For the past 7 years my husband's company has paid for our Sams membership. They were recently bought out and one of the changes is that this is no longer reimbursible.

I really don't think it is worth it to pay out of pocket. I just don't think we would be saving any money since we only buy a handful of items there on a regular basis.

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

Well, I think it's just like anything else...do you go there often enough and save enough money that it's worth the membership fee?

We Pay 50.00 per yr. for a costco membership.

We Save Hundreds on stuff we buy there though , Dependent upon what We Buy.

We Buy Movie tickets ,electrontics and all kinds of Stuff there most yrs.

Groceries - it is About the same.

I Like their Selection and Large Quanities also.
I can't Get a Large enough size of some items in regular stores!

The cost use to be around $10 a year through my old employer and we always paid for the card but then they raised it to $35 and we took a long hard look, like you.

Yes we used it but Sams is an hour away from us and our house is small so did we really save money? We figured it up and we weren't buying enough to really have saved any money.

My parents have a card and a couple times a year they get a coupon to invite a guest. So we get to go with that card, they inflate our purchase a little but I still think we save $$$$ just not as much if you have the card but then I am not paying the $35!

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My gourds made the front page of the paper!!

Like you my Dh's work pays for our membership and if it wasn't for that I wouldn't have one. I have bought some great things there but I think if you watch your adds you can get the same price on most things. Also in the walmart add twice a year they give you a one day pass. I don't know if the price is higher for it or not but it is worth thinking about.

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It depends on what you buy and how much you save.

I think I'm going to go today, part to get some walking to HOPEFULLY convince baby to stop hemming and hawing to come out, part to stock up on some thing. Some things I only buy there if I can help it - my Charmin Strong TP, paper towels, and 16oz plastic cups. The cups are our "Bad" thing we do - but I'm REALLY bad about cups. I'd rather buy those things in massive bulk because we have the room for them. I get my vitamins from Sams too.

Other stuff, I have to see if it's better to try and get it on sale with a coupon. If it is, I'll get it at the sale/coupon price. If not, I'll get it bulk. Not everything is cheaper there. Sometimes I have to add in the convenience - I have a lot easier time stacking a couple cases of canned mushrooms in the laundry room than I do stacking loose cans from the grocery store. The cost is usually the same, it's just easier for me. (We use a LOT of canned mushrooms!)

I'm 30 miles from Sams, but it's in the "big" town that has everything. It's the same distance to Meijers or Walmart or Target. Only the little grocery store is close.

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That's always a tough decision. We are keeping ours even though we don't shop their often because when we do its big items. We bought our mattress there and dh bought new tires for the truck. Things like that we seem to find better deals but we don't really grocery shop there or anything.

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Proud mommy to adorable Kinsley

MY BLOG!

I'm thinking about not renewing ours this year either. I just don't feel like I get that many good deals there anymore. Part of it is with our new budget I don't have enough money to buy in such bulk. I also feel like I can get just as good of deals if I buy when stuff is on sale in other stores.

I didn't renew mine last year when it expired. We have to drive 1/2 hour to get to the closest one, and were really only going once or twice a year. My ILs and parents both have memberships, so we go with them occasionally & just pay them back if we get anything there. I really miss Costco. I liked it so much better than Sams, but there isn't one in WI yet, and even though they're going to be building a couple, they will both still be even further away than the Sams is.

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Erin, aka Quentinsmommy, mom to Quentin (1/03) and Ian (1/06)

We bought a costco membership last year to buy an air matress. We didn't renew though because our little family of three doesn't make it worth it (even diapers aren't that much less if you get good coupons).
Plus, I can also go with my MIL if I need something - maybe she'll even pay!