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Costco is known as a great source for buying items in bulk. Going this route could work wonders for your financial situation, as it may result in a lot of savings.
But certain bulk purchases may end up costing you money by virtue of wasted product. With that in mind, here are a few Costco items you may want to stop purchasing in 2024.
1. Produce
Loading up on fruits and vegetables is a good thing to do in theory. But produce tends to have a pretty short shelf life. And unless you have a larger family, you may find that buying produce in bulk leads to a lot of food waste.
If you are going to continue to buy produce at Costco this year, you may want to limit those purchases to one or two items you really eat a lot of. Or, buy bulk produce on a one-off basis when you’re planning a meal or recipe around it. If you’re making a batch of homemade sauce, for example, it could make sense to buy tomatoes in bulk at Costco that week.
2. Spices
Because spices are a non-refrigerated product, you might assume that they’ll last for years. But spices tend to lose their flavor sooner than expected. When it comes to spices you don’t use often, you may be better off purchasing smaller quantities at a regular grocery store.
That said, something like ground pepper may be just fine to keep buying at Costco, since it’s a common seasoning you might use regularly. If a particular spice tends to get used a lot in your kitchen, you can consider adding that specific item to your Costco list.
3. Pain medication
It’s natural to find yourself popping some pills here and there when a headache comes on that you just can’t shake, or when you’re nursing an injury from a workout. But unless you have a condition that requires you to take pain medication every day, you probably don’t want to buy those pills in bulk at Costco.
Pain medication has a limited shelf life. And while you might get away with taking pain meds a month or so after their expiration date, beyond then, they’re likely to lose potency.
Meanwhile, stocking up on ibuprofen at Costco could mean committing to purchasing 1,000 pills at a time. That’s 500 standard doses.
Now, you may get a year and change to use up your stash by the time your pills are set to expire. But even so, that could mean averaging more than one dose a day, which, for the sake of your health, hopefully won’t be necessary.
4. Cereal
In an ideal world, cereal makers would partner with a company like Ziplock to create packaging that lends to extended freshness. In reality, if you’ve ever busted open a box of cereal, you know full well that once you break that seal, you only have a limited window of time to consume your product before it starts to go stale.
Unless you have a large family that eats the same cereal multiple times a week, you probably don’t want to buy cereal at Costco. Chances are, you’ll end up having to throw some of it away.
There are many items it pays to buy in bulk at Costco. But chances are, these items should no longer have a place on your Costco shopping list this year.
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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
