Speaker 1: Episode forty six. Do warehouse clubs really save you money?
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to
Speaker 1: save money, embrace simplicity rights, and live with your life.
Speaker 1: Here your host Jen and Jill. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends podcast. So happy to have you. My name
Speaker 1: is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we're doing
Speaker 1: another listener request episode on warehouse clubs like Costco and
Speaker 1: b J's b J's Club. You can see you're you're
Speaker 1: getting a preview of how I feel about warehouse clubs.
Speaker 1: I don't even know their names, but we're going through
Speaker 1: them because there's not a black and white answer actually
Speaker 1: on whether warehouse clubs save you money, despite what articles
Speaker 1: on the internet might say. So we're gonna go through
Speaker 1: them and we're gonna help you figure out what is
Speaker 1: right for you. But first a short word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1: This week's episode is brought to you by Modern frugality
Speaker 1: dot com. The Modern Frugality blog and shop has free
Speaker 1: and low cost printables, e books, resources, and I know
Speaker 1: this because I'm working on them. Help you reduce your spending,
Speaker 1: minimize your stuff, and organize your life. Hopefully, and if
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Speaker 1: get fifty off, even if it's on sale off with
Speaker 1: the code frugal Friends one nine. How great to have
Speaker 1: access to the creator of modern frugality. If you see
Speaker 1: something convenient that needs to be changed, or you want
Speaker 1: something that isn't available, here you go. You got jam
Speaker 1: right here and you can see we're all about requests.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean this episode is also brought to
Speaker 1: you by diversifying. It's a great option for your portfolio
Speaker 1: and your life. It's especially relevant today as we talk
Speaker 1: about warehouse clubs, who have we seen diversify better than them?
Speaker 1: I mean, where else can you go to get your
Speaker 1: chicken and your underwear all manufactured by the same company. Hey,
Speaker 1: if it works for them, it can work for you.
Speaker 1: Diversifying try something different today? Is that? Is that similar
Speaker 1: to uh diversity which is an old, old wooden chips?
Speaker 1: So what? Oh? If you get that reference? I I
Speaker 1: love you, Jill, her friend didn't she didn't get it
Speaker 1: it over my head or didn't get I'm not even
Speaker 1: just beyond me. I M I must be too young,
Speaker 1: too young to get reference. But if you do, you
Speaker 1: can be old with me. All right, So warehouse clubs,
Speaker 1: am I right? Yeah, that's what we're talking about today.
Speaker 1: So I think you're right about that. So Jill, have
Speaker 1: you ever been a member of a warehouse club? Never? Ever?
Speaker 1: But have I been to a warehouse club? Yes? Yes,
Speaker 1: funny all of them b J Sam's Costco. I've been
Speaker 1: there checking out. I was a member for free because
Speaker 1: my mom got it included in her work for a while,
Speaker 1: and then she left that job, but they never took
Speaker 1: her off of the membership. N So for years we
Speaker 1: would keep going whenever we needed something, and it was
Speaker 1: just kind of like, are we going to get in?
Speaker 1: Let's see every time they canceled their membership. I don't
Speaker 1: know one day they did. For a while, it was
Speaker 1: really fun, but it's really it's really individual on whether
Speaker 1: warehouse club works for you, and and people should know this.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know that there's a lot of people
Speaker 1: in our group who love to buy in bulk, and
Speaker 1: then in our Facebook group, the Frugal Friends community, and
Speaker 1: then there's some people that want to keep their home
Speaker 1: more minimalists. So even if buying in bulk might save
Speaker 1: a little bit of money. It's more worth it to
Speaker 1: them to have a minimalist home versus you know, two
Speaker 1: hundred rolls of toilet paper that they got on sale,
Speaker 1: and both are really good. And I are more on
Speaker 1: the minimalist home side general. I think you do too.
Speaker 1: Oh I have to It's it's something I want to do,
Speaker 1: but it's also a necessity, especially as we plan to
Speaker 1: move into one hundred seventies square feet. So yeah, a
Speaker 1: toilet paper, as nice as that sounds, I don't ever important.
Speaker 1: But then there's also big families that as quickly as
Speaker 1: they buy toilet paper, especially in you know, twelve and
Speaker 1: six packs, they will go through it. So I will
Speaker 1: say that I am grateful for my friends and family
Speaker 1: who do have Costco memberships. I'm not going to say
Speaker 1: that I don't ever use them. There are certain things
Speaker 1: that I do appreciate getting from there, and I like
Speaker 1: to have access to it, but it's never been worth
Speaker 1: it for me to have the membership, which we'll talk
Speaker 1: about that, you know, figuring out if it's for you,
Speaker 1: whether or not you want to have a membership or
Speaker 1: not saying don't do it. It could be the frugal
Speaker 1: way for you depending on your lifestyle. Correct. But while
Speaker 1: normally we would go through our first article, just one
Speaker 1: article throughout, I actually didn't find what I was looking
Speaker 1: for when I was searching the internet. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: make something up, and we're going to make up our
Speaker 1: own first article out of a collection of different articles.
