Good Morning!!!! 43F @ 6:45AM. Periods of rain. High 51F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Never got close to freezing last night, so no chance of snow. Thank goodness!
It's raining now, having started just a little bit ago. Supposed to last through tomorrow morning. Not looking forward to the winds starting this afternoon.
Cute squirrel photo, Ron.
Are you all bulk purchasing or are the deals at Costco and Walmart that different?
I think you could call the quantities of a lot of the items bulk, Mike, especially foodstuffs. Instead of a package containing one New York strip steak, it'll have three or four. Or a dozen pork chops, two really big plastic bags of Quaker Oats, two large bottles of hand soap, three one gallon jugs of motor oil, etc. But you can find packages with a single windshield wiper blade, just one copy of TurboTax, you can buy just one pair of jeans, a single shirt or jacket or hat. But most all of it will be significantly discounted below prices you'll find at the grocery, hardware, or auto parts store because Costco buys in large quantities and demands a volume discount from suppliers. And they pass that savings on to members. I don't find the quantities of the packaging to be much of a problem because I can repackage the bulk foodstuffs to single servings and freeze a lot of them, or just take up extra shelf space as I slowly work my way through a large box or bag or jug.
Grocery shopping at Walmart can save significant money.
I've found that to be true as well. But often I can't find the brands I prefer, and the quality of the produce can be pretty bad, as in not very fresh. In Santa Maria, there's both a Walmart Superstore and right next to it a Neighborhood Market. They both sell foodstuffs, and the NM has small quantities of hardware and other non-food items like a normal grocery store would. I find it surprising that they wouldn't have moved the foodstuffs out of the Superstore and used the space for additional non-food items, but I also don't understand why Walmart doesn't stock the national brands I prefer, either.
Do you know if fuel purchases qualify?
Yes, but only if you pay using a Costco credit card (VISA issued through Citi Bank). 4% cash back on gas (some stores don't sell Diesel), 3% on restaurants and eligible travel, 2% on all other purchases from Costco, 1% on everything else. I get a better "everything else" discount with an Amazon VISA issued through Chase, and I don't care for Citi's politics, so I pretty much just use the Citi card at Costco. I'm still curious as to what additional benefits come with the Executive Costco membership.
I very much shop by the weekly fliers. Been bred into me since I became aware of grocery shopping.
The local
Albertsons store has pretty good variety and good quality produce, but their prices are ridiculous. I try to shop their sales, and have joined their club to qualify for coupons/discounts. It's all done electronically, but I've never gotten all the coupons I "clip" online to automatically apply when I punch in my phone number at checkout. Very frustrating, but I keep trying because of the quality and variety of the merchandise.
You make some pretty amazing things, Phil. If lumber prices at HD are any clue, the mills have more business than they can handle.
We have that saying - do not check teethes of horse you got for free.
Here we say "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth". And a lot of us don't trust the government. I'll leave it at that.
... the propane tank is filled with 100 gallons @ $2.82 a gallon.
Will you be reimbursed for any remaining propane when the estate sells, Don? I'm thinking I could maybe get the propane dealer to buy back what's in the 1000 gallon tank here, then sell the tank. Not sure if that's possible, though.
Managed to get through sorting what was left in the office trailer yesterday. Some of it needs a ride to the dump, some of it goes to the burn pile, and the rest goes to Orcutt. The biggest pile is e-waste, old patch cords, wall warts, adapters, even laptop and desktop computers. Outdated stuff that once cost a lot of money and is now next to worthless. The price of progress.
No plans other than feeding the woodstove, packing up the office, and doing paperwork inside this weekend. Hope you all have more enjoyable plans...
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