Sam's trip tomorrow - any advice?

[ChainedLightning]

I haven't been to Sam's in years... six or seven years.

My parents have a card and DH and I are making the trip with them tomorrow, and we're taking a lot of cash.

I know a couple of things I plan to stock up on (went through preps today, so I know what needs to be replenished), and will just be looking around beyond that to see what they have and what it costs. Does anyone have any bargain hints, or "stay away from" hints?

 

[booger]

We haven't been to a Sam's Club in a couple of years ourselves but, when we used to go, seasonings (boullion, etc) were a great buy, as was rice. Can't remember anything else offhand.

 

[nannygoat]

What you really need to know are the prices you normally pay for things because sometimes SAMS will have stuff a lower or equal to sale prices in other stores but sometimes no and even more than regular prices at normal stores - SAMS even has different prices at times - now saying that we have found items that have been constantly less to the point of being lots cheaper
pasta - esp spagetti - esp thin
powdered milk
gal jugs of pancake syrup
bottles of maple syrup - when they have it
rice and beans
butter - I buy it and freeze since you have to buy more than one pound at a time
paper products - cups and plates esp but sales sometimes can beat the others - esp with coupons you can not use at SAMS - also have to buy large packages of any of the products
most of the time cheese - again large packages though
some frozen meals
these are all I can think of right now - I am a person who shops sales and uses coupons and can not use coupons at SAMS so I have to figure items with that in mind - that is why the items I mentioned are for sure better prices - I have found if you are not a sale or coupon person that SAMS is almost all the times better

other than food items we have found paper[big boxes and photography paper] is better deal and other office items but in larger amounts than many homes would use - hubby has bought lots of tools at SAMS - again it will depend when you come in - they do not have things all the time - have bought tarps and working gloves at a good price and also cable ties and duct tape at good prices

the secret is to just know the prices you will find in other stores and then you know when SAMS is a good price

 

[Dinghy]

Yeast! They have big packs that you can keep in the freezer. They were only around $2 when I got mine a few years ago. Much cheaper than buying at the grocery store.

 

[closet squirrel]

Im like Nannygoat - there is alot of stuff at Sams that you can get for much less at the grocery store on sale with coupons. However, these are the things that I find a good deal there:

1) Generic medicine is extremely cheap at Sams. But you can only get 2 at a time of the stuff that has efedrine in it. But even tylenol type stuff is much cheaper, also Nyqil and Robitussin type

2) Spices in the big bottle are a great deal. Also yeast, boullion, salt

3) 25 pound bag os flour and 20 pound bags of rice, though my rice price has gone up alot in the last year

4) Big cans of Maxwell house coffee

5) Big bags of pancake mix

6) Milk is cheaper at Sams than at the grocery store

Also, go at lunch and eat the free samples for lunch, or they have the best pizza at their snack bar. A huge slice and a giant soda is something like $2.29.

 

[ChainedLightning]

Thanks everyone.

We buy our rice at the Asian grocery store - that's the cheapest place I've found it - I think a 25 pound back of Jasmine rice was less than ten dollars.

But, ya'll gave me a lot of ideas. I was already planning to stock up on powedered milk in a BIG way, we don't drink milk, so having the powdered form to cook with is important. Right now our calcium comes mostly from orange juice, but if TSHTF then we could get it from the powdered milk if needed.

I'm also planning to check out their canned goods - we buy "fake meat in a can" in different varieties by the case at the local SDA grocery store, I'm hoping Sam's will have some of the same stuff. We're running low on wheat gluten, so if Sam's doesn't have it then we'll need to hit the SDA place tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone

 

[Gingergirl]

Exp dates are always something I've had to be careful with at SAMS.

If you have the time and equipment, I would suggest that you repackage the butter by canning it into smaller portions and for long term storage. However, do check the exp. dates and try to get the freshest butter you can to begin with.

 

[fruit loop]

What I get at Sam's....

Spaghetti
10 pound sacks of rice
25 pound sacks of flour and sugar
The extra-large cans of Crisco
50 lb bags of dog food (store in a large trash can to keep bugs out)
50 lb bags of kitty litter
Jugs of olive oil (cheaper than at the store)
Pancake Mix
Syrup
Picnic goods (paper plates, etc)
Yeast
Spices (it's really cheaper to buy these in bulk!!)


I haven't found canned goods to be any less expensive there. Sometimes the deals on meat are really good. I also love those large, frozen chicken pies - YUMMY!

 

[astrogirl]

What's an SDA store?

Also, what brand of "fake meat in a can"? I've been totally unable to find the stuff the DH loves (he's a vegetarian and I'm not), and I don't know if it's not being produced or if no one is stocking it in my (little) town. It's canned fake chicken that comes in nugget sizes and it's either Worthington or Loma Linda (I can't even remember any more, it's been so long since I've seen it). I make "chicken" salad it out of it. The DH does not like the "Dixie" stuff that's dried, unfortunately.

 

[ChainedLightning]

SDA store is one run by Seventh Day Adventists - most of them are vegetarians, so their grocery store has lots of cool stuff in there.

As for brand, the fake hamburger meat I used to use the most is the frozen stuff in a bag from Morningstar farms (good to use in spaghetti or chili or even Hamburger Helper). But I've got a ton of the Worthington stuff in cans and it works just as well for about the same cost without taking up space in the freezer, so that's what we've been using the most recently.

The fake chicken I use in the cans is from Loma Linda. But, the best stuff is the chicken nuggets in the freezer section from Morningstar Farms.

I use a LOT of wheat gluten in place of chicken in recipes, and I've never had a complaint from a carnivore, they like it too. Cost wise, that's the best for prepping. It's under two dollars a can, and is enough meat substitute for two adults and a little one for a meal.

As for our trip today, we got lots of canned veggies and fruits, they weren't THAT much cheaper than the grocery store, but being able to buy them by the case is just easier to get that much - and since we bought so much, that nickel or so a can difference added up. We also got Bisquick and two HUGE boxes of dried milk and pancake syrup and salad dressing and mayonaise and some spice mixes and a bunch of other stuff. Oh, and Caillou softwear and a four foot tall teddy bear for the little one - couldn't resist.

So, once we get some more dogfood (from Petsmart, the only place in town that carries the brand we use), and hit the SDA store tomorrow for more fake meat in a can stuff... I think we'll be back to being fully prepped. We've probably got four dozen cans of various fake meat under there, but I'd like to get another case of gluten and another case of fake hamburger just to top us off.

Oh, bleach.. gotta hit the dollar store up.

 

[Mushroom]

Don't forget to get the big containers of dried onions. They are better than anything I can dry at home plus they don't make us cry while they dehydrate. I also like the dried fruits they have there. They have recently added blueberries and strawberries. They are pricey, but very high quality. I like the dried cranberries they have, too. All are great in oatmeal. They also have dried mangos as well as cantelope.

They have the 5# boxes of Mozzarella cheese that we cut into usable sizes and vacuum seal. We like the 2# blocks of Mexican blended cheese for cheese crisps and burritos. Their Romano and Parmesan cheese are great to have on hand. We just cut them into smaller blocks and grate as much as we need without having to use the whole thing. They keep a long time so they are worth the price. I like to add some of the Romano to milder cheese dishes to give them some zip and more taste.

We like to buy the big flat breads (Afghani I think) and make pizza out of them. Just pop them under the broiler or onto the grill in the BBQ until the cheese browns a bit. They also sell large bags of already sliced pepperoni that we repack and freeze. Great to have on hand.

Mushroom