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I’ve been gobbling Costco rotisserie chicken since I was 10 years old and young enough to demand bananas from Mom. Even so, I’ve gone for prolonged periods sans Costco. It’s an on-and-off affair, one I’m forced to admit is contingent upon convenience and refrigerator size.

Even if you’re a Costco fan like I am, there are good reasons to cancel your membership. Three of the best reasons to cancel your Costco membership next year include kids moving out, issues with membership sharing, and cheaper alternatives for single shoppers.

1. Kids moved out

One of my favorite Reddit posts is by someone complaining about Costco only selling bananas in bulk. A half-dozen parents hopped on and declared that without on-demand bananas, their toddlers would riot. Kids eat the same foods in big quantities, and Costco delivers.

Kids moving out of your house is a good reason to reconsider your Costco habits. A membership cancellation is in the cards if you’re reduced to shopping for one average eater, or two light eaters. In fact, anything that shrinks your household size is grounds for cancellation.

But if you prefer cheaper gas and shopping for non-perishables in bulk, you might want to stick with Costco. You can still save money while shopping at Costco in 2025 by maximizing your Costco rewards with one simple strategy.

2. Membership sharing isn’t working

My college roommate experience was mixed. Chores were mishandled and trust was in lower supply than Costco’s gold bars. I didn’t trust my roommate to do the dishes — why would I trust them to fairly split a Costco membership? It wasn’t worth thinking about.

Membership sharing, which you can technically do with up to one household member, is more complicated than calling it 50/50. You need to follow through. You need to trust that you and your housemate are spending, splitting, and traveling fairly. It’s a whole thing.

If membership sharing isn’t working for you, consider splitting with someone else or canceling. You can absolutely shop at other stores with comparable prices on many items.

3. Cheaper products exist

A colleague of mine at Motley Fool Money investigated grocery prices at Costco vs. Aldi. She discovered that Aldi offered produce like cucumbers, strawberries, and blueberries for less per pound, sometimes more than 25% cheaper.

You can often find cheaper groceries at discount chains like Aldi. One tradeoff is you get less brand reliability. Costco has Kirkland, which rarely misses, plus consistent staples from vetted suppliers. Stores like Aldi typically offer a ton of random brands you’ve never heard of.

This isn’t a problem with produce and many popular products, though. I’m sure you could buy Colgate toothpaste on the dark side of the moon, and it would still taste minty fresh. If you’re uncomfortable with canceling your Costco membership, you may want to mix and match.

Mix and match grocery stores with Gold Star

Say you don’t want to cancel, but you suspect you’re wasting food. It happens. Executive members can downsize to a Gold Star membership any time. It cuts the membership fee from $130 to $65 per year. Half the price, without losing access to Costco’s discounts and its top-tier return policy.

How much do you need to spend for an Executive membership to be worth it? To recoup the difference between the Executive and Gold Star memberships, you’d need to spend $3,250 in a single year. There are other reasons to keep your Costco card, but an Executive membership paying for itself is the number one thing.

Consider downgrading to a Gold Star membership if you spend less than $3,250 annually at Costco. It’s likely to save you money. I like to supplement my Costco spending with shopping at specialty stores like Trader Joe’s, and I earn a little extra by swiping credit cards that earn me rewards at Costco.

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Motley Fool Money does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from Motley Fool Money is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Discover Financial Services is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Cole Tretheway has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool recommends Discover Financial Services. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.