Speaker 1: And it's a way to get a sense of how
Speaker 1: how much you will use of something, so you can
Speaker 1: calculate if buying in bulk is going to save money
Speaker 1: for you, and also so that you don't buy too
Speaker 1: much bulk, because that's that's a problem. My grandmother had
Speaker 1: with toilet paper. And when I think bulk, my mind
Speaker 1: automatically goes to toilet paper because of her. She would
Speaker 1: buy it whenever it was on sale. She was one
Speaker 1: woman who bought probably rolls of toilet paper a week.
Speaker 1: And when she died, we did not inherit much money,
Speaker 1: but we inherited about six months of toilet paper each Hey,
Speaker 1: that's something to be grateful for. I wasn't write her all.
Speaker 1: My inheritance from my grandmother of toilet paper got me
Speaker 1: through about six months just me using it. So so
Speaker 1: figuring out and people don't calculate how many rolls of
Speaker 1: toilet paper they use every year, Um, except for these
Speaker 1: people on the internet. They did it. They did it.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna go through toilet paper and a few
Speaker 1: other things so you can figure out yours. So this
Speaker 1: first one is control and roll dot Com. And they
Speaker 1: figured out is an ambiguous gender, so I can't say
Speaker 1: here she, but they figured out how many rules of
Speaker 1: toilet paper they used in one year. He or she
Speaker 1: used forty nine rolls of toilet paper, which equated to
Speaker 1: thousand sheets of whatever toilet paper they were using in
Speaker 1: one year, which you've got to wonder, right, is their
Speaker 1: usage of toilet paper the same as my usage of
Speaker 1: toilet paper exactly? This is all going to be subjective,
Speaker 1: it will be, but probably an approximate right to plan
Speaker 1: for about fifty rolls of toilet paper a year, so
Speaker 1: then you can base whether or not you would want
Speaker 1: to get all of that at Costco or Sam's Club
Speaker 1: or b J's or not. I will say the article
Speaker 1: talked about I guess Cheryl Crowe at one point said
Speaker 1: that people should only use one square of toilet paper
Speaker 1: per bathroom visit, which is a little disconcerting. Although my
Speaker 1: grandfather would always tell me to do that. He'd yell
Speaker 1: at me through the door, one sheet on one sheet,
Speaker 1: which was always lovely. We both we both have interesting
Speaker 1: stories of toilet paper and our grandparents. What was the
Speaker 1: deal with that? Like, worried about running out, so your
Speaker 1: grandmother collected, worried about running out, so my grandfather limited.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is. I don't know either,
Speaker 1: But if you have a funny toilet paper story, we'd
Speaker 1: love to hear it too. I went to the Sam's
Speaker 1: Club website to see what their brand of bulk toilet
Speaker 1: paper is going for. And right now you can get
Speaker 1: at my Sam's Club by my house a forty five
Speaker 1: roll pack of toilet paper um, which may not be
Speaker 1: the best. And I will say that every bum deserves
Speaker 1: the best toilet paper, like you don't ever in your
Speaker 1: life deserve the cheapest toilet paper. See I say every
Speaker 1: septic tank deserves the best toilet paper because I have
Speaker 1: lived in motor homes, so you don't want to get
Speaker 1: Believe me, you want the finn stuff. Depending on where
Speaker 1: you live, what is best relative, yes, but if you
Speaker 1: live in a house like me, I spring a little
Speaker 1: extra for the nicer toilet paper and I never feel
Speaker 1: guilty about it. Good job, And but I didn't check
Speaker 1: to see what type of toilet paper this was. It
Speaker 1: says ultra premium. Who knows, and it is sev there's
Speaker 1: like a dollar fifty off right now for rules. So
Speaker 1: if you're rounding down and you know it's like eighteen
Speaker 1: bucks and you've got two of these in a year,
Speaker 1: you could if you bought them on the same day
Speaker 1: and just use them for a year, like recorded when
Speaker 1: you bought them, and use them for a year straight
Speaker 1: or until you run out, then you could start to
Speaker 1: at least get an idea of how much toilet paper
Speaker 1: you use a year. But whose toilet paper purchases are
Speaker 1: really setting them back financially, Let's be real. That's another thing,
Speaker 1: like how how much do you really need to save
Speaker 1: by getting a club memership? You're getting You're you're getting
Speaker 1: too deep too quickly, Jill, because come to this relevant
Speaker 1: revelation at the end of the sorry we only like
Speaker 1: ten minutes in. That's it, by guys. So if you're
Speaker 1: really curious and wanted to try it out for a year,
Speaker 1: you could just buy. And this is essentially my hope,
Speaker 1: is that my plan would be to find somebody else
Speaker 1: with a warehouse club membership by all these things in
Speaker 1: one day, in one visit with them, and then never
Speaker 1: have to do it again for the year, and then
Speaker 1: to talk to that person again either except till next year,
Speaker 1: and and just avoid the membership fee and over over
Speaker 1: buying in bulk because it does I mean, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure what type of toilet paper this is, but eighteen
Speaker 1: bucks for six months of toilet paper, I mean that
Speaker 1: seems cheap to me. Also, all the toilet papers also
Speaker 1: really cheap, and all they doesn't have a membership fee.
