Grand Rapids Nesties
TheWop
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Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Poll for the Costco members
I hear everyone talk about how awesome Costco is, but I've never been there (or Sam's for that matter). *gasp* I've had some things from there like cake and habenero cheese, but that's about it.
What do you love about Costo?
How much money do you save by shopping there?
Does everything come in crazy bulk? This is one of my reservations, we live in a small house (1000 sq ft- limited closet space, but a full unfinished basement), I wonder where I would put everything and if it would spoil before we got a chance to consume it.
What are your must have items?
We spend about $60/wk on groceries now, do you think I could save more by shopping at Costco?
What baby items could I buy there to save money?
Re: Poll for the Costco members
The one thing with Costco is they don't have pampers diapers so if you really want pampers, you have to use Sam's. Although they do carry Huggies and I hear good reviews of their Kirkland brand.
Nevermind Costco; to save money on baby things, sign up for Amazon Mom! Free Prime (2-day) shipping, an extra % off subscribe & save things (like diapers...), and better prices than you can find in ANY store, especially considering that your items show up on your doorstep and you're not wasting money on gas. Sign up. It's free. You won't regret it. amazon.com/mom
I am not a paid spokesperson.
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I just heard about this from a coworker today! I'm totally doing it! Sounds like the best deal on diapers!
No doubt. Get a few small packs (the smallest you can find, which are usually ironically called "jumbo") to make sure BabyWop doesn't have a bad reaction, then start your subscription ASAP and enjoy not hauling infant carrier + awkward boxes of diapers/wipes home from Target every other week.
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We've already got a small variety of diapers from a shower I had over the weekend, so we'll see what works best. Thanks!
We shop at Costco very regularly.
The things we buy all the time are diapers, toilet paper, paper towels, kleenex, contact solution, wipes, and milk. We also have bought chicken, hamburger, juice, granola bars, and other random items.
We have a small 2 bedroom apartment. We have a large closet by our front door and that is where we store the kleenex, toilet paper and paper towels. The wipes and diapers are stored in Baby Rebel's closet.
We get the coupons for Costco, and stock up. Just yesterday we bought 2 boxes of diapers. We've only bought wipes with coupons, and haven't run out between coupons yet. I like that when they show the price they give you the price per unit, be it diaper or wipe, whatever. So you could easily price compare to get a good idea of your savings.
If you'd like to go and just check it out we could always go together and you could write down some prices and just get an idea of what they carry and the size.
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I love Costco for the produce. I always by red peppers, limes, lemons and spring mix lettuce there. I love the Tzatziki (when I don't make it myself) pita bites, tortilla chips (which last a surprisingly long time) hummus (again, when i don't do homemade) feta cheese, granola bars etc.
We've found deals on household things like lightbulbs ($1 for 4 CFLs!) and Fast Track garage organizer.
On a regular basis, the things we buy are a better price at Costco. It really depends on the sales of the week at Meijer, etc. Really though, I just like shopping there. I like the product assortment, samples and the coupons. And the pizza. yum.
The store I really save money at is Aldi. It isn't glamorous, for sure, but i have received a ton of compliments on Aldi items that I have served to guests. Like a goat cheese they randomly had one week. I don't ever buy their meat though.
ETA: Costco also has really good prepped meals by the meat area. We've enjoyed the chicken soup, cilantro lime halibut etc.
Costco sends out a coupon book on a monthly basis. This is where you really can save money. We just bought a 3 pack of larger size cans of pledge for about the same price as two small cans. Up until recentlly, they used to have a coupon for saline solution every month. It about killed me to buy saline solution from the grocery store - so much more expensive.
Other items we get
diapers
wipes
shampoo, body wash, etc.
tampons (with coupons)
Oxiclean
household cleaners.
Photo development - if you buy the albums from them, you get a coupon for 50 or 100 free photos.
We too have a small house and haven't had issues storing stuff. We have cleared off a shelf in the basement and some room in the laundry room.
Usually their food comes in multiple packages. So with cereal, you get two bags in a box, not a huge bag. Or you can get six cans of something rather than a huge can.
A few weeks ago, I got my eyeglasses there. I only spent $160. I would have easily spent $300-$400 elsewhere. They didn't have a huge selection, but since I only wear them at night and when I have issues with contacts, that was't a big deal.
We have bought a few pieces of furniture from there - an entertainment center and a bookshelf for the girls. Starting in the fall, they have great deals on toys for Christmas.
We buy TP, Paper towel, wipes, dog and cat food (which I would NEVER do at Sams Club, but the Kirkland brand is really good and affordable), vitamins for the dog, pork tenderloins, lots of fruits and veggies.
The pet food alone makes it WELL worth the cost of the membership for us. We were paying a ton on food for them before we switched.
I love the selection of food--as in real food, not prepackaged stuff. I have no idea if I save any money. Not everything is crazy bulk. Here are my top 10 items:
QuinoaFeta (I go through a ton of it in the summer, what with greens and pasta salads)Organic 100% lemon juice (it comes in a large bottle)CapersPeeled garlic (yes, it?s cheating. But it?s better than the pre-minced)OlivesOrganic olive oilProsciuttoDried mushroomsPine nutsSwap out garlic for sun-dried tomatoes, dried mushrooms for real maple syrup, and prosciutto for Greek yogurt, and you have our top 10 items. We also buy oats (big containers, but we make granola bars) and organic greens (during non-garden months).
We save the most money on stuff that Meijer deems more "exotic" - capers, kalamata olives, Greek yogurt, feta, etc. The more "normal" stuff - oats, greens, etc - depends on sales at Meijer.