LJ's very good day

If running errands with Grandma Kate is a good day, LJ had a good day.  We started off the day at library story time.

We stopped at the bank to get a copy of a money order the State of New Mexico Vital Statistics says it never got.  Found out it had been stolen and cashed at a "speedy loan" kind of place.  Guess that's why I never got the birth certificates I ordered.  LJ was remarkably good-natured during the long wait.  Like those blue lips from the bank's free DumDum?

Next we went to the county sheriff's office and found out we needed to go to the city police station instead.  That shows about how much police contact I typically have, i.e. NONE.

We finally got to the right police station and waited outside after pushing the button, then calling through the little round microphone thing that amplifies the voices through the glass.  I guess it was turned on inside after all.  Happily, there were lots of toys in the waiting room.

Our last stop before home was a stop at Costco where I managed to keep it from becoming not the "dollar store," but the "hundred dollar store" for once.

Finally, lunch and a nap.  What a morning!

A shout out for Costco

Tomorrow we're having a bbq dinner here at the house with local and visiting relatives, so I went shopping for a few food items we'll need.  I've heard Costco has very nice meat and decided to try their ground beef for the hamburgers.

I was looking at the 5-6 pound packages, trying to decide if I wanted the "patties" which are about 3/4 pound each, or the bulk package, both of which were $3.29/lb, when I noticed something.  See if you see it too.

Yep, that package is weighed at 0.21 pounds and priced at 69 cents.  I thought about leaving it there because I didn't want the hassle factor of dealing with a mispriced item, but I remembered reading on a blog somewhere that stores will usually honor obviously incorrect prices when it's clearly their error (not someone switching price tags or something dishonest like that).

I knew I'd have to point out the error to the cashier or I'd never feel good about the price, then be prepared to pay the right price.  And guess what?  Costco told me it was their mistake, so I got to buy all of this ground beef for the tiny sum of 69 cents!

We will think kindly of Costco tomorrow as we enjoy our hamburgers!

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Pantry Challenge

This week I made two food purchases and one was at Costco.

I picked up

10 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast
flour tortillas
chocolate chips
2-pack maple-flavored syrup
5 dozen eggs

I spent $45.

The other purchase was 4 gallons of milk at Walmart, price matched to Albertson's.

I spent $7.

Christmas Eve

Today the girls had a cookie baking party hosted by . . . me.  I invited a couple families of school-aged children to bring their favorite cookie recipe and come over.  Luckily I thought to make a batch of cookie dough for spritz cookies so they would have some cookies to shape and decorate as soon as they got here.  Those are the green ones in the picture.

We also made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (the guests were amazed at the huge container of chocolate chips I have--it's about 5 pounds) and some lemon cookies (minus the lemon because I didn't have any, but plus lime juice and orange zest).

I made a pot of hot chocolate and piled a plate with cookies.  We ate those, then the kids played outside, then took plates of cookies home with them.  My girls thought it was very fun.  You can see the cookies on the plate Caroline made for Santa.

Dh took ds to the airport in the big city.  He's going to spend Christmas with his mother and sisters.

I took the girls and went to Costco.  I know, I know.  But it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was going to be.  The main thing I needed was some tamales for dinner tonight.  I picked up a few other things as well (huh--just try not to).  The girls tried some fun food samples and had a good time.

When dh got home, he took the girls to Best Buy.  Elizabeth has been saving money for a number of months and has enough to buy an iTouch or a Kindle Fire or something like that.  She's leaning toward the Kindle, and today is the day for the purchase.

Tonight we'll enjoy a delicious tamale dinner (I know it'll be delicious because the tamales were being sampled at Costco ;-) ), then dh and I will negotiate about going to the late night church service at the Catholic church in our neighborhood.  Last year a man sitting near us fainted and the paramedics worked on him in the aisle during most of the service.  Maybe it would be a little less "interesting" this year.

Merry Christmas!

A trip to the [hundred] dollar store

January's challenge was to spend as little money as possible. Honestly, the first week of the month I bought some gift items for the coming year, then the rest of the month I bought only groceries while eating out of our freezers and pantry as much as we could. It was a pretty good month and I have a little more room in my freezer and cupboards.

Today, being the first of February, I went SHOPPING! I had run out of a few things I usually buy at Costco, so I restocked today.

First some bananas to hold us over until Bountiful Baskets on Saturday.

Eggs, because certain feathered girls seem to be taking a vacation.

Then a 5 lb bag of mozzarella (Friday night pizza) and a 5 lb bag of cheddar (quesadillas, tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches, chili topping, you name it).

I added 3 lbs of deli-style ham, 10 lbs of boneless, skinless, frozen chicken breasts, a skirt, two large bottle of maple-flavored syrup and LOOK! Look how compactly $101 of Costco purchases can be packed for an easy trip home in the trunk!

Sigh.

Costco

I'm back in Costco-land after a five year hiatus and when in Rome . . . . Yesterday was our first time to nose around and things have changed a little but not much. I saw postage stamps (25 cent discount on a hundred of them--I passed), a women's trunk show, and a LOT more wine than I remember from earlier times, but everything else was about the same. Here is what I got:

Kitchen trash bags
A pint of vanilla
Baking powder
Bag of fancy salad mix
A two-pack of frozen lasagne
Corn dogs
Shredded mozzarella
4 pounds of butter
Toilet paper
25 pounds of white flour
2 gallons of milk
2 pounds of coffee (had a free coupon, dh will use it as an incentive prize at work)
22 gallons of gasoline

I looked at prices on other things we use regularly, especially as I get closer to school lunch-making time again and have a mental list for next time. There sure were a lot of other bargain-hunters there too, and the parking lot has recently been expanded or I can see parking would be a challenge. It was fun but boy, you sure could spend a lot of money there if you weren't being careful.