Speaker 1: Can you tell are fans of all the if you've
Speaker 1: listened to at least one episode of the show, you will.
Speaker 1: So Another article that Jen put together, Thanks Jen, comes
Speaker 1: from Men's Health, and it's talking about shampoo, so which
Speaker 1: is funny Men's Health, but they're talking about long hair,
Speaker 1: so hair that would go to the shoulders. This person
Speaker 1: generally used seventy five uses like seventy five showers per
Speaker 1: twenty four ounce bottle, which equalled for them three bottles
Speaker 1: a year. So if you're using about three bottles of
Speaker 1: shampoo a year, figure out what's going to be worth
Speaker 1: it for you? As far as savings goes. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I did a little math on my own for this one,
Speaker 1: because they gave a range for men, and like, some
Speaker 1: of us will have hair longer than their shoulders. But
Speaker 1: if you are shampooing four times a week, that's probably
Speaker 1: going to be three twenty four ounce bottles a year.
Speaker 1: I was doing budget coaching with somebody like last year,
Speaker 1: and they were buying shampoo once a month, and she
Speaker 1: had just hair down to her shoulders, and I was like, why,
Speaker 1: why so much shampoo? What's happening in that shower? But
Speaker 1: for the first time, it made her aware that she
Speaker 1: might be using too much. Why so she was actually
Speaker 1: running out. It wasn't just get this, get this and collecting.
Speaker 1: She was running out of running out yet. And so
Speaker 1: she was buying out of necessity, not out of like
Speaker 1: hoarding or sales. Oh my word, that's stressful. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: that might be if you were buying more than three
Speaker 1: bottles bottles a year, and that's a quarter side portion
Speaker 1: is what they recommend for your hair down to your shoulders,
Speaker 1: you might want to consider using less or maybe shampooing
Speaker 1: fewer times a week. Yes, check out our beauty episode
Speaker 1: on that one. You don't need to shampoo that often. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So I didn't do any research on prices of shampoos
Speaker 1: because you could get into the weeds on that one.
Speaker 1: But that was another one that you can try and
Speaker 1: buy three bottles of you know whatever ORNs or whatever
Speaker 1: equals that um and see how much you're going through,
Speaker 1: See if you're maybe using too much, and you could
Speaker 1: cut back, see if you could cut back to one
Speaker 1: sheet of toilet paper per no. And we've talked about
Speaker 1: this in our Kate Flanders episode. You know, we talk
Speaker 1: about tracking spending but also tracking usage. This could be
Speaker 1: helpful whether or not you're considering a warehouse membership, to
Speaker 1: know what you consume for budgeting purposes. Yes, I And
Speaker 1: every time that I thought about this, I went back
Speaker 1: to Kate on our show talking about spending her second
Speaker 1: year of her spending fast just tracking what she used.
Speaker 1: I think she used two deodorants in a year, and
Speaker 1: just taking one year, like you don't have to do
Speaker 1: this the rest of the year life, but taking one
Speaker 1: year to figure out what you use can help you
Speaker 1: save money for the rest of your life. Yeah. And
Speaker 1: I think connects you to your consumption more too, and
Speaker 1: just that can help you to realize, oh, man, I
Speaker 1: don't want to be using this much of whatever the product,
Speaker 1: or I want to switch to this because I realized
Speaker 1: I don't use as much as I thought, so I
Speaker 1: could get a better product or whatever. There's so many
Speaker 1: realizations that can come out of that kind of tracking. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and in the end it saves you a few dollars
Speaker 1: here and there, but I think even more importantly it
Speaker 1: reduces your consumption and over time, not only to those
Speaker 1: dollars at up, but the effect that you have on
Speaker 1: the market and consumption in a hole in the world
Speaker 1: really does make a difference if we all just try
Speaker 1: to use less and spend less. Off my soapbox there,
Speaker 1: I liked it all right. And then the last one
Speaker 1: that I looked at was trash bags, and this one
Speaker 1: was This one is hard to quantify um, but the
Speaker 1: average person creates about six pounds of trash per year,
Speaker 1: and they're basing that off of creating about four point
Speaker 1: four pounds of trash per day. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: I make that much. Yeah, but that's an average. Some
Speaker 1: people make more, some people make less. Sure, I could
Speaker 1: see a family family of five that does a lot
Speaker 1: of living at home, I could see that. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: but this is like per person. So yeah, so you
Speaker 1: have to be aware of what you're creating. But in
Speaker 1: the end, I think we all create more trash than
Speaker 1: we're actually aware of. I think we would be shocked
Speaker 1: with if we actually looked at it, the trash we
Speaker 1: produced throughout the day. But that aside, pounds of trash
Speaker 1: per person would equal forty fifty six gallon trash bags
Speaker 1: per year. Per person, fifty six gallon trash bags, get
Speaker 1: a box of forty of them and that will last
Speaker 1: you per year. And you can just even that out
Speaker 1: if you have a smaller trash can or whatever. But
Speaker 1: that's another thing I think we buy for the two
Speaker 1: of us, Like we don't get fifty six gallon bags,
Speaker 1: but we'll buy two boxes a year. Mhm um. So
Speaker 1: there's no reason for us to buy those in bulk
Speaker 1: because all these sells them right, Look at you jump
Speaker 1: into your conclusion already. Yeah, but that's just me. Like,
Speaker 1: if you have there are six people in your family,
Speaker 1: you will create more waste than just the two of us.
