Costco Diary

Yesterday I started on my Christmas shopping and decided to get the Fringe soap box bars. At $14.99, I find this item to be expensive and had thought that I would divide the contents for gifting. When I went to the cashier I was surprised that the pricing had scanned at $10.00 vs. $14.99 as it notes. The cashiers told me that if I were to see an asterisk (*) on the label or if the prices are ending with. 97 or .00 then it means that it is on clearance. Wow... I didn't realize that. I went back to the store and found a lot of items with an * signs. Unfortunately, the adjusted prices do not show unless you bring it to a cash register but this initiated my research on special pricing signs.

 If you would like to learn more about Costco's special pricing indicators and other secret codes you can google a blog written by Len Rapoport in the Hubpages. I find that his article has the most detailed information and he updates it periodically with more current information about pricing and return policies. The key words are Len Rapoport Costco. The blog is titled Secret Codes Will Save You Money at Costco.

Speaking fo adjusted pricing, the Adult Chocolate milk has gone down from $14.97 to $9.97 in the past month. Now with this newfound information I'm thinking that maybe I should just stock up on these before they are completely out. 

I went to Costco tonight. (Blog coming up.)

These Christmas candies are not available after holiday season.  So, I had to stock them up.

Chocolates of the World expires on June 1, 2011.  So, I put one jug in the freezer and the second jug in the refrigerator.  This way, I will enjoy fresh chocolate until the next holiday season.  I'll make the cookies to last several months.  I couldn't find experation date on the cookies.  I may have to buy a few more cans of cookies.  My guests love those cookies.  They eat 'em up.

I am not rich.  I am not trying to show off how much money I spend on candy. $80.00 for candy sounds extreme, but they will last long time.  If you look at the entire year, I definitely spend less money on candy than most people.  I don't even drink soda too often (to save money). 

I would like to stress that I am not trying to show off.  Mm... I guess I am showing off my self control.  Because, I can look at the mountain of candies and not go crazy.

* The chocolates will last 12 months - I guarantee you that.

Please excuse my bad photography, I took the short cut (the easy way)

This is what I did last year.  I bought 4 jugs of Chocolates of the World and put "opening dates" on them.  I still haven't finished the last jug.

I plan to go to Costco alone tomorrow.

To me, there is nothing like shopping at Costco alone. As some of you already know, I have mastered the art of living alone. I know how to have quality time alone. I practice music, work on personal projects, exercise, cook, & etc..

One bad thing about living alone is that I will die alone. If I get lost in the mountain, nobody will look for me. Yikes... Anyway...

Costco shopping is one of those activities I enjoy more when I am alone. My friend enjoys going to Costco with me, not alone. She will find out that I went to Costco without her, because she will see refrigerator full of Costco stuff. I will tell her that my staple items ran out. And I will ask her to go to Costco with me (this weekend).

But, I will not tell her how much fun I had at Costco alone.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy female companionship. But, to me, Costco is extra enjoyable when I am there alone. It's just me and Costco, with nobody else.

I can checkout new products without feeling rushed. I can watch chickens spinning at rotisserie oven for 5 minutes and feel no guilt. I can change my mind and go back to the isle I visited 20 minutes ago. It's a crazy good time.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Costco shopping. I shall treat myself with a hot dog.

Happy shopping.

Welcome new visitors! 

* Click here for official Costco egg recall announcement (MN, IN, IL, IW, WI, NE)

* As of August 23, 2010, this story is still developing. 

FYI:  So far, 500,000,000 eggs have recalled.   This is 2% of all eggs produced in the US annually.

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Story on nationwide egg recall is still developing. You may own tainted eggs and maybe they don't know about it.  I hope, by now, you have small amount of older eggs left that you can simply start with a new batch and forget about everything.

I eat 4 Costco eggs every day (4 whites, 2 yolks). I have never stopped eating Costco eggs since Salmonella outbreak.  I still have about a dozen older eggs and I intend to eat them all.

My eggs are packaged from Norco Ranch (Ca).  At first, I thought Norco Ranch eggs are safe.  Later, I learned that Norco eggs were pulled from the market as well (Related News).  Some reported getting sick after eating Norco Ranch bought from Costco.

So, at this point, I don't know what to say about this topic.  Some reports are not confirmed. Just be careful.   Keep up with the news and use common sense.  When it doubt, trash your eggs and start fresh.

Take care everyone.

