Costco Member-Only Savings, September 29, 2021 – October 24, 2021.
Savings are available only to current Costco members.
Gal Costa – Folhetim
I adore Brazilian songs like this. This song is from the late 70s, and I don’t know Portuguese. This is a perfect song to relax to – around the house, or when I drive a convertible on an open road.
I am running out of these Costco European Cookies (AKA Belgian Cookies, Christmas Cookies). They are available at Costco during the holiday season. These cookies are the best, and I always buy 3-4 cans and make them last 12 months by freezing them. The goal is to taste a little Christmas every weekend. But, I ate them too fast this year because I stayed home all year. I am already on the last tray… (photo taken on September 12, 2021)
I’ve been watching Nicolas Cage movies obsessively lately. I cannot get enough of his movies. This handsome Academy Award-winner’s movie credit goes back to 1982, and he’s in 100 movies so far. Nicolas Cage gives me that cozy, nostalgic, and drive-in theater feeling I am fond of. His movies are exciting, romantic, cheesy, cool, funny, stupid, and everything in between. And I like them all. I love it when he loses his temper and goes ape shit. Nicolas Cage seems amiable that I would like to have him at my house for food and chitchat. That’s saying a lot because I refuse to have Tom Cruise or Daniel Craig in my house. That would be freakin’ uncomfortable. The same goes for Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson. They are the most beautiful people and I love them. But, please, don’t come to my house… again, freakin’ uncomfortable.
What about Leonardo DiCaprio?… I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.
I believe America loves Nicolas Cage more than we realize. He is my favorite actor, without a doubt.
According to the online personality test, I belong in Louisiana. And I agree. I’ve visited New Orleans a few years ago, and I enjoyed it a lot. When I travel, I would like to experience how regular folks live their everyday life. For example, if you come to California to visit me, I will not take you to Disneyland, but I will give you my typical life experience, such as drinking coffee, going to garage sales, and driving to the beach in a convertible. Oh, In-N-Out Burger, of course.
New Orleans was hot, and it rained at random without warning while the Sun was still up. But it didn’t matter. The food was amazing. Louisiana is a state of food. I wish I can retire there and eat until I die.
God bless Louisiana.
The Spanish word “Quesadilla” does not translate to “What’s the deal?” Just saying…
As a single person living alone, there are items I don’t buy at Costco. One category is the seasonings (spices) for cooking.
I check out the spice section at Costco every time I’m there because it’s fun looking (I love Costco). Sometimes I find items such as Everything Bagel Seasoning. In most cases, Costco-size spices are way too big for typical single people like me. In fact, even if I had a family of four, I don’t think my family would finish the big container of Lawry’s Seasoned Salt before the expiration date. But, sometimes it makes sense to buy from Costco and throw them away as they expire. It’s OK if you don’t finish the entire container. As long as you are financially ahead of the game, that’s all it matters. For that, I have to strategize according to my unique cooking style. This takes brainpower and effort.
What I consider when I buy a spice:
I have made many mistakes by purchasing large containers of spices at Costco. The learning process was long. But I am getting better at my spice game. In my case, it doesn’t make financial sense for me to purchase large containers of spices at Costco. There will be rare exceptions, of course.
I bought the salt and pepper grinders in January 2020. 2 salt containers were $4.99. 2 black pepper containers were $6.49. They all had an expiration date of October 2022 (4+ years).
I will keep the salt long after its expiration date. I think the salt is OK as long as they are visibly clean. Correct me if I’m wrong about this, but they are Himalayan salt. The salt must be many million years old. So, I don’t worry about keeping them for extra10-20 years in the kitchen.
As for black pepper, today, I threw away the unfinished opened container and switched to the new container (pic). In October 2022, I will throw away this pepper container about 80% full. Kirkland Signature black peppers are cheap, have a long expiration date, and I trust their quality. For under $7, I will not waste my energy thinking about black pepper. I will pick it up at Costco and move on with my life. Here, after throwing away half of the black pepper, if I consider all the variables, I neither lose nor gain financially.
This concluded my example of salt and pepper. Now I apply similar logic to each spice I purchase. And I apply similar logic to everything else around the house, everything and more. This requires memorization and an analytical thinking process. I believe the level of the task I perform equals high-paying professions. This is what most stay-at-home moms do every day while turning babies into upstanding citizens.
Also, I salute single people doing it all alone. Represent.
Talk to you later.
20th Costco Shopping in 2021 – $118.65 / $2,324.34 this year
I had a mixed experience today getting my flu shot. When I checked in, the lady said “wait 10-15 minutes”. But, I waited 40 minutes. At that point, I thought something was not right. I had to check to see if they didn’t lose my paperwork. So, I became THAT guy, asking for special attention. I finally paid for my flu shot ($0). And the shot was absolutely painless. This guy was amazing. I barely felt the needle. “Wow!, you are good!” I exclaimed.
