07.21.25 SAVE MORE: On Food And On Shipping Packages

Summary

The Clark Howard Podcast – Episode Released July 21, 2025
Title: SAVE MORE: On Food And On Shipping Packages

In this episode of The Clark Howard Podcast, host Clark Howard delves into the pressing issues of rising food costs, challenges within the restaurant industry, smart dining out strategies, warehouse club memberships, the struggles of the Postal Service, affordable shipping alternatives, appliance replacement decisions amidst tariffs, managing credit scores when switching credit cards, and navigating arbitration clauses in financial planning agreements. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the episode.

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1. Rising Food Costs and Restaurant Industry Challenges

Clark Howard opens the discussion by addressing the significant impact of inflation on American families' food budgets. "The average American family spends almost 9 cents of each dollar that a family spends on food. And it's a bigger percent of our family budget than it used to be" (00:04).

He elaborates on the struggles faced by the restaurant industry across all segments—from fast food to upscale dining. Increasing costs in labor, rent, utilities, insurance, and credit card processing fees are squeezing profit margins. "They are just getting clobbered... by labor costs, rent and food costs. Utilities have been going up as well and insurance and credit card processing fees. It goes on and on and on" (02:30).

Moreover, Clark points out that the food industry is shifting away from red meat due to its high costs. Supermarkets are stepping in by offering a variety of ready-to-eat options to compete with fast food, further intensifying the competition.

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2. Strategies for Saving on Dining Out

Despite the challenges, Clark shares practical strategies for consumers to save money while dining out. He recounts a personal experience: "We took 21 to 31. So that got close to what you said" (05:46), highlighting how creative choices during happy hours can significantly reduce dining expenses.

Clark emphasizes the importance of leveraging specials and promotions. For instance, he mentions enjoying four burritos for the price of two through a "Bogo" (Buy One, Get One) deal and participating in themed promotions like "rock and roll day" for additional savings.

He advises listeners to be inventive and seek out deals that align with their preferences, ensuring that treating oneself doesn't "eat up your wallet."

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3. Navigating Warehouse Club Memberships: BJ’s, Costco, and Sam’s Club

Listeners posed questions about warehouse club memberships, specifically comparing BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco, and Sam’s Club.

Robert from Texas inquired about BJ’s Wholesale Club, to which Clark responded: "BJ's Wholesale doesn't have that kind of buying power because they have wider selection... you might find 15 types of a product instead of three" (08:31). He noted that BJ’s offers a broader selection but at slightly higher prices compared to Costco and Sam’s Club.

For those considering international memberships, Tom from Oklahoma asked about using a Spanish Costco membership for U.S. benefits. Clark explained that while overseas memberships are cheaper, accessing full U.S. benefits like online ordering and travel perks would require switching to a U.S. membership: "If you want to do more and more with Costco, you give up the deal you have on the Spanish membership and you spend the money for a US membership" (10:54).

Additionally, Jeff from Georgia sought advice on Costco products and services. Clark praised Kirkland Signature products, specifically recommending Kirkland Signature toilet paper, and shared his positive experiences with Costco’s employee-first approach and low markups.

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4. The Postal Service Crisis and Affordable Shipping Alternatives

Clark shifted focus to the dire state of the United States Postal Service (USPS). He criticized the USPS for its "brutal" management and lack of technological advancements compared to private carriers like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon. "Postal Service technology, forget about it... It is a dysfunction junction right now and not the workers' fault" (16:11).

To combat USPS inefficiencies and rising prices, Clark recommends alternative shipping services such as Pirate Ship. He shared a personal anecdote: "We shipped up to 70 pound boxes, UPS ground and through Pirate Ship paid crazy little money compared to retail" (19:35). These services leverage group buying power to offer significantly lower shipping costs without membership fees.

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5. Appliance Replacement Decisions Amid Tariffs

John from Arizona raised concerns about replacing aging appliances in the context of increasing tariffs. Clark advised a balanced approach: "if you have something that you know a particular one of your appliances, it's ready to just die, you can tell it's done, go ahead and replace that. But the others, just because they're old and maybe a little cranky, wouldn't necessarily replace them" (20:35).

