3 Big Reasons to Say No to a Sam's Club Visit

If you're a Sam's Club member, shopping at the warehouse store could help you keep more money in your bank account -- if you take advantage of the store's good prices on products you need to buy anyway.

But there are times when shopping at Sam's Club is actually a bad idea. In fact, here are three reasons to say no to heading out to this warehouse store.

1. You don't really need anything

Around 84% of Americans report engaging in impulse shopping at least once, and 90% of shoppers admit to giving into an impulse purchase in the prior three months. Unfortunately, all this impulse buying can leave you with a big credit card bill or with less money in your bank account than you should have.

Visiting Sam's Club when you don't have a pressing need is just asking to engage in impulse buying. After all, the store is set up to be full of enticing products that are designed to make you part with the cash in your wallet and put a dent in your personal finances.

Unless you have a list of exactly what you need to buy at Sam's Club and there are some actual necessities on the list, why put yourself in the path of temptation? There are plenty of other fun things to do if you're bored and looking to kill time rather than wandering around a warehouse store where you're going to be enticed to make unnecessary purchases.

2. You tend to overspend when you visit the warehouse store

If you have a habit of overspending when you visit Sam's Club, you may want to skip the trip. Spending too much could leave you struggling to pay off your credit cards before you get stuck with interest. And paying credit card interest charges -- or even taking too much out of your bank account if you aren't charging your items -- is going to limit what you can do with your money later.

Instead of visiting Sam's Club when you tend to overspend, consider buying whatever you truly need from the warehouse club online. If that's not feasible, take advantage of Curbside Pickup, which is free if you're a Plus member.

3. You have already spent your budget limits for the month

If you have already exhausted your spending limits for groceries, household items, or whatever it is you're thinking about buying at Sam's Club, then don't visit the warehouse club again until next month when you have money available to spend.

Instead of going over budget, make do with what you have so you don't end up with too little money to do the things you've planned on. The entire point of budgeting is to stick to it, so skip your warehouse club trip if you've already hit your limits.

Sam's Club membership is supposed to help you do better with your money by scoring bulk discounts. If any of these three reasons apply to you, that obviously isn't happening, so you may want to rethink whether a current Sam's Club visit is a good choice and even perhaps whether keeping your membership is the right financial move for the long haul.