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We live 3.5 hours from the nearest Costco. That means when we go, we go with a plan.
For years, Costco has been the cornerstone of how we feed a family of nine on a rural homestead in British Columbia. When you can’t just pop to the store when you run out of something, you learn to buy in volume, to store it properly, and to stretch every grocery run as far as it will go.
This haul looked a little different from our usual. We have an accepted offer on our ranch and are intentionally eating down our freezers and pantries so we’re not moving four large freezers and two full basement pantries across the province. So instead of stocking up for 3 to 6 months the way we normally do, we were shopping more like a regular family – just with a Costco membership and, apparently, a lot of opinions about granola.
Here’s everything we picked up at Costco and Save on Foods, with prices, and some honest notes on what stood out. You can watch the full video below or keep scrolling for the lists.
What We Bought at Costco
Fresh and Refrigerated
- Kimchi: $13 – Tried it on camera. Delicious flavour, but very spicy. If you make your own kimchi mild like I do, this one will surprise you. That said, the quality is excellent.
- Raw sauerkraut x2: $11 each – Dan’s been waiting months for me to make him a batch. I bought him two of these instead and have no regrets.
- Plain yogurt (for culturing with milk cow): $9
- Vanilla yogurt x2: ~$8 each
- Large curd cottage cheese: one of the most expensive items in the fridge section, but genuinely the best cottage cheese I’ve ever had. Worth every penny. I’m currently researching how to make it myself.
- Organic frozen corn x2: $14
- Frozen raspberries: $20 (up from last time)
- Chosen Foods avocado oil mayonnaise: $18 – An eye-watering price, but it’s what we switched to after moving away from canola-based mayo. I’ll probably start making my own.
- Frozen mixed berry blend x2: $18 each – My go-to for smoothies
- Perogies x 1 box: $12
- Sprouted Soft Wheat Bread x 8 loaves: $7.60 – makes really nice chewy toast
- Organic Tofu: $8
- Cream Cheese (pack of 4): $10
- Organic Grapes x 2: $13
- 1 Case each of Cheddar & Mozzarella each
Pantry and Dry Goods
- Organic collagen protein: $60
- Organic flour x3 bags: $7.43 per 41.1 lb bag (one of our daughters is perfecting sourdough recipes to sell when we move)
- Unsalted mixed nuts x2: $23 each
- Keto grain-free granola x2: $17 each – Coconutty and delicious. Highly recommend if you like coconut.
- Sprouted gluten-free granola: tried it, good
- Pita bites: $9/box
- Rice crackers: $13/box
- Almond flour crackers: $12.50 – a household favourite, we bought several boxes
- Annie’s Mac and Cheese: back in the cart after being accidentally left off last time (the kids noticed)
- Taco seasoning: $6
- Cinnamon x2: $7 each
- Sweet potatoes x3: $7/bag
- Organic cane sugar x4: $13.50 each
- Parchment paper 2-pack: $19 (up $2 from last time)
- Organic chia seeds x2: ~$8 each
- Kirkland Kettle Brand Crinkle Cut Potato Chips x 2: $9
- Kirkland Que Pasa Organic Chips x 4: $7
- Money’s mushrooms: $17
- Tomato paste: $16.50
Non-Food
- Thermal flasks 2-pack: $30 – Wide mouth opening, great for soup
- Nelly’s laundry soda (1,100 loads): $100 – This lasts our family about a year. No scent, but I add a few drops of essential oil. Great value.
- Ziploc extra large bags: $20/3 packs
- Tea tree shampoo + conditioner set: $12.35
- Dishwasher detergent: $24
- Facial tissue boxes: $23
- Children’s sweater: $17.99 – Really good quality, already proven out by a previous purchase
Drinks
- Kombucha: $23/case
- Zevia sparkling drinks x2 cases: stevia-sweetened – the family loves them, I find them too sweet
- Sparkling electrolyte drinks with lion’s mane: tried one, surprisingly good
- Juice boxes: $18/40
What We Bought at Save on Foods
Save on Foods filled in the gaps – fresh produce and a few things Costco doesn’t carry.
- Hot dog buns and hot dogs x3 packs: $6/pack
- Baby spinach: $8.99
- Romaine hearts x3: $8
- Apples: $10
- Organic oranges: $9
- Bananas: a couple of sad bunches that needed eating immediately
- Cucumbers x4: $2.99
- Gluten-free all-purpose flour: $14 (substitutes one-for-one with whole wheat and works well)
- Vanilla extract: $26.29 – I have vanilla beans sitting in my cupboard. I need to just make my own.
One Tip That Saves Us a Lot of Money: Vacuum Sealing Costco Cheese
We always buy cheese in bulk at Costco – this trip it was a case of cheddar and a case of marble. The trick to keeping it from moulding is to cut each block into thirds and vacuum seal each piece. Even though the Costco packaging looks sealed, there’s enough air inside that the cheese will mould within weeks if you don’t reseal it.
Vacuum sealed and kept in a cold fridge, large Costco blocks of cheese will last up to 6 months. It’s one of the highest-value food storage habits we have.
Tip: If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, this is one of the best investments you can make for stretching your grocery budget. We use ours constantly for meat, cheese, garden produce, and anything we buy in bulk.
The Totals
Save on Foods came to approximately $67.60. Costco came to approximately $1,165.92. Combined, this was lower than our usual haul – because we weren’t stocking up for months the way we normally do.
One thing I’ve noticed from doing these hauls regularly: it’s easy to feel like grocery prices are always rising, but looking back at years of Costco hauls, the overall prices have been more stable than the general feeling suggests. Some items have gone up, a few have come down. Parchment paper was up $2. Jet Dry was actually a dollar less. The overall picture is more nuanced than the sticker shock in the moment.
A Note on Buying Versus Making From Scratch
This haul had more bought-in items than I’d usually be comfortable admitting. Sauerkraut I should have fermented. Granola I could make myself. Vanilla I have beans for.
But we’re in the middle of a move, a sale, and a season of change. And I’m choosing to give myself some grace for this season. The homestead ideal is a beautiful thing to work toward – but real homesteading also looks like knowing when to use a shortcut and not feeling guilty about it.
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