Today I bit the bullet and joined Costco. Family members have bragged about it for years, though they haven't taken the trouble to learn of comparable low-cost grocery locations like those I use. My various stores save a lot of money over your standard large one-stop name-brand carry-every-brand-size-and-flavor grocery store (Albertson's, Kroger, Tom Thumb, Publix, etc.). I used to belong to Sam's Club, but stopped paying the annual fee when I didn't go there often (after the kids went away to college). I occasionally go to Sam's Club after printing their day pass (with a 5% upcharge) for a few bulk products like my allergy medicine and fiber capsules; these are things that Costco also carries. The thing that makes a difference, that I think makes the annual fee break even, is the price of their gasoline. I filled up at the store today and saved 50 cents a gallon. I always record my purchase and today versus a few days ago was that much cheaper. We haven't had a sudden radical price drop of gas in this region.