To Be or Not To Be (a Member of a Warehouse Club)…

For most of my adult life, I’ve been a member of a warehouse club. I had a membership throughout the “excess years” and as of now, in the simpler years, I still have one. Whether or not we should keep this membership has been a recent debate in our home. We’ve begun weighing the pros and cons and discussing how having this membership enhances and hinders living a simple life. I thought I’d share some of these thoughts since you, too, might have this debate along your simplifying journey.Before evaluating the pros & cons, first consider a few basic facts:

1. How big is your household? We are a household of five and we consume a decent amount of goods. The benefit received from membership will be different for a household of two versus a household of eight.
2. How close is the nearest store? Now that we’ve moved, the closest warehouse club is 28 miles away. Prior to our move, it was only two miles. So now, in order to go there, it has to be a specifically planned trip (meaning that we never just happen to already be driving by there).
3. Who does the shopping? I must admit that during the years of our membership, I, myself, rarely set foot in the store. We had settled into a routine in which my husband took care of this errand by himself without any other “purchase influencers” (me or the kids). This, in and of itself, saved us money since 95% of the time he came home with exactly what was on the list and nothing more.

Keeping those considerations in mind, here are a few reasons I believe warehouse stores can support a simpler life:

• You have what you need when you need it. For example, you don’t have to remember to add bars of soap to your regular grocery list every other week which means you rarely end up with someone complaining that, “There’s no more soap in the bathroom.”
• You can save money. If you’re being intentional and you’re purchasing the exact product you love (watch out for special warehouse-only varieties of products), then it’s possible to spend less on the items than you would have elsewhere. But remember that your membership is costing you an annual fee and that should be included when calculating whether you really are spending less.

Some of the reasons I think these stores steer us away from a simpler life are:

• Storage.  Since we are living in a smaller house with limited storage and since I don’t like having overstuffed cabinets and closets, storing extra stuff is not something that fits my definition of a simpler life.
• You can’t do all of your shopping there. Most likely you will not be able to purchase all of your groceries for the week at the warehouse club so you’ll need to stop at another store also. Depending on how close these stores are to each other and to your house, you may spend more time running errands. Be sure to consider if that’s time well spent.
• Food gets wasted easier. Sometimes it’s just not possible to eat everything that you buy. If you’re going to buy the 5-pound container of strawberries, you better have a plan to eat them all before they go bad, otherwise, you’ve wasted money. And those spicy teriyaki shrimp roll samples might have tasted great at the store, but consider whether 10 pounds of them really will be money well spent.
• Impulse buys. It’s easy to purchase items (often big-ticket ones) that you had no intention of buying. This can happen at any store, but at a warehouse club, they often have items that are “limited time” products, so it might be too easy to fall for the “that’s really cool and it might not be here next time so I better get it” line of thinking. Be sure that whoever does the shopping makes a plan to stick to the list and avoids wandering down aisles unnecessarily.

These are some of the pros and cons we’ve discussed. Do you have any others that you’ve considered? I’d love to hear what thoughts you have and whether you feel that being a member of a warehouse club enhances or hinders your simple life.To Simplicity & Joy,Lisa