Speaker 1: And all of these are nonperishable items that we've mentioned
Speaker 1: that if you have the storage space for it you
Speaker 1: could stock up on. This isn't to mention the perishables,
Speaker 1: the foods, the big unexpected items that you can get
Speaker 1: at these warehouses, so we'll we'll get into that in
Speaker 1: our next article. Yes, yes, anything to say about these.
Speaker 1: These are the only little things that I tracked. There
Speaker 1: are obviously some people use paper towels, but other people
Speaker 1: will use reusable ones. So there's your savings right there.
Speaker 1: And then there's like cleaning products unless you make your
Speaker 1: own hashtag episode whatever where we did d I Y
Speaker 1: cleaning products just less three great. Well by the time
Speaker 1: this one comes out, and spoiler alert, we record early.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so look at what you're using. It's not
Speaker 1: gonna be the same for everyone, and then figure out
Speaker 1: how much you're using of it, and a quick Google
Speaker 1: search can kind of tell you or guide you about
Speaker 1: how much that might be excellent. Mhm. So our first
Speaker 1: actual article that we're going to go through is from
Speaker 1: the Balance, and it is how much does buying in
Speaker 1: bulk actually save you in one year? M I think
Speaker 1: this covered a lot of what I already knew, but
Speaker 1: I won't assume that what I knew is what everybody knows.
Speaker 1: How do you feel about it, Jill, I would agree
Speaker 1: because I've been to these warehouse clubs. I know what
Speaker 1: they have to offer. I'm a little bit familiar with
Speaker 1: what's the deal, what's not the deal, some of the pitfalls.
Speaker 1: But I think it's a good overview for anyone considering
Speaker 1: getting a membership who hasn't had one before. I think
Speaker 1: it's a good one to check out. I really liked
Speaker 1: some of their ideas for wanting to save because sometimes
Speaker 1: it's not just about family size. Maybe you're running a
Speaker 1: small business, or maybe you have a membership through work
Speaker 1: or whatever, and you're looking to take the best advantage
Speaker 1: of these warehouse clubs. So I thought the tips they
Speaker 1: offered in here we're actually pretty good. My favorite one
Speaker 1: was trying to split the membership cost and items bought,
Speaker 1: like split it with a friend, or like one couple
Speaker 1: splits it with another couple. That could be, you know,
Speaker 1: across four adults. That could actually be like saving you
Speaker 1: money definitely and not running as high of a risk
Speaker 1: of spoiling the items, getting veggie or meats or that
Speaker 1: kind of thing, and then splitting it. Then you're less
Speaker 1: likely to have to throw things away and make the
Speaker 1: whole thing pointless, I also liked their list of items
Speaker 1: that are good deals to buy there, and I would
Speaker 1: agree at least to have it through from my experience.
Speaker 1: The meats, some of the ready to eat meals, the
Speaker 1: canned items we've already talked to, nonperishable items, the shelf stuff,
Speaker 1: paper products, paper towels, paper plates. They also did a rundown.
Speaker 1: They did the math even of diapers, so if you
Speaker 1: are a mom or dad with young kids, it seems
Speaker 1: to be about cents of diaper, which is it sounds
Speaker 1: like cheaper than most other places. Although I don't know
Speaker 1: all the I know all these seems to have a
Speaker 1: good deal. I don't know the math on the all
Speaker 1: the diapers, but they recommended and then laundry and dish detergent,
Speaker 1: garbage bags, coffee if you drink a lot of it,
Speaker 1: But then that's the thing too. If you're a coffee snob,
Speaker 1: you know that coffee fresh is best, so even if
Speaker 1: you're keeping it and your freezer, I don't go that route.
Speaker 1: It probably is a great deal, but I don't think
Speaker 1: it tastes as good. Then they also mentioned dog food
Speaker 1: or treats, toothbrushes, cereals, jewelry. I know some people get
Speaker 1: their prescriptions from Costco. They I mean, like I said,
Speaker 1: they've they've diversified. Man, there's all kinds of stuff you
Speaker 1: can get and I've used this, and like you said,
Speaker 1: for for if you have a small business, it's great.
