Is It Worth It to Join Both Costco and Sam's Club?

Saving money on groceries and household essentials is a good way to improve your financial situation. So to that end, it could pay to sign up for a membership to a warehouse club like Costco or Sam's Club. Both chains offer groceries and household essentials in bulk, and that alone might lead to enough savings to more than cover the cost of your membership fee.

Plus, you might save a lot of money on one-off purchases at Costco or Sam's Club. Need to replace an appliance? Either store might offer a lower price than another retailer in town.

If you're not sure whether Costco versus Sam's Club is right for you, you may be wondering if it pays to just sign up for both. Or maybe you're already a member of one warehouse club and you're curious to see how the other works.

Technically, you could make the argument that there's value in joining two warehouse clubs at the same time. That's because the inventory you'll find at Costco differs from that at Sam's Club. But for the typical consumer, two warehouse club memberships probably don't make financial sense.

Why spend extra for two warehouse club memberships?

A basic membership at Costco costs $60 a year, while an upgraded Executive membership that gives you cash back on your purchases costs $120. At Sam's Club, memberships are a bit cheaper -- $50 a year for a basic one and $110 for a Plus membership with the cash back option.

Now, you may be able to score a better deal on a warehouse club membership -- particularly with Sam's Club -- if you sign up during a promotional period. Otherwise, these are the prices you're looking at.

Perhaps you can afford to cover a basic membership at both stores for a total of $110. And you might reap enough savings at both stores to make that $110 back during the year.

But you probably don't need two separate memberships at once because a lot of the household and grocery staples you'll find at Costco are also available at Sam's Club, and vice versa. You may be looking at different brands, but if you're not picky, it's hard to make the case for two memberships.

Let's say your family drinks a lot of milk and eats a lot of eggs. You're apt to find both in bulk quantities at both stores. The same holds true for things like tissues, paper goods, and household cleaners. So all told, a single warehouse club membership will probably give you access to the bulk items you need and use regularly.

If you limit yourself to one chain only, you may lose out on savings on certain one-off purchases. It's more than possible that Costco will one day offer $100 off the specific laptop you've been wanting. If you're a Sam's Club member only, you might see a different laptop discounted there -- but not the specific one you want.

However, in that case, you could always join a second warehouse club -- in this case, Costco -- if the savings are substantial enough on a one-off purchase for a membership to make sense. If you know you're only looking to buy one specific laptop and Costco's price is $100 less than its competitors, paying $60 to join means coming out ahead $40. So that's not a silly move at all.

See if you can buddy up with another warehouse club shopper

If you're really not sure if you should join both Costco and Sam's Club, one thing you may want to do is find a local friend or neighbor who's in the same predicament. Then, sign up for one membership and have your friend sign up for the other. You can then take each other along when you do your shopping so you can both benefit from both stores during the year.

Another option? Tag along with a current member to each store and see which gives you the best impression. Then, join that club and see how it goes. If you're not so thrilled with your membership, cancel for a membership refund and switch. But it probably doesn't pay to shell out the money for two memberships of your own at the same time.