9 Tips For Shopping At Sam's Club On A Budget

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Buying food in bulk is a cost-effective way to get your groceries. It may require a larger upfront bill, but it saves big bucks in the long term. This is because the price per product, or price per quantity, is usually significantly lower when you buy at warehouse grocers. Among warehouse grocers, three names probably come to mind: Costco, BJ's, and Sam's Club. Personally, I've always preferred the latter, which is owned by the same company as Walmart, and is a great place to frequent if you're shopping on a budget.

Of course, like any other store, you need to know a few tricks and tips if you're going to save as much money as possible during your Sam's Club shopping trips. Thankfully for you, I shopped at this bulk retailer for years before moving away from my preferred club. Before that? My parents shopped at Sam's Club for as far back into my childhood as I can remember to stock up on goods for our large family. During this combined time, I picked up a few great tips for getting the best bargains. Today, I'm sharing nine of the best of those to help you get the most bang for your buck. Oh, and if you're brand new to the store, make sure you check out the beginner's guide to food shopping at Sam's Club, too. Now, let's get into it.

One of the most important tips I can share for shopping at Sam's is that you need to be prepared for bulk food storage if you want to make the most out of your membership. For many people, this will mean spending a bit of money before taking advantage of the tips listed below — and spending money may not sound very budget-friendly. However, an upfront investment in a few select items ensures you never have to throw spoiled food away, and allows you to take advantage of large bulk deals. Even better, a proper setup will give you space for ample long-term food storage that could let you skip a full shopping trip or two each year, if done right.

My recommendation is to invest in just two primary things: a chest freezer and a vacuum sealer (with an appropriate amount of vacuum bags). I use this Mesliese Vacuum Sealer in my own home, and it's only $89.99 on Amazon. I like that it has multiple functions, is easy to use, and comes with some bags to get you started. You can purchase a cheap chest freezer at stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Best Buy, Walmart, or Target. I keep mine in the garage, and if you need to do the same, make sure you look for a freezer that's labeled "garage ready."

Obviously, this tip won't help if you already have a Sam's Club membership. However, if you don't and you're looking to get one, the best way to save money is to avoid paying full price for your membership. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to save.

The first option may take a little time and planning, but it could be well worth it in the long run if you're not in a rush. At random intervals throughout the year, membership prices are discounted to entice people to join. The savings can vary, but at the time of this writing, there's a promotion to save 40% off your annual membership — which means you'll only pay $30 for the whole year (as opposed to $60, starting on May 1, 2026). Keep an eye out for these promotions online or in-store so you don't miss them.

The second option is available for select groups of people year-round. You can receive a special membership offer if you're a veteran, active military personnel, teacher, student, healthcare professional, senior, first responder, government employee, or a government assistance recipient. Offers vary, but one example is that veterans and active military receive 60% off a standard club membership or $50 off a Sam's Club Plus Membership. Why pay full price when you don't have to?

Usually, shopping at a bulk grocery store means you need to put out a good chunk of change upfront to save big in the long run. That doesn't have to be the case if you're on a strict budget and really need to stretch your dollar. Even if you just want to bulk up your pantry and freezer, these are great options for rounding out your shopping trip. Even stores like Sam's Club have items you can buy for less than a fancy cup of coffee.

Doing this properly goes beyond just looking for a low price tag. Instead, you'll want to focus on finding things that will either go far or are incredibly versatile. These Sam's Club foods that cost less than $5 are an excellent example. Products like big clamshell containers of strawberries can be used in a wide variety of dishes, such as strawberry shortcake or strawberry spinach salad. You can even freeze some of them so they last longer. If you're looking for a quick dinner after your shopping, the Member's Mark Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken is an excellent option that costs just under $5. Although you can find products from a wide range of departments under $5, I've always had the best luck with fresh produce, frozen vegetables, and canned goods — look to these departments if you're trying to bulk up on affordable deals. 

Buying bulk groceries on a budget requires changing the way you do your shopping. While many families go shopping weekly at standard grocery stores, that just won't work when shopping at Sam's Club — if you continue doing this, your grocery bills will likely rise, and you won't save any money. The reason for this is that the foods at Sam's Club are packaged in large quantities at a slightly higher initial price. If you continue purchasing weekly, you'll probably find yourself spending more money than necessary to receive more product than your family likely needs in any given week. To solve this, switch to buying biweekly or monthly, since this is better suited to the amount of product Sam's Club requires you to purchase at one time to receive their discounted prices. Which frequency works best for you will depend on your preferences and family size, among other considerations.