Speaker 1: But I've also tried to cash in on friends or
Speaker 1: families Costco memberships if I have a party coming up
Speaker 1: and you know, we're doing a bunch of burgers and
Speaker 1: hot dogs or getting the cake from there. So when
Speaker 1: you're trying to feed a lot of people, even for
Speaker 1: just a day, I found that that is a good
Speaker 1: place to go for that, Yeah, for sure. And it
Speaker 1: also lists the different membership fees. I'm not sure where
Speaker 1: what the perks difference is for them, but like for Sam's,
Speaker 1: you'll pay forty five dollars a year, b J's you'll
Speaker 1: pay fifty dollars year. In Costco you'll pay sixty And
Speaker 1: these are for like the baseline memberships, so that also
Speaker 1: has to be factored into the cost of your items,
Speaker 1: like dispersing those like this person is saying their their
Speaker 1: son goes through twelve diapers a day. Whoa I know,
Speaker 1: and then it's Sam's there cents for the nice diaper,
Speaker 1: where Target it's cents a diaper. And sometimes you want
Speaker 1: to go with name brand just for whatever reason. So
Speaker 1: that's another time buying in bulk can make sense if
Speaker 1: if you need a name brand. It's also a time
Speaker 1: when tracking consumption can make sense. Twelve diapers a day,
Speaker 1: I know it must be a really young child. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's an infant. So I also liked what they had
Speaker 1: to say about unexpected purchases. Costco all of these warehouse clubs,
Speaker 1: I can speak specifically for Costco though, they'll have these
Speaker 1: items that you wouldn't expect, which rotate. You can't always
Speaker 1: count on them having the socks that you like, but
Speaker 1: they'll offer at different times of the year, different types
Speaker 1: of clothing, outdoor furniture, all kinds of stuff that this
Speaker 1: article even says. This author says that they get their insurance,
Speaker 1: their life insurance. I was shocked. Yeah, they just have everything,
Speaker 1: life insurance, chicken underwear, whatever you want, come and get it.
Speaker 1: And I have. Their clothing is really good quality. I've
Speaker 1: liked every article of clothing that I have bought there.
Speaker 1: It's not thrift store prices, but it's not department store
Speaker 1: prices either, it's kind of the middle ground, so you
Speaker 1: can get some some good deals there if they have
Speaker 1: what you're looking for. They say that their Costco life
Speaker 1: insurance save them about two thousand dollars, so that is
Speaker 1: obviously worth a sixty dollar like annual fee. So that's
Speaker 1: a big That is where you stop nickel and diming
Speaker 1: and you start saving the real money. I will say,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people also like warehouse clubs
Speaker 1: because of the quality control that a lot of people
Speaker 1: will think everything that I've gotten from Costco I really like.
Speaker 1: So there starts to be this trust, like this brand
Speaker 1: trust of yeah, if they have a mattress, it must
Speaker 1: be a good mattress. And that has been my experience
Speaker 1: so far. We've gotten mattresses, TVs big items at a discount,
Speaker 1: deep discount, you know, at least a couple of hundred
Speaker 1: dollars lower than what you'd get it elsewhere, and it
Speaker 1: always has been a good product. So for those bigger items,
Speaker 1: it could be worth it or find a friend. And
Speaker 1: then the last part of this article just considers what
Speaker 1: we've already been through, is like how are you planning
Speaker 1: to store this? So if you're planning a party or
Speaker 1: a long trip, or you have an extra freezer, you
Speaker 1: can afford to think about buying in bulk. But if
Speaker 1: you're in a one bedroom apartment, or if you're in
Speaker 1: a three too, and your space is already feeling cluttered,
Speaker 1: and you're thinking, oh my gosh, we should really consider
Speaker 1: buying a four bedroom house, and you're still thinking about
Speaker 1: buying in bulk. It's far more expensive to get more
Speaker 1: square footage in your house than it is to just
Speaker 1: spend the extra money to go out and buy toilet
Speaker 1: paper every time you run out. So I think we've
Speaker 1: watched too much HD TV and we see these like
Speaker 1: large pantries and all this kitchen storage and these walking
Speaker 1: closets and stuff, and we buy the things to fill
Speaker 1: them up, and then we fill them up before we
Speaker 1: can use them, and we just keep buying more, more
Speaker 1: and more, and a mortgage payment is far more expensive
Speaker 1: than paying the premium prices at your grocery store for
Speaker 1: six rolls of toilet paper. Frugality is always going to
Speaker 1: air on the side of simplicity, exactly right, that one
Speaker 1: on your bumper, Oh my gosh, yes, thinking where else
Speaker 1: I can put that. Frugality is always going to air
Speaker 1: on the side of simplicity, and simplicity sometimes cost you
Speaker 1: a little more upfront, but in the long rue will
Speaker 1: always be cheaper. So use that filter when you are
Speaker 1: trying to think warehouse club or not. Yeah, well, man,
Speaker 1: I don't know how else to follow up such a
Speaker 1: great summary other than the best time of the week.
