Do you shop at wholesale clubs?

Even though there are just two of us at the Paisley Cottage, we keep a BJ's Wholesale Club membership. I know lots of people are loyal to Sam's or Costco - and we have had membership at each of them over the years (and sometimes all of them at once!)

As long as we are in town, we go to BJ's every Sunday after breakfast. Why BJ's? Well - first and foremost, BJ's is NEVER as crowded as Costco or Sam's. They also have self check out lanes. As if those were not good enough reasons...they also publish coupons as well as accept manufacturer coupons. In fact, they take both...on the same item. 

The BJ's we normally go to also has a gas station. It runs at least $.10 a gallon less than the regular stations. This is great for me, because my fancy schmancy Mustang runs on the expensive stuff. It requires 91, but most places don't have that - rather they have 93. There is a 7-11 across from Mr. P's work that has 91, but since he doesn't drive my car to work, that's not really helpful.  BJ's doesn't have 91 either, but today I filled up for $2.99 a gallon - the Quickie Mart down the street is $3.11. $3.07 is the cheapest i've seen lately. Gearing up for the long holiday weekend I see...

At any rate, here's a link to an article about the different clubs if you're interested.

Warehouse Club Showdown

They each have their own redeeming qualities of course...for me that means coupons and no lines! BJ's is my club of choice.

Deals are to be had around every corner. They also have an awesome selection of plants.  Today's haul...

$36.92...my extra savings today was $15.85.

Here's what I picked up:

2 loaves of bread - $2.49

1 box of 20 Christmas cards - $9.99

1 box of Pillsbury Savorings - $9.99

1 box of Granola Thins - $7.99

3lbs of bananas - $1.29

1 case of Green Giant Immunity Blend frozen veggies (5 boxes) - $6.99

2 bags of Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers (8 individual bags total) - $6.69 each

Discounts:

$1 instant rebate on each bag of Steamers (making them $5.69 each)

$.50 off 2 Steamers

$.50 off 2 Steamers

$.50 off 2 Steamers

$.75 off Granola Thins

$.60 off 3 Green Giant boxed veggies

$1 off Savorings

$10 off any 5 of XYZ (in this case, the Steamers, Veggies, Granola Thins and Savorings)

Oh and if you're doing the math - sales tax is 6.5% - and on this trip it was $.65 

At BJ's you can use as many coupons as there are bar codes (so long as it follows coupon restrictions). Hences all the Steamers coupons. There are 4 individual bags in each large bag...each of those bags has a barcode. So I could use 2 coupons per bag (except somehow I had an odd number...I could have saved another $.50), same with the boxed veggies. There are 5 boxes in the case so I could use the "off 3" coupon.  Even better that there was already an instant rebate on the Steamers!

BJ's is also awesome with returns. I've returned milk that spoiled prior to the sell by date on the carton. I've returned cheese that has gotten moldy within days of opening. This morning I returned the printer I bought 2 weeks ago. It was an HP C74700 series all-in-one wireless. The printing was awesome...when it would actually print. Constant "out of paper" messages. It keeps an error log and for every 1 page I got to print, there would be 6-10 "out of paper" errors. Sorry - that is not going to work for me...it's brand new. Fought with it long enough to print 15 recipes last night and packed it up this morning to return it. They didn't bat an eye.  Oh and there wasn't a line at the customer service desk either. 

We also get tires there - they know me in the tire shop. My car is a magnet for metal (nails, screws, random odd not really sure what that is chunk, etc) in the tires. I always get road hazard. I know better... aside from not being a busy tire shop, they always have my tires in stock and they frequently have coupons for $60 or $70 off a set of 4 - bargain city my friends.

My only complaint about BJ's is that about 6 months ago they started cleaning the floors mid-mornings on Sundays. It's a warehouse...and that guy on that Zamboni-like machine is up my behind from the minute I walk into that store on Sunday morning. I can't get away from him...the place is HUGE and he's always RIGHT THERE where I need something and he has no qualms about getting right up on you with that thing. *ugh* Seriously...WHY are we doing the floors while customers are in the store? I can't take him more than 30 minutes to do the whole place since he's everywhere I am even if I zig-zag thru the store....so why isn't that being done when the opening / closing processes are being done? One of these days i'm going to lose it and be all "GET AWAY FROM ME!" on him...