Back to School Costco Haul — What $552 Buys for a Family of Seven
This back to school Costco haul is the big one. My monthly stock-up and the lunchbox run rolled into a single trip, because I was not about to do that twice in one week. I feed seven people. School starts back up, which means five days of packed lunches sitting on top of dinner every night, and my freezer and my pantry were both looking a little thin. So I walked the whole warehouse, read the prices out loud as I went, and came home $552.35 lighter with 45 items in the back of the van.
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Come walk the whole store with me above, or keep reading for every price.
What My Back to School Costco Haul Cost, Item by Item
I want to say up front that I am not showing you these numbers to brag about a deal or to make anybody feel bad about their grocery budget. I am showing you because when I was a young mama I would have given anything to see what a real cart actually costs for a real family. So here it is, straight off the signs.
Produce and pantry
- Cosmic Crisp apples, 4 lb — $6.39
- Granny Smith apples, 4 lb — $5.29
- Fresh sweet corn
- Stonefire mini naan, 18 ct — $4.99 after the instant rebate
- Kirkland organic tortilla chips, 40 oz — $6.99
- Gino Bambino sourdough pizza kit — $9.99
The meat counter
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts — $2.99 a pound
- Boneless pork loin — $1.99 a pound
- Kirkland beef for stew — $7.99 a pound
- Kirkland premium sliced bacon, 4 lb — $14.99
Chicken at $2.99 a pound is the number I plan the whole month around. That is the one that turns into poppy seed chicken, chicken and rice, chicken salad for lunches, and about four other things before the month is out. The pork loin at $1.99 a pound is the sleeper though. I bring the whole loin home, cut it into chops and bite-size pieces myself, and it stretches across four separate dinners for less than the price of one package of pre-cut chops.
Boneless pork loin at $1.99 a pound is the other number I plan around. A whole one runs me a little under twenty dollars and I cut it down myself the same afternoon into sixteen thin chops and four pounds of bite-size pieces — four separate dinners out of one package. If you have never broken one down before, I walk through the whole thing in my Tuesday tip: pork loin.
Dairy and the cold case
- Kirkland 2% milk, gallon — $2.83
- Cage-free eggs, 24 ct — $3.79
- Salted butter quarters, 4 lb — $9.59
- Sharp cheddar block, 2 lb — $5.29
- Kirkland five cheese tortelloni — $12.49
- Oikos Triple Zero yogurt, 18 ct — $13.79
- Kirkland organic pine nut hummus, 34 oz — $5.89
- Hannah tzatziki yogurt dip, 32 oz — $8.59
Two dollars and eighty-three cents for a gallon of milk. I bought two, and in this house that is a four-day supply. The hummus and the tzatziki are for Jason. Those two go straight into his Mediterranean snacks, and if that is your way of eating too, I keep all of that together over on The Terrace.
Freezer
- Kirkland extra-crispy french fries, 5 lb — $6.99
- Kirkland organic broccoli florets — $9.89
Drinks
- Kirkland sparkling flavored water, 24 ct — $10.99
- IZZE sparkling juice, 24 ct — $16.49
Lunchbox Snacks for Five Days a Week
This is the part of the trip that only happens in August. The rest of the year I am buying dinner. Right now I am buying dinner plus five lunches a day, and that math adds up faster than anything else in the cart.
- Welch’s mixed fruit snacks, 90 ct
- Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers, 45 ct — $12.49
- Pirate’s Booty aged white cheddar, 40 ct — $13.39
- Variety snack pack, 40 ct — $17.79
- SkinnyPop organic popcorn, 14 oz — $4.69 after the instant rebate
- Kirkland mini muffin bites, 20 ct — $7.99
- Hello Panda chocolate cookies, 32 ct — $8.29 after the instant rebate
- Skinny Dipped dark chocolate almonds, 30 ct — $11.99
- Kirkland grass fed beef sticks, 12 ct — $13.79
The beef sticks were the ones I stood in front of the longest. There was Kirkland at $13.79 and Snake River Farms wagyu jerky at $18.49 right beside it, and my people will eat either one just as fast, so I took the cheaper box and did not feel one bit bad about it.
