Finance guru warns Costco shoppers over biggest membership mistakes

A FINANCIAL expert has shared what items customers should be buying in bulk at club stores like Costco.

Many penny pinchers have long been dedicated bulk purchasers.

That’s often the way to get the lowest price per unit on a product.

If it’s a non-perishable item and the shopper has space to store it, many would have trouble seeing the downside of buying in bulk.

But savings guru Dave Ramsey has warned not every item should be bought in bulk, adding too much could lead to overspending.

He instead listed a few items buyers should focus on to get the most bang for their buck, GoBankingRates reported.

Ramsey recommended sticking to toiletries, including dental products like floss and electric toothbrushes when buying in bulk.

The savings advisor added that Costco is a great place to stock up on paper goods like toilet paper and paper towels.

He also suggested shoppers stock up on household essentials like batteries and non-perishables like gum, cereal, canned goods, rice, and dry beans.

Ramsey stressed, however, that shoppers should be aware of rookie spending errors, including over-bulk-buying to avoid a return trip to store or only ever shopping at one store like Costco to make a membership feel worthwhile.

For a long time lots of shoppers have been able to benefit from Costco’s warehouse prices so long as they were willing to quietly ignore the store’s policies.

But Ramsey’s advice comes as Costco has been cracking down on membership sharing in recent weeks.

In the past, it’s been relatively easy for shoppers without a membership to borrow a friend or family member’s card.

But that’s no longer the case.

Employees have reportedly been checking membership cards and comparing them with customers’ photo IDs.

“It’s a really small percent of members who are doing it,” Costco CEO Richard Galanti said earlier this year.

“But when you’re dealing with millions of transactions, even a very small percentage is something you would want to correct.”

The issue has reportedly become worse since Costco started installing self-checkout kiosks.

“We don’t feel it’s right that nonmembers receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” a Costco representative told The U.S. Sun earlier this year.

The company did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment for this story.