I used to be a big fan of Costco. We liked their Kirkland brand. My favorite lined zipper hoodie came from there. I still wear their socks. Then I moved and found myself in a Costco-free zone. The closest store is more than two hours away. So I had no choice but to shop at Sam’s Club.
Sam’s is usually cheaper than Costco. I’ve done the spreadsheets, and if you want low cost, then Sam’s beats Costco on common items and prepper staples. Sam’s lacks some of the high-end items Costco offers (including gold and silver), and I think they have less furniture and clothing. I could be wrong. Your Sam’s or your Costco might differ from the ones I go to.
When I want last week to Costco for the first time in a few years, I got to look at it through fresh eyes. It was from the perspective that it was a location I had never visited, and all my recent club-store experience was at Sam’s. I should also mention that I did not buy meat or other refrigerated or frozen items because we were so far from home.
Compare and Contrast
These are my impressions:
- This Costco was larger than both the Sam’s I go to. A larger building. More width between the aisles. More stuff inside, and a more open floor plan.
- The downside of having lots of stuff is redundancy. I thought the whole idea of a club store was to have a couple of choices of name-brand laundry detergent and a store brand for less. Unless it is only at this store, they have more variety than I am used to. More kinds of junk food, more varieties of dried fruits, more canned/bottled beverages, etc. (But no decaf coffee in Keurig cups.)
- I bought several items on sale, and the savings were about $8 off an item that would have been $24 to $32. That’s far more than you are going to get at a grocery store sale or with a coupon. Sam’s has sales, but I think the percentage of savings per item is less.
- The clothes and footwear are nicer and there is more of it. I almost bought a Columbia shirt for $19.99, but in the end I passed because I don’t really need another shirt, even if it is a good buy. That’s how they suck you in, and you need to learn to resist it.
- I used my Sam’s app and the Amazon app to spot-check prices, and things were definitely more expensive at Costco. For example, two Philips Sonicare toothbrushes were $99 there, but $79.99 at Sam’s. They also had a 10-pound bag of black beans. Great size for prepping, but they were organic beans, which meant they were expensive. I could buy 15 pounds of regular beans for less at Walmart than the cost of 10 pounds of organic beans at Costco. Do you want organic beans, or do you want 50 percent more beans? Only you can answer that question, but in a survival scenario, I’m going for quantity.
- They had plenty of rice, and it was the same price as Sam’s. Spam was on sale, and canned chicken was quite reasonable.
Best for Preppers?
They are both good places where preppers can stock up on canned foods, paper products, dried foods, and other supplies, like soaps and detergents. I‘d go with Sam’s if I had to pick one because my dollar goes further and I get more food for the same expenditure. If money didn’t matter, Costco would be at the top of my list because it offers a slightly nicer shopping experience.
Let me remind new readers that canned foods are a good starting point for new preppers who want to store some food. Basic foodstuffs that can be purchased in bulk at club stores are great building blocks for your prepper pantry. I’m talking about canned meats, chilies, fruits, and vegetables plus dried foods like pasta, rice, oatmeal, and beans. Add in peanut butter, crackers, pancake mix, other baking mixes, flour, dried fruits, nuts, spices, and salt, and you can put up a few months of food that are quick and easy to make and will last at least a year. If you package the dried foods in jars or Mylar pouches, you can increase that to five years or more.
You can buy these items at the grocery store, of course, and if funds are tight, this may make the most sense. Spend $10 or $20 on your prepper pantry each shopping trip, and you’ll be shocked to see how much food you can accumulate in three months for $120 to $250. If you can afford to spend that all at once, a trip to Sam’s Club or Costco can give you a head start on your prepper pantry, or an added boost when things look dire.
Last Minute Stocking Up
If you could monitor what people buy at Sam’s or Costco, you could probably develop an accurate projection of how worried people are about the future. When sales of canned goods and toilet paper go up, they are worried. When people are buying ribeyes and wine, they are not.
If your plan is to go to a club store and stock up when the bombs start to fall, it might be too late. The wisdom of the masses may have foreseen the coming disaster and stripped the shelves before the event. (The smart folks shopped at Costco a week or more before the COVID lockdown was announced. Stores had already limited how much hand sanitizer and toilet paper you could buy.) Like bugging out, it is better to stock up two days early than two days too late.
Because our “local” Sam’s Club is too far for us to go during a SHTF event, our plan is to go to Walmart and general stores, if it is safe to do so. If the internet is working, we’ll order things from Costco and Sam’s online, hoping they arrive. During good times, things get here in two or three days. But who knows if the power will be out, if the stores will close or send employees home, and whether the trucks will be running? We are not counting on these last-minute preps, just hoping they get through and some of the goods show up.
Whether you live near Sam’s, Costco, or both, they can help you save money on your grocery bill and build your preps.
