Month of October , 2009

1. 
If you've been following my blog, you know I constantly buy new clothes.

Whenever I go somewhere, I look pretty decent.  Even when I go to a public laundry room, I wear nice lounge-wear and a matching pair of eyeglasses.  Also, I've been working out - for over 6 months now.  (Additional info: I have long hair)

This is what I have noticed lately:
When I go to markets & etc, I see some guys looking at me. Occasionally I exchange smiles with women.  But, I definitely get attention from gay men.

2.
Last 2 months, I spent more money then I made.
This is BAD... bad bad.

I was going to hold a family meeting about this.  But I live alone.  I have no-one to blame but myself.

I've been receiving reduced paycheck for 3 months now (bad economy).

I have no credit card debt.  And I plan to keep it that way. 

For now, it's all about my 3 checking accounts.  I still have some cash in them.  I have direct deposit on one account.  The game is not to bottom out my checking accounts.  I need to grow money in my checking accounts, so I will transfer extra cash into saving accounts.

This means no Gibson guitar for Christmas (present to myself).

Oh boy... God bless me.  I am poor.. seriously.

* 37th Costco Shopping this year, 5th time this month.

I haven't worn blue jeans for about 5 years.  Now I am trying to bring back that jeans & t-shirt look. 

I went to Costco to get one more pair of Calvin Klein Jeans (blue).

Then what did I see?  I saw black jeans, also by Calvin Klein.

So, I had to buy 2 pairs of black jeans as well ($22.79 each).  Now I have 5 pairs of new jeans.  I think I'm done with shopping for jeans.  I better not gain weight.  These jeans are tight (little embarrassing, actually).

I will be eating that chicken for next 3 days. 

* I wanted to buy more Essenza reed diffusers & Chocolates of the World.  But they were nowhere to be found. 

*75, 76, 77, 78th packages of the year 

I have a job that requires more than one flatbed scanner (a lot of scanning).  This job will pay for these scanners and then some.

Pictures of the scanners coming... (if I have time)

Car charger for cellular phone

Under the desk at work - 3 packages
6 T-Shirts and 2 Flatbed Scanner

6 T-Shirts.  I want to bring back my old "Jeans & T-Shirt" look.

Yikes, it was so painful

I seriously need a new oven mitt

* 36th Costco Shopping this year, 4th time this month.

Ah~!!  I forgot to buy eggs.

I went to Costco for fun. I really didn't have to go.

I ended up buying things that I don't really need (except for the carrots).

I was looking for The Chocolates of the World.  They didn't have it.  They were sold out.

I love this little pot.

I bought this at Ross for $14.00

I have always wanted one in this size.  It's a perfect "Personal" size.

But the handle gets too hot to hold with bare hand, what stupid design.  I think that's why they were selling it so cheap.  Hm..

I bought 4 pounds of butter last time at Costco.

That was a lot of butter.

Anyway, be happy for me, I sold a pound stick of butter to my Brazilian co-worker for $1.40

Inside my cooler in the morning

She is supposed to be one of the hottest female singers in the US.

That's all I have to say.

* 74th package of the year

Last week, I had an emergency situation with my car.  I had to buy a tiny fuse. 

At that time, I had no choice but buying this small package of 8 fuses for $6.00 at a local Kragen Auto Center.

I was absolutely disgusted by the outrageous pricing. "Never Again" I said to myself.

I went to ebay and bought these 120 fuses for $11.00.  They will last until I die.  That's it, mo more fuse shopping for me.

This guy is supposed to be one of the hottest male singers in the US.

That's all I have to say.

* 35th Costco Shopping this year, 3rd time this month.

My co-worker wanted to buy some pillows. So, I took him to Costco.

While I was there, I had to buy one more pair of them Essenza Reed Diffusers.  That's all I bought today.

After Costco, I took my coworker to Popeye's Chicken.  He is the guy behind Nike vs. Adidas episodes.  He never had Popeye's Chicken before.  He loved the chicken.  He said they were "good sh*t"

* I am still thinking about buying more of these Essenza diffusers (for Christmas Gifts).

I needed fabric softener.

Costco had $2.00 coupon on Downy Fabric Enhancer.

From the very start, I thought maybe Kirkland Signature's fabric softener could be a better deal (compared Downy - with $2.00 coupon).

