How to avoid a big bill at Costco

Everyone who shops at Costco knows one of the biggest challenges is walking out with just what you went there for. This article contains some great advice on how to keep your Costco shopping visits under control.

Here are some of my tips:

• Only go to Costco if you have a shopping list.
• Go straight to those items and get them first before you buy anything else.
• Don't buy stuff just because it "seems interesting."
• Watch the quantities unless it has an unlimited shelf life.
• On food items always check the expiration date and then ask yourself if you will use all that by the date. If not, don't buy it.
• Fresh produce can be the worst. That crate of peaches may look wonderful, but if you can't eat them all in a week, don't buy them.
• Remember, Costco has a super liberal return policy. If you change your mind, just take it back.
• Costco has some great deals on clothing. But, just because the price is amazing, you may not need it. This is one of the reasons why I have way too many casual jackets.
• Costco's coupons can be attractive, but Costco now shows volume pricing and often the coupon item isn't the cheapest product. The Kirkland version will usually beat the coupon item.

Happy shopping.

Time to crank this puppy up again

It's been well over a year since my last post to this space. And, after several frustrating attempts to recover my password (I really have to hand it to Google as they do focus on making it hard for people to break into your stuff), I finally had a brain fart and figured it out with some help from Google.

So, I hope to be posting regularly to this site with my discoveries, updates and reviews of all that's going on at my local Costco stores. Warning: This may not be representative of what's happening in your region or store as there definitely are differences.

Since I last posted, one thing I've noticed is the steady increase in the number of products bearing Costco's own Kirkland house brand. To me, this is a good thing. I've consistently found the Kirkland brand to be not only of high quality, but incredible value. I'm currently doing a test of men's blue jeans between Kirkland, GAP, Land's End and Eddie Bauer. Not completely finished, but so far the Kirkland blue jeans ($12) are running ahead on value and comfort.

I'm hoping to post two to three times per week as a service to fellow Costco Shoppers.

New Costco discoveries

After being missing from the shelves for a month or more, Costco finally has Purell hand sanitizer back in stock. This is the waterless hand wash that is so wonderful when you can’t get to a bathroom or the one you can get to is so disgusting you refuse to use it. For $10.99 you get three pump containers and three small personal sizes to fit in a purse or briefcase.

My guess is that there was a huge run on Purell during the Swine Flu panic. Now, Purell seem to have caught up with demand. This stuff works great and is a must for traveling.

With Fathers Day, anniversaries and graduations cramming the calendar this month, don’t forget about Costco’s restaurant gift cards. They’ve got a bunch, but I picked up two $50 certificates for McCormick & Schmick’s for $80.

Costco also has a nice selection of designer ties and ballistic pinpoint button-down dress shirts for $16.99. This is another Kirkland brand item that simply can’t be beat for quality and value at a great price. Everybody should have a blue one and a white one. They are classic in any wardrobe.

Also, look for Kirkland Napa Chardonnay. I’ve tried this before and it was what I call interesting and worth every penny at $8.99. I’ll report back after trying again.

Finally, the shelves were nearly bare of notebook computers, very unusual for Costco. So, I asked the salesman why and he said they will be fully stocked on June 26 when new computers arrive with Windows 7 upgrade coupons. They will come with Windows Vista installed, but you’ll get a free copy of Windows 7, Microsoft’s new operating system, when it’s available in October. This may finally be the “buy” sign new computer purchasers have been waiting for. I’ve been using Win7 for about a month now and can vouch for what a solid product it is. If you’ve been holding back on a new computer, now is the time to buy.

Generics versus brand name

I'm a big fan of the Kirkland label at Costco. I've bought enough Kirkland stuff to be able to validate that it is not only good, but often better than the brand name equivalent and usually at a much, much cheaper price. You just don't pay for the brand and the logo cache.

And the good news is that Kirkland seems to be expanding its reach into new product categories. I recently picked up some shampoo that I think is great. Might not be good enough for my wife, but I think she uses it, too. I posted the other day about a positive review of Kirkland vodka which we can't buy in the Northwest because of the weird liquor laws here. I've also written about the pique polo shirts that are fantastic, though a friend told me recently that he went to buy one and they were all out. There you go!

I have tried Kirkland Napa Chardonnay and thought it was interesting. They are also selling a Shiraz. Depending on the product, you can probably count on paying as little has half or even less of what the brand name will cost.

Kirkland vodka

We can't get liquor at our Costco stores in Oregon because of the state's arcane liquor laws. Only beer and wine in this state. My dream is that this will be fixed in my lifetime. At any rate, other states don't have these stupid restrictions on the distribution of liquor. Costco has begun to roll out wine and liquor under its Kirkland label. If the vodka, which you can get in California and other states, is as good as this review then Costco has another winner on its hands.