Speaker 1: It's time. It's time for the billow bill week. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.
Speaker 1: Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's built buffalo bills. Bill Clinton, this is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week. Hey guys, my bill of the week
Speaker 1: is actually a parking pass that my husband and I
Speaker 1: purchased for the ferry. We we're going to catch the
Speaker 1: ferry and go over for the day, and there was
Speaker 1: an option of paying for parking, which cost for the
Speaker 1: day eighteen dollars, which felt very monstrous to me, and
Speaker 1: I had a little argument with my husband about whether
Speaker 1: or not we should park down the street and just walk.
Speaker 1: But we also have a baby while almost two year old.
Speaker 1: A car seed gifts we're bringing over for family, and
Speaker 1: we end up buying the parking paths, which I was
Speaker 1: initially heartbroken about. But on the way home we missed
Speaker 1: the ferry, and then we had to catch the ferry,
Speaker 1: which took two hours to arrive back to our home
Speaker 1: Vancouver Island. And after sleeping on the ferry and waking
Speaker 1: up disoriented, I was pretty happy in the end to
Speaker 1: have my car sitting right outside the door rather than
Speaker 1: a fifteen minute walked down the road. And that is
Speaker 1: my bill of the week. Oh my gosh. We did
Speaker 1: not listen to that bill before we set all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I promise you we did not. Yes, we were both
Speaker 1: like on the edge of our seats, like listening to
Speaker 1: how is this story gonna go? How is this gonna end?
Speaker 1: And my goodness, that ended in your husband being right, yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: and you even admitted it to the rest of the world. Right,
Speaker 1: because the whole world listened to our podcast. I know
Speaker 1: you need to play this for him, Emma, because yeah,
Speaker 1: I and that would be me. I would want to
Speaker 1: pay the eighteen dollars and Travis would be like, no,
Speaker 1: let's park down the street. But yes, exactly. Sometimes it's
Speaker 1: worth it to spend the extra ten dollar bill, five
Speaker 1: dollar bill and three one dollar bills, especially when you
Speaker 1: consider what your circumstances were. It probably would have been
Speaker 1: fine if you didn't have gifts and a baby, But
Speaker 1: with gifts and a baby, you just want to be
Speaker 1: close to that ferry. Write that one on your bumper
Speaker 1: sticker and when you live a frugal life you can
Speaker 1: figure out. I mean, you've already saved eighteen dollars and
Speaker 1: other places, so you can make your life a little
Speaker 1: simpler by not having to stress over um parking. That's
Speaker 1: going to make your in your family's life easier. I
Speaker 1: love that. Thank you, Emma for that bill of the week.
Speaker 1: If you have a bill of the week, you can
Speaker 1: let us know at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash
Speaker 1: bill and leave us a voicemail or record on your
Speaker 1: desktop over speak pipe and we will get it and
Speaker 1: we will play it and we will love it. Moving
Speaker 1: on to our Lightning Round Lightning Round BA, which seems
Speaker 1: to change every week. Every week, it's something different. Most
Speaker 1: podcasts have a consistency factor um so it's why people
Speaker 1: love us. It's inconsistent, unpredictable, mysterious, that's how I would
Speaker 1: call it, just like all good relationships. So we're going
Speaker 1: to actually go off sound off eleven things you shouldn't
Speaker 1: buy in bulk, and maybe we'll explain why, but maybe
Speaker 1: we won't. You'll never know, but you'll be on the
Speaker 1: edge of your seat the whole time. I know, all right,
Speaker 1: I'll go first. Number one brown rice and whole grains.
Speaker 1: One word natural oils. Number two it's two words. Oh gosh,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. That's okay, you're pregnant. Number two nuts and seeds.
Speaker 1: I don't have anywhere I was gonna go. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm reading here, I'm reading your facial expressions.
Speaker 1: Number three liquid bleach actually only has a shelf life
Speaker 1: of six to twelve months. Spices similar reason to bleach.
Speaker 1: They lose their potency six months to a year after purchase.
Speaker 1: Number five olive oil. The same reason is bleach, And
Speaker 1: basically the takeaway is spices and olive oil are just
Speaker 1: like bleach in that exactly. Number six eggs shouldn't need
Speaker 1: an explanation on that. No explanation for that one. You
Speaker 1: know why you shouldn't get a thirty six pack? Yeah.
Speaker 1: Number seven sunscreen, even if you live in Florida. Wow.
Speaker 1: Number eight canned vegetables, which is actually contradictory to our
Speaker 1: previous article. But we're just we're just reading. We're you know,
Speaker 1: we're just the messengers, you guys. Yeah, this is from
Speaker 1: money crashers, and they can have a different opinion than
Speaker 1: the balance. That's fine. But like also hashtag botulis um. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Number nine condiments, yeah, the shelf life, similar reason to bleach.
