I Stopped Shopping at Sam’s Club and Here’s What I Learned

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Warehouse club stores like Costco and Sam’s Club are known for their exclusive products and services, which are only available to paying members. Upon entering the store, you usually need to show your valid membership card or head straight to the customer service desk to sign up for a membership.

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For Sam’s Club, annual membership fees range from $50 to $110 but sometimes, there are discount offers that reduce the basic membership fee to $25 (for new members). While Sam’s Club can be a great place to save on bulk grocery items, electronics, personal care products and more, a membership still may not be the best idea for everyone.

Cara Mitchell, an admin assistant and mom of two living in the Knoxville area, stopped shopping at Sam’s Club a few years ago. She says that to benefit from the savings on items, you need to shop there regularly and stick to buying things you need and will use – which was challenging for her family to do. Here are three lessons Mitchell shares after canceling her warehouse club membership.

We Overspent a Lot in the Store

Sam’s Club stores are often huge and like any other shopping destination, there are several opportunities to spend and go off your list.

“Most people I know joke about it, but we found that it was nearly impossible to visit our local Sam’s Club for just one thing and then leave,” says Mitchell. “We often walked the aisles, tried samples, stopped to peek at what the people were selling in the technology section, and more.”

Mitchell says visiting the store on weekends was a major ordeal for their family. She admits they didn’t shop there often, so whenever they did, she was always surprised or overwhelmed by all the new products and offers.

“It was always busy with other shoppers and I often felt the pressure to buy more things for whatever reason,” Mitchell added. “Sam’s Club was an easy place to go off our weekly grocery list.”

We Experience Less Food Waste Now

“We don’t have a large family. My husband and I have two kids and they eat very differently so it was hard at times to justify buying a box of 40 granola bars when maybe only one or two people would eat it.”

Mitchell says she ran into this issue a lot and shared that bulk buying may not be the best option for some families, especially if stockpiling isn’t a priority.

“Sure it sounds like you save money upfront by buying family-sized packs of chicken and getting four bottles of body wash at one time,” said Mitchell. “But I found that we wasted some of the things we bought especially with food because it would eventually go bad if we didn’t eat it fast enough.”

Now, she says she experiences less food waste in her household because they shop at stores like Walmart and Kroger and compare pricing. She likes that Kroger offers a lot of in-store discounts, BOGO deals, and you can clip coupons to your account and get savings by scanning your free loyalty card at checkout.

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Saving Time With All-in-One Service and Food Options Was Nice

The one thing that Mitchell misses about going to Sam’s Club is that you can get almost everything you need in one place, whether it is clothes, food, outdoor furniture, personal care items, or auto repair work for your car.

“That’s the one thing I miss because the clothes were really affordable and I would shop some of their holiday sales and get my kids a few toys for Christmas from there,” Mitchell shared. “Overall, though, we got the membership primarily for groceries and we weren’t saving and benefiting in that area as much unfortunately.”

Getting a club membership helps set intentions on what you wish to buy or use that store for. Determine how and if you can really save on what you need for your household. If you do lock in a membership for 12 months, you can always assess things after a year to see if you’d like to renew it or not.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Stopped Shopping at Sam’s Club and Here’s What I Learned