Aug 25th, 2008
What Price to Spend Less? Lunch at Costco
One of my best friends told me today she’s been buying the chicken caesar salad at Costco for lunch; it’s right next to her office and costs about $4, roughly the same size as the Jack in the Box salad that I regularly eat for lunch when I’m off on the weekends. Today I decided to give this a try.
The salad itself is fine, and at $3.99 it’s cheap, cheap, cheap compared to the one at Jack in the Box; my total for the meal was about $4.75 vs. the $7.50 I spend for about the same food and drink at Jack in the Box, and both places have all you can refill soda fountains.
The big differences between the two are the horrible parking situation at my local Costco, the indoor seating area at Jack in the Box vs. the outdoor seating area at Costco, and the crowd. So while the food itself is fine–and way less expensive, almost half the price–at Costco, it’s a lot harder to find somewhere to eat there, even if you do find somewhere you may be pretty exposed to the elements (yes, my weather here is better than the vast majority of the country’s, but it can get pretty hot and windy out there), and the bathroom is considerably farther than at any of the JitBs I usually frequent. It also took a lot longer to find parking and to order (but once I ordered, the food was ready just about instantly).
Most of this is not an issue except for the outdoor seating, and if the weather is decent, this wouldn’t be a problem of any magnitude except that I like to break out my MacBook and do work–like blogging–while I eat. In the exposed open area of the Costco I was at, doing anything on my MacBook was just shy of impossible. This doesn’t count against getting food there, just against actually eating there, so the next question is if I really need to do work while eating lunch; if I decide I want to do that, I’ll need to figure something out to keep Costco as a viable option. However, once again, at least in terms of price, Costco is again a winner.
How can we live without COSTCO these days? (Super Walmart too!)
This post has been included in the 141st Festival of Frugality at Almost Frugal, going live September 2, 2008. Please link back to the festival when you get a chance!
I really like lunch buffets - especially Chinese food - since they’re around $5 to $7 and all you can eat, which is the same price as a non-buffet meal.