proper standards even going beyond what’s required from them to keep Costco’s business.

Products get made to the standards of the pickiest customer. The condiments and sauce industry has the (((same situation)))[1] going on. If Costco went poof tomorrow the change would only be a marginal one down to the standards of the next pickiest customer worth optimizing for which is probably only a hair's breadth away. If Costco was trying to drag the standards way up then farms would raise separate stuff for them.

[1] Many condiments are Kosher not because the recipe inherently is, but because it's easy to do without much downside so doing so pencils out handily. I couldn't resist the parenthesis joke.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#674

Post by stbede »

giwook wrote: post #89
legitster wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Andy Warhol's quote is about aspiration and perceived attainment. The average person is not aspiring to drink a gold flake truffle-infused Coke. The implication is the lack of a rigorous class hierarchy in America. Not that the rich don't live different lifestyles or consume more. But that niche luxury products were considered effete and un-American. (Andy Warhol was almost certainly also being ironic - that the rich…

Fair point. What about cars or houses?

I probably have a better house in Utah than many Silicon Valley CEOs have in the Bay Area, but they have better weather.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#675

Post by quickthrowman »

hparadiz wrote: post #176
yabones wrote: post #137

I get the allure, but it's not for me and my partner. We live in a small apartment. We drive a small car. The pantry has a good amount of dry bulk & canned food, but we largely shop one week at a time. Sure, we could "lock in" on two or three foods, buy weeks worth of them at a time, and save some money. But like most people we like a bit of verity. It's just not possible to buy such massive quantities of things with…

The basic membership is $65. If all you do is get a year's worth of detergent, toilet paper, and cleaning supplies chances are that will already pay for the membership. They also have grocery items that are kinda wholesale but not really. Pantry stuff like a bag of nuts that you can go through on your own in under a week that is marked down significantly from the grocery store. Oh also olive oil is another big one fo…

I’d rather just pay a bit more at Target and not even have to go inside, they bring your order out to your car for free.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#676

Post by tyre »

butlike wrote: post #667
skeeter2020 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no - it will be getting very expensive servicing while you're enjoying 200K+ trouble-free miles

But it's not expensive to the person getting it serviced. Finance becomes a matter of perspective at a certain level, I imagine. You buy the Lambo because it's fun to drive, you buy the clothing with the most 000's at the end of the price because it's most likely the best. It's not 'expensive,' it's just... why would you take anything less than the best everytime?

> you buy the clothing with the most 000's at the end of the price because it's most likely the best

This is very rarely the case. For tailored or custom clothing, sure, but that doesn’t end up being the most expensive. Silly designer brands with lower quality do.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#677

Post by bluedino »

rogerrogerr wrote: post #374
bluedino wrote: post #363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Home Depot Coke. $3, and in a plastic bottle. The worst Coke. At least the grocery store sells cups at the register and there's delicious fountain Coke to be had on your way out the door.

What region are you in that grocery stores sell fountain drinks? Never seen this in the NW US.

Midwest. Kroger, Meijer, plus Costco and Sam's Club.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#678

Post by MarkusQ »

threetonesun wrote: post #659
robocat wrote: post #623

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> race track I presume that F150 ain't getting round the corners very quickly. I reckon optimising for straight line speed is a strange goal.

Right, there's no form of racing that is a straight line, is there. Regardless, optimizing a pick up for 0-60 time is a strange goal, unless you have some express desire to launch 2x4s a great distance in a complicated way.

You are dangerously close to initiating a new sport.

Someday, commentators filling air time on ESPN's "Need to Yeet" may bring up this comment as "the Casual Remark That Started it All".

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#679

Post by michaelcampbell »

senkora wrote: post #171
yabones wrote: post #137

I get the allure, but it's not for me and my partner. We live in a small apartment. We drive a small car. The pantry has a good amount of dry bulk & canned food, but we largely shop one week at a time. Sure, we could "lock in" on two or three foods, buy weeks worth of them at a time, and save some money. But like most people we like a bit of verity. It's just not possible to buy such massive quantities of things with…

Trader Joe's is probably closest to what you want. It targets single shoppers with small quantities and low prices, and it rotates products frequently to keep things interesting. Anecdotally I feel like a lot of TJ's shoppers shift into Costco shoppers as they age up.

I'm reminded of a comedian's bit I heard recently (he does a lot of "crowd work")

> So, what do you guys want to do? Feel like pooling all the cash we have and going to Trader Joe's to buy an apple?

(TBH, I think he said "whole foods" there, but the sentiment is the same.)

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#680

Post by MarkusWandel »

Being "Costco people" is easy. The quality of the product is good, the prices are good, there's little "choice paralysis" and it's all under one roof. But socially, it's like having IKEA art on your walls. You don't want to have the same thing everyone else has; as a host (if you still do that sort of thing) or potluck participant, you have to somehow differentiate yourself. Of course you can cook interesting stuff from ingredients found at Costco, but serving any kind of ready made snacks or meal items from Costco is just lame given that your guests are probably Costco-istas too.
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