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Hint: It was a nice amount of money.
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I’ve been shopping at Costco for years, but it wasn’t until I had kids — and started spending more money on food and household essentials — that I decided to upgrade to an executive membership. Last year, my executive membership cost me $120, whereas a basic membership would’ve only cost $60. In exchange, however, I received 2% cash back on all of my Costco purchases — the same way you might get 2% cash back on certain purchases when you swipe a credit card. And because of that cash back, I came out ahead financially.
The numbers made sense for me
Signing up for an executive membership does mean shelling out more money for the privilege of being able to shop at Costco. But for me, that upgrade was worth it. That’s because I wound up getting an executive membership reward certificate for $147 for my spending in 2022. (These certificates are issued once a year after your spending for the previous year is totaled up.)
The way I see it, I came out $87 ahead with my executive membership, because I need to have some type of membership to Costco. Shopping there allows me to purchase groceries and household essentials at a much lower price point than I’d find at supermarkets and big-box stores. So I was looking at paying a minimum of $60 for a membership, no matter what.
When I say I came out ahead by $87, I’m only subtracting the extra $60 my executive membership cost me from my $147 — not the entire $120. But even so, it’s a nice amount of savings.
Should you upgrade your Costco membership?
My family shops at Costco on a weekly basis. We find that buying things like dairy products, produce, snacks, and other household staples results in a lower credit card tab as a whole. And we also spend enough to make an executive membership worth paying for.
In fact, my $147 executive membership reward certificate means I spent $7,350 at Costco last year. That might seem like a lot, but if you divide that by 52 weeks, it’s about $141 weekly. Seeing as how I buy about 50% to 60% of my family’s groceries, self-care products, and household essentials and cleaning supplies from Costco, that’s not such an outrageous sum.
You’ll need to assess your own spending to see if upgrading to an executive membership makes sense for your finances. But you can think about it this way: If you spend $3,000 a year at Costco, you’ll get $60 back with an executive membership, which is the equivalent of what you’ll pay for the upgrade. If you expect to spend more than $3,000 a year, the upgrade makes sense. If not, you may be better off sticking with the lower-cost basic membership.
That said, if you have some large purchases coming up, and you think you might get them at Costco, then you might exceed that $3,000 threshold even if you don’t normally do so within a year. So figure out if you’ll be needing new electronics or kitchen gadgets, because all of those purchases count toward earning executive membership rewards.
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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Maurie Backman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
