We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (2024)

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Reena Alter

2024-05-22T19:25:02Z

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (1)

My husband and I make $208,000 a year and work from home. We love shopping at Costco.
We have two dogs, and we love buying Kirkland Signature dental chews for them.
At Costco we stock up on basics like canned tuna, croissants, and olive oil.

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My husband and I both work from home full-time and Costco has been one of our favorite stores since we became members in 2018.

We live in New Jersey and make $208,000 a year combined.

Technically, we're DINKWADs (double income, no kids, with a dog), except we have two dogs. And, according to data analyzed by Business Insider, we're among the upper-class households in our state — the income threshold to be in that category is $192,692.

Still, groceries can get costly and we love to save where we can. We use our monthly Costco trip to strategically stock up on products and take advantage of cheaper bulk buys.

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Cleaning supplies are great to buy in bulk.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (5)

We clean our place often, especially because working from it means we spend a lot of time in it.

On this trip, we picked up a pack of 36 Clorox ToiletWand refills, which also came with a wand. It was only $17.50 and will probably last us for the next three months.

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This trip called for a 1-pound bag of organic baby spinach.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (6)

With just two people in the house, it's hard to get through most bulk-size produce.

On this trip, though, we picked up a 1-pound bag of baby spinach. Our plan is to use what we can for a few days then freeze the rest for later.

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Olive oil is a kitchen staple.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (7)

We love cooking, and olive oil is a kitchen staple we use almost every day.

The Kirkland Signature organic extra-virgin olive oil is delicious and it's economical for us to buy it in bulk.

On this trip, we got about 2 liters of it for $17.50.

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The bakery section has great cookies.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (8)

My husband and I don't always have time between meetings to pop out to the store for a midday treat. Instead, we love having mini cookies from Costco's bakery section on hand for something sweet after lunch.

The $10 container comes with about 60 mini chocolate-chip cookies and will probably last us a week, maybe a week and a half, if we're lucky.

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Our dogs love the Kirkland Signature dental chews.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (9)

The Kirkland Signature dental chews are a favorite in our house and get purchased on every Costco trip.

Not only are they a better value than other brands with more chews per box, but also our dogs love them and genuinely get excited when they see us come home with these.

We usually buy dog food at Costco, too, but our location was out of the formula we usually buy.

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We stock up on Sugar in the Raw when we run out.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (10)

On this trip, we got 6 pounds of organic Sugar in the Raw cane sugar for $10.

We use sugar daily in our house in coffee, tea, hot cocoa, muffins, cookies, and cakes. This bag will last us about a month and a half to two months.

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Kirkland Signature organic raw honey is also a staple.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (11)

I've been going through honey faster than expected lately, so I decided to buy it in bulk from Costco to save money.

Three 24-ounce bottles of Kirkland Signature honey cost me $15, and I hope they last me a few months.

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Better Than Bouillon is helpful to have.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (12)

Better Than Bouillon vegetable base was not on my shopping list today, but the 21-ounce jar for $9 was too good a deal to pass up. An 8-ounce jar of the stuff usually costs about $5 at other grocery stores.

I use this when I cook — it's great in soups, sauces, and marinades.

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We use lint rollers every day so we stock up.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (13)

With two dogs in the house, my husband and I constantly fight a losing battle with dog hair. So, lint rollers are essential.

I hadn't planned on picking up lint rollers, but I know we'll use them daily, and the five-pack of 3M rollers was only $13.

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Canned tuna is great for easy lunches.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (14)

Canned tuna is a pantry staple for us because it doesn't go bad quickly and it's great to use in quick, easy lunches.

I pick up canned tuna every time I go to Costco. This 12-can pack of Chicken of the Sea tuna should last us about two months.

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Chipwich ice-cream sandwiches are my husband's must-have dessert.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (15)

My husband loves Chipwiches as an after-dinner treat, so we started buying them from Costco. This way, we save money and my husband always has his favorite sweet treat at the ready.

Each box of 10 is only $12 — for context, a box of three Chipwiches is usually about $5 at other grocery stores.

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We eat one loaf of Schmidt Italian bread immediately and freeze the other.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (16)

The twin pack of Schmidt unseeded Italian bread is perfect for sandwiches, French toast, and delicious, pressed toasties.

We will usually freeze one loaf and start eating the other immediately.

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The Kirkland Signature butter croissants are my must-have Costco item.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (17)

A toasted butter croissant can make any bad day better.

I get 12 Kirkland Signature croissants for $6, which makes them about 50 cents each. I can't beat that deal. I usually freeze these and thaw them as needed.

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We pick up the chain's famous rotisserie chicken every time.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (18)

Another must-buy on our list is the famous $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco.

I use part of the meat for salads that I'll prep ahead of time for our lunches and the rest for a big batch of soup.

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The premade Caesar salad is another must-buy item for us.

We have 2 incomes, 2 dogs, and no kids. Here's what we like to buy at Costco and how we use it. (19)

We'll divide Costco's premade Caesar salad into about five portions and top it with rotisserie chicken for easy lunches throughout the week.

The salad and chicken cost us about $10, which means each lunch is only $2. Plus, prepared salads are easy for us to grab for lunch between meetings.

Click to keep reading Costco diaries like this one.