I used to swear by Costco until I realized Sam's Club saved my family more money

Scoring a discounted membership at Sam's Club is pretty easy — the store often offers promotions throughout the year.

For example, Sam's Club celebrated its 40th birthday in April and offered $40 off its standard $50 membership, so we only paid $10 this year.

On top of the store's membership-fee deals, there are also regularly great sales and rebates on items in the store, which saves my family even more money.

By comparison, our Gold Star Costco membership was $60 for the year. Costco also doesn't typically offer discounted membership prices.

Unpredictable gas prices have always been the talk of the town, but Sam's Club usually offers lower prices than local competitors (even sometimes Costco).

After my husband and I discovered we had a baby on the way, we bought an eight-passenger minivan. Our larger vehicle made me concerned about the cost of gas, but Sam's Club's consistently low prices mean we spend less in the long run.

The Sam's Club app has helped save me hundreds of dollars when I go shopping.

It provides a quick and seamless scan-and-go self-checkout option, making the shopping process a breeze. Customers can even keep track of their total spending with an integrated shopping list that can be added to the online cart.

The first time I used the scan-and-go feature, I scanned and kept track of each item I put into my cart. This way, I could see how much I was spending in real time. I still get excited about the opportunity to make final adjustments to what's in my cart if I'm over budget.

Costco has an app, but it doesn't have the handy scan-and-go-option that Sam's does.

Our large family uses lots of toilet paper, especially with a newly potty-trained toddler who likes to play the unravel-the-toilet-tissue game.

After parting with the Kirkland Signature rolls ($25 for 30 rolls), we've switched to the Member's Mark version ($23 for 45 rolls).

I also think the Member's Mark toilet tissue is thicker and softer than its competitor.

My family accumulates loads of trash each day so we require strong, stretchable, leak-proof bags.

The 200-count pack of Member's Mark 13-gallon kitchen bags is only $16 — $4 less than the similar Kirkland Signature pack we used to buy.

Even better, the 200 odor-eliminating scented bags from Sam's remove the smell of even the dirtiest diapers.

Preparing for our fifth child just got easier with the Member's Mark baby wipes. After years of experience with sensitive skin, diaper rash, skin allergies, and continuous Google searches, we've found the 1,152-count Member's Mark baby wipes are our best bet.

The baby wipes contain 99% water and cost $22 a box. The Kirkland Signature version is $25 for 900 wipes.

I like that the wipes from Sam's have no added parabens, fragrance, alcohol, or phenoxyethanol.

The germs come out to play when it's back-to-school season, so when it started getting harder to find Kirkland Signature disinfecting wipes in stock, the Member's Mark version was a great replacement.

A pack of 312 wipes costs only $11 and seems to be of excellent quality. Costco currently offers a 380-count pack of Lysol disinfecting wipes for $18, so we save about $7 a pack.

School mornings can be chaotic, so the breakfast cereal we get from Sam's Club is an easy go-to option.

I'm incredibly grateful for the bulk-sized cereal options — two large boxes at Sam's Club are about the size of four standard boxes but cost only $6 to $8.

Just one cereal purchase at Sam's Club saves us over $20 compared to other local competitors.

Keeping our pantry stocked with snacks used to be a struggle but Sam's Club's options have saved me time and money.

I love the multitude of affordable snacks and sweets that are readily available at the warehouse. We like to stock up on options that we couldn't find at our local Costco, like our favorite variety packs of Sun Chips, Bare Baked crunchy fruit, Frito-Lay baked chips, and Sensible Portions apple-pie puffs.

For days that we like to have sweets, we grab the Oreo ice-cream bars, Hostess Donettes, Reynaldo's rice pudding, Chobani Flip yogurt, and some classic Dunkaroos to ignite our childhood memories.

ACT II butter popcorn remains on our grocery list because the quantity and price at Sam's Club are nearly unbeatable.

Our local grocery store sells 24 microwavable ACT II butter popcorn bags for $11 but Sam's Club offers 32 bags for $10 — it's an easy money-saving option.

Picking up the snack is often the first thing I do when I enter the warehouse.