- I didn't like shopping at Costco with my kids, but I like it now that they're out of the house.
- Costco has great items for our two-person household, including pantry staples.
- We're mindful about how we store our purchases and have ways to make going to Costco enjoyable.
Life was a blur when my kids were young.
My husband and I worked long hours with long commutes, and every hour outside the office was swallowed up by homework, bathtime, sports, chores, and other routines of family life.
I'd often do the weekly grocery shopping at a 24-hour supermarket on Fridays at midnight after the kids and their father fell asleep.
Even though we may have saved money shopping at Costco — and most Costco shoppers have kids — going there felt out of the question in those early days of parenthood.
The nearest store was a 20-minute drive away, the parking lot was often full, and lines were always long. Besides, where was I going to store all those bulk buys in our New York City apartment with a small fridge and pantry?
But after the kids were grown, my schedule was less fraught — and that 24-hour supermarket closed down. I became more intentional about planning menus and trying new recipes and products.
So, as empty nesters, we figured we'd try Costco — and we fell in love.
We learned how to manage bulk quantities for 2 people in a small space
Our biggest challenge was managing bulk quantities for two, but trial and error helped. I learned the hard way that fresh produce didn't work for us — we couldn't get through large packs of tomatoes or bananas before they rotted.
Some perishables are OK, though. For example, I adore Costco's double-packs of feta cheese that typically have expiration dates a few months away. It's inexpensive and delicious, plus I have a list of recipes I can follow to use it up, including spinach-feta quiche, eggplant moussaka, and that viral TikTok feta pasta recipe.
Costco's rotisserie chicken is a must-buy item, too. It's inexpensive, tasty, and good as a main course or for use in arroz con pollo, coq au vin, or chicken paprikash. I also scrape the carcass and freeze the bits for soup.
Trays of Costco salmon with pesto butter were a favorite for a while, too. I'd freeze filets individually and defrost them one at a time.
We also get pantry staples like Café Bustelo coffee that never seems to go bad, and large boxes of Cheerios and multigrain crackers that we usually finish before they expire.
It's also a no-brainer to stock up on bulk essentials like paper goods and cleaning products to save money. When we run out of space to store extras in our kitchen or bathroom, we keep them on the floor of a bedroom closet.
Our freezer is small, so we limit frozen food to a few essentials, like the yakisoba with chicken and veggies. We take individually wrapped portions out of their larger box and tuck them into the corners of the freezer.
And, to make the most of our space, we store rectangular cartons and large packs of canned goods sideways on our pantry closet's floor. That way, our beans and crushed tomatoes don't take up shelf space but are still easy to access.
Costco works for us now and we enjoy going
We're much happier with Costco now that we've figured out what items to buy, where to store them, and which things we should skip.
Plus, my husband realized we could arrive at our local Costco shortly before it opens to snag a spot and avoid the crowded parking lot.
Creating a shopping list and storing our items well takes a fair amount of organization but, as empty nesters, we have the time to figure it out.
And I don't regret not going to Costco when our kids were small. Back then, it was actually kind of nice to go shopping in the middle of the night at the 24-hour supermarket — sometimes, it was the only time I had to myself.
Watch: All the differences between the Costco food courts in the US and the UK
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