Below is what I saw at Costco... I didn't bring my calculator at that time.  So, I went with my gut feeling and decide not to use $2.00 coupon on Downy.  I bought Kirkland Signature fabric softener instead.

Then I came home and did some calculating.

Downy Fabric Enhancer
150 Loads
$9.96 - ($2.00 coupon) = $7.96
Unit price per load = $.53

Kirkland Signature Fabric Enhancer
174 Loads
$8.69 (everyday price)
Unit price per load = $.50

###

My gut feeling was right.  Kirkland Signature's fabric softener was still cheaper without coupon.

So, when in doubt? pick Kirkland Signature over coupon items.

* 34th Costco Shopping this year, 2nd time this month

Returned Item:
On my last Costco shopping, I bought Essenza Reeds at $19.99.  A week later, they now have instant rebate of $5.00.  So I had to take mine back for a refund, and buy them again for $5.00 cheaper.  They had 1 item limit.  I am very tempted to go back and buy one more.  I can never get enough of these.  They make great Christmas gift as well.

Cool shot of my Essenza Reed Diffusers

I bought one more pair of Calvin Klein jeans (30 inch waist).  I am still pretty excited that I can fit into 30 inch waist pants.  So, I bought one more pair of jeans purely out of excitement.

That box of butter will last me long time.  I should give some away.

I put some gas on my way out. ($32.45)

I have to return Sonicare brushes - I found a brand new pack of 4 under the bathroom sink.  Returning items is effortless with Costco.

-

I am still doing good with my fitness goal.

I've been running twice a week for 6 months now.  I rarely skip my workout schedule.

On Mondays & Wednesdays, as soon as I get home from work, I run a steep hill for 15 minutes.  I do light workout on Tuesdays & Thursdays. 

Today I wore Adidas shirt, Adidas shoes, and Adidas shorts.  I think they are all from Costco. 

I tell ya.  I look absolutely adorable in these.

(updated - Aug 2011) Much later, I realized how expensive these brand name clothes are.  I paid $15 or so for the shirt at Costco.  Big-chain stores sell very similar shirts for $30.00 easy.  If you buys few of these workout outfit? that will pay for your Costco membership and some.

* 33rd Costco Shopping this year, 1st time this month

It's a long story...

Some of the stuff are already gone.  Cookies are missing a container.

Two things here:

1. Chocolates of the World: These are so good.  I had to buy 2 jugs.  I think I'm going to buy several more jugs to last me to the next Christmas season.
2. Essenza Reeds (home fragrance): Costco spoils me.  I used to buy Arm & Hammer air freshener spray once a year.  Now I cannot live without these fancy smell around me.  I must have 2 bottles opened at all time (at different locations).  I bought these as a backup.  I was afraid Costco will stop selling them.

Purchased item also includes the door mat - Love that door mat ($13.99)

* I am getting better with my Canon Powershot I bought in May 2009.

Coupons are here.

I see Huggies diapers & pull-ups coupons as well

When it doubt, buy it. Costco will not over-charge you.

Case in study: Food Wrap by Kirkland Signature - $8.99 (double pack)

At first glance, you might think $9 for 2 rolls of food wraps is not much of a bargain. But take a look at this.

If you are lucky, you can buy a roll of food wrap for $.99 (from a 99 Cents only store). This roll contains a 100 SQ. FT. of inferior quality plastic wrap.

With Kirkland Signature's Food Wrap (double pack), you get 1500 SQ. FT of high quality plastic wrap. That's 166 SQ. FT per a Dollar.

So, with same amount of money, you get 66% more of high quality product.

But, that's not all
Think about helping environment.
In order to get 1500 SQ. FT. of plastic wrap, you need to buy 15 of $.99 rolls. With Costco's double pack, you are saving raw material to package 13 rolls.

Everyone wins with Costco.

So, when in doubt? Buy it.

Happy shopping.

** One problem with Costco's plastic wrap is that it will take extremely long time for me to finish up 2 rolls of these. It took me 2 years to finish 100 SQ. FT. roll. So, mathematically, it will take me 30 years to finish these up. I will be in my 70's when I'm done with these. My plastic wrap can out live me. Haha..

I guess some people use a lot of plastic wrap. I don't. I always try to use containers with tops instead of putting a wrap over the food. I try not to use plastic wrap as much as possible. They cost money.