He explained that while tariffs are expected to cause a 10-25% increase in appliance prices, this does not warrant replacing fully functional appliances. The focus should remain on replacing only those units that are failing or inefficient.

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6. Managing Credit Scores When Switching Credit Cards

Irene from Florida questioned the impact on her credit score when switching to a Platinum American Express card with no preset spending limit by canceling other high-limit cards. Clark warned: "you’re going to devastate your credit score because the percent of available credit you're using accounts for almost a third of what makes up your credit score" (23:49).

He recommended not canceling existing cards but rather downgrading them to those with no annual fees to maintain available credit. This strategy helps preserve her excellent FICO score of 805 while transitioning to a new credit card product.

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7. Dealing with Arbitration Clauses in Financial Planning Agreements

Mike from Ohio expressed concerns about mandatory mediation arbitration clauses in his financial planner's engagement agreement. Clark acknowledged that such clauses are standard in the financial planning industry: "it's standard operating procedure... that is very rarely known" (25:58).

He advised focusing on whether the financial planners operate as fiduciaries, ensuring their primary responsibility is to the client’s best interests. Clark stressed the importance of understanding the implications of arbitration clauses but highlighted that they are commonplace and typically unavoidable in the industry.

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Conclusion

Clark Howard wraps up the episode by reiterating his commitment to empowering listeners with actionable financial advice. He encourages the audience to visit Clark.com and ClarkDeals.com for more resources and to join the conversation by submitting questions.

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Key Takeaways:

• Food Inflation: Americans are spending a higher percentage of their budgets on food, impacting both consumers and the restaurant industry.

• Saving Strategies: Utilize happy hours, specials, and promotions to enjoy dining out economically.

• Warehouse Clubs: Choose between BJ’s, Costco, and Sam’s based on selection needs and membership benefits, considering international versus domestic memberships.

• Postal Service Alternatives: Explore services like Pirate Ship for cost-effective shipping amidst USPS challenges.

• Appliance Decisions: Replace only when necessary, as tariff-induced price hikes are moderate.

• Credit Management: Maintain credit scores by not drastically reducing available credit when switching cards.

• Financial Agreements: Be aware of arbitration clauses and prioritize working with fiduciary financial planners.

For more insights and personalized advice, visit Clark.com or reach out to Clark and Team Clark through their various platforms.

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Timestamps

• 00:04 – Introduction to food budget challenges
• 02:30 – Restaurant industry cost pressures
• 04:52 – Personal dining out cost-saving anecdote
• 05:46 – Savings on restaurant bills
• 08:31 – BJ’s Wholesale Club insights
• 10:54 – International Costco membership advice
• 13:57 – Costco products and services
• 16:11 – USPS critique and alternative shipping
• 19:35 – Pirate Ship shipping method
• 20:35 – Appliance replacement amid tariffs
• 23:49 – Managing credit scores when switching cards
• 25:58 – Arbitration clauses in financial planning
• 26:29 – Conclusion and final thoughts

