Quick Tips

The Non-Food Items I’ve Been Buying at Sam’s Club

A few months back, I decided to share a short list of some of my favorite items to purchase at Sam’s Club. Well, as of late, I’ve found myself spending more time in the non-edible sections of the warehouse store. In turn, I’ve been able to save money on items I hadn’t really considered previously. With that, here are some of the items I’ve recently purchased at Sam’s Club that aren’t just food.

Towels

When I step out of the shower, I love to ensconce myself in a big towel. Because of this, our go-to towels have been bath sheets purchased at Ikea — which we refresh every time we make the three-hour drive to our nearest location. However, a couple of weeks back, I discovered that Sam’s Club has what they call oversized towels, which are quite fluffy and come in a few different colors. The best part? They’re only $7 a pop!

Truth be told, we actually purchased our initial towel for our new dog Rigby. But, since buying our first, we’ve already gone on to buy another and will likely add to our collection shortly.

Allergy meds

Maybe I’m just not used to going outdoors as much as I have in the past few weeks but, in that time, my allergies have been quite annoying. In turn, I quickly went through my limited supply of medication and needed a refill. That’s when I discovered that, in addition to selling name-brand allergy meds in bulk, Sam’s Club also offers generic formulations for many of these same options. So, while I don’t see myself going through 200 pills any time soon (at least I hope not), I did only have to spend $12 to get this multi-year supply.

Dog food

Okay, this one is clearly cheating since it is, indeed, food… but it’s not for humans. As I mentioned, we recently added a dog to our family and so we needed to stock up on food for her. Luckily for us, we learned that the brand she was used to was sold in 50-pound bags at Sam’s for around $57! Meanwhile, on a similar note, we also picked up a box of treats for her at the warehouse club and — actually fitting the topic of this article — we purchased her a pack of toys as well.

Dish soap

Finally, even before this recent revelation regarding all of the non-food items that could be purchased with our Sam’s Club membership, we did previously buy a big bottle of dish soap at the store. Specifically, this was Dawn — which I note because my wife has since sung the praises of the brand and its effectiveness versus those “bargain brands” we often hear about in commercials. Sure enough, as she notes, this is one case where the name brand really is worth the money. Thus, buying in bulk allows us to splurge for the good stuff without spending a ton more.

Even if most of what we buy at Sam’s Club (or other warehouse club stores) is food related, it’s worth remembering that half of the store or more is often dedicated to non-edible items. This is a lesson we’ve only really been learning as of late as our various needs continue to evolve. The bottom line is that the next time you’re at Sam’s, Costco, or whatever, it may be worth taking a look at what else the store has to offer beyond rotisserie chickens and pallets of soda.

Other Articles by Kyle Burbank