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Author: John

Costco Take and Bake Pizza for Single Living
Posted by: | January 31, 2019
| 8 Comments
| Costco Blog, Single Living

I get a craving for pizza once in a while. I would like to enjoy pizza late Saturday night, or when I’m home alone feeling cozy. But, I live alone, so I need a little planning to enjoy pizza.

Pizza is family-oriented food. Going to a pizza restaurant alone is not only depressing, but it’s too expensive. I don’t want to have a pizza delivered to my house and ended up with a massive amount of leftover. That’s also too expensive. In both cases, just a tip alone will buy me 2-3 slices of Costco pizza.

So, this is what I do. I buy Costco’s Take and Bake pizza, slice them up, and freeze them. They last many months in the freezer. I enjoy pizza whenever I have a craving for it, and they will cost me $1.50 each slice. I can top it off with whatever I want. Since I enjoy my kitchen, baking pizza when I’m home alone is an absolute joy. It’s the most economical way for a single person to enjoy a good pizza.

Preparing Costco pizza for the long term, single serving, storage

  • Take pepperoni off the pizza
  • Cut pizza into 6 slices
  • Put pepperonis back on (6 slices each)
  • Wrap each slice with Kirkland Signature Stretch-Tite Plastic Food Wrap.
  • Put them in Ziploc freezer bags.

** Costco’s take and bake pepperoni pizza has 36 slices of pepperoni

I broke my pizza cutter and I may never buy another pizza cutter again. I cut pizza maybe once a year. And there are plenty of people, including professionals, using kitchen shears to cut pizza.

Costco Shopping – January 30, 2019
Posted by: | January 30, 2019
| No Comments
| Costco Blog

3rd Costco shopping in 2019 – $32.25 (today) / $249.00 (this year)

Chips, sala, and Aidells meatballs are for Super Bowl Sunday. I don’t follow football. Especially after football became too political, I refuse to watch it. I don’t know a single artist who will perform at the half-time show. They are talented people; I am pretty sure. I just don’t care to know them. I am old. Just let me be.

And.. Holy cow! I didn’t know Los Angeles had a football team… 2 of them.

To me, Super Bowl Sunday is just an excuse to eat a lot of food and pretend.

I put the bag of spinach in the freezer as soon as I take it home. This way, spinach will last fresh for a long time. I use it to make Vitamix juice. I can also cook with it. But, you cannot use it for salad.

Cable Price is Insulting
Posted by: | January 22, 2019
| 11 Comments
| Personal

Related Blog: I Cancelled Cable TV (September 5, 2020)

I am currently a Frontier FiOS customer. Look below at my cable/internet/phone price. See how it increased from $149.57 to $194.29 in 12 months. I didn’t add any services, and yet, the price went up $44.72 in 12 months. If this is not getting screwed, I don’t know what is.

When I first joined Verizon about 10 years ago, my special discount price was about $125/mo. After 2 years of price lock-down, they started to jack up the price on me. I kept calling them to lock down the low price, but they would only give me a higher price than before. And they kept raising the price as if they are testing my limit. And I am finally seeing my limit.

This is it. I refuse to pay more than $150/mo on cable/internet/phone service. $150/mo is $1800 a year. That’s a lot of money. Many people don’t take home $1800 a month. $150 is what I pay for electric, gas, water, and trash collection combined.

Most people I know pay more than $150 on cable TV bundles. Those most people make less money than I do. That’s yet another topic.

Tomorrow I am switching to Spectrum. I will pay $117/mo for the next 12 months. So, I will save $927 in the next 12 months. After 12 months, they will increase the price to $142/mo. I will still save $627.48 a year compared to my current provider. Anyway, I will not pay $1800 a year on TV/Internet/Phone.

I absolutely hate cable companies for jerking us around with insane price and rate increases. I am this close to drop cable TV altogether. They can kiss my ass.

Related Blog: I Cancelled Cable TV (September 5, 2020)

How Kirkland Signature powers Costco’s success
Posted by: | January 18, 2019
| 2 Comments
| Costco Blog, Costco in the News

Last year, it raked in nearly $40 billion, an 11% increase from 2017. That’s more than JCPenney and Macy’s combined. Kirkland’s sales also beat out Campbell Soup, Kellogg, and Hershey put together.

Kirkland, which Costco sells for at least 20% cheaper than national brands at its warehouses, helps the club keep prices low even on the products it doesn’t make.

Read more at CNN Business (Warning – this page plays video automatically, lower the volume before click.)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/10/business/costco-kirkland-signature-brand/

Costco Executive Member Reward Check, 2019
Posted by: | January 15, 2019
| 26 Comments
| Costco Blog, Reward Certificate

PLEASE NOTE: You will receive your check according to your membership schedule. I happen to receive mine in January.

Costco gives 2% rebate checks to Costco executive members.

Costco’s regular membership fee is $60.00/yr. Executive membership is $120.00/yr. In order for my executive membership to pay for itself, I need to receive a $60.00 rebate check. This year I received $91.31. So, my executive membership paid for itself and they rewarded me $41.31 on top of it. It paid to be an executive member at Costco this year. Last year was a different story. Last year, my reward check didn’t quite cover my executive membership. It was short by $1.42.

Keep in mind, what I received is a reward check from Costco. If you have a Citi Visa card, you will also receive a Citi Visa reward check. I receive these in February, but you may be on a different schedule.

Costco executive member reward rebate check
Costco executive member 2% rebate check for 2018 purchases
(received January 2019)
Costco executive member 2% rebate check for 2017 purchases
(received January 2018)
Costco executive member 2% rebate check for 2013 purchases.
(received January 2014)

You will receive your reward gift certificate according to your membership renewal date. (Read more from Costco)

The Reward is issued approximately 3 months prior to the member’s renewal date in a Renewal Statement.