Costco will it work for us!

A week ago Costco opened in Brisbane, Australia and the number of people who visit the store is amazing. People camped out overnight just to be the first in line, some of them even missed watching 'The State of Origin' (big football match here in Australia) and others spent ages in line waiting for the large cues to shuffle through the doors. Since it's opening last Thursday our major media outlets have done there best to either sell Costco as a great thing for people OR they've fallen over themselves to give you all the negatives.

I've seen a few media reports on the television about Costco and I must admit they're trying really hard to sell the other three major (Woolworths, Coles and Aldi) grocery stores as been better value for money. I tend to shop at all three for different things but the majority of my shopping is done at Aldi and that's because I can get better value for money. The only things I buy in bulk is toilet paper, nappies and rice so having an issue with storage isn't a big deal. Now with our family of six I tend to spend around the $200 mark for a weeks worth of groceries and that covers everything. There are weeks when I spend more, especially if I don't FAIL to draw up a Menu Plan.

So when a girlfriend offered to take me to Costco for a look see I was really excited to say the least. The car park was nearly full by the time we arrived arrived. I took my youngest two children with me and when I told them what we were doing they jumped up and down. Their reaction was priceless and I was lucky enough to get a picture of them.

I spent about 90 minutes walking around the store and honestly I have to say that I probably only saw about forty percent of the store. In part this was because my little boy was tried and I straggled to keep him in the trolley. He was happy when various Costco ladies offered him food samples, which he took, ate and said thank you for. Although he was in a bad mood I was pleased that he did remember to say Thank You.

I did make a purchase from the bakery section so that the kids could taste something yummy after school. However, what Viveca and Quinlan enjoyed the most was the Hot Dogs after we'd paid for our purchases. My girlfriend contacted me later in the day, letting me know she'd returned to purchase the strawberries and blueberries we'd spoken about as we walked around the store.

I haven't made up my mind yet as I'd like for Mr Opoes to take a look before we sign up to becoming members of Costco. So far I'm happy with what I saw especially as Costco has more health food items than my local supermarket does. One thing I'm thinking of doing is doing up a price comparison per 100 grams to see if Costco offers me value for money. I read an article today from Christina, Plain and Simple and she raises a few points relating to the true value of Costco and other Wholesale group.

I have decided that I'm going to wait a few more weeks before deciding to sign up or not as I'd like to take a better look inside and preferably without the children in tow. I would have to say that I am very interested in the store especially if I'm able to make some savings with our food budget. I'd love to know if you're a Costco customer and how long you've been shopping there.

Megan