Du'ers who are Costco members, how's that working for you?

[procon]

70. Depends on how many parties you tend to host.

Even though we love our families and dear friends, we couldn't afford to generously wine and dine them very often. I'm getting cheaper every year, and just skipping the Costco membership fee will pay for a few custom cakes, or for me and the Mister to chow down at a nice steak place, or buy the fixin's for a great family BBQ on the patio.

I've found alternatives to Costco in a local supermarket that has a real inhouse bakery and they make the best pastries and artisanal breads, beautiful and yummy custom cakes, even gorgeous wedding cakes. Others have a bulk products sections with smaller packing, and larger pacts of meats, and I do buy from them when they have the things I want. Despite missing a few Costco things -- love their institutional size tub of cream cheese and those monster blocks of cheddar! -- the economics for just two people made the savings in cost, waste and time an easy decision to quit Costco.

If they ever went back to smaller packaging, I'd consider returning.