Is Paying for a Sam's Club Membership Worth the Cost?

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Just recently I found myself needing (wanting?) to make a Sam’s Club run. The problem was an expired membership that I wasn’t convinced I wanted to renew. After all, there’s a lot of things I can buy for forty-five dollars and a lot of other places to shop for groceries.

Is paying for a Sam’s club membership worth the cost?

Being a checklist kind of person, I devised a mental checklist to help me decide the answer to that question.

If you too find yourself wondering if the cost of a Sam’s Club membership (or any club membership for that matter) is worth it, use these questions to guide your decision.

Does buying in bulk save money?

We all assume, yes. The assumed savings is why many individuals readily fork over the membership fee to join. Don’t assume. Do a quick comparison.

I have to admit, when I began comparing Sam’s Club prices to Walmart’s prices, I kind of took a detour down the rabbit hole.

Here’s the outcome: On some items, there is a savings. On some items there is not. Do the math.

For me, buying in bulk is more about the convenience than the savings.

Is the membership going to be convenient to use?

Convenience is huge. For me, the closet Sam’s Club is about a half an hour from my home. (Sam’s is the only option in my neck of the woods!) When shopping, time is usually of the essence and traveling even a half an hour out of my way is a deterrent.

Before you pay for a membership to ANY store, ask yourself if you will really utilize the membership. If you won’t, you are simply paying for carrying a card in your wallet.

Do you have the extra room to store the bulk items?

On my last foray to Sam’s I was delighted to pick up an enormous bag of both celery and carrots. Together, they are my go-to snack. Half of them went to the neighbor because I could not fit them into my (side-by-side / don’t ever buy one!) refrigerator.

If you don’t have a place to store 15 rolls of paper towels and 45 rolls of toilet paper, you might want to rethink the bulk purchase. It is fine to store them on a bed in the spare bedroom until you actually need the bed!

Can you afford it, really?

I’m not talking about the cost of the membership. When I went to renew my membership, I decided to pick up a few items while I was there. I spent $174.00 not including the membership. That exceeded my entire weekly grocery store and gas budget. You can unintentionally blow a lot of extra money, negating any savings.

Sometimes “saving” money isn’t worth the enormous, initial outlay of money.

What about the perks that comes from being a member?

There are a lot of perks to being a Sam’s Club member. Optical, pharmacy, tires that come with free rotation and road services. If you decide the perks of being a member make it worth the cost, make sure to utilize those perks.

Refer back to, is it convenient?

And then there is the specialty food.

I left this category for last because this is my Achilles heel. The olives. The darn olives that I haven’t been able to find locally.

I live in a rural area. There aren’t a lot of options from where to purchase any kind of specialty foods without visiting many different stores.

There are so many restaurant quality food options to choose from. I am not a foodie. At. All. But I like to eat good meals. Unfortunately, the pandemic has put the skids on eating out.

My Sam’s Club membership allows me to fix restaurant equivalent food right in my home.

Is paying for a Sam’s Club membership worth the cost?

I decided that for me, it is. If you are on the fence about whether or not to renew your membership to any club store, carefully weigh the pros and cons and make an informed decision.

One bit of advice: Make a plan before you walk in the store. Or you might just walk out with a trampoline!

Note: For an additional fee, you can get a plus membership which gives you quite a few more perks, including 2% cash back on every $500.00 that you spend. If you shop a lot at Sam’s, it may be worth it. Only you can decide.