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

It'S great to have you here on the Clark Howard Show. You know, our mission is to serve you with advice and information that empowers you so you make better financial decisions in your life. And one thing we all got to do is eat. And many Americans have been so buffeted by inflation on food, we now spend. The average American family spends almost 9 cents of each dollar that a family spends on food. And it's a bigger percent of our family budget than it used to be. So we're changing and I want to talk about how we're rethinking our food dollar for you. Also, I often have to ship things around the country and I love to save money. I've talked about some of the ways to save money, but what will I not do to ship something around the country? I'll tell you right now. I want to talk about eating out is eating up your wallet. Clear as could be. And people in the food business, they're just getting clobbered. Understand that fast food places, sit down places, mid price chains, quick serve restaurants, they're not trying to cheat you, they're not trying to rip you off. They are just getting eaten alive. Oh, bad punishment by labor costs, rent and food costs. Utilities have been going up as well and insurance and credit card processing fees. It goes on and on and on. If you're a restaurateur anywhere from the corner fast food all the way up to a fancy dancy restaurant. Now the fancy restaurants deal with not as price sensitive of a customer and they also, through their specials that the servers are taught to pitch, are able to eke out more net profit than they could otherwise. And I talked a couple of weeks ago about the big push now at every type of place from fast food all the way up trying to get you to eat chicken or pork, what are they trying to get you not to eat? Anything that's red meat, from a hamburger to a steak, whatever it is, red meat right now is so expensive that everybody's trying to get you to shift away. So supermarkets, you know how supermarkets are starting to play a role here and directly impacting fast food and quick serve where supermarkets are offering a variety of food bars, meals ready to eat things that are ready to just heat up and eat things that are already ready to eat just as they are in the container. And so any and all strategies that will save you money matter. And so the, the people that are doing well right now generally are places that had a much tougher time coming out of COVID and that is what's known as the casual dining segment. Those are places that are not where you go order at a counter. Like a quick serve kind of thing. Like think of Chipotle, which is one of the biggest quick serves. They're not fast food. There are places that you sit at a table, you order, their food's brought to you, but they're really affordable. You know, who's doing better than anybody else's? Chili's. They've gotten the price points right. That make people feel like they're getting value for their food dollar. And they have had just booming sales as a result. But it is a very, very tough time. My wife and I, when we eat out. I don't drink, but more and more we're going to places that have a happy hour menu at the bar, at a restaurant and getting amazing deals. We ate at a restaurant just a couple days ago where we got a pizza for two and she got some kind of wine. Krista, what's the one called? That's kind of pinkish looking.

[A]

Rose.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, she got Rose and I just had tap water and our bill in total. And this was a nice restaurant. You want to guess what our bill was? Before tip?

[A]

Before tip. A nice restaurant.

[B]

A nice restaurant.

[A]

30 bucks.

[B]

21.

[A]

That's really good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

With a. Because alcohol costs a lot.

[B]

Well, it was happy hour.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

So the wine was cheap and the pizza that is normally $21 was 12. So 12. 7. I wonder how we got to 21. I guess taxes. And then the server was fantastic. So we gave a really nice tip on top of that.

[A]

That's awesome.

[B]

So we took 21 to 31. So that got close to what you said.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But the point is, this is a time if you're going to treat yourself, you got to be creative. You got to think of ways that work for you. I got tell you the funniest thing, I. I love Chick Fil? A, you know that. And I hate it that I can't have a Chick Fil? A sandwich anymore because of the sodium in it, because of my aortic valve replacement. It'll just. Apparently high sodium will just destroy the valve. We don't want that, right?

[A]

No, definitely not.

[B]

But it was funny because I said, wow, this is the same price as eating at Chick fil? A for two people.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And the waiter said, two people can eat there for as little as $21.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. I know.

[B]

And I think. I think that the perception with fast food, you know, McDonald's reporting really bad sales numbers. Chick Fil A is privately held, so who knows if their sales have softened at all. I mean it's a tough time to feel perceived value when you go to a squawk box and order something and they say it's going to be the national data Botswana or something.

[A]

You know, crazy. I just ate actually yesterday I ate at one of my favorite like burrito places. But I go there because on Mondays in the app they have a Bogo, you know, two for one. And they also had a special thing yesterday where it was like rock and roll day and if you wore a T shirt from a band or singer then you got a bogo as well. So I had, there were four people, so two teenagers made them put on like rock band T shirts and I wore my own T shirt and so I got four burritos for the price of two. But anyway, and by the way, if.

[B]

You have, you have some great suggestions how you do things to save money after we've had 25% food inflation over the last six years. What are your techniques?

[A]

Yeah, number one, cooking at home. I mean I don't eat out nearly as much as I used to, that's for sure. I cook at home. I do leftovers all the time. My kids used to hate leftovers and now they're adults and they understand the value of leftovers now.

[B]

And you know what else with Krista? Krista was, I mean every meal she wanted red meat before, but now because the cost. You've become a non meat eater, right?

[A]

Yeah, no, I do have fish, but yeah, that's not a problem for me. All right, we'll go to questions now. This one came in from Robert in Texas. I have a question concerning BJ's Wholesale Club. One is being built near me in, oh, I can't say it. Waxahachie, Texas. Are you able to give me some insight on it, but not sure if I should get a membership to it as well. I am a member of Sam's Club and my second home is Costco.