Speaker 1: Number ten. Number ten frozen, Yes, frozen items that I
Speaker 1: don't know if I agree with that one. We're just again,
Speaker 1: we're just listening out. But they think frozen items mm hmm,
Speaker 1: well okay, good for them. And number eleven plastic or
Speaker 1: paper plates, utensils and cups because how many people are
Speaker 1: you feeding? Well? And so this is again where I
Speaker 1: would disagree with this because I have found the best
Speaker 1: deals for a party. I love to throw a part Actually,
Speaker 1: my mother in law loves to throw parties. I just
Speaker 1: tell her I'm having a bunch of people over to
Speaker 1: her house, so I go with her to Costcow. It's fantastic. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so it has come in handy. Then, if you are
Speaker 1: hosting a lot, you do a lot of parties, you
Speaker 1: have unfortunately made people know that you are a good
Speaker 1: cook and they're constantly coming over. Then yeah, get get
Speaker 1: your get your paper plates there. Yeah, but for like parties,
Speaker 1: not for everyday life. Everyday life. Yeah, and those are
Speaker 1: the eleven things that you shouldn't buy in bulk. We
Speaker 1: did it. That was that felt like a lightning round.
Speaker 1: I felt most like a lightning round than we've ever done.
Speaker 1: That was the closest for sure. Yeah. But also in
Speaker 1: this lightning round, I want to give my pro tips
Speaker 1: because I'm gonna self proclaim pro pro tips here. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're definitely a prol on this one. So you can
Speaker 1: still eat at the cafeteria, at least at Costco, even
Speaker 1: without a membership. You just enter through the exit, which
Speaker 1: is a little risky. It's not actually that risky. They
Speaker 1: let you do it. It just it might feel risky
Speaker 1: because it's like, oh my word, the door says exit,
Speaker 1: but I'm entering. Doesn't matter. That's where their cafeteria is.
Speaker 1: So you can go in without a membership. Get your
Speaker 1: dollar hot dog. You know I love hot dogs. Get
Speaker 1: your two dollar smoothie, Get your dollar fifty slice of pizza,
Speaker 1: your dollar fifty fries, whatever your hankering for, or they
Speaker 1: also have salads. They've got great prices on their gafeteria foods.
Speaker 1: So I'm telling you I will. If I'm just driving
Speaker 1: around the area of Costco, sometimes i will stop in
Speaker 1: to eat there because it is the biggest bang for
Speaker 1: your buck. You don't have to have a membership. That
Speaker 1: is so smart, Like it's cheaper than fast food at
Speaker 1: this point if you're in a pinch and I would
Speaker 1: have never known, I know a Kia super cheap they
Speaker 1: do too. Yeah, so great to go there for lunch.
Speaker 1: But Costco also a good option. Yes, so do it
Speaker 1: even without a membership. Also avoid the pitfalls of this,
Speaker 1: especially if you don't have a membership and you go
Speaker 1: with a friend. Sometimes it can be you know, kid
Speaker 1: at the candy store, like, look at all these things
Speaker 1: that they have, And so just avoid the impulse buys
Speaker 1: that can happen. No beforehand, have a plan because it
Speaker 1: can be real tempting to get that massive thing of
Speaker 1: turtle candies or peanut butter filled pretzels or whatever cases.
Speaker 1: And also know that when you buy it in bulk,
Speaker 1: even if it is a good deal, you're you're eating
Speaker 1: that much more of it's like, look at how much
Speaker 1: I have. I can just have a handful of all
Speaker 1: this candy because it's never running out. So think about
Speaker 1: your health goals to regarding purchasing in bulk. Amen, there
Speaker 1: you go that those are my My other tips were
Speaker 1: sprinkled throughout as far as the bigger items and all that.
Speaker 1: But that's enough. Don't try and pressure me into thinking
Speaker 1: that that wasn't enough. It is enough. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I just I was. I was on the edge of
Speaker 1: my seat for more because I love that so um.
Speaker 1: But I think the moral of the story for me
Speaker 1: is find somebody with a Warehouse club membership and go
Speaker 1: with them once a year. Oh I did forget one.
Speaker 1: Take it. Advantage of the free trials and try before
Speaker 1: you buy, because your friend who you think you're super
Speaker 1: similar to, who raves about it and loves it, you
Speaker 1: may not actually be that similar to her, and you
Speaker 1: may not want the same thing she wants. And now
Speaker 1: you've wasted sixty dollars only to find out that you're
Speaker 1: not actually going to buy that much chicken or that
Speaker 1: prepared meal. All the time they have free trials, yeah,
Speaker 1: most of them. We'll have free trials if you've never
Speaker 1: had a membership before. They'll give you like a month free.
Speaker 1: What then you go and there you go, there you go.
Speaker 1: You don't have to have a friend that has membership.
