photo credit: The Passive Dad
Today I was fortunate to have the grandparents come along for my Costco trip and assist with the kids while I did some shopping. I had my list, but also enjoyed having some guy time with grandpa and drooling over the new blue-ray dvd players. Prices are coming down and Costco had a Samsung, Sony, and Phillips blue-ray all for around $380. Still no reason to purchase one as the expense is not in the blue ray, but in the discs. I can imagine all of a sudden having the desire to watch Disney movies in blue ray. Not a real good use of savings right now.
I bought the usual boring items like milk, cereal, bread, and some batteries. My son loves the Costco hot dogs, so we decided to order some pizza and hot dogs and have lunch inside with grandma and grandpa. Since I’m usually knee deep in ketchup trying to catch falling hot dogs and wiping messy faces, I had some time to look around for a change. This must be what Costco wants to happen. In fact, they should offer to have employees feed your kids because I’m sure this would increase sales. I actually had time to look around and see what people had bought. Some guys had the boxes ripped open for some new cell phone or itouch and was reading the manual. Another lady was looking at her brand new purse that she just bought. When I looked at the purse, I also caught a glimpse of her watch. My light bulb went off and I remembered that my wife wanted a new watch as her last one was broken. The a-ha moment!
Since the kids were content with ketchup drenched hot dogs, I had time to go over to the jewelry case. Typically this case is never seen by myself or my wife as we are headed quickly to the back of the store. Today, I could look at all the ladies watches and find one that would fit her style and price range. Unbelievable how many gorgeous watches they have at Costco. I mean, my typical purchase is dog food and milk. Now I’m looking at Tag Heuer, a Bulova, and a Movado that range from $500 to $3,000. Wow! Further down they had some everyday practical watches that you wouldn’t feel bad about banging or having the dog scratch the glass. I settled on a pink Kenneth Cole watch that looked like something she would wear. If not, she can take it back and buy 30 hot dogs. Next time your eating your hot dog at Costco, be sure to just stare straight ahead and don’t look into another persons shopping basket. It could cost you $61.99 or more. Has this happened to you? I guess eating lunch or dinner in a mall could be just as dangerous.

Fortunately, the watch was a planned expense as my wife has been looking several weeks for a replacement and $61.99 was in our budget. This would have made a great Christmas present, but since she probably needs a watch before then she might get a nice surprise tonight. Do you have a category for watches or other personal items on your family budget?

The $61.99 hot dog could have cost a lot more if I had used a credit card with a balance. I would have broken my first rule of debt elimination if I had a card with any balance. In fact you could argue that I shouldn’t have had a hot dog in the first place if I had any type of CC balance.

Has the $1.50 Costco hot dog cost you $61.99 or more? I’d love to hear your story.

Also, check out these other great blog posts I found interesting about saving money at Costco and Costco discounts:

Money Saving Tip: Excellent Presents from Costco
I Figured Out A Way To Use ANY Credit Card At Costco (As They Only Accept AMEX Now)!
Shopping at Costco the Frugal Way
Buy Costco Gas Without Costco Membership
Wanna Save Money at Costco?
Another Way to Save Money At Costco
Is Costco Executive Membership Worth It?
Costco: Good Value for the Money, but Not Frugal
Does Your Costco Card Really Save You Money?
Retraction: Costco Doesn’t Save Me Money

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Today I drove by the Chevron gas station and noticed a man updating the prices. He had all the numbers off the board and I couldn’t take a picture. After my errand, I drove back, and couldn’t believe it. Last week I wrote a post about this same gas station Does the current price of gas make you conserve fuel? I wish I had my camera last week. The price of gas was $4.15 for regular unleaded and today the price jumped to $4.23. Almost 2% in a week and 7% in two weeks! This gas station doesn’t sell diesel, but I saw another station yesterday at $5.25. I realize the major trucking companies are hedging their expenses and buying options. But what about the average guy and his landscaping business or construction business? They can’t hedge these prices. They can only raise prices. This will be more than interesting to watch as the summer driving season starts and families pack up and hit the roads. Have you heard of any businesses raising prices due to increased gas?

I should head over to Costco tomorrow and compare prices. Cheapest gas in our city is Costco and most expensive seems to be Chevron. I’m interested to know gas prices in your city and if you have a camera handy, take a pic and send it to me. I would be happy to post it and compare prices. If you live outside the U.S., this could really be interesting to compare. We do have it better than the U.K., but pay way more than Dubai. Send me your pics.

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As I have mentioned before, I have two vehicles in our family. We drive a Toyota Prius and a BMW X5. My reasons for owning both are extremely long and detailed, and I will leave that for another post or even another blog. I really need to stay focused as I wrote earlier about my Squidoo lense from yesterday. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and the price of gas this week has risen 3-5% or 10-25 cents. I usually purchase my gas from Costco and I believe I read somewhere that the supplier is Chevron. Interesting that the Chevron station today had regular unleaded gas for $4.15 and Costco was selling it for $3.85. A 30 cent difference. Costco has always been one of the cheapest gas stations in town, but this is unbelievable. I normally do not get excited about the talk of gas prices as I try to focus on the bigger picture of jobs, housing, and credit issues. But $4.15 gas is really going to make a lot of news. I forgot to take my camera with me today, but will start carrying one in my glove box. I really need a picture of the Chevron station to help illustrate this post. By the time I get my camera, the price of gas could be $4.20. Are you changing your driving habits or driving patters to conserve fuel? I wrote another post on Hypermiling, where some people are taking to drastic measures to conserve fuel. What are you doing to conserve fuel? Are you carpooling, walking, biking or taking mass transit to save gas?

On the topic of post ideas, I had a great idea for a blog post but needed my camera. I saw a guy in a truck today coming down my street with a pickup full of real estate signs. White wooden signs that go in lawns. It made my stomach a little sick seeing so many signs. He must have had 10 or more, ready to go into someone’s heart (lawn). I have my eye on new Nikon camera at Costco. Would be great for my other job capturing celebrities as a paparazzi. Just kidding. It’s hard for me to rationalize the purchase for this blog. Would you buy a new camera for your blog posts?

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