Saving Money

I love to save money and I work hard to make it happen.
I get so tired of hearing people talk and blog about saving money, but at the same time talk so much about the expensive foods and other products that they feel are so important. I don't think you can have it both ways.


Peter and I have done a fair amount of comparing prices since we've been married, and we've come to one definite conclusion. We save a lot of money by shopping at Sam's Club.

I grew up going to Sam's occasionally to look around, and mostly just laugh at the bulk items and wonder who would need such a large jar of pickles. There were some items that we would occasionally buy, but nothing specific that we'd go back for time and time again.

When we were first married, Peter and I used to shop Sam's mostly for food items that we could bring to work for our lunches. We bought items like individual bags of chips, granola bars, fruit snacks, etc. Nothing overly healthy, just convenient.

When we purchased our townhouse, we also purchased a small freezer to keep in the garage (from Sam's Club as well). Now we pretty much buy our freezer food exclusively from Sam's. We save a bundle of money on meat and other frozen dinner ideas this way. It is so much cheaper than buying similar items from Cub or even from Target (which is sometimes a little cheaper than Cub).

Some of the products that we love saving money on at Sam's include: dishwasher soap, laundry soap, trash bags, diapers, wipes, batteries, TV on DVD, tires for our cars, dress shirts for Peter, clothes for the boys (so cheap, but we rarely need to shop for our children-Grandma covers most of that), socks, toothpaste, body wash, toilet paper, napkins, and tons of food items (frozen foods, breads, chips, cereals, baby formula (back when we used it), oatmeal, juice, milk, eggs, yogurt, and TONS of other food on great deals!).

Some of the items I mentioned above we only need to buy every couple of years or so, because we get so much at such a great savings! Plus, they are so easy to store, since they come in smaller packages within the large one. I think we've bought toothpaste only 2-3 times since we've been married, and I can assure you that each tube cost MUCH less than buying at Wal-mart!

And, to those who try to save on the environment, I think it's got to save a lot of trash to throw away only one large bottle or box, than to toss several smaller ones every year.

Although I have never personally purchased these items, Sam's also offers great prices on televisions, toys, furniture, and catering services. I believe they will also do your shopping for you, so all you have to do is come in and pick up your order. Cool, huh?

Another thing I love about Sam's is that there are so many locations in the Twin Cities. It's almost impossible to live far from one! There are also Costco stores in some parts of the cities that offer somewhat comparable deals. I've been a member at both and I definitely prefer Sam's, but Costco has a lot of good deals to offer as well.

Thanks for reading my long post on Sam's Club. I just had to share about one of my favorite places to save big money!!

Have a great weekend. I'll be busy at work this weekend, and then I imagine we'll be gearing up for the holidays soon! I can't wait.