5 Costco Purchases That Can Help You Save Money Through All of 2024

If you’re striving to save money in 2024, you’re probably focused on what not to buy — but the purchases you do make could have just as much impact on your money goals as those you forgo. By investing in a few key kitchen items this year, you could recoup your expenditure and then some by the time 2025 rolls around.

A handful of strategic purchases could dramatically reduce what you spend on food and drinks while preventing waste and making you less likely to eat out. All of the following items have the potential to pay for themselves well before next January, leaving you out of the red and with more money in your bank account — and they’re all available at Costco right now.

• Price: $49.99

The surest way to save money on food is to create a meal plan, shop only for the ingredients you need and cook in bulk. But cooking in bulk only works if you have good storage containers. They should be microwave-safe, freezer-safe and dishwasher-safe so the process is convenient enough for you to stick to the plan long term.

The Bentgo 12-piece glass storage set is all those things — they’re even oven-safe up to 500 degrees. They’re leakproof, they’re BPA-free and they come in a range of sizes from small to extra large.

• Price: $99.99

The second key to saving money on food is avoiding waste. The FoodSaver vacuum sealing system, which comes with a handheld sealer attachment, keeps food fresh up to five times longer with an airtight seal that prevents both rot and freezer burn. It comes with everything you need, including rolls and bags to get you started. With four settings — dry, moist, pulse and sous vide — it can seal just about anything that comes out of your kitchen and keep good food out of your trash can.

• Price: $109.99

If your family keeps soda in the fridge, you can save both money and the planet by investing in a sparkling water maker from Sodastream Art. It was $139.99, but it’s currently $30 off, so Costco is giving you a head start on saving money in 2024.

It turns plain water into sparkling water in seconds with no batteries or electricity thanks to a simple one-click, quick-connect CO2 cylinder. It’s BPA-free, dishwasher safe and perhaps the most versatile drink maker there is. It takes just seconds to turn flat water bubbly, and from there, you can transform it into cola, lemon-lime or a huge variety of other flavors, which are limited only by your imagination.

Not only can you eliminate thousands of plastic bottles from your household waste over the device’s lifespan, but CNET says a sparkling water maker can save heavy soda-drinking households up to $600 per year.

• Price: $39.99 (estimated)

Slow cookers can tenderize just about any meat, they make stews and chili a breeze, and they offer the set-it-and-forget-it convenience — but they also pay for themselves and then some in the long term.

According to CNET, it costs about $0.51 to run a standard oven for an hour — that’s about  $3.57 to cook a six-pound pork shoulder for seven hours. A six-quart slow cooker, on the other hand, will run you about $0.05 an hour, or $0.40 to cook the same meat for eight hours, which is one hour longer than the conventional oven.

Costco isn’t quoting the price for the Hamilton Beach six-quart programmable slow cooker — or any of its slow cookers, for that matter — but Walmart is listing it for about $40. It comes with a hold-temperature function, a clip-lock lid and a built-in temperature probe.

• Price: $249.99

Coffee on the go has long been one of the most infamous budget busters, especially for the fancy stuff like lattes, cappuccinos and espresso, which can now cost roughly what a fast-food meal used to cost just a few short years back. If you like gourmet coffee drinks and you’ve resolved to cut spending in 2024, consider investing in an espresso maker. They can break the bank, but they don’t have to.

De’Longhi is one of the most credible names in coffee, and it can make you an in-home barista for about $250, which sounds like a lot — but consider what you’re up against.

According to Money, a single cappuccino averages $5.75 in places like Virginia Beach, Virginia. If you buy three per week, your annual tab would be $897, enough to buy three De’Longhi espresso makers with money to spare — but you won’t skimp on quality. The company’s Dedica Deluxe manual pump espresso machine offers 15-bar professional pressure.