When It Costs More To Save More–Huh?!
Dec 12th, 2008 | By moneyking | Category: Money
The fact of the matter is that it costs you more money to save money at places like Costco and Sam’s Club.
All of the people that think they’re “saving” money by visiting these stores are about 50% correct. Here’s the damn problem: Wal-Monster is all these people have left.
Why MoneyKing?
If they quit shopping at Costco and Sam’s, what’s their most likely alternative:
1. Goodwill stores
2. Dollar Stores
3. K-Mart
4. IKEA
5. ALDI
If you had to bet your left arm, however, on which of the aforementioned stores you’d run into before running into a Wal-Monster, you’d probably just run away from the whole bet altogether.
So, the choices are limited. We know this. We know that Wal-Monster beating estimates each quarter probably isn’t a good thing since it means that more people are scraping from the easiest and most basic source for sustenance.
What gets MoneyKing is all this news about Costco. Wal-Monster is Sam’s Club, so you never really hear news about Sam’s sales.
The mainstream media, on the other hand, is enamored with Costco as a bargain outlet.
Intellectually speaking, it is. You can save more money shopping at Costco and Sam’s than you can at many other stores.
The problem, however, is the intellect part of the equation. If any lesson has been learned during this whole economic situation, it should be that people need to be educated about money. People are not inherently logical when it comes to spending and saving.
Here’s the key to saving money at Costco and Sam’s Club:
You have to buy in bulk AT THE SAME TIME as consuming the same amount of any purchased resource.
This is the problem. People buy more and then USE MORE. This, then, costs more money and defeats the whole purpose of going to a place like Costco. People don’t think ahead in this country. People don’t plan for the next week. So, you’re going to convince MoneyKing that people are going to by X+1 of anything at a lower cost under the mentality of only using X amount of what they bought at a price they already believe (or know) is cheaper? PLEASE!
If you can’t temper your desires enough to avoid over consumption, then cut up your Costco and Sam’s cards. It’s just that simple. You’re already spending too much.
Time to run to Wal-Monster! Buy less. Use less. Spend just a tiny bit more for that can of green beans.
Good luck out there.
–MoneyKing
[...] Money Kings presents When it costs more to save more: “This is the problem. People buy more and then USE MORE. This, then, costs more money and [...]
A very nice article. I have a Sam’s Club membership, but hadn’t really considered the consumption part of the equation. You’ve given me something to think about. Thanks!
I used to buy like 1000 count bottles of ibuprofen, then I realized I threw away about 950 after they expired.
Speaking of being intellectual, or rather logical, there’s nothing wrong with Aldi, IKEA or resale shops. The great thing about resale shops in particular is you’re recycling mass produced shit, instead of generating more.
As far as Walmart, I’m not going to avoid shopping there because our government doesn’t have the balls to tighten regulations. I can only operate in the environment that exists, not the one I would like to exist.
I find Sams to be a waste of time.. buying there is great for people who own small businesses or have large families. Most of the crap I’d buy would go bad before I’d use it unless it was something I could freeze perhaps.
I also think paying a membership takes a big chunk out of your savings if you don’t visit a lot. Which you won’t unless you’re one of the top two examples or you’re just ’saving money’ on crap you didn’t need in the first place. I’ll go to Wal-mart instead, and pay the extra two cents for my green beans.
The reason that my wife shops at Costco is that she buys dry goods and freezable items there. This works because we get home and divide the loot into portions that we freeze or store. I had not considered the whole consuming more thing but after thinking about it we do not consume at a higher rate after shopping at costco. The reason that I shop at Costco is the fact that my HP laptop kicked the bucket one week after the manufacturer warranty expired……costco extends said warranty to 2 years (from the 1 year HP give you) and now my lappy is back in action. with the proper mindset it is possible to save money at costco, at the end of every year they send me a check that covers my membership fee.