[B]

So Robert warehouse club fanatic like me. So over the years I've been hot and cold on BJ's Wholesale Club and BJ's is in a growth mode right now, expanding to new territories as you said. Coming into Texas, they used to be all along the Atlantic seaboard, that's where they were and they have had a lot of success as both Sam's and Costco have had in the inflationary cycle we've been in through covet and post covet. So BJ's is different. They have A different niche than Sam's and Costco. Both Sam's and Costco and especially Sam's have a big emphasis on serving business customers. BJ's Wholesale is much more consumer oriented place and the prices are not as low in the store as they are at Sam's or at Costco. But what they offer is they offer much more selection. So if you go into BJ's Wholesale Club instead of finding three types of toothpaste like you might find in a Sam's or Costco, you, you might find 15. So they don't sell as narrow or as deep, you know, because what, what Costco and, and Sam's do is they get the absolute lowest prices from manufacturers by stocking so few items in the store. And so they're able to say, well you know, if we buy from you, we're going to buy these many million cases. BJ's Wholesale doesn't have that kind of buying power because they have wider selection. It gives you the ability to buy pretty much your whole shopping list at BJ's Wholesale, which you can't easily do at Costco or at Sam's.

[A]

Maybe when they open often Warehouse clubs will give you a deal on membership. Maybe you could try it and then cancel. Right.

[B]

And BJ's Wholesale has always offered exceptional deals to people who are current or prior military with extra low membership fees for you if you do have prior service or currently do serve our nation.

[A]

So I know this is kind of the warehouse club like we've been like a little heavy on warehouse clubs, but I do have a couple more questions. Tom in Oklahoma says are you aware of a workaround to allow international Costco members to use the USA website and benefits? I have a Spanish Costco membership for when my wife was stationed in Spain and, and I keep renewing it because it's almost half the cost of an American membership and as you know is valid worldwide. The only minor hiccup is the gas station attendant has to assist at the fuel station. I'm unable to create a Costco.com account with my Spanish membership number and haven't been able to use things like Costco travel, online ordering, et cetera. Are you aware of a workaround? I asked my local Costco but the employee very quickly said there is no workaround and I'm not entirely sure if she heard or understood the question. If not, do you feel it's worth switching to US membership at almost twice the cost to access the travel benefit or just maintain the cheaper Spanish one? Thanks for the Years of advice and guidance.

[B]

So it's funny you asked this because you're spilling the beans on a secret that is very rarely known and that is people who join a Costco in another country because the membership fee may well be lower. And I keep adding countries that I've been to Costco in and France, Iceland, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan. There's other countries I've been and I'm always looking to see what the basic membership is and their equivalent of executive and almost always is cheaper overseas. So, yes, you can do it. I think the answer, and I didn't and haven't, is because I shop so much at Costco. Like the person who said that it was their second home. I think that's my first home. Right. So for me, I want everything that comes with is Costco.com gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Got the travel stuff and all the rest. If you want to do more and more with Costco, you give up the deal you have on the Spanish membership and you spend the money for a US membership. $65 base, 130 for executive. Executive members, you know, now get to go in early, one hour early every day, except Saturday, I think, which is 30 minutes earlier.

[A]

All right, we're going to round this out with Jeff in Georgia. I'm a relatively new listcore, relatively new listener, but now count your podcast and emails as daily must consume content. I'm getting the feeling that you are a little part word Costco. I don't know. I don't know. Jeff. He had a dog named Costco and.

[B]

Now we have Kirkland Signature.

[A]

Yes, I'm a member and considering really going all in with Costco's offerings. Are there any Costco products, services or programs that you do not recommend or suggest? I leave alone. The Kirkland Signature toilet paper would be.

[B]

Definitely KS toilet paper. Yeah. Services and products.

[A]

And you don't use all their services. Like you just price things out, like when you're.