One thing I have learned packing lunches for this many years: what goes in the box matters less than how it travels. Anything with meat, dairy, or eggs in it needs two cold sources in the bag, not one, and the USDA is very clear that they should sit on the top and the bottom of the perishable food, not off to the side. Their lunchbox packing guidance is worth reading once before the year starts.
I went through every one of these lunchbox items on their own afterward, with what each pack actually costs and what a whole lunch adds up to. If that is the part you came for, here are my school lunch ideas kids will eat — twelve items, every price, and a printable to go with it.
The Things That Were Not Food
Two things went in the cart that nobody eats. The first was a five-pack of cleaning wipes, and that one genuinely stopped me in the aisle. Three of those same canisters run close to thirteen dollars at Walmart. Five of them here were fifteen. That is the kind of difference that makes the membership pay for itself before you ever get to the meat counter.
The second was cat food. Dustin and Eddie are not babies anymore, so they have officially graduated to the big kitty food, Kirkland chicken and rice, 25 pounds, $22.69. They have no idea what an honor this is.
There is a third thing nobody eats that I buy on almost every one of these trips, and it did not make the video: a big box of Glad Take-Aways. Thirty-five of them for about eleven dollars. They are how last night’s dinner goes to school the next day, and how my college kids leave here with food, and at thirty cents apiece I never have to ask for a single one back.
The Receipt
Forty-five items. $541.07 subtotal, $11.28 in tax, $552.35 out the door, with $24.10 in instant savings already taken off. A little over what I meant to spend, and I am at peace with it. Between restocking the whole month and getting five lunchboxes covered, that was a good day.
What I do next is the part that actually keeps this from turning into waste. That chicken, that pork loin, and those apples get written into a real plan before anything goes in the freezer, and I put that plan up here every Saturday. You can see this week’s over on my weekly meal plans page, grocery list and all.
Back to School Costco Haul FAQ — Feeding Seven
How much does a back to school Costco haul cost for a family of seven?
This one came to $552.35 for 45 items, and that covered the monthly stock-up and the lunchbox restock in the same trip. A normal monthly run for us lands lower than that. August is always the expensive month because school lunches get added on top of everything else.
How often do you shop at Costco?
Once a month, on purpose. I have learned the hard way that a mid-month Costco trip throws my whole budget off a cliff, so I go once, I go with a list, and I fill in the gaps at the regular grocery store.
Is Costco actually cheaper, or does it just feel that way?
It depends entirely on the item, which is why I read the price per pound and the price per ounce on the sign instead of the big number. Meat, dairy, and cleaning supplies are where I see the real difference. Some snacks and some produce are a wash.
What do you buy at Costco for school lunches?
Individually wrapped things that survive a backpack, mostly. Fruit snacks, Goldfish, popcorn, beef sticks, and a variety pack so there is more than one choice. Then apples and cheese from the regular part of the cart to round it out so it is not all crackers.
Do you really use all of it before it goes bad?
We do, but only because I break the big packages down the same day I get home. The pork loin gets cut and wrapped, the chicken gets portioned, and the bacon gets split. Buying in bulk without a plan is just a slower way to throw money in the trash.
More Days at the Longstreth House You’ll Love
- Costco Haul for a Family of 7 — What a Typical Month Looks Like — what a normal month looks like, without the back to school add-on.
- Costco Haul With All Five Kids — Our Big Summer Stock-Up — the summer restock, with all five of them pushing one cart.
- Mid-Month Costco Haul for a Family of 7 — the trip I swore I would not make, and the birthday cake that made me make it.
- 8 Things for 8th Grade — Our Mommy Daughter Walmart Trip — the other half of getting everybody ready for school.
- Family Thrift Haul — what $140 gets you when you shop with Jonathan and Hannah.
📬 Come to the table on Saturday
Every Saturday morning I send a printable meal plan and full grocery list — the whole week, formatted for the fridge and the grocery run — plus new recipes and whatever’s happening at the Longstreth house. Drop your email below and I’ll save you a seat.
Back to School Costco Haul — About Stephanie Longstreth
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.