My 4 Favorite Perks of My Costco Membership

It's hard for me to believe that a city girl like me has been living in suburbia for about 18 years. And one of the first things I did when I moved to the suburbs -- other than learn to drive a car -- was sign up for a Costco membership. I figured that if I was going to reside out in the 'burbs, I might as well get access to bulk groceries and other household items on the cheap.

I can still say with certainty that joining Costco was one of the smartest financial decisions I've ever made. And here are some of the membership perks I appreciate the most.

1. Cash back

When it comes to joining Costco, you have a choice. You could stick to a basic membership for $60 a year, or you could upgrade to an Executive membership for an annual fee of $120.

I've been an Executive member for a number of years, and I love the fact that I get 2% cash back on my Costco purchases. This means that even if I buy furniture or a vacation package -- in other words, an expensive one-off purchase -- I get some money in return.

2. Cheap gas

Even though I work from home, I do my fair share of driving, whether it's taking my kids to their soccer games or shuttling them around to birthday parties. And driving a minivan means that filling up my tank can be an expensive prospect.

As such, I really appreciate the fact that Costco offers lower prices than most of my neighborhood stations on gas. And since Costco's pumps are right outside the store, I don't need to make an extra trip to fill up.

3. Extended warranties

A while back, I needed a new laptop for work and decided to buy one from Costco. I'm someone who naturally gets nervous whenever I'm looking at shelling out a pile of money for any given item. But the great thing about Costco is that you get a free second-year warranty on electronics. So that gave me some peace of mind -- and made the credit card bill that ensued a bit less painful.

4. Great customer service

I work hard for my money, and I don't enjoy throwing it away. So when I take a product back to a store because it doesn't meet my expectations, I don't like to be hassled.

At Costco, that's never been the case. I've never had a bad experience with customer service in my many years of shopping there.

Quite the contrary -- years back, I bought a two-pack of feta cheese, and one of the sealed packs started to grow moldy well ahead of its expiration date. I brought the half-eaten cheese back to Costco and requested a 50% refund. The customer service representative I spoke to insisted on refunding me 100% despite my insistence that a partial refund was fine, since I'd gotten to consume half the product. That's the kind of customer service you'll get at Costco.

All told, my Costco membership is more than worth the $120 a year I pay for it. If you're new to Costco, I'd encourage you to explore the different benefits of being a member, whether it's low-cost travel packages or savings on tires for your car. There may be some hidden perks you didn't even know existed.