4 Ways People Waste Money at Sam’s Club

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Sam’s Club is a great place to shop, but many end up wasting money there. Learn about ways people waste cash, including buying items that go bad quickly. 

Shopping at Sam’s Club is a great way to make sure your bank account doesn’t take a big hit when you buy household items or personal care items.

As most people know, Sam’s is a members-only warehouse club that offers great discounts on many products. So, whether you’re trying to stay out of credit card debt or accomplish other financial goals by spending less, it can be worth shopping there.

However, while Sam’s provides the opportunity to save, not everyone ends up better off financially by being a member. In fact, there are four common ways that people could find themselves wasting money with their warehouse club purchases. Here’s how.

1. Buying items they won’t finish

One of the biggest ways people waste money at Sam’s Club is by buying bulk items they will not finish before they go bad.

One big reason Sam’s saves people money is by providing large quantities of items at low prices. For example, you can buy a bag of 48 string cheeses for just $9.74 which comes out to $0.20 per item. That’s a great price, coming in at around half of what you’d pay elsewhere.

The only problem is, that’s a lot of cheese to eat and it’s very possible you might not be able to devour 48 of those things before they end up going bad — unless, perhaps you’re running a daycare center or you just really like cheese.

If you end up tossing half or more of the items you buy in the trash because of the fact you’re just getting too many of them, this is a huge waste of both money and food (or other consumables).

2. Buying items they don’t like

If you buy trusted brands you know you like, this isn’t a big risk. But, if you venture out and try something new at Sam’s that you haven’t sampled, you’ll likely end up wasting a lot of money since the quantities are so large.

After all, if you buy a $4.99 bag of 12 string cheeses and it turns out your toddler turns his nose up at them, you haven’t lost nearly as much as if you got that 48-pack Sam’s sells.

3. Buying items they don’t need

There’s another big risk to shopping at Sam’s. The store has a lot of cool stuff, and you could end up purchasing it on impulse because the prices seem so good. The only issue is, if you got a great deal on something you didn’t really need, you still wasted the money that you spent on it.

This has been a big issue for me and it’s why I now try to shop exclusively online for Sam’s Club purchases. I have an entire dish set in my cabinets purchased from Sam’s on impulse, and if I visit the store too often, stuff like that happens and I will quickly find myself out of space and out of money.

4. Not using the right credit card

Finally, if you are not using a credit card that offers you a good amount of bonus cash back, points, or miles for shopping at Sam’s, you’re wasting money. Card rewards can provide a percentage back of what you spend and there’s no reason to leave that cash on the table.

You can look into a Sam’s Club credit card that offers bonus cash back for club purchases and gas, or can get a general purpose card that gives you added rewards for warehouse club purchases. Just be sure you’ve found a card that gives you the most bang for your buck to avoid wasting money by forgoing rewards.

The good news is, you can make sure you don’t fall into any of these traps now that you know about them — and by being the wisest Sam’s shopper you can be, you can take full advantage of the store without wasting your hard-earned cash.

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