* Click here for official Costco egg recall announcement (MN, IN, IL, IW, WI, NE)

News Article on First Egg Recall

Click for complete news

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...Its eggs were distributed to wholesalers and food service companies nationwide under multiple brand names: Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

...(cartons) are marked with plant numbers P-1026, P-1413 and P-1946.

News Article on Second Egg Recall

Click for a complete news

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Hillandale said the eggs covered by its recall were distributed to grocery distribution centers, retail grocery stores and food-service companies that service or are located in Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The eggs were distributed under the following brand names: Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms, and Sunny Meadow in 6-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg packages, and 5-dozen cases. Loose eggs were packaged under the following brand names: Wholesome Farms and West Creek in 15 and 30-dozen tray packs, Hillandale said in a news release.

* Click here for official Costco egg recall announcement (MN, IN, IL, IW, WI, NE)

Picture from an action packed laundry day.

Costco laundry rack in action. 
Saving $1.25 right there.  Exciting stuff... ZZzz... 

Gag me with a spoon. I have a flat tire.

I bought 4 tires from Costco about 4 months ago.
Then I had a flat tire three months ago.

Today, I took a short break to practice my Chin Ups and found out my car has a flat tire. Again~!!  This time it's the rear right side.

Oh, my beautiful Costco tire..
Well, Costco didn't make the tires.  I just bought them from Costco.  To be honest, I don't even remember the brand name of my tires.  All I know is that they are from Costco and Costco will take care of them.

Painful..

There was an AAA towing truck waiting for me.  He knew the owner would come out sooner or later.  He asked me if I wanted his service.  I told him "no".  Then he moved on.

I quickly replaced the tire with a spare.  Replacing tire is easy if you have right tools.

** Make sure you have right tools to replace tires on your own.  Do not assume your cellular phone will save the day.  If you have never replaced a tire before you should try and see if you can do it.  If you are a small person it will be almost impossible to unfasten the lug nuts with the wrench that comes with your car.  You may have to buy a wrench like mine (below).  You may need a better jack as well.

Above Jack and Lug Nut Wrench are NOT Toyota's stock supply. 
Large Lug Nut Wrench & a good jack are must have items.

The tire laying flat on the ground is a spare.
My spare is a fully maintained brand new tire.

*  I have a big shopping to do at Costco tomorrow, so I will check it in tomorrow.

I treat myself with fancy meals on weekends.  I try to make my life interesting on my own (you know what I mean... single life). 

Today I had..

• Couscous - $.60/serving
• Normandy Style Vegetable Mix  $.40/serving
• Beef Bourguignon  $6.00/serving

All from Costco...

It took me about 15 minutes to prepare everything. This beats eating out.

Costco Shopper's Dinner Plate

I got out of the car at Costco and what do I see?

Somebody lost his Costco membership card

So, I gave it to one of the Costco employees.

I did a google search on his business name.  I was able to locate his business phone number.  I will call him tomorrow to let him know his card is waiting at Oxnard Costco store.

I rarely get sick.  But I do catch cold now and then.  I cannot afford to get sick because I am always working.  Somebody is always counting on me.

I woke up with a sore throat Friday morning.  It was very clear that I was going to have a full blown case of cold.  My cold (flu ?) was slowly getting worse.  I started to feel miserable by Saturday.

This is when a single person feels sad to be alone. You imagine how your neighbor will find your dead body.  Thank God I don't have a cat to eat my face. Yikes...

Fighting cold - Costco style - Progresso chicken soup & a T-Bone
I love that griddle from Costco

When I have cold, I focus on 4 things.

1. Drink a lot of fluid
2. Chickens soup
3. Take Medication
4. Rest

I believe in power of chicken soup.  Chicken soup will speed up your heeling process, trust me.

Most of my home remedies are from Costco.  Look below.

• Water - Brita Filters
• Juice (home made) - with apple, pear, carrots
• Chicken soup (I ate 6 cans during this cold episode)
• Cold medication

All those products were purchased from Costco

Ready for juicing - Bamboo cutting board is from Costco as well

Anyway.. I took Monday & Tuesday off.  I worked from home.  By Wednesday morning I was all good and ready for work.

So my entire cold episode lasted 5 days or less.  I thought I made a remarkable recovery in short time. 

* I still cannot figure out how I got this cold at the first place.  It would be ironic if I got the cold from Costco.

