Giveaway: $25 BJ's Gift Card

I had originally posted that this giveaway included a free 60 day trial membership for BJ's as well. However, that is incorrect...there was an miscommunication between MyBlogSpark and myself. I apologize for this.

A number of weeks ago I accepted an invitation from MyBlogSpark to do a review and giveaway for BJ's Wholesale club. MyBlogSpark partnered with BJ's and General Mills and provided me with a $25 BJ's gift card and a 60 day trial membership which I used to go shopping at BJ's. I was pretty excited since I had been wondering if shopping at club stores was worth it.

First let me tell you a little about BJ's. BJ's is a whole sale club store which means two things: to shop there you need to purchase a membership (which runs about $45 for one year) and the products they carry are family sized. Besides carrying a large variety of grocery items, BJ's also carries things like pillows, bedding, some clothing, gift items, books, small appliances and much more.

One of the really neat things about BJ's is the fact that they accept all manufacturers' coupons and also provide BJ's store coupons that you can use along with the manufacturers' coupons. On top of that, if an item is bulk packed, you can use multiple manufacturer coupons on it! For instance, say I buy a package of toothpaste that has four boxes of toothpaste in it. I can then use four manufacturers' coupons for this item. Wow! Talk about savings!

So what was my take on BJ's? Well, I honestly didn't feel like for me it would be worth paying the $45 annual fee. Right now I only have one child and can easily make several stops at different stores such as CVS, Rite Aid, and Giant to get their weekly sale items. I also have the advantage of living in an area that has an Aldi and several bulk food stores where I can get most of my grocery items for much less than I could at BJ's.

However, getting a BJ's membership is something I probably will consider when I have multiple children and am more tied down and not able to shop multiple stores as easily. And I am pretty sure a BJ's membership would quickly pay for itself if we ever move to an area that doesn't have an Aldi or inexpensive bulk food stores nearby. After all, it is really only like paying about $4 a month to shop there.

Now for the giveaway! General Mills and BJ's partnered with MyBlogSpark to me the chance to give away one $25 BJ's gift card. (Curious if you have a BJ's nearby? Go here.)

To enter this giveaway simply do the following:

* Subscribe to or follow this blog then leave a comment (which includes your email address) telling me which you did. Both the subscribe and follow options are found on the top left hand corner of this blog.

For an additional entry (to be done ONLY after completing the above entry):

* Share this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, or on your blog, then come back here and leave a comment (which includes your email address) telling me where you posted it.

Giveaway ends Monday, Jan. 11, 2009 at 8 am. Winner will be chosen using Random.org.