Costco Shopping for a Small Family – Part 1

Is a Costco membership worth it for a small family?  As a family of two, I can positively state that yes.  Yes, it is. 

And I’m not alone.  Most of my friends who have families of one or two also derive great benefit from shopping at Costco.

If you are a regular reader, you might already know that my diet and those of the hub are completely different.  So much of what we buy anywhere, not just Costco, are items we consume more as a family of one.

Here is a little peek at this week’s haul and why Costco is one of our favorite stores.

Full disclosure:  Hub does about 90% of our grocery shopping.  In fact, when I accompany him on a Costco run, the bill is much higher.  He tends to actually buy the stuff on his list.  Whereas I find things I never knew I needed!

So some of what you see from the recent haul are his personal choices. 

Snacks

This is a little hard to admit.  We buy sort of a lot of junk food.  It’s mainly on the healthier side of junk food, but we really don’t need any of it.

I have found Costco routinely carries sweets that have low sugar or are keto options that are better for me.  So I don’t feel too bad when I indulge in these treats.

The giant tub of M&Ms is not among the healthy treats.  Even I cannot make that claim.  But they will really last forever and they usually come out when we entertain. 

Nuts are crazy expensive and Costco’s prices cannot be beat. For oiler nuts or ones used less frequently, I stick them in the freezer. But hub seems to go through peanuts and cashews quickly.

Frozen Foods

If you have an extra freezer, Costco is your friend.  Again, a fair number of frozen treats ended up in this week’s trip (no, they were not all on the shopping list).

But purchasing the high-quality bulk meat and freezing it in individual portions saves a lot of money.

That also allows us to plan meals the day we are going to eat it.  Now.  If you’re organized and disciplined enough to do a weekly meal plan, that’s better yet. 

I’ve never been successful at that.  We tend to like a little spontaneity and eat whatever we’re in the mood for that day.  With a full freezer, at least we don’t make daily grocery runs.

Okay, sometimes we do.

Produce

This is one is a little tricky. We need to be careful in the produce department.  Throwing away food is my biggest pet peeve in life. So purchasing bulk produce and not eating it quickly means out in the trash it goes.

But Costco’s tomatoes are always delish – even in January.  And I alone can go through a whole container before they are too shriveled.  Hub loves the Persian cukes and routinely gets those.

Generally citrus is a safe bet and will get used up.

Right now strawberries are on sale everywhere, so I can get smaller containers cheaper, but even in the large containers, we use up Costco-sized batches.

Rotisserie & Canned Chicken

I’ve posted before how many meals I can get out on one Costco chicken.  Not only does Costco have the best price, they have the best chicken.

I am actually not a big fan of grocery store rotisserie chicken, but Costco’s is the exception.

They are very large for a small family, so a commitment needs to be made to use the chicken in a number of ways so it’s not wasted.

For some ideas and recipes, check here.

Especially in the hot summer months hub likes chicken salad served on iceberg lettuce.  An entire can of chicken will last him only one or two days but never gets wasted.

The recipe I make him is quite simple which is how he likes it.  But Deb shared the recipe she made over the weekend from Ina Garten with toasted pecans and walnuts in it.  Chicken Salad Contessa.  She did have one warning that the salt should be reduced from two teaspoons to ½ teaspoon.

Wrap Up

Are you a fan of Costco?  Is their freshly baked baguette perhaps a good reason alone for a trip?

Currently our Costco is about 20 minutes from our home but apparently we are slated to get one closer soon.

I think I’ve made my case for shopping at Costco even with a small family.  If you like good quality at good prices you can make it work!

If you liked this post and want further evidence of how we successfully shop at Costco, I’ll post a Part 2 soon.

Oh, and Number 1 cat loves a good Costco box!