What I do is buy meat in bulk from costco and marinate and preseason then cut it up and vacuum seal it with a $30 vacuum sealer and sousivide bags from amazon.

I can then stuff my freezer with ready to cook chicken, steak, fish, etc. I just take it out the night before to thaw in the fridge.

I find that grocery stores offer better pricing on occasion: ribeyes more than half off the ordinary market price, etc. If you have the vacuum sealing technology, you can be selective in your bulk purchases to maximize the financial benefits of timed purchases. Costco comes with a baseline level of quality but is less competitive on price. As you stock your freezer, you have the bandwidth to 'wait it out' until the next sale comes.

My experience is that the grocery stores around me with meats cheaper than Costco is not the meat you want to buy in bulk and save for later use. The quality is fine but the meat has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of weeks and is near or past the best by date, which is why it's marked way below market price. That being said the solution is to buy a whole bunch, cook it he same day and freeze that. Doesn't work well if you want cooked whole cuts (roast chicken, pan seared steak, etc.) but for the more processed recipes (stews, stir fry, etc.)

Skip the thaw step and cook those things sous vide.

And eat microplastics? No thanks.

Do you think the steak is microplastic free? It's not: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/08/micropla....

That's a fallacy - microplastic contamination isn't a boolean, more like a floating point.

You can buy a Cinder Grill instead. Same basic thermodynamic concept, but with metal instead of water+plastic for the stable heat source

You probably know this, but sous vide will cook fine from frozen too. You just have to give it an extra hour or so. Heat baths are cool!

I do that sometimes but I started going for thinner cuts of meat and just grill them in 12-15 mins. Sousvide is nice but sometimes takes too long and you still gotta sear.

For nicer cuts of meat, sure, but for flank steak and such, I find it much easier to just let the meat marinate for 24-48 hours and then grill it.

I'm in a pretty small apartment in Manhattan (albeit with an abnormally large kitchen). I can always get the value of my Costco membership in my first trip there, even without a car. Basic goods like Advil, laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent are miles cheaper than other options in Manhattan.

We find it difficult to use the Costco OTC drugs like Advil among two people before the expiration date.

Expiration dates on some OTC drugs like Advil aren't as important as you might think. [See this.](https://www.healthdigest.com/756305/does-ibuprofen-expire/)

Yeah, I've taken drugs years after their expiration date. It's just not super confidence-inspiring.

i have literally used 20yr expired medicines before and been fine

Many medicines simply degrade, so yeah, you won’t poison yourself, but then it’s just a placebo.

It depends on the medication. There are some that can last for 20+ years with the same effectiveness.

i have taken 15 year old ipecac after eating something i shouldnt have and can assure you it remained 100% effective.

Do you take an uber/taxi/etc? I always assumed that you'd need to buy in bulk quantities to make costco worth it here, which would require a car

I don't own a car and very rarely Uber (basically only to the airport and even that's purely out of laziness). I just carry two Costco tote bags back to the subway. It's not the most comfortable but it's much better than the costs associated with car ownership from my perspective. If I have a purchase too large for the subway, like a TV, it's cheaper to just rent a Zipcar.

1000 kg of potatoes is 1444 litres (1,44 m^3) and fits in a corner in any flat. YMMW if the floor can take it.

My point is that with less space you need to store less different things.