[B]

Yeah. So I've never used any. You know how there are independent selling services through them. I've not used them. Costco Next is one. The jury's still out on Costco. Next is where they have this, like affiliate relationship with major product manufacturers and also premium, more boutique product manufacturers. But Costco kind of is hands off with that. The delivery and customer service and all that is handled by whoever the next retailer or manufacturer is instead of Costco. I'm not sure about that yet. But why do I love Costco so much? Because everything about the company from when it was founded Was about the employees first, the members second, and the markups being the lowest there are out there in retail with the maximum markup being 14% except on Kirkland Signature, which is 15%. So that's my obsession with Costco, is it's a deal. And by the way, going back to the question about Spain, I was thinking about when I was at the pump filling up my rental car in Iceland last month, how much trouble I had figuring out how to run the pump at Costco. Yes. Is there anywhere else you buy?

[A]

I didn't know if they had gas pumps at the Iceland.

[B]

It's the cheapest place in Iceland to fill up your vehicle. 60% or 70% of people in Iceland have a Costco membership.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Something like that. It's one of the highest.

[A]

It's like Hawaiians.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, Hawaii. I mean, you can't get Hawaiian residency unless you prove you have a Costco membership first. Okay, enough about.

[A]

Okay, we're done with Costco for today.

[B]

Let's talk Sam's. No.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All right. Every time I talk about the Postal Service, the Clark Sinks file fills up. Get ready again. The Postal Service is in a brutal way. I mean, it's just terrible. I feel so terribly bad for the hard working people who sort our mail, sort our packages, deliver our mail, deliver our packages. The Postal Service is suffering mightily from a history of erratic or incompetent management all the way to the highest levels and a failure to devote resources to technology. I can go on my phone right now and see how late my package is from FedEx or UPS, or if it's on time, if it's coming up as a delivery, and then Amazon, if you are Amazonian prime member, you're really into it on the Amazon app when it's coming to your home. Starting at the 10th delivery from your home, you can watch this little icon showing you what street it's on inches towards you. And then when the package shows up on your doorstep, you can meet the Amazon driver in the driveway. A lot of people do that because they're excited about whatever's coming. Postal Service technology, forget about it. I mean, it's just crazy. And it has nothing to do with the workers. Those workers are working ultra long days, mandatory overtime. It is rough for them. The problems at the Postal Service are so extreme that if you're sending something and it really, really matters, did it get to where it's going? You can't rely on the Postal Service to do it right now. And they're going up on prices again. If you disagree, if you use the postal service, if you use another shipping service and you're sending packages, you got to know about Pirate Ship and its competitors. There are now a variety of these that offer you significantly lower costs on shipping things as a co op as group buying power and as a general rule you don't pay to be a member of these organizations. All you do is save money and it's unreal. And we use Pirate Ship to do this. But when one of my brothers moved across the country, they didn't have enough stuff to hire a moving company or anything like that. We shipped up to 70 pound boxes, UPS ground and through Pirate Ship paid crazy little money compared to retail to ship the packages, the big boxes across the country. I mean it was amazing how much money we saved. So reason I mentioned Pirate Ship and others. Pirate Ship's the only one I've used and there are several others that do this co op kind of discounting now. And you may know one that's better. I just don't have experience with any others but know that the postal Service it, it hurts me to say this because I know so many people who work so hard working for the postal Service. It is a dysfunction junction right now and not the workers fault.

[A]

All right, here we go with questions. This one came in from John in Arizona. What are your thoughts on replacing older but currently working appliances? Now with the uncertainty with tariffs, I have several major appliances that are now pushing 20 years old. Washer, washer and dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher and even my units. I have been successful in self repairing them over the years. But I've noticed that replacement parts are becoming scarce and much more expensive. I'm afraid the longer I wait, the more expensive they will be to replace. Negating any advantage of waiting and starting the clock on new units. I've been burned by this before during COVID when I didn't replace my aging water heater and when it did go out it would cost nearly twice the price it did when we replaced my parents heater a year earlier. I can afford to pay for any purchase and I wouldn't need financing.

