Gas Price Dilemma: Are Costco Savings Worth the Drive?

Filed in archive Buying Stuff on May 15, 2008

My wife said something interesting to me yesterday:

"I might not renew our Costco membership."

"Why not?"

"It's a long drive. With these gas prices, I'm probably blowing all my savings to drive out there."

The Costco we go to is about 20 minutes away, mostly by highway. My wife hasn't done any real calculations on this, and I don't think she'll let her membership drop because she has sort of an irrational love of Costco, but if she's thinking this way, I'm sure other people are, too.

This gas crunch could really help smaller local businesses. Because the big box stores need a huge building and an even huger parking lot, they have to build pretty far out from the main metropolis, which means many people who want to shop there have to drive a good way to shop. With gas prices skyrocketing, that's becoming less appealing.

Of course we're a bit against the trend, in that we live in a more urban area while the movement is definitely to the farther burbs, which of course is where Costco is.

I grew up in an almost rural suburb and have no desire to return to that life, so eventually we may have to make the tough decision between giving up on Costco or moving to be closer to it. If it comes to that, my wife will be highly conflicted, but I'm pretty sure our current home will slightly outpoint living within walking distance of a warehouse club.