The Costco Coupon Perk Shoppers Should Know About

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Big box stores are great for getting a large amount of items at a competitive price, and leading the pack is Costco. Although when up against wholesale grocery store chain competitors Sam's Club and BJ's, Costco is the pricer option, there are still plenty of deals to be found. One major coupon perk is the Costco Savings Booklet. The "coupon book' which comes out once a month, features discounted items across all categories.

Unlike other stores' coupon books, there's no need to clip out what deals you want; instead, the monthly savings book is more like a list of items that have automatic discounts at checkout. For example, a recent monthly savings booklet featured $7 off an 18-pack of Orgain Plant-Based Protein Shake, which retails at Amazon for $26.99, bringing the price per individual drink from about $1.50 to $1.11 each. The savings get even more impressive when you look into appliances on sale. Costco was already beating out competitors by selling the Gourmia 8-Quart Digital Air Fryer to its members for $59.99, as opposed to the $72.16 Walmart is charging, but once you include the recent $15 savings, the air fryer now costs $44.99.

Even though the booklet includes deals for both in-store and online shopping, discounts you can get online typically have a red "+ Online" banner labeled on them. Another thing to be aware of is that while the privilege of shopping at Costco is only for members, the savings booklet is only mailed to the "executive" (main) member of the Costco account. So if you are on a family membership, you may not be getting the mailer. Just be sure to act fast since prices on the mailer tend to expire in three to four weeks.

Aside from the booklet, there are plenty of ways to save money. If you like to meal prep, the grocery department at Costco has an incredible amount of deals we never pass up, like a 22-ounce jar of Kirkland Signature Imported Basil Pesto for $11.79. Since the monthly deals only last for a few weeks, visiting Costco the day the new sales start is the ideal time to get in on the best deals. Regardless of the guardrails Costco has in place to make sure items don't run out of stock, it seems likely to happen. The only way to make sure everything is available is to shop as close to when the sale starts as possible.

Another way to save money is to shop in-store as much as you can. There typically are more booklet deals available in-store than online, so you get more automatic savings. One Redditor noted that prices online tend to be $1 to $3 more expensive than prices in store. Of course, shopping online gives you more of a selection, and ordering from Costco through Instacart offers you convenience, but the prices in-store can't be beat.