The Costco crime report

Visualize this: The Costco in Burnaby, BC, was robbed by two men with a hammer and pepper spray. One escaped and the other was caught while trying to leave the store when he ran into shopping carts.

A Long Island woman was arrested after she left her 2-year-old twins in the car while shopping at Costco.

Costco wine kicks . . .

I rarely make a visit to Costco without cruising the wine section. Nowadays, that includes the binx and the boxes. I found a wonder French red there recently (Mouton Noir) for only $6.99. That's almost impossible to beat. Still, the bins are where you'll find the best stuff and all at reasonable prices. There is no case discount, but with Costco's everyday low prices, who needs case discounts?

All Costcos aren't going to carry the same wine inventory. And the other rule of thumb, of course, is that there's no guarantee you'll be able to find the same wine on your next visit. I like to pick up a sampling of wines and then taste them over a few days. If I really like one, then I'll go back and see if I can get more. I especially like how Costco supports regional wines, or at least they do in their stores in the Northwest. This is not only good for the local wine producers, but great for consumers as well.

I came across this review of some Costco wines that you might want to keep an eye out for.

Costco addiction

I empathize with Honolulu TV anchor Tannya Joaquin's blog today admitting that she can't resist buying extra stuff at Costco. She says she can't just get away with her shopping list or the bare essentials.

But, isn't this the whole idea of Costco? It's the treasure hunt. Gotta check out the wine bins to see if they got anything new. What about clothing? They've got cashmere sweaters, but they'll all be gone by tomorrow. And, of course, once they're out, they're out and they may never EVER get the same item in again.

The key to smart shopping at Costco is to make sure you don't overbuy on food items that won't last or can't be frozen. Most non-perishable items you'll eventually use as long as you have room to store them or you can divide them with someone else.

Time to buy Costco stock?

Despite a disappointing third quarter, analysts like Costco's prospects moving forward. They view it as a well run company that should benefit from a rebound in the economy that may come sooner that has been predicted. No one is predicting a rip roaring holiday season for 2009, but don't be surprised to see optimism creeping back into the holiday shopping mentality along about this fall if signs that the recovery could come ahead of schedule are more evident. And, don't forget that Motley Fool predicted Costco would be one of the best stocks of 2009.

HP notebook deal

If you're in the market for a new computer, Costco's got a terrific notebook on a $100 off coupon through the end of May. It's the HP dv4 1283CL. This is a 14-inch notebook that weights about five pounds. That's not super lightweight, but it's much more manageable than the the beast-like 17-inch displays, which in my opinion are just too big to put in your lap. These really aren't notebooks, but desktop replacements.

I was actually quite taken by the 13-inch HP dv2, but some of the reviews noted that it gets hot and the demo unit at Costco definitely was hot. But the real clincher was the $100 coupon. That takes the overall price of the dv4 down to $699 and you just aren't going to be able to beat that. I found the AMD version of the dv4 at Office Max for the same price, but this one has an Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz processor and a massive 500GB hard drive. That's half a terabyte! The other specs include Webcam, SuperMulti 8x DVD+/-R/RW,5-in-1 Card Reader,802.11a/b/g/n WLAN.

I've been looking around for a new notebook to replace the 17-inch HP beast and this one is looking pretty sweet. Was considering a Macbook, but maybe I'm being influenced by the Microsoft TV ads. At $700 the dv2 is about half the price of the Macbook. Ya, I know, it's not nearly as cool and it's not a Mac. But, I'm a big believer that with Windows 7, the PC is on the way back. Besides, down deep, I'm really a PC guy.

Love and LOVE for Costco

This is a pretty funny story about a couple who got a complete refund from Costco after breaking their couch. They were pretty surprised that Costco would give them a refund after using it for two years. Not sure what reason they really gave Costco for it breaking.

Doesn't get much better than this

Yesterday, we picked up a nice big piece of salmon at Costco and added a salad in a bag and bingo, instant (and great) dinner. When we picked out the salmon, we opted for the farm raised, which was priced at $9.99 per pound. They also had wild salmon and it looked great, but at about three times the price.

We barbecued the salmon on a cedar plank that we also bought at Costco. We put bay rub and some lime infused olive oil on it. The result was the moistest, most delicious salmon I think I've ever had. The cedar plank, which we soaked in water first, kept the salmon super moist and the bay rub gave it a nice crust on top and amazing flavor.

The salad was equally fantastic. Everything in it was incredibly fresh. For such a huge operation, I'm often amazed at how Costco can keep everything so fresh. I've always known that you can expect only the highest quality goods, but managing all of that is a real trick.

Goldman downgrades Costco to neutral

Seems that the retail sector is now starting to feel more of the pain of the economic recession again. Costco has been one of the best performers, but today it was downgraded by Goldman Sachs. The stock is now at $46.37, down $0.23 (-0.50%) on volume of 2,636,162 shares traded.

