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I want to live like Costco people

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Re: I want to live like Costco people

#741

Post by asdff »

ethagnawl wrote: post #501
asdff wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My secret is just parking immediately on the edge of the lot and walking the 100 yards on in. People will play this stupid game for 10 minutes getting steaming red waiting for a spot near the front and I'm already shopping.

This is a good option if there are any spots available. At my local Costcos (Danbury and Orange, CT) the lots are often completely full and there's a queue just to enter the lot.

In my experience no one bothers checking the spots in the rear of the store by the workers smoking section.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#742

Post by mft_ »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #698
mft_ wrote: post #621

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not mathematically wrong, but you assume that everyone has a rational disciplined approach to their finances, and a reasonably stable income behind that. And for buying in bulk (which is basically what Costco offers) to work, you need a larger amount of available cash up front, and a home with sufficient safe space for storage. And of course you need some sort of transport to bring your bulk purchases home fro…

> you assume that everyone has a rational disciplined approach to their finances, and a reasonably stable income behind that. I'm not assuming that. If you get a paycheck at all you can impulse buy a $65 thing. > And for buying in bulk (which is basically what Costco offers) to work, you need a larger amount of available cash up front, and a home with sufficient safe space for storage. The bag of rice is cheap and co…

> > you assume that everyone has a rational disciplined approach to their finances, and a reasonably stable income behind that.

> I'm not assuming that. If you get a paycheck at all you can impulse buy a $65 thing.

Not to buy the membership, but to gain meaningful benefit from it afterwards by buying in bulk in the long term, despite the greater upfront cost, motivation, planning, etc. that that requires.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#743

Post by Dylan16807 »

mft_ wrote: post #742
Dylan16807 wrote: post #698

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you assume that everyone has a rational disciplined approach to their finances, and a reasonably stable income behind that. I'm not assuming that. If you get a paycheck at all you can impulse buy a $65 thing. > And for buying in bulk (which is basically what Costco offers) to work, you need a larger amount of available cash up front, and a home with sufficient safe space for storage. The bag of rice is cheap and co…

> > you assume that everyone has a rational disciplined approach to their finances, and a reasonably stable income behind that. > I'm not assuming that. If you get a paycheck at all you can impulse buy a $65 thing. Not to buy the membership, but to gain meaningful benefit from it afterwards by buying in bulk in the long term, despite the greater upfront cost, motivation, planning, etc. that that requires.

It doesn't require greater motivation or planning. You just say "oh yeah I have a membership I should go there".

If you want it, it's one choice to make. No extra discipline.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#744

Post by elzbardico »

encrypted_bird wrote: post #732
elzbardico wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say that OpenAI, Anthropic and Donald Trump are the vanguard of the proletarian revolution.

Is this sarcasm? Please tell me this is sarcasm.

I didn't say that this is their intention.

But it surely looks to me like they are accelerating a movement towards a giant crisis of the capitalist system.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#745

Post by ausbah »

sorry but good god what an asshole this writer sounds like. a majority of people go to costco because it’s drastically simplifies the grocery shopping experience and saves money. easier to buy for 3 weeks at a time vs once a week, reduces decision paralysis on basic goods from fake variety at the grocery store, and again for a cheaper price than most places around

reducing the experience to “settling into the drudgery of middle age” scream more of a reflection of OP than any costco normal shopper

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#747

Post by aorloff »

jsbisviewtiful wrote: post #694
aorloff wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco, and how it fits into the social order. Costco pledges (I have no idea if its true) that they offer goods at cost, no markup, and their profits (net income ? this is where it gets fuzzy) are simply the membership fees. In fact, I think there's a lawsuit from a Costco purchaser to get back some tariffs if Costco gets refunded tariffs. So the idea is premium groc…

> I think you might be missing a subtle point about Costco It's not a subtle point. Members buy a membership and if they shop there enough recoup the cost of the membership and more. It's their entire business model.

That assumes you believe they have no margin

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#748

Post by ryukoposting »

hawaiianbrah wrote: post #706
ryukoposting wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I did with 3 roommates in college. We saved a ton of money that way. After college, I only had one roommate and Costco didn't work as well. The quantities for certain things are just a bit much. Buying 36 eggs for 4 adults made sense. Buying 36 eggs for 2 adults... not so much. I ended up going to Costco for toilet paper and gas, and that's it. To this day, I'm still the "spouse" on one of those college…

Eggs last a long time in the fridge! I could definitely go through 36 eggs myself over the course of 3 weeks. :)

Actual conversation with a roommate from that time:

"Who's been eating all the eggs?"

"I'm not sure, how many eggs do you eat?"

"Not many, like 3 eggs in the morning."

"(Name), that's 21 eggs per week"

"... oh, yeah."

This friend was known as the mongoose for the rest of college.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#749

Post by shaftway »

bartvk wrote: post #255
shaftway wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That fancy Lamborghini is going to be sitting in the same traffic as my Honda.

You're equals in that regard, but try riding a motorcycle one day. I live in a country where lanesplitting is legal. There's nothing quite like getting passed by an extremely expensive car, and then at the traffic lights, cut in front of it.

Yeah, I switched to a bike too. Way better quality of life, and lane splitting is a godsend. In my area not allowing a bike to pass is actually a ticketable offense (though I've never actually heard of anyone getting a ticket for it). Either way, the cars know what to expect and the cars in the left-most lane hug the left side of the lane to give you room.

Re: I want to live like Costco people

#750

Post by rconti »

ykl wrote: post #543

I wonder how many other people do this: when my wife and I do long roadtrips, we use Costcos as waypoints. Need to refuel? Costco gas is always cheaper than whatever other fill up station is nearby. Need to re-up on snacks (and maybe see what weird snacks the locals have that we don’t have back home)? Costco. Realize you forgot to pack enough socks halfway between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City? No prob, the St Georg…

Huh. It's the exact opposite of what I'd look for in a roadtrip waypoint.

Gas line. Nightmare parking lot to get in and out of. Long walk to the store. Long walk to find anything. Slow checkout.

I guess narrowing it to "cheap gas, availability of familiar goods and bathrooms, with an on-site tire shop" helps make it make a _bit_ more sense, but the (lack of) speed would just be a deal-killer for me.

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