When you're a bargain shopper, on a strict budget, and/or not particularly wedded to any specific brand, you may find that Costco's prices are not necessarily the best. There are plenty of supposed Costco "deals" that are actually a waste of money. This can include some Costco products that are lower quality than other brands as well as other items that are regularly found on sale elsewhere.
"Costco has great varieties of pasta all packaged together, but they're really not the best bang for your buck. Especially if you stock up on pasta when it's on sale at the normal grocery store, I usually only pay between $0.50-$1.00/lb. for pasta, which Costco can't beat," blogger The Many Little Joys writes.
Especially when you combine store or manufacturer's coupons with a rebate app like Ibotta, local grocery chains can easily beat Costco's per-unit prices for certain items.
"It can be hard to find items at Costco that are actually good values relative to regular grocery stores if you are a penny pincher. This is particularly true if you are conscious of a unit of measure pricing. Bigger is not always better," personal finance blogger Stephanie Schill of Wynning In Life told Business Insider.
"For example, La Croix sparkling water, which my husband and I drink a lot of, is available at my local Costco for $8.99 per 24-pack," Schill continued. "That's $0.37 each. They are regularly priced at $3.99 for a 12-pack at my local Woodman's store every day of the week, bringing the cost down to $0.33 each."