Shopping trip frequency isn't the only way you could accidentally end up spending too much. Heading into Sam's Club without a solid plan is also a recipe for disaster. Know what you need and stick to your list so you don't end up overbuying. To create your list, implement other tips I've offered here, like shopping clearance and looking for instant savings. Check your pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what you still have enough of so you can skip those items and allot that part of your budget elsewhere.

Does Sam's Club accept coupons? No, and this statement may make big couponers fret. But, it's important to understand that, while the store doesn't accept manufacturer's coupons, it does have many other ways that you can save. One of the best ways is through the store's Instant Savings program, which allows you to get money off select products each week without needing to clip coupons or load points onto digital cards.

It helps if you look at the Instant Savings before creating your biweekly or monthly shopping list. This way, you can work those deals into your budget to save the most money possible. The discounts are automatically added when you check out, and vary based on your Sam's Club location. Discounted products also change from one week to another. Currently, at my local Sam's Club, there are Instant Savings like $2 off a 45-pack of Cheez-It individual containers and $6 off an 18-pack of Celsius energy drinks. Non-food household essentials like dishwasher pods, laundry detergent pods, and baby wipes also have Instant Savings at the time of writing.

Sam's Cash is the store's cash-back reward, which is automatically added to your club account as you earn it. Once it's in your club account, you can spend it like normal cash (with a few exceptions) inside the store. Anything earned should be in your account within 30 days, and it doesn't expire for as long as you keep your membership active.

There are three primary ways to earn Sam's Cash: If you have a Plus Membership, you'll receive 2% Sam's cash back on all eligible purchases. Alternatively, you can earn with the Sam's Club Mastercard, or with any eligible linked card on your Sam's Club account.

There are two excellent ways that I personally make use of my Sam's Cash: The first is to save it up for something special that I wouldn't normally purchase. Usually, this is a non-food item that I've found at Sam's Club and wanted. Once I have enough Sam's Cash from my grocery shopping, I purchase the item and basically get it for free. Another option I've frequently used is to save up the cash until it equals the same (or nearly the same) as my monthly shopping budget. Although this takes quite a bit of time, it's always nice to walk out of the store paying nearly nothing.

Like every other store, Sam's Club has a rotating stock of clearance items that are steeply marked down from their original price. Usually, clearance happens because an item hasn't sold in an allotted timeframe, and now the store needs to move those products to make room for new stuff. However, items can be heavily discounted for other reasons, too, like a can being dented, a product being discontinued, and more.

You can shop clearance both online and in-store, so this is a tip to take advantage of no matter how you prefer to do your shopping. That said, I've always found that in-store clearance is both cheaper and more likely to include food. Overall, you'll find that the majority of clearance consists of non-food items — but you can definitely still score some edible items at steep discounts if you just take the time to look.

Since clearance can vary between what's shown online and what's available in store, it can seem challenging to work this into your shopping allowance. My top tip is to allot a small portion of your grocery shopping budget specifically for potential clearance items when making your biweekly or monthly list. This way, you can take advantage of anything you find, or even come a little under budget on some weeks.

You know how you can find people handing out samples of new products at your local grocery store if you're lucky? The Freeosk at Sam's Club is a digital version of that. Basically, this machine is a digital kiosk that's stocked with free samples of a specific item that month — scan your Sam's Club membership card to get something totally on the house. There's no better way to cut costs than to pay nothing for something.

The freebies rotate regularly, and it should be advertised on the kiosk screen what's currently available — sometimes it's food, while other times it's non-food items. For example, at the time of this writing, the current freebie at Sam's Club is Zeiss Lens Wipes, which are really handy for people with glasses. Coming up in the near future are free samples of Member's Mark Better Nut Bar, Crest Gum Detoxify, Metamucil Psyllium 4-in-1 Fiber, and Member's Mark Fruity Snacks.

Most grocery stores (if not all of them) have private labels created by the company itself that are basically knock-offs of brand names. For Sam's Club, that private label is Member's Mark, and its products are often much cheaper than name-brand alternatives.

One great example is the Member's Mark Grade A Vitamin D Whole Milk, which isn't simply cheaper, but has rave reviews on the Sam's Club website. Here, you can pay just $2.47 for a gallon, while you'd pay $4.06 for a gallon of Great Value Vitamin D Whole Milk — another popular private label that you can grab at Walmart. Another example of private label savings is the Member's Mark Purified Water 40-pack, which costs only $3.98, while a case of the same size from Pure Life costs $4.98.

When you're creating your shopping list, I highly suggest using the Sam's Club website to get the most accurate cost estimates. When doing this, try typing "Member's Mark" and the product type in the search bar to see if a private label option exists. For example, you could type in "Member's Mark canned chicken," or "Member's Mark tomato sauce."