Speaker 1: You do the one month free. Then your spouse does
Speaker 1: one month free the next year, and then you change
Speaker 1: your name and you do it, and you just go
Speaker 1: back and forth, and then you raise your kid real
Speaker 1: quick to be able to go get a membership on
Speaker 1: their own. Oh my gosh, your friends. Have you got
Speaker 1: in this? With your friends? Everyone could get a free
Speaker 1: and you can all go together and listen. I'm never
Speaker 1: going to advocate for mooching off of this system, but
Speaker 1: for sure general neither of my fruality is not mooching.
Speaker 1: That's an important distinction. It should create community, not break it.
Speaker 1: Oh another good saying. Oh yes, this has been at
Speaker 1: least an episode for some frugal wisdom. All right, So
Speaker 1: it's March, and if you want some more frugal wisdom,
Speaker 1: we are reading Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver. I think
Speaker 1: that dovetails nicely with our frugality, airing on the side
Speaker 1: of simplicity statements from earlier. So it's a great book.
Speaker 1: Courtney Carver. She created the project three three three and
Speaker 1: it's where you only wear um thirty three items of
Speaker 1: clothing for three months. So it's like alternative capsule wardrobe.
Speaker 1: So I like it, Yeah, definitely. If you want to
Speaker 1: learn more about that, read Soulful Simplicity with us. I
Speaker 1: also like it for the alliteration, you know us. We
Speaker 1: love our soulful simplicity. Yes, and we're still doing our
Speaker 1: thing over here where we're giving away these free books
Speaker 1: to people who give us reviews. So if you want
Speaker 1: the possibility of getting a free copy, leave us a
Speaker 1: review on iTunes or Stitcher, Screenshot the review and send
Speaker 1: it over to us. Uh. The email addresses Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: Podcast at gmail dot com, and we'll select the winners
Speaker 1: at the end of the month, one book for every
Speaker 1: five reviews, so your chances are real good. Yes, and uh,
Speaker 1: we give away those books on Amazon, so be sure
Speaker 1: you can actually receive things from Amazon, and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: get in there. If you want a really great example
Speaker 1: of a review, it looks like five stars and underneath
Speaker 1: it it would say something like this this once from Lozette.
Speaker 1: Frugal Friends Podcast sometimes rambunctious and raw, but ultimately insightful
Speaker 1: with gifts galore. She's talking about our podcast community on Facebook,
Speaker 1: although not unanimous about the Lightning round. So true. Our
Speaker 1: frugal friends Jill and Jen really know where frugal freedom
Speaker 1: is found. If you're searching for frugal entertainment that's second
Speaker 1: to none and will not disappoint your search is done.
Speaker 1: Waste no more time looking, just stay for the fun.
Speaker 1: What what she's a writer and a poet and what
Speaker 1: a fanta like that's above and beyond right there, that's
Speaker 1: not even a good five star review. That that's beauty,
Speaker 1: a full lyricism. I know. This is our our frugal
Speaker 1: friend lazette from Australia. Yes, and a brain and a
Speaker 1: beauty exactly, bless, bless. All right, that's all I have.
Speaker 1: That's I'm done. That's it, we're done. We're tapping out.
Speaker 1: See you next week, guys. Join us at our Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends community Facebook page because we're having fun over there. Yes,
Speaker 1: even though we're done here. Yes, we'll see you later.
Speaker 1: By Frugal Friends is produced, edited and mixed by Eric
Speaker 1: Syria Ho. I'm gonna head off to b J's now.
Speaker 1: I there's so much I didn't know about Warehouse clubs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we did talk about them in some other
Speaker 1: maybe the gifts episode where you can even get gift
Speaker 1: cards to places at a discount, like hundred dollars worth
Speaker 1: of gift cards for eighty dollars, which I would definitely
Speaker 1: do in my one month free They have some gems.
Speaker 1: I think they even do vacation planning, which is still
Speaker 1: probably outside of my praise range. I think groupon would
Speaker 1: still be a better deal, but yeah, for a one
Speaker 1: stop shop, it's um. They can be really good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get some diapers. You can see my wheels
Speaker 1: turning now that I know that there's a one month
Speaker 1: free trial, at least in my area. I'm yeah, I
Speaker 1: know b J has had it. I do get my
Speaker 1: gum from there because you know, I'm a gun at it,
Speaker 1: so I always I always tell my mom like, whenever
Speaker 1: she goes, can you get me? Because they've got like
Speaker 1: the seventeen packs of gum for twelve bucks. It's an investment,
Speaker 1: but quickly do you go through those? I have lessened it,
Speaker 1: but I go through about a pack a week. So
Speaker 1: if I were a ser'd be decent, right started going
Speaker 1: to pack a day I get you're right. Oh you've
Speaker 1: got a problem. Jill pack a week. Sometimes I share
Speaker 1: with people, okay, you know when I'm outside and I'm like, hey,
Speaker 1: you want to stick ye? Do you know that's how
Speaker 1: it goes down.