My Single Mom Life

On Friday evening, my sister and I went to BJ's Wholesale Club as part of a promotion to help increase people's awareness of BJ's and help to increase memberships.
I was given two $25 gift cards to use, 1 for myself and 1 for my sister, to use to purchase anything that we wanted.

When we arrived, I went straight to the service desk to explain why we were there and to be able to use our free 60-day memberships so that we could use our gift cards.
The customer service agent called over a manager because part of what I was asked to do while there, was to take some pictures of the store, the items, and prices of the items.
The manager took my letter that explained what I was doing there, and went and spoke to another manager.
She came back and said that they had no problem with what I was doing which is a review of BJ's, but because they had not been notified that this sort of thing was going to be happening, they could not allow me to take any pictures.
She said that if they had been notified, she would have gladly allowed me to take pictures.
I said that it wasn't a problem, I didn't want to be in any trouble, and I didn't want to cause any trouble.
The manager asked me to further explain to her what I was doing, going to be doing, the whole purpose of my trip to BJ's that day.
I explained to them that this was a promotion that BJ's was doing on some blogs to help gain interest in membership, and it worked right away, because my sister bought her membership (she had a membership years ago but it expired) while I was at the desk talking to the manager about why I was there, what I was doing, and that I would be posting my experience to my blog to help promote BJ's and get new memberships, and the kinds of things that I would be posting, such as all the forms of payment that BJ's accepts including EBT (food stamps), and all of the promotions when memberships are bought.
If you purchase a membership, they offer an immediate $10 coupon to use on that days purchase or a future purchase, and instead of a 12-month year long membership for $45, it's a 14-month long membership that is fully refundable if at any time during those 14 months the customer wants to cancel their membership.

My sister had no idea all the good changes that had been made to BJ's since her membership expired quite a few years ago, so she decided to buy another membership right on the spot for $45 with the $10 coupon available to use right that day.
Getting her membership was super easy too, it took less time for her to get it than it did for me to talk to the manager about what I was doing there, like less than 7 minutes!

We spent about an hour browsing up and down the aisles, both of us finding several things that we could really use.
I bought the teens a case of Gatorade Powerade, $10.99
I bought a package of 660 paper plates, (I hate doing dishes, no dishwasher) for just $6.99.
Paper plates at the local grocery store are 300 of them for $6.99, so I got 360 more for the same price as the grocery store, same exact brand of plates too.
I bought a HUGE, like half gallon bottle size, of the most awesome hair conditioner for just $4.99
My sister bought a 3 piece Oneida frying pan set for just $19.99
My sister also bought a package of 460 Glad sandwich bags (she packs all of the girls lunches every single day) for $7.99, and a package of 20 Oral B replacement heads for their families electric toothbrushes for just $14.99
I think that was all we got, and it came to $65.94, then subtract the additional $10.00 instant coupon they gave her for buying a membership, so our total out of pocket was around $5.94+tax.

We got some really great deals on what we bought, and had we had more time, I'm sure that we would have found a million more things that we wanted to get, but she had to be back home to pick up her daughters from the sitters house by no later than 7:30pm.
But we browsed up and down every aisle, we saw a million things that we want and will be back to get, especially the food items!
BJ's accepts every major credit card, they also take debit cards, EBT cards, (food stamps) and EBT cash benefits can be used to purchase a membership.

They also take ALL manufacturer coupons which help you save even more money on grocery items, PLUS they have their own coupons, PLUS you can use both at the same time!
That's right!
If you find an item that you want and you have a BJ's coupon for it and a manufacturer coupon for the same item, you can use BOTH coupons to help save you double the money!

* Savings of MORE than 30%** off supermarket prices
* MORE products in family-friendly supermarket sizes
* Even MORE savings with manufacturers' coupons -- BJ's is the only
major wholesale club that accepts them all
* MORE ways to pay: cash, checks, major credit and debit cards -- plus EBT

In these tough economic times, you have to find all sorts of ways to be creative and save money but still keep your family fed and dressed, (Yes! they even sell clothes and shoes, tires, home improvement items, all kinds of stuff!) so why not go check out BJ's Wholesale Club using the free 60-day membership, (the free membership offer expires on 7/5/2010, so hurry!) and bring your coupons with you, I guarantee that you will find all of the same stuff that you buy at your fave grocery store for way less money and be able to save even more money on them using BJ's coupons and your manufacturer coupons, and then consider buying a membership.
Memberships cost just $45, they give you a $10 coupon right on the spot to use that day or a future purchase, and I know that I will be back myself to get a membership so that I don't always have to go shopping with my sister, I can get a friend to bring me and my friend will be able to shop with me that day as well.
I really can't wait to be able to go back and do some serious grocery shopping.
I always use coupons, so being able to double up on my savings on groceries will be totally awesome.

We had a really good time at BJ's, and Sebastian went with us and saw a million things that he wants to get too.
He spent some time browsing their electronics department, they sell tvs, ipods, computers, laptops, DVDs and Blu Ray, and video games, so yeah, he had a good time looking at everything they sell too.
We will definitely be back to BJ's Wholesale Club, and I would highly recommend that you print out that free 60-day membership and go check them out for yourself.
We all have to find ways to save money, and because of all the payment forms they accept and the fact that they double coupons, it's definitely a great way to get everything that you need and save money doing it.