Morbid Romantic

Book Review & Personal Blog

I have never been inside of a BJ’s Wholesale before, but I have always been curious to know what their prices are like since I understand that buying wholesale can save you money in the long run. I attempted to tour a Sam’s Club once to get a sense of the place to see if I wanted a membership, but they wouldn’t even let me do that without paying money. They made me feel so uninvited that I decided to never get a membership at Sam’s Club. However, BJ’s kept sending me free trial coupons, asking me to try them out for a 60 day trial membership.

So when they sent me a free $25 gift card to spend to try them out, I grabbed my 60 day trial membership coupon and headed right over my first weekend free. When I got to the service desk to inquire about my free membership, the woman at the desk began to tell me about the current membership deal they are running.

For a yearly fee of $45, which includes a $10 off coupon and an extra two months of membership for two people for a limited time, you get:
- A Member Savings Book with more than $1,000 in coupons and instant rebates (We got one for both November, which still has some valid December coupons inside, and December.)
- “Sign up and Save” coupons worth $117 in savings (I had one for a free 3 pounds of bananas, which I bought to bring for lunches for the next two harsh weeks.)
- Membership and member cards for two different people in the household
- A no risk 100% money back guarantee on the fee if you are not satisfied

My boyfriend and I really liked the sound of it, but we were hesitant to spend that much money, so the service desk woman offered to let us walk around and check things out and then come back and either get our free trial or sign up for an actual membership. Plus one already since the other store had not allowed us to do just that.

So we started to walk around and price things we usually purchase at other stores to see just how much we could save. Though everything at BJ’s is considered ‘bulk,’ I took into account that if I buy two in a pack that would save me a trip to the store later on because I’d have one stored away for future use. ‘Bulk’ doesn’t scare me away, and to be fair we were also considering our monthly food budget for four and how much we consume, therefore how useful it may be to buy larger quantities of things and save some money on them.

Suffice to say, we ended up getting the membership, one card for me and one for my boyfriend. And we went shopping with our gift card. I wanted to spoil myself, so I headed right to the meat section and checked out the fillet mignon. I haven’t had those in years, you see, and I decided it was time to splurge on some really good meat. I got a gorgeous four pack for $26.00. I also added to my order my free bananas, a big bag of single sized chips for lunch, and some cute wrapping paper that was perfect because it was black, red, and silver.

They have TONS of items, everything from laptops to clothing to digital cameras. We spent ages just looking around and pricing things. Some new items by General Mills will be heading to the BJ’s shelves very soon, too, including:
- Nature Valley Nut Clusters – 100% Natural, bite-sized clusters with granola, nuts and a touch of honey – and a resealable package which makes it great for sharing
- Progresso High-Fiber Soups – This 6-pack of soup is a great way to get your fiber with the great taste you know and love from Progresso
- Green Giant Complete Skillet Meal – A convenient and great tasting solution for a quick and delicious dinner for the family
- Pillsbury “Big Deluxe” Chocolate Chip Tub – Perfect for entertaining or as an everyday treat

I held close to me the coupon books I had been given. As soon as I went home, I started clipping.

But let me tell you first what happened at the register…

So we get up there to a self-serve checkout, which I LOVE, and ring our items up. My coupon for the free bananas didn’t work, and an associate was right there to fix it and enter it in. No wait, no hassle, just a friendly guy overriding the system and correcting my total. With my gift card and my coupons, with items that totaled around $50, I ended up spending only $11. Once I put in my gift card and the $10 coupon we got for just signing up, my total went down impressively. I went home satisfied and an official BJ’s Wholesale club member!

GIVEAWAY!

One lucky reader can win a $25 gift card to BJ’s that you can use to buy anything you want. If you do not have a BJ’s membership, you can take advantage of their free 60 day trial membership to use your gift card.

To enter, leave comments answering one or all of the following. One question per comment. If you answer all four, for example, leave four comments. If you leave one comment answer all four, it will only count as one, so answer each question in its own comment:
What items would you love to stock-up on at BJ’s? (+1)
Why do you feel shopping at BJ’s will help you save on their next shopping trip? (+1)
How much they think you’ll save? (+1)
What was the most surprising item that you found at the club? (+1)

Additional Entries: (each one +1)
*Blog about this contest and leave a comment with the links.
*Add me on twitter (@morbidromantic) and Tweet this contest then comment with a link to the Tweet or your username.
*Stumble this giveaway or my main site and comment with your StumbleUpon username.
*Add my RSS reader here and leave me a comment telling me that you subscribe to my feed.
*Comment on and rate (rating is found in the header of the post) any of my previous book reviews and leave me a comment telling me that you have.
*Add me to your Technorati favorites: .

All together, there are a total of ten entry chances. The giveaway will end January 1st, 2010. If you win, you will get an email from me requesting your mailing address, which I will then submit. Your gift card should arrive via mail shortly.

Disclosure: BJ’s Wholesale Club and General Mills gave me a free trial membership, a $25 gift card, and information about joining BJ’s Wholesale Club in exchange for this review of my experiences and giveaway.

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