[B]

So John, okay, let's talk about things. You're talking about that you have them going a generation. That's fantastic. And this is incredible. You got washer and dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher, AC units, I mean going that long. So what would be different if you replace them? One, Today's units aren't likely to last anywhere near as long as the ones you've got. But the other thing is Everything you mentioned, the washer, the dryer, refrigerator, dishwasher, your AC units, the ones today, are all much more energy efficient or efficient using water like dishwashers. Day washing machines today. So do you replace something that's working but old because of tariffs? I would say not necessarily. Because if you have something that you know a particular one of your appliances, it's ready to just die. You can tell it's done, go ahead and replace that. But the others, just because they're old and maybe a little cranky, wouldn't necessarily replace them. What is the actual practical effect going to be in the appliance market of tariffs? It looks like at retail, the price increases and the answer from the White House seems to be different every day. But I think it's going to settle at somewhere depending on the appliance, 10 to 25% higher. So if today, let's say a dishwasher that might have been 500, maybe 600, it's not going to be like what happened during COVID with you having to pay double for a water heater. They are going to be more expensive. But it doesn't mean that you get rid of something that is still working because of an increase of that scale, 10 to 25%. Yeah. If we were looking at tariffs that were going to make the effective retail cost of things double, then you'd say, okay, these things are giving me a good life. Let's get them out of here. But not at the increases we're going to have.

[A]

Irene in Florida says, I just got the Platinum American Express card through Schwab to replace my hotel and airline credit cards through Chase. I noticed that the Platinum American Express card has no preset spending limit. Once I cancel the other cards with a combined credit limit of over $90,000, how is my credit score impacted? My current FICO score is 805.

[B]

Well, first of all, 805 is fantastic. I mean, you're in golden territory. Above 800, really, above 780, you're gold. You kill off these credit limits with Chase, you're going to devastate your credit score because the percent of available credit you're using accounts for almost a third of what makes up your credit score. What I would do instead is trade down with Chase on the cards you have to ones with no annual fees. Chase doesn't want to lose you. They'd rather have you in a premium product where they're getting a lot of annual fee. But they've got a bunch of cards at Chase that don't have annual Fees that you can use to replace the available credit you have trading to another card and the American Express. To the question you asked that inquiring minds want to know, how do the credit bureaus, how does FICO figure out what to assign as a credit limit when you have an American Express with no preset spending limit? What they do is over time they take what you charge on the card and extrapolate a limit from it. So when there's no information there at first you have no reasonable available credit showing and as you charge to it, that establishes your reasonable credit. I also wouldn't want you to go 100 in with American Express because what happens if American Express one day says, huh, yeah, we don't like Irene anymore, she's done, we're cutting her off and you've gotten rid of your other credit. I like for you to have credit from at least two financial institutions. So lower your risk by converting the Chase to ones that don't have annual fees and keep that available credit. And then over time you'll establish whatever your normal spending pattern creates a credit limit.

[A]

With amex, Mike in Ohio says, I've used the same certified financial planners for 10 years and they have done a great job. They recently have changed custodians and I'm being asked to resign my engagement agreement. I noticed that there is a mandatory not resign, Resign. Resign. Sorry, resign. I noticed that there is a mandatory mediation arbitration clause in the agreement. From listening to you for years, that clause makes me worried. Is this common practice and do you think I should or have to agree to this clause?

[B]

Standard operating procedure in the financial planning stock brokerage industry that you have to agree to kangaroo court arbitration that is horribly one sided and unfair to you as an investor. Mike, you're going to find same story almost universally in the investment world. So the core and key is are you signing an engagement agreement where they say in the agreement that they are operating as a fiduciary? That's the thing I really want you looking at. If these CFPs are not engaging you, their engagement agreement does not commit them, require them, bind them to being a fiduciary. That's the risk. Because then they are not saying that they are going to do what is best for you is they must do as a fiduciary. They would be within their rights to sell you an inferior product that makes them more money. So that's what I'm more concerned about than the fact that you have to sign an arbitration agreement because yeah, that's what you're going to find. I'm trying to think who in the financial industry does not require arbitration and it would be a really, really, really skimpy short or non existent list. I want to thank you so much for joining us on Today's podcast and YouTube show. And I hope you heard something, learned something today that works for you in your life and know that that's what we're about at our [e-mail] and ClarkDeals.com in our newsletters, on social media, what you may see in your market of me on tv in the evening news, or you may hear from me on radio if I'm on in a market you're in. The idea of everything we do is to empower you with knowledge so you can save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. And I'll be at your service on Wednesday.