We Have 2 Incomes, 2 Dogs, And No Kids. Here's What We Like To Buy At Costco And How We Use It.
Costco has all of our essentials and everything we didn't even know we needed.
Reena Alter
- My husband and I make $208,000 a year and work from home. We love shopping at Costco.
- We have two dogs, and we love buying Kirkland Signature dental chews for them.
- At Costco we stock up on basics like canned tuna, croissants, and olive oil.
My husband and I both work from home full-time and Costco has been one of our favorite stores since we became members in 2018.
We live in New Jersey and make $208,000 a year combined.
Technically, we're DINKWADs (double income, no kids, with a dog), except we have two dogs. And, according to data analyzed by Business Insider, we're among the upper-class households in our state — the income threshold to be in that category is $192,692.
Still, groceries can get costly and we love to save where we can. We use our monthly Costco trip to strategically stock up on products and take advantage of cheaper bulk buys.
Here's what we bought on a recent Costco trip and how we used it.
Reena Alter
We clean our place often, especially because working from it means we spend a lot of time in it.
On this trip, we picked up a pack of 36 Clorox ToiletWand refills, which also came with a wand. It was only $17.50 and will probably last us for the next three months.
Reena Alter
With just two people in the house, it's hard to get through most bulk-size produce.
On this trip, though, we picked up a 1-pound bag of baby spinach. Our plan is to use what we can for a few days then freeze the rest for later.
Reena Alter
We love cooking, and olive oil is a kitchen staple we use almost every day.
The Kirkland Signature organic extra-virgin olive oil is delicious and it's economical for us to buy it in bulk.
On this trip, we got about 2 liters of it for $17.50.
Reena Alter
My husband and I don't always have time between meetings to pop out to the store for a midday treat. Instead, we love having mini cookies from Costco's bakery section on hand for something sweet after lunch.
The $10 container comes with about 60 mini chocolate-chip cookies and will probably last us a week, maybe a week and a half, if we're lucky.
Reena Alter
The Kirkland Signature dental chews are a favorite in our house and get purchased on every Costco trip.
Not only are they a better value than other brands with more chews per box, but also our dogs love them and genuinely get excited when they see us come home with these.
We usually buy dog food at Costco, too, but our location was out of the formula we usually buy.
Reena Alter
On this trip, we got 6 pounds of organic Sugar in the Raw cane sugar for $10.
We use sugar daily in our house in coffee, tea, hot cocoa, muffins, cookies, and cakes. This bag will last us about a month and a half to two months.
Reena Alter
I've been going through honey faster than expected lately, so I decided to buy it in bulk from Costco to save money.
Three 24-ounce bottles of Kirkland Signature honey cost me $15, and I hope they last me a few months.
Christina Chandra
Better Than Bouillon vegetable base was not on my shopping list today, but the 21-ounce jar for $9 was too good a deal to pass up. An 8-ounce jar of the stuff usually costs about $5 at other grocery stores.
I use this when I cook — it's great in soups, sauces, and marinades.
Reena Alter
With two dogs in the house, my husband and I constantly fight a losing battle with dog hair. So, lint rollers are essential.
I hadn't planned on picking up lint rollers, but I know we'll use them daily, and the five-pack of 3M rollers was only $13.
Reena Alter
Canned tuna is a pantry staple for us because it doesn't go bad quickly and it's great to use in quick, easy lunches.
I pick up canned tuna every time I go to Costco. This 12-can pack of Chicken of the Sea tuna should last us about two months.
Reena Alter
My husband loves Chipwiches as an after-dinner treat, so we started buying them from Costco. This way, we save money and my husband always has his favorite sweet treat at the ready.
Each box of 10 is only $12 — for context, a box of three Chipwiches is usually about $5 at other grocery stores.
Reena Alter
The twin pack of Schmidt unseeded Italian bread is perfect for sandwiches, French toast, and delicious, pressed toasties.
We will usually freeze one loaf and start eating the other immediately.
Reena Alter
A toasted butter croissant can make any bad day better.
I get 12 Kirkland Signature croissants for $6, which makes them about 50 cents each. I can't beat that deal. I usually freeze these and thaw them as needed.
Reena Alter
Another must-buy on our list is the famous $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco.
I use part of the meat for salads that I'll prep ahead of time for our lunches and the rest for a big batch of soup.
Reena Alter
We'll divide Costco's premade Caesar salad into about five portions and top it with rotisserie chicken for easy lunches throughout the week.
The salad and chicken cost us about $10, which means each lunch is only $2. Plus, prepared salads are easy for us to grab for lunch between meetings.