Oh boy.. I just finished ironing... Took me over an hour.

Take a look at my closet.. this is how Costco addict's closet should look like.  Everything you see is from Costco (shirts, pants, even hangers). 

Photographed is my "work clothes" section.  I have a section of casual & lounge-wears from Costco as well.

AS you can see, I have multiple number of identical shirts and pants. 

How do I rotate my work clothes? - Recently ironed shirts and pants are placed on each outer side.  I wear whatever that's in the center of the rack.  So I get to match shirt and pants by random chance. 

Yeah, it's crazy good time.. ZZzz....

Coffee Story #1 - Starbucks Gift-cards now at Costco

I saw this sign at the checkout line at Costco (Oxnard, Ca).

"Starbucks Gift Card, Five $20.00 cards for $79.00"

I love good coffees (reference my blog entry).  I always keep Starbucks coffee at home & at work.  Along with Starbucks coffee, I have a few more different brands of coffee for different mood of the day (FYI, I'm not gay ).  I am also a tea drinker.

Anyway, I think $2.00 for a cup of coffee is too expensive. The only time I go to Starbucks (or Coffee Beans) is when I meet customers.  The location provides me a good meeting place worth of paying a couple of bucks.  Other than that, I will never pay $2.00 for a coffee that I can brew at home.  Not to mention dealing with some phony people there.

Coffee Story #2 - Pumpkin Spice Coffee

I saw holiday flavored coffee at Costco the other day.  It's "Pumpkin Spice Coffee" by Newhall Coffee Roasting Company.  It smelled like Christmas.  I thought this coffee could help me through the season.  I was tempted to buy one of these at $7.99.  But I already have about 4-6 large bags of coffee filling up my freezer space. 

I went Costco today and I completely forgot to bring my Costco coupon book. I didn't have much to buy.. but one of the items (I wanted to buy with coupon) was a 56Oz bag of M&M (peanuts).

I am scheduled to go to Costco pretty soon. So... things can wait.

I'm having chicken for dinner tonight.
Jumbo shrimps are my special treat.  This bag will last 4-6 months.

Reed (Fragrance) Diffuser is something I need.  After a long day, when I walk into my apartment, my place doesn't smell quite the best.  I need to have some fancy scent that will motivate me to work on my personal projects such as ilovecostco.com.

Gas was $3.359 a Gallon

* I was looking for Guinness (beer), but they didn't have it. .  I cannot drink cheap beer anymore.  This is a typical side-effect from shopping at Costco for too long.  You learn to appreciate good stuff.

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I went to Costco for passport pictures.

Then I hit the jackpot.

They finally brought back "Luxe Khaki" pants by Haggar. These are my favorite pants of all time. 

They are wrinkle free, they stretch a little, and they look professional.

These pants are a lot more comfortable than blue jeans.

I only had three pairs of these pants.  And I wanted to buy some more.  Today I bought 5 pairs ($19.99 each)

I tell ya.  Wrinkle free is way to go.  It's not totally wrinkle free.  I iron them every time.  But, It takes very short time to iron them.  I hope they carry more colors.

Oh boy, I am so busy...  
Quick picture upload..

Today's treat was the shrimps.  I look at these shrimps everytime I go to Costco.  I thought I've waited long enough to enjoy some. 

I also had a hotdog.  and I put gas in the car. (3.99/gal)

Oops!  I ate this at Costco with a Costco Hotdog
At first, I was going to get a taste or two.  I hate myself.

Costco Receipt

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Hotdogs

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Gas

Karaoke is fun.  I personally don't enjoy Karaoke, but I understand it is entertaining to many people around the globe.

Last two times when I went to Costco, there was a Karaoke machine on the floor.  It was turned on for anyone to enjoy.

I don't know about you guys, but I hate it when peoeple sing at Costco.  It's embarrassing.  

You can tell that they are trying to impress a bunch of strangers at Costco.  You cannot hide twitches on their faces.

Then they get into their own groove (spacing out).  It's not good...  It's embarrassing.

There are some of you thinking "I am different. It's cute when I sing".  Surprise, I am talking about you.

I went to a wedding today.  They had dinner catered from Wood Ranch.  Good stuff.

Anyway.
I was presently surprised to see some Costco shrimps on the kitchen table.  I had to grab some.   Costco shrimps completed my dinner.   Good stuff.

Costco Shrimps at the Wedding

It was an incredible dinner.  I loved it.