I Joined Sam’s Club

The other day I wrote about my trip to Costco and how I joined Sam’s Club for only $10.00 out of pocket! The membership was $50.00 but my Swagbuck’s earning site had an offer for $25.00 plus another 1500 points which is $15.00 cash back. So for $10.00 for a year, it will be interesting to see which membership is better….Sam’s or Costco.

So here is how my first shopping trip at Sam’s Club went.

For starters on this trip all we purchased was food items and I didn’t even get any candy! I did check the paper products and will compare prices with Costco. I did check out the bakery department and their muffins are $4.48 for a package of six compared to Costco where they are $4.50 but you have to purchase two packages of six each. I got creative and cut a chocolate chip muffin in half and added whip cream to the center and top. Rich loves apple turnovers and for $5.98 for a package of six, they fell into our cart. I also couldn’t pass up the 32 individual wrapped Hostess products. Those are great for after school snacks or when going on trips. The Nestle semi-sweet morsels are the only brand that Lia uses when making cookies for her bake sales. This huge 4.5 pound bag is equivalent to six 12 ounce sized bags. Sam’s Club price was $9.98 and even on sale the smaller bags are two for $5.00, regular $3.49 per bag so I saved a good amount on the large bag.

Now on to the meat department. WOW, great meat and prices! We got two packages of boneless sirlion strip steak at $4.48 per pound, center cut boneless pork chops at $2.48 per pound and ground beef patties for $4.18 per pound but the package had an additional $1.20 off! The rotisserie chickens had just finished cooking and for $4.98 it was enough for a dinner with some leftover for one more meal. We finished off in the seafood department with a two pound bag of peeled, devined shrimp for $19.98 and a two pound bag of imitation crabmeat for $6.34. That’s just a little over what I pay for a small bag! Lia loves this as a snack and I like to make a salad from it, so the bag won’t last long.

I re-packed the meats in freezer bags for individual meals, look how thick the pork chops are! There are a total of 11 steaks, 5 chops, and 8 burgers. These meats cost about $32.00 and I can get 24 meals! Our freezer is well stocked.

We finished our trip with pineapple juice and look what else I found! A 12 ounce bag of Broccoli Crunch with everything included, even the dressing. This was only $2.78 and I had to try it! The total amount we spent was $126.16 and for over 32 meals from just the meat and seafood, I think it’s a great deal.

The next day I made up the Broccoli Crunch and it was SO GOOD! What I like about is the Sunflower Kernels, bacon and dressing are all individually packaged separately so if you don’t eat bacon, you can omit it. I was happy with the taste of the dressing and the cranberries. If you notice the nutrition facts, a bag of this had 3.5 servings. Tell me how I devoured the entire bag for dinner! But that was all I had so I think it’s okay. I cut up the left over chicken we had the day before and added a baked potato for Rich’s dinner. Two delicious dinners for next to nothing!

My impression on Sam’s Club was I like it. But the one thing they don’t have are the 5.5 pound bags of the Organic Green Beans from Costco. But I like that you don’t have to purchase two packages of muffins and I love the Broccoli Crunch! My Costco membership expires in January, Sam’s goes until next October. If I don’t get a special offer from Costco, I may let that one slide and re-address it when Sam’s is ready to end. If I do that, I’ll stock up on the green beans in December! The good thing is both are close driving distance and they are only a few miles apart. I have a few more months to work on my plan! Now my delimma is what to have to dinner today!