Mom of 6 shares how she 'moneymaxxes' her Costco grocery runs
A North Carolina mom is sharing how she stretches her dollars and makes the most out of grocery shopping runs at Costco.
Content creator Brittney Hanks, author of "Costco One Stop Meals," says she likes to find food deals at the wholesale retailer for her six kids and make meals from them for under $3 a person.
"I think the most surprising thing for people is gonna be that it's actually not that difficult to get ingredients for entire meals at Costco," Hanks told ABC News. "Things like eggs and milk and cheese, and pasta and bread and tortillas. Extra quantities of things can be frozen and preserved to use later, so you just want to make sure you do that right at the beginning."
Grocery prices have been increasing and the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables rose 5.5% in July compared to last year, according to a July report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Hanks said big-box stores are a great place to look for meal savings since you can buy ingredients in bulk.
"One of [my family's] favorite meals that I make from Costco is cheeseburger sliders," said Hanks. "It's just a whole huge package of Hawaiian rolls and we put ground beef and cheese on it, and then they just kind of pull apart these little cheeseburger sliders, dip them into ketchup and mustard."
Another one of her family's favorite foundations for meals is Costco's famous rotisserie chicken. Hanks said the key to using the same base is to keep recipes fresh and different.
"I'm making some chicken tacos, and then the next day I'm having some chicken noodle soup, and then the third day, I'm doing a barbecue chicken salad," she said.
Hanks also recommends checking out Costco's food court for good meal deals.
"Their pizza, their hot dog and a drink deal, like, you cannot beat those price-wise," she said. "I've seen people who will buy a whole Costco pizza and just kind of spice it up ... they'll bring it home and add little dollops of ricotta cheese onto the pepperoni pizza, drizzle it with some hot honey."
But not everything at Costco is a bargain, Hanks noted.
"You want to avoid the pre-made meals, although they are delicious. The pre-made tacos, the baked mac and cheese, the lasagna, the shepherd's pie, those things that are grab-and-go meals are definitely gonna be a premium," she said.
