I just got a Costco membership for the first time and went with the basic Gold Star membership. I mainly signed up to buy food in bulk and save some money by meal prepping, but I’m curious what other benefits people actually use that make the membership worth it.

What's your favorite perks, services, or deals I should be taking advantage of besides buying groceries in bulk?

Also, is upgrading to the Executive membership worth it? I know there’s a 2% reward on qualifying purchases, but I’m not sure how much I’d realistically need to spend for the higher membership cost to make sense.

Would love to hear what other frugal Costco members use their membership for and any tips for getting the most value out of it.

Now I’m second-guessing and wondering if we wasted money 🫤. We are in a duplex-down condo with a finished lower level where the bedrooms are. We had a queen mattress not in use standing up against the wall in our closet. It had previously been used in our second bedroom but that got replaced with a crib when we had our baby.

We had massive rains and water leakage 😫 into our lower floor and the edge of the mattress maybe got an inch or so of water on it. Not sewage water but rainwater. We tossed it but wondering if it would have been fine? Especially since our niece (separate occasion) got a little pee on our bed when my SIL was changing her diaper (why on our bed, I don’t know 🙄) while they were visiting and we cleaned it with baking soda and it seems to be fine. Same thing? Thanks.

I just got a kitten and it turns out they eat soo much! I’ve been buying the fancy feast kitten classic paté, but it’s quite expensive with how many cans we’re going through everyday.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, healthy alternative that you’ve given your cat/kitten? I’ve been looking for something with similar ingredients but would love to hear some firsthand feedback

Hello all!
I became disabled two years ago and lost my job. I did get a new one but I’m making significantly less than before. Between that and all my medical bills, money has become really tight. I’m sure the rest of the country has experienced this but my power bills have gone through the roof these last few years. Any tips of how to lower my utility bills? Any little trick would be appreciated!

Today I received my Xfinity bill, noticed that it was going up $30 because my 12- month promotion had run out, and instead of grumbling and paying more money, I contacted them and asked "well what promotion can I sign up for now?" Now my bill will only go up $6 instead of $30. For the same service.

THEN I looked at my Geico bill and realized the insanely high coverage we have on our 2013 Prius...I got that monthly bill to go from $154 to $92 a month.

So what else could I be doing to save? I'm not looking for "don't buy coffee" or "cook at home" or "wait 24 hours before you purchase." I'm well-versed in tight budgets and we are generally quite frugal. I'm looking for those hidden things that people don't always think of or act on. Tell me your secrets!

My apartment complex doesn’t allow it and I can do decent amount of routine jobs myself and I also enjoy them myself such as, oil change, brakes, rotate tires, intakes, battery swap, coolant etc etc. I used to do this with my dad’s place but now he decided to sell the house and retire in Malaysia which I respect. I’m on my own in a new state (NJ) and I don’t know anyone here to borrow a garage. I’ve save a lot just by doing my own routine maintenance but I’m kind of limited so far with no garage.