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With the talk of tariffs in the air and a fear of inflation soaring once again, I made a decision recently to start shopping at Costco in a more serious way. No more just popping in for snacks and big purchases. I’m going to leverage my Costco membership to truly take advantage of the items there that can save me a lot of money, since I’m going to buy them somewhere else anyway.

I quickly found out that doing this is overwhelming, and a lot more complicated than simply walking into your favorite big box store and buying a package of whatever. You can’t just jump into Costco whole hog — you must have a system.

Here are my tips for getting started.

1. Check the Costco ad flyers that come in the mail and the online ads for sales

There’s no point in just running into Costco without a plan, and by taking advantage of these resources, you have some idea what your costs may be vs. other retailers you generally do business with. The online prices may be a little bit higher than in store, but you’ll have some idea if they could save you money, or time, which is sometimes just as good.

If you want to maximize your Costco purchases, make sure to read about our No. 1 strategy for saving money at Costco here.

2. Plan a regular Costco trip and put it on your calendar

My first two weeks of using Costco in this new and exciting way turned into some really expensive trips. I was dashing back to the warehouse for that “one thing” I forgot, which then quickly snowballed into two, three, six, 11, or 112 things very, very easily.

Because Costco packages are so large, and very little is priced under about $15, it’s easy to quickly rack up the grocery bill popping back for that one thing you forgot. Instead, schedule a regular day to go to Costco, so you’re not making extra trips that cost you more money than you may realize. Keep a dedicated Costco list for your one day every couple of weeks, or whatever works best for your schedule.

3. Don’t buy everything at once

It’s easy to just immediately start buying everything in giant bulk packages, since you’re already at Costco, but I’d advise against it. Buying a Costco-sized package of laundry detergent isn’t like buying an extra grocery-store sized package. You will quickly overwhelm yourself and end up with way more than you need.

Instead, ask yourself if you really need that item, and if you don’t, add it to your Costco list for when you’re nearly out. Don’t buy it just because you’re at Costco — you can go back, they don’t check how many times you visit.

4. Really consider your purchases

It dawned on me how important this was when I was standing in Costco staring at a container of All Free and Clear laundry detergent consisting of 150 loads’ worth of soap. I do laundry, I have a washing machine in my home, but I might do two or three loads a week, since I live alone.

As I reached for the barrel of laundry soap, I considered whether it actually made sense to buy. Sometimes we get caught up in how much we can save on these items and forget that if we don’t actually use them, we’re just wasting money in a new and exciting way.

So, rather than buy a year’s worth of laundry detergent, it might make more sense to sign up for a Costco-friendly credit card that gives you 2% to 3% cash back, like the ones on this curated list. That way, you get a nice discount, but also don’t have to worry about a year’s worth of soap going bad in your laundry room.

5. Start creating more storage

You simply cannot create the level of storage you’re going to need to lean into the Costco lifestyle all at once. It will take time to figure out where in your home makes the most sense to stash your dragon’s hoard of toilet paper and Gatorade. And without a decent storage system, you’re just going to end up living among 5,000 boxes of spaghetti noodles.

This dawned on me when I was trying to find somewhere to put my newly acquired package of 12 giant rolls of paper towels. I had always stored the six-pack in my laundry room, on the shelf above the dryer, but that wasn’t going to work anymore. Right now, they’re still precariously stacked there, but I fear what happens when I open them next week when we run out of the pre-Costco paper towels.

I’m a Costco girl, in a Costco world

With the threat of inflation on the horizon, I’m not waiting around to see if I’ll lose the ability to afford to live and eat food. Instead, I’m getting started on living a Costco lifestyle. There are a lot of savings possible by taking advantage of the bulk-buying opportunities Costco offers, but you have to ease into it.

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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.Kristi Waterworth has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.