Kristen B’s Costco Trip 9/18/20

Y’all, what is going on with my hair? Messy bun to new heights.

One of the nicest things about shopping at a place like Costco is that everyone knows the rules.

This ain’t your run o’ the mill supermarket. This is a CLUB. A wholesale club. And we got wholesale rules.

In my many years of shopping at Costco, I have never had a single problem with another club member. Everyone there is polite, considerate, and respectful. But more importantly, everyone shopping there is efficient.

We all know the drill. We’re in, we’re out, we’re not spending 45 minutes comparing pasta sauces. Grab your gallon and make way for the next shopper. Round a corner and accidentally cut someone off? Apologize, pivot, and move along. Follow the flow of traffic all the way to the end of the aisle. There’s no u-turns or swerves unless the aisle is completely clear. Costco is a shopping paradise built on never stated, never enforced, but iron clad rules.

The last few trips, but especially this trip, I have noticed that there are some shoppers who are going rogue. More specifically, they don’t seem to know these unspoken rules. They’re…new.

And that’s cool! We welcome you to our club with 65 boxes of Goldfish and a bucket’s worth of blueberries! But I find myself wondering, who shall teach these newbies the rules? Who taught me the rules when I was a newbie? I feel like one day I just knew the natural order of things. Is that how these things go? We just absorb the correct behavior?

My favorite on this trip was the pack I have dubbed the Council of Dads. The Dads were all CLEARLY new. I know, because I was behind them at one point and I overheard one Dad say to the other Dad, “ This is great. We should have gotten memberships years ago.” The Dads were all shopping together, it seemed, since it was their first time. But one Dad suggested they should do this every week, to give the wives a break from shopping. We stan a considerate partner.

The Dads were lightly overwhelmed by the layout of the Costco. I ran into them again near the front, at the snacks, right before you hit the pharmacy, and one Dad was staring at his list, scratching his head. “I didn’t get the cheese. I know there is cheese somewhere. We gotta go back. I gotta find cheese.” And all the other Dads got into a friendly debate over whether they should all go back, with their mostly full carts, or if they should just send the one Dad to get the cheese. Maybe with a second Dad, for safety. Eventually they all decided to go, because they might run into something good they didn’t see the first time around. The Dads all agreed they must’ve missed things, because there was simply so much to see. I confess that at this point, I was pretty much hiding behind the protein powder and granola bars because I was curious how this situation was going to play out.

Speaking of Dads, I had a lovely encounter with a non-council Dad that reminded me why I love Costco so much.

I went to get some baby wipes. There were none there. Just the sign, and a dude my age standing nearby with a cart as a full as mine. I looked at the sign. I looked around me. I looked at the dude. He looked at me. He spoke.

DAD DUDE: You’re looking for wipes?

ME: Yes. I see a sign, but no wipes. Not, like, even an empty place where the wipes should be?

DAD DUDE: Yeah. It’s confusing. I talked to a guy. He’s going to check. He thinks they have more that didn’t get loaded on the pallet.

ME: Cool. I’ll just wait here then, if that’s okay?

DAD DUDE: Oh yeah, totally. It looks like you have kids the way I have kids. You need those wipes.

Truer words, Dad Dude. Truer words. “You have kids the way I have kids” is my new favorite thing.  So the guy comes with the wipes and Dad Dude grabs the first box, as is his right by acknowledged Costco law, because he was there first. But get this: HE LOADS THE BOX OF WIPES INTO MY CART. What a gentleman. And fellow club members like that are why I pay for the membership to this club.

In budget news, this trip had a cap of $300 and I spent $273.05, which means I have $26.95 in wiggle room for the inevitable Kroger overages. Huzzah!

This dude was $9.99. I did not buy him. But I was sorely tempted.

First wipes of the day! They have an extra shine to them. $18.99.

Why are Costco blackberries so much better than Kroger’s? $4.39.

New muffin flavor! Scooch over, blueberry.

My bad. I already have three bags of tortillas. Enchiladas for the next seven nights straight, anyone? $3.99.

I keep buying butter because it keeps being on sale. I may have a problem. $7.89.

You know what it is. $9.99.

No Clorox wipes, but there was some more hand sanitizer. $7.99.

Pirate’s Booty on sale for $3.89.

Okay, so I have never bought these before. But I needed a backup snack for a soccer game, in case the parent who was in charge of snacks forgot, and this was both healthy(ish) and looked cool enough that the 5 years olds would eat it willingly after dashing around on a soccer field for 45 minutes. Also on sale for $7.49!

These little pickles are a big dill. BWAHAHAHHAHA. I regret nothing. $4.99.

Two pounds of strawberries for $4.49. Better price than Kroger!

After last month’s water gaffe, I course corrected with this $2.99 purchase.

Getting ready for savory stew and rice season. $6.49.

Have you noticed new shoppers in your club stores? What’s the nicest thing a fellow shopper has done for you? Why are Costco blackberries so much better than Kroger’s? Tell me after the jump!

Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!