The brokerage reduced the stock to Neutral from Buy. Over the last 52 weeks the stock has ranged from a low of $38.17 to a high of $75.23. The stock has been trading in a very narrow band from $45.02 to $47.60.

HP MediaSmart Server is a deal at $548

Costco Online is offering a Hewlett Packard MediaSmart Home Server with 1.25TB of storage for $548. As Costco often does, it took the 750GB model and threw in an extra 500GB hard drive (the server will hold four drives) for the same price that Fry's Electronics charges for the 750GB model.

I did a bunch of research on this home server. It's the second generation and gets good reviews. I would buy it myself, but I want to put it in my living room and I'm worried about the fan being too noisy. Check out the link above for more information and a full review.

April sales drop 6%

Costco reported that it's April sales were down 6 percent from the same period a year ago. Sales were $5.18 billion, down from $5.54 billion a year earlier. This year's four-week month included 27 days of sales compared to 28 last year, reflecting the timing of Easter. The company said the calendar shift is estimated to have negatively impacted this year's total and comparable sales by approximately two to three percent.

Can I survive shopping only at Costco

That's a question I've asked myself a number of times. Over the years, we've always tended to look to Costco for the extras with a few exceptions. We always buy toilet paper there. And, we've become big fans of their meat and believe it's the best quality at the best price anywhere. But there are some products that just come in too big of a quantity to make them practical. Also sometimes, perishables won't last. One of the natural consequences will be simplification. This will force us to make simpler choices. 

In the current difficult economic environment, I've decided we're going to give it a try. We know there will be some things we can't buy there because they don't sell it. But we ought to be able to do pretty well. It may mean that we have to sacrifice on variety because we have to buy a lot more of something than we normally would. So, we may only get apples instead of apples and oranges. We'll also have to be smarter to use up perishables. If we buy too much fruit, we may have to start making smoothies to use it all up. 

Clothing won't be too big a problem for me since I usually wear business casual to work and if you're a careful shopper, you can do pretty well with men's clothing over time.  My wife may find the clothing selection lacking and I'm sure they won't find all her favorite makeup brands. 

My rule is going to be if they don't have it, then we don't really need it. Since we're executive club members, we'll save even more via the annual rebate. This will be an interesting experiment and I'll write about it periodically to keep you posted.

Costco makes Polish, all-beef franks available

Costco began offering a Polish or all-beef dog with a drink for $1.50 more than 20 years ago, and they've never changed the price. It's a quick lunch that probably every Costco shopper has had not just once but many, many times. And the price the charge back then is the same price they charge today. It has become one of the Costco traditions.

Well, now Costco is making both the Polish and the beef dogs available in bulk under its Kirkland label. Now you can enjoy those great dogs at home as well as at the store. Each is available in a 15-pack for $9.99 or about 67 cents each. Look for them in the refrigerator case next to the Hebrew Nationals.

Kirkland killer men's polo shirts

We are living in a back to basics time. Luxury brands are expected to suffer if they even survive in today's tight and changing economy. It's really the basics that matter. No room for designer labels or logos. And for the basics, there's really no better place to shop than Costco. Hey, you don't even have to mess around with waiting in line to get a fitting room. Just take them home and if they don't fit or you don't like them, bring them back. For casual, business casual or occasionally dressier, puruse those clothes bins at Costco whenever you're in the store.

While I can't speak for the women's side of the isle, it's hard to beat the basic Dockers, Levis and especially Kirkland brand apparel, though I did notice recently, they were carrying some $80 designer jeans. (I have to admit to having splurged on occasion for a pair of Lucky jeans.) The Kirkland apparel is a great value. In fact, Costco is super picky about anything it puts its private label on. They usually aren't fancy, but they are super well put together at a killer price.

My latest find is the men's Kirkland pique polo shirts. They come in black, white, pale yellow, navy, medium blue, light blue, mint green, charcoal, gray, pink and melon. I've purchased four of these shirts because they fit me super well and are great with jeans and shorts on a weekend. They're also super comfortable. They are heavier most polo shirts at a fraction of the price. They are a steal at $12.99. These shirts need little care and because they are beefy, keep their shape nicely. And, polos never got out of style.

Costco comes through

No problem with the linguine and clams. Costco took it right back without a question. Full refund. And a bonus -- we received a recall letter on some pistachio nuts bought a couple of months ago. We don't even have the packaging, let alone the receipt. No problem, just bring in the nuts that are left and the letter. I'll monitor the situation to see if they pull this item altogether over time.

Motley Fool says Costco good as gold

Concludes the online stock picking blog, Costco has a simple strategy that "keeps customers happy, spending money, and coming back." There is no higher form of flattery than having your stock recommended. And customers who actually pay to belong to a retail shopping experience seem to know something others don't.