Costco: A Guide to the Best and Worst Deals

Here’s your long-awaited guide to making the most out of your Costco Membership! You’ve made the investment, now make the most of it by getting your head around what you should purchase at Costco and which products you should rather give a miss. Members-only shopping warehouses such as Costco have great benefits - if you know how to shop. On any given Sunday afternoon you can see many people with their trolleys piled up with items such as oversized cereal boxes, big enough to feed an army... So here’s our guide on which products at Costco are good value and which you should rather avoid in order to save the most money.

Skip: The Kirkland Laundry Detergent

This laundry detergent might tick the price box but is not a good choice for every other reason. You might save a few dollars on detergent, only to end up having to replace all your clothes far sooner than expected. So, skip low-quality detergent, as it only offers the illusion of good value. Not only bad for your clothes, cheap laundry detergents such as this one are not only bad for your clothes, but also bad for the environment and especially bad for your health. Kirkland Laundry detergent has been implicated in worsening allergies and bad skin reactions, provoking asthma and breathing difficulties.

Skip: The Books

Browsing the book section at Costco can give you great ideas on which books you would like to add to your collection, but rather just make a note of them and move on with your shopping. It might seem as if book prices are slightly lower than other regular stores, but much better discounts are available online, for example at Amazon or during sales at dedicated book stores. Your savings will be even more if you don’t mind getting a second-hand book.