My shingles shot last December (2020) was painful, and I bled. I could tell that pharmacist was reckless. I felt the negative energy from his core, and I didn’t like that. But today’s pharmacist was pleasant. He was careful, and I barely felt the needle. This made me think. Those two pharmacists wake up and go to work the same. They probably take home similar paychecks. But, one guy was pleasant and the other guy was negative. From now on, I shall be mindful of my attitude. I want to be like the Costco pharmacist I met today.
My Hulu price is going up by $1.00. I think I am OK with that.
Currently, I pay $18.98 a month on TV, soon to be $19.98. I subscribe to Hulu with No Ads ($11.99) and Discovery Plus (Ad-Free $6.99). They provide more than enough TV entertainment for me. I get free local news from Pluto, which I rarely watch anyway. Basically, I gave up watching NASCAR, NBA, and some others.
I don’t live in a big city, so the antenna won’t pick up any channels.
My philosophy is simple. If I enjoy basketball very much, then I will have no problem paying extra to watch it. If I have a girlfriend who loves to watch the WE channel? then I will subscribe to it. It’s a simple rule.
For now, I save roughly $720 a year ($60/m) by not subscribing to a big TV package. Also, I hate TV service providers so much. I refuse to give them the pleasure. Screw them. Screw all of them. I will keep $720 and skip the Super Bowl.
After cutting cable, I quickly got used to having fewer channels. It’s OK if I don’t have every channel under the Sun.
I guess I am OK paying $20 a month for TV. $0.67 a day sounds somewhat reasonable. Still, that’s $240 a year. One thousand dollars every four years.
If I become very rich, after taking care of my retirement, I will buy a house with a three-car garage. Then I will buy a Porsche. After that, I will subscribe to a full package cable TV.
It’s fascinating that my financial priority is shifting. When I was poor, I had NO~~ problem paying $60.00+/month on cable TV. Now that I have more money, I feel sick to my stomach paying more than $30/m for TV. There must be a scientific (psychological?) explanation for this. I don’t think I’m cheap or stingy. I just bought a cashmere Berluti winter coat. Cheap people don’t wear Berluti coats.
I am a man and I have a hard time finding decent hair spray at a decent price. Costco has some hair sprays, but they are expensive high-class stuff I don’t have cash for. Redken’s Fashion Work 12 is my everyday hair spray. But they are still too expensive. If I’m lucky, I can find them on eBay at $10-$15 a can on used conditions. Used, as in 80% full, dented can, cap missing, etc… I constantly look for a cheaper version of Redken, but everything I see at discount stores says “Maximum Hold” and “Extra Hold”. It’s as if people with long hair don’t exist – that we are all members of some punk bands. I cannot find any good and cheap medium hold hair sprays. As a grown man, I spend way too much time looking for hair care products.
I just want to do my hair and leave it soft to touch. The goal is to look natural. I am not asking much. Why is it so difficult to find such a product? Well, I found Fashion Work 12. It does exactly that…
Anyway, JC Penney currently has a good deal on Redken hair care products. I just ordered 6 cans of my favorite hair sprays at the best price I have ever seen. They even have a discount code that they didn’t have 2 days ago. They deliver to JCPenney stores for free. Now, I don’t have to think about hair spray for the next 2-3 years.
Even though I work from home, I always do my hair in the morning. I use 4-6 hair care products depends on the mood of the day. I start my morning with a fresh attitude. Obviously, I stopped dressing up for work because of the pandemic. As a result, I now have 4 pairs of brand new Italian shoes that I haven’t worn outside. I also have 3 Winter coats that I have never worn outside.
But, working from home is the best.
So, I shopped at JC Penney.
I was surprised that Penney still existed, let alone having excellent prices on Redken products. I think the last time I shopped at JC Penney was in the 80s. I believe I actually bought a Members Only jacket there. Remember the Members Only jacket? At that time, I didn’t know the significance of the jacket. I bought the jacket because it looked cool. Then 10-20 years later, people started to talk about the Members Only jacket as a part of the 80s reference. Anyway, I am glad my money is going to JC Penney. I look forward to visiting there to pick up my hair sprays.
Peet’s Organic French Roast. Costco item #1471986 – Purchase price $11.49 (instant savings $4.50)
I slowly became a coffee snob in the past 13 years. I am picky about my coffee. I use 2 coffee grinders so I don’t mix flavors. I used to have 4 coffee grinders. I cannot enjoy Starbucks Coffee because I find it inferior to my taste. I like strong coffee that’s not acidic.
I favor whole bean coffee over ground coffee. I assume I get a better coffee experience if I grind the coffee beans just before I brew it. Whole bean coffee seems superior overall.
On my August 2021 Costco Shopping, I picked up a ground coffee by mistake. And I thought I would try it.
And you know what? This coffee is just as enjoyable. I cannot tell the difference. Maybe if I taste both whole bean coffee and ground coffee side-by-side, I will know the difference? But, this is not a competition. I enjoy this coffee a lot. And that concludes my experiment. Only the evil people go through a war to decide which coffee is 1% better than the other. And if you are hell bent on enjoying the coffee, that’s 1% better? More power to you. I used to be like you.
From this point, I will look at ground coffee and coffee beans as equal. If I see a (good) ground coffee on sale, I will buy it.
