My Favorite Things to Buy at Costco
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Now that I’ve officially been a member of Costco for over a year, I feel like I have some ground to stand on regarding my favorite things to purchase there. As a reminder, Costco is known for selling things in bulk, as that is how you are able to save money. That and the fact that they can lower prices / margin, because of your club membership dues. So yes, you might have to make space in your pantry for 3 honey jars instead of just one, but it might just be worth it thanks to the savings! I will say that be to check prices and figure out if it is actually a deal or not. Some things are just normally priced or even kind of expensive if you aren’t careful!
That being said, keep scrolling for some of my favorite things to buy at Costco, along with things I don’t typically buy!
Side note that I live in Los Angeles and not every Costco has the same products, though a lot of these should be universal, not just regional.
Everlane T-Shirt | Agolde Jeans | Veja Sneakers | Senreve Coda Belt Bag (Get $50 off with discount code ELLEMULENOS) | Aerie Sunglasses
MY FAVORITE THINGS TO BUY FROM COSTCO
I’ll start with some brand names and end with all the Kirkland products, as that is Costco’s private label.
Rao’s Marinara Sauce. I wanted to start with this because it is probably my favorite thing to buy from Costco. You can get a 2 pack for around $8.99 which is what you will pay for just 1 jar of sauce elsewhere! Sometimes they carry the alfredo sauce too, which we always grab when we see it.
Lilly B’s Organic Bean and Cheese Burritos. These are so delicious and great to have on hand. We prefer to heat them in the oven or toaster, though they are microwaveable as well. These live in your freezer, so easy to keep on hand.
La Terra Fina Artichoke & Jalapeño Dip & Spread. Costco carries a lot of yummy dips, but I think this one is my favorite! They also have a pretty good pre-made guacamole, but we typically try to make ours fresh. This usually comes in a 2 pack.
TortillaLand Ready to Bake Tortillas. These change the home tortilla game!! They are refrigerated // you heat them up as needed, and they are toasty and ready when you want. I like to bake them on a pizza stone, but Nick prefers to put them on our gas stove.
Boursin Cheese. It comes in a 3 pack, but you get it basically for the price of 2. Great if you have cheese board needs / guests / just love cheese!
KerryGold Butter. Grass-fed Irish butter that is delicious!! The 4 pack is around a dollar cheaper in total. It’s on the expensive side of butter, so still nice to save some cash!
Milk. Nick loves milk and I bake a lot with it, so we tend to go through it quickly. They have lots of options whether you want traditional milk or a dairy-free alternative!
Siete Chips. This is newer (at least to my Costco), but it is a good deal because the bag is bigger and is around the same price as the smaller bags you might find at Whole Foods.
Solstice Organic Turmeric Tortilla Chips. I love turmeric and these are so good!
Bob’s Red Mill. Such a good flour / baking needs brand! Costco carries quite a bit of their line and I love that!
Simple Mills. Love this GF brand of crackers and mixes!
LesserEvil Popcorn. LOVE their butter flavored coconut oil popcorn!!
Smart Sweets. My current candy obsession! They come in 5 packs, but for a lot cheaper than you would otherwise buy them.
Dyson. Last spring we purchased a Dyson air purifier / fan and it was $200 cheaper than anywhere else! They have some brand names like this that go on major sale, so be on the lookout for them. (T3, Sonos, etc - always double check prices online to compare, but they typically get really good deals at certain times of the year.)
Plants. Our fiddle fig tree is from Costco and it is great! It was around $30 or less and the tree normally retails for $150+. When they get these in, people go mad, so it’s best to go as soon as possible when you hear they have them.
Wine. They truly do have great wine prices and selections. I think wine varies by where your Costco is located, but we typically grab Daou and D66 (around $19.99 a bottle), as they usually have them and we know we like them. For the past 6 months they have had My Favorite Neighbor which is pricier, but cheaper than you’ll find it anywhere else and SO GOOD. We first had it at Booker in Paso Robles and while they still contribute to the actual wine, they have since sold that label. Worth the try if you have the budget.
KIRKLAND BRAND FAVORITES
3 Pack Raw Honey
3 Pack Apple Cider Vinegar
Olive Oil
Avocado Oil
Maple Syrup
Vanilla Extract
Nuts and Seeds (great deal on chia seeds!!)
Pepper and Grinder
Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
Crinkle Cut Himalayan Sea Salt Potato Chips (My favorite chips ever! They fill up the bag pretty much all the way, which is unheard of for chips. Also have an avocado oil version that is really good, but sometimes hard to find.)
2 Pack Lit’l Smokies (but Kirkland brand - I can’t remember what they call them)
Paper Towels
Lululemon Train Leggings | Doc Marten Leona Boots | Royal Blue Pullover (old, similar here and here)
WHAT I DON’T BUY
For the record, none of these things are bad - just personal preference!
Meat. I 100% do not have an issue with buying meat at Costco. I have and would do so again, but we try to buy meat from our local butcher or Whole Foods at the very least. We are more inclined to buy meat at Costco if we have a lot of mouths to feed.
Bacon. I know this is meat, but I wanted to separate out bacon, because this bacon has a cult following. The bacon was fine - nothing wrong with it! We just prefer our bacon a little more thick cut, as we typically buy it from a butcher.
Prepared Meals. Another thing that I 100% do not have a problem with - they taste good! Looking at it from a money perspective, these items are typically on the more expensive end, which is tricky since Costco is supposed to be bargain shopping.
Produce. Sometimes I buy produce at Costco, but only if I am able to consume it all because people are coming over or if have room in the freezer / refrigerator. I typically can’t eat the fruit and veggies before they go bad. I did just buy a bag of clementines last time I was there though ;)
Eggs. So little caveat to this;) We try to buy Vital Farms Eggs because they are Pasture-Raised, but if I have a lot of food I need to make // have people coming over and need a ton of eggs, I like to grab the 18 pack case of eggs from Costco. I just don’t typically buy them.
Things I don’t need. No really! My in-laws (who initially got us the Costco membership) have a $100 rule. They go in with a max budget of spending $100 (unless there is some occasion where they need to spend more due to the amount of people they need to feed) because you can ALWAYS find something to buy at Costco and sometimes end up spending a little too much money It’s really tempting to get whatever cool new thing they have, but definitely stick to your list. At least for the most part ;)
Oh and I know there are other cult favorites like the peanut butter pretzels and rotisserie chicken, but we don’t usually buy those. The closest one to us isn’t actually that close, so we don’t typically buy gasoline from there either. I know my friend Kami likes to buy Suja Green Juice, Egg White Bites (The brands Veggies Made Great and Three Bridges are both cheaper than Starbucks), and Brekki Overnight Oats, because she needs breakfast on the go, but I typically don’t need that. I’ve tried all of them and they are really good, but it’s about what YOU need, not what other people need and these are some of my favorites. She also likes the Heavenly Hunks cookies which are also really good! I just prefer to make cookies versus buy them packaged. I do like that those are GF though. Sweet Loren’s ready-to-bake cookie dough is GF as well, pretty dang good, and you can buy them at Costco!! I love to follow Costco Does it Again on Instagram to make sure I see cool things they come out with. They posted a cool 3D puzzle (which my sister loves) around Christmas and I only knew they had it because saw it on IG. Definitely something to follow if you like catching random promotions and deals..
I hope you enjoy this list!! Let me know if there’s a product I should try out // add to my favorites list. Something I keep meaning to buy is the Manuka Honey the carry. It’s 17.6 oz for under $40 which is a really good price. Have you tried that? Let me know! Happy shopping!!
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