How to shop at Costco without membership

When an ex and I broke up I was initially bummed about (among other things) no longer being able to use his Costco membership.  I started wondering... should I pay $50 for my own membership?  Would I get enough use out of it?  But then I discovered, you can use Costco Cash Cards to shop at Costco without paying for membership!

Here's how it works:
1) Direct someone who does have Costco membership here.  A family member, friend, or anyone will do.  Have them buy you a Costco Cash Card aka gift card.  You can even have them ship it to your address.
2) When the gift card arrives, take it with you to Costco.  You show it at the door and at the register instead of a membership card.

And that's it!  The first time I did this I felt a little funny, but it has worked for me many, many times now.  And going over the value of the gift card doesn't seem to matter, they just have me pay the difference (cash, check, or AMEX only though!).

Sometimes my folks don't even ask me to reimburse them for the cash card, because they like the idea of me buying nutritious groceries (actually I'm buying discount movie tickets).  Happy Costco shopping!

Posted via email from Safewaygirl's safeway deals