The $18 Costco Grocery I Buy 4 Times a Year and Use Every Single Day (It Saves Me Hundreds of Dollars)

My family has been shopping at Costco longer than I’ve been alive. Over the years (decades), we’ve carefully crafted a repertoire of warehouse staples that we can’t function without: Organic Saigon cinnamon, frozen chicken nuggets, and even the two-dozen count of eggs. The one item we use by far the most (and in return save the most money on)? A 25-pound bag of Kirkland Signature Thai Hom Mali jasmine rice.

Now that I live on my own, I continue to uphold the tradition of hauling that large bag of rice home to my apartment every few months. And as someone who eats rice every day (yes, every day) it’s by far the greatest (and most delicious) budget grocery trick that I have. 

The hefty 25-pound bag of jasmine rice retails for $17.99 in stores, and is one of my all-time greatest money-saving hacks. To put the savings into context, a small, five-pound bag of jasmine rice in New York City can cost anywhere from $8 to $12, which means I’d end up spending almost three or four times as much at nearby grocery stores for the same amount of rice. Put another way, the Costco brand ends up being just about $3.60 for five pounds of rice. 

As a single person, I eat a lot of rice. By purchasing that large bag every three months or so — roughly how long it takes to go through a bag — I end up saving well over $100 on my grocery bill each year. If you factor in how long my family has been buying this rice, we’ve probably saved thousands of dollars over the years. 

I’ve noticed that sometimes people can be wary of the larger bulk buys at Costco, but hear me out. They’re not just for restaurants — they’re for everyone! I store my rice on my counter in a large jar and throw the rest into my cupboard in its bag until my container needs some topping off. 

I’d also consider myself to be in the quality over quantity faction, and I don’t just buy this rice because it’s affordable — I buy it because it’s good. Jasmine rice is a staple in Thai cuisine, and this long-grain white rice is a product of Thailand (and is even vetted by the Thai embassy!). Even more, my grandma — an incredibly talented Thai chef — also adores this jasmine rice (almost as much as she loves a great deal). Truthfully, anything that has her stamp of approval has mine. 

However you typically enjoy jasmine rice! Like I mentioned, I eat rice every single day — sometimes even three times a day. I serve it with eggs, alongside beef stew, in a burrito, with curried lentils. I mean, I even find myself just enjoying a freshly steamed bowl of rice on its own — no sauce or anything. 

At this point, jasmine rice has become such a constant in my life that it feels like a security blanket. With all of the money that I’ve saved over the years on rice, it means I can spend more time trying new snacks or even picking up a new sweater or two during my Costco trips.

Find it in stores: Kirkland Signature Thai Hom Mali Jasmine Rice, $17.99 for 25 pounds 

What is your go-to Costco staple? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The $18 Costco Grocery I Buy 4 Times a Year and Use Every Single Day (It Saves Me Hundreds of Dollars)