Many shoppers are changing the way they buy their food and other household items in a bid to keep costs down during the cost of living crisis. With household budgets squeezed, it's never been more important to find ways to save on your weekly shop.
However some are following the advice of budgeting experts who swear by buying in bulk to keep costs down. It could save you some serious cash if you have the money to buy more ahead of time - and the space to store it all in.
One shop that has become popular for exactly this is Costco, the American-owned membership-only wholesaler with branches across the UK. The MEN's Emma Gill decided to take a look at how much you could save.
She said: "Previous comparisons of the store with supermarkets Tesco and Asda showed that there are plenty of savings to be made. But what are the biggest money-savers? The go-to products for regular customers?
"That's a question blogger Lorna Cooper recently asked followers on her popular Facebook page Feed your family for about £20 a week. Excited to finally get her hands on a Costco membership card, she asked shoppers for their tips and what products they would recommend.
"Unsurprisingly she was inundated with responses. While some people said they don't always save money by shopping there, others said they wouldn't do without it.
"I decided to take a closer look at some of the recommendations with a trip to my local branch, where I picked up some of the items that were highlighted as being the biggest bargains."
What Emma bought
Among the products shoppers go wild for is meat - both the steak burgers and meatballs were on the go-to list. At £12.99 for 12 6oz Aberdeen Angus burgers, that works out at little over a quid each. For 42 meatballs it's £9.99, and they're big ones too, with the pack topping 1.5kg in weight. By comparison a 24 pack costs £4.50 in Tesco, but those packs are lighter, 672g each.
Of course it's the taste that matters too and even with the products that don't necessarily work out cheaper, the general consensus is that the quality is better. The premium chicken nuggets for example, at £12.49 for 2kg, are more expensive than you'd find elsewhere, but we can vouch for the fact they're far superior in taste.
Also going in the trolley were the mince pies and muffins that shoppers were raving about. Costco's cakes are a particular hit with customers, and you could see from the number of birthday cakes lined up on the shelves - having already been iced with the names of the birthday boys and girls - just how popular they are.
You're getting a huge cake for £15.99 so it's no wonder these are in demand. As are the other general cakes like carrot cake and red velvet cake.
Drinks can be picked up particularly cheaply. A 30-pack of Diet Cokes or Zero Sugar Coca-Cola for £8.62 puts them at under 29p a can and at £3.90 for a 40-pack of 500ml spring waters, working out at 9p a bottle, it's no wonder those are a regular buy for many members.
The water is Costco's own brand Kirkland and it's many of these products that made it onto the 'favourites' list.
Toilet rolls, a 40-pack for £18.59, were mentioned by shoppers time and time again and having bought these on a previous visit to the store, I didn't need to be told how brilliant these are - on quality and cost.
Dishwasher tablets, detergent and fabric conditioner were all recommended, again all from the Kirkland brand. I was impressed by all of them. Not only the cost but the quality too.
Lots of the customers also recommended visiting the café at the end of a shopping trip. While this would have been nice, sadly I didn't have time for that, as judging by the queues it seems plenty of people had the same idea.
The prices there looked good too - especially the all beef hot dog and refillable soft drink for £1.50. I might have to sample the goods on my next visit, which will no doubt be pretty soon.
My Costco shopping:
- Aberdeen Angus burgers 12 x 6oz - £12.99
- Meatballs 42-pack - £9.99
- Chicken nuggets 2kg - £12.49
- Free range eggs 24-pack - £3.49
- Mild cheddar 1.3kg - £6.23
- Muffins 2 x 6-pack - £7.49
- Mince pies 9-pack - £4.99
- Roberts giant white barms 12-pack - £2.29
- Kirkland spring water 40 x 500ml - £3.90
- Diet Coke 30 x 330ml - £8.62
- Kirkland dishwasher tablets 115-pack - £13.19
- Kirkland non-bio detergent 5L (142 washes) - £11.99
- Kirkland fabric conditioner 5L (250 washes) - £6.59
- Kirkland toilet roll 40-pack - £18.59
Total £122.84
Other products that Costco shoppers recommended include:
- Various meats to portion up
- Cereals
- Yorkshire Tea
- Douwe Egberts coffee
- Butter
- Frozen Richmond sausages
- Hot dogs
- Maple syrup
- Carrot cake
- Hand wash
- Cleaning wipes
- Bleach
- Toothpaste
- Kirkland shampoo and conditioner
- Black bin bags
The membership fee for Costco costs £33.60 a year, which works out at less than £3 a month - and it's more accessible than it used to be.
A list of professions from which current or retired employees can apply is listed here and members can add on a spouse for free, or get an extra card for £14 plus vat, so it shouldn't be too difficult to get your hands on one.
