New Costco members warned to avoid big rookie mistake | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

When you first join Costco, shopping there can be a bit overwhelming – or a lot overwhelming.

For one thing, those warehouse club stores are huge. You could spend several hours at Costco thinking you’ve hit every aisle, only to easily miss a few.

Plus, if you’re not used to pushing one of those gigantic shopping carts around, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise – and some sore muscles at the end of the day.

It can also be difficult to keep your spending in check when you’re new to Costco and are enticed by the store’s unique product lineup and fantastic prices.

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During your first few Costco shopping trips, you may want to make a list of your must-buys and set a budget so you don’t wind up with a giant credit card bill afterward.

You may also want to steer clear of the free samples if you think they’ll lead to far too many impulse buys. Though it’s fun to snack on those tasty bites as you walk through the store, they could easily tempt you to buy things you really don’t need several dozen of.

New Costco members warned to avoid big rookie mistake.

Image source&colon; Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The newbie Costco mistake members should avoid

If there’s one drawback to shopping at Costco – besides the fact that you might inadvertently bring home an inflatable kayak and giant stuffed teddy bear when all you need is groceries – it’s having to battle crowds.

In fact, last year, Costco made the decision to limit its food courts to members only.

It used to be that non-members could come in and buy a cheap meal when they wanted. But one of the reasons Costco did away with that was to help address the issue of overfilled parking lots.

Recently, a new Costco member took to Reddit to confess a newbie blunder. And their post got a lot of responses.

“Rookie mistake. I went to Costco on a Saturday morning.”

If you’ve ever set foot in Costco on a weekend, you know exactly why that was an unwise choice.

As jam-packed as Costco tends to be during the week, the store tends to be even more ridiculously crowded on weekends. And that makes sense.

Not everyone has a Costco store right around the corner. So for a lot of people, it’s easier to fit in a shopping trip on a non-workday.

Plus, Costco samples tend to be most abundant on Saturdays and Sundays. Members who love that perk tend to flock to the store on weekends to take advantage of it.

A better time to shop at Costco

If you’re a new Costco member, you may want to avoid the store on weekends for a couple of reasons.

First, it can be downright unpleasant to shop at Costco when there are so many people. And you may not get to explore the store fully if you can’t get down the aisles.

Secondly, seeing all of those long lines at the checkout area might push you to try to get in and out of the store as quickly as possible. That could mean randomly throwing items into your cart without giving them much thought, leading to extra spending.

A big perk of joining Costco is to save money on groceries and everyday essentials. If you’re stressed and itching to get out of the store to escape the crowds, you may not be in the right frame of mind to make savvy spending decisions.

So when should you shop at Costco as a new member? If your work schedule is flexible, your best bet may be to go during the week when the store first opens.

If you go first thing, you might miss out on free samples, as they usually don’t come out until late morning. But you might benefit from fewer crowds.

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One Reddit member, meanwhile, suggested shopping at Costco on Friday nights at 7 p.m. She called it “the golden hour.”

Evenings in general can be fairly quiet at Costco, especially during dinnertime. And as a bonus, you can pick up a cheap food court pizza to bring home so you don’t have to cook.

It pays to play around with different shopping times to see when your local store is the least crowded. But as a general rule, avoiding Costco on weekends could mean sparing yourself a world of frustration and aggravation.

Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.