On Tuesday, Walmart folded Walmart+ into Sam’s Club Plus and put one price on the pair: $120 a year. Existing Plus members can switch Walmart+ on at no extra cost, and Walmart+ annual members can move to the combined plan for $22 more. All three big clubs have raised fees since September 2024, so this is a good week to redo the math on whether a membership earns its keep.
For a family of five, the answer is usually easy. For one or two people, it’s a closer call. Bulk packs that save a big family money can turn into freezer burn and a fridge full of leftovers you’re tired of by day four. The fee is the same either way.
The good news is that the math is simple once you know your own numbers. Here’s how to run it for each club, which purchases do the heavy lifting in a small household, and where people quietly lose the savings they joined for.
What the three clubs charge right now
| Club | Basic tier | Upper tier | Upper-tier reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costco | Gold Star, $65 | Executive, $130 | 2% back, capped at $1,250 a year |
| Sam’s Club | Club, $60 | Plus, $120 (now includes Walmart+) | 2% Sam’s Cash, capped at $750 a year |
| BJ’s | Club, $60 | Club+, $120 | 2% back, capped at $500 a year |
All three raised prices recently. Costco went to $65 and $130 in September 2024, BJ’s moved to $60 and $120 in January 2025, and Sam’s Club went to $60 and $120 on May 1 of this year, when it also raised the Plus reward cap from $500 to $750. Each club includes a second card for someone in your household, which matters a lot for a couple and not at all for a single shopper.
The break-even formula
Divide the fee by how much cheaper the club is than where you shop now. The answer is how much you need to spend there in a year before the membership pays for itself. Your savings rate depends on your current store and your list, so treat these as illustrations.
- A $65 fee at a 10% savings rate needs $650 a year of club shopping, about $54 a month.
- The same fee at 20% savings needs $325 a year, roughly one modest trip a month.
- At 5% savings, which can happen if you already shop at a discount grocer, you’d need $1,300 a year.
To find your real rate, take ten things you buy every month and price them at the club and at your usual store, per ounce or per count. That one comparison tells you more than any review, because the club’s advantage is very different against a pricey supermarket than against Aldi or Walmart.
Purchases that pay the fee without a pantry full of bulk
Gas
For a small household with a car, gas is often the whole case. BJ’s says its members save about 20 cents a gallon on average, based on OPIS data from 2023 to 2025, and Club+ adds another 5 cents. A U.S. News piece in March put the usual warehouse club gap at about 10 to 30 cents a gallon below nearby stations, and it moves with your local market.
Run your own numbers. A car that takes 10 gallons a week burns about 520 gallons a year. At 15 cents saved per gallon, that’s $78, more than any basic fee. At 5 cents, it’s $26, and gas alone won’t carry the membership. Check a few weeks of prices at the club pump against the station you actually use before you count on it.
Prepared food that doesn’t need a big family
The rotisserie chicken is the best-known example. In a Consumer Reports price analysis reported in June, the average was $4.98 at Sam’s Club and $4.99 at Costco and BJ’s, against $8.99 at Whole Foods and $9.99 at Wegmans. One bird covers a couple for two meals, and nothing gets wasted. If a supermarket chicken is part of your week anyway, that gap adds up fast.
Things that keep
Paper towels, toilet paper, trash bags, laundry detergent, dish soap, coffee, canned goods and anything you freeze in portions are safe bulk buys for a household of any size. They don’t spoil, so the per-unit savings actually reach your wallet. The same logic covers a set of tires, which can be a one-purchase payback since warehouse tire centers typically bundle installation services with tires bought there. Get a quote for the same tire size at a local shop before you call it savings.
Where small households lose the savings
Perishables are the main leak. The USDA estimates that 30 to 40 percent of the US food supply goes uneaten, and club-size produce in a two-person house is an easy way to add to that at home. A bag of salad greens that’s half the price per ounce costs more than the small bag if half of it goes in the trash.
A few habits keep the math honest:
- Shop from a written list and treat everything else in the cart as a separate decision.
- Buy perishables at the club only when you have a plan for the whole package: freezing half, cooking a batch or splitting it.
- Split with a friend if you trust each other. Costco lets a member bring up to two guests, but only members can pay, so the member checks out and the friend settles up afterward.
- Count your freezer space before you count your savings. A full freezer turns every bulk deal into a waste risk.
The sharing rules, as written
Costco’s second card goes to one designated household member who is 16 or older and lives at the same address, and the card isn’t transferable. Members scan it at the door. BJ’s includes one household membership and sells up to three more for $35 each. Sam’s Club includes a second card with both Club and Plus. None of them is meant for two friends in two different homes, so a “shared” membership across addresses risks the card rather than saving money.
If you only need the club once or twice a year, you might not need a card at all. Costco sells some items online to non-members at 5% more than the member price, and in some states non-members can buy prescriptions and alcohol where the law requires it. For a one-time TV or appliance, paying the surcharge can beat paying the fee.
The upper tiers: only if the receipts say so
Each upgrade costs $60 to $65 more than the basic tier and pays 2% back, so the break-even is easy to compute. Costco’s extra $65 needs $3,250 a year in qualifying purchases, about $271 a month. Sam’s Club and BJ’s charge $60 more, which takes $3,000 a year. Few one- or two-person households spend that much at a single club, and Costco’s reward excludes gas, so fill-ups don’t count toward it.
There are two exceptions worth checking. If you already pay for Walmart+, Sam’s Club Plus now includes it, so the upgrade’s real cost is much lower than it looks; Walmart+ annual members can switch for $22. And since June 2025, Costco’s Executive members can shop from 9 a.m. every day, an hour before the regular weekday opening. If the 2% doesn’t cover the upgrade, Costco refunds the upgrade fee when you downgrade, minus any reward already issued or earned.
A quick verdict by situation
- You drive a lot and fill up weekly: a basic membership at the club nearest your route likely pays off on gas alone. Confirm with your own price checks.
- You already pay for Walmart+ and live near a Sam’s Club: the new bundle is the cheapest way into a club this fall.
- You live alone, cook little and have a small freezer: skip the card, use the non-member options above and buy household goods on sale elsewhere.
- You’re unsure: join and track every receipt for three months. Costco offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on the membership, and BJ’s lists a money-back guarantee that covers your first cancellation.
Before you renew this year, pull up the last twelve months of club purchases in the app and add up what you’d have paid at your regular store. If the difference is smaller than the fee, drop to the basic tier or let the card lapse.
