My little CostCo ‘rebate’ certificate of $250 arrived in email last week. Now the question becomes what to do with it. I’ve got $250 to spend on just-in-case up at CostCo. Where should it go? If you had $250 of ‘free money’ to spend on prep-type stuff up at CostCo, what would it be? A pallet of TP? A Bin of hope-they-dont-leak Duracells? A case of canned chicken? Four dozen socks? (hmmm…thats actually not a bad idea…) LED flashlights? Bleach? 50# of M&M’s?
Let’s hear it…..
Coffee, sugar, TP, new battery for the car. Maybe a bottle of tequila.
If you use sugar, consider replacing some of it with honey. Supposedly, Kirkland works hard to ensure their honey is not adulterated by suppliers. (fake honey is a BIG business worldwide, I’ve seen data that some countries sell 5x more honey than they produce) Raw honey might be the better bet to ensure it’s the real thing, as any fake ingredients won’t crystalize. However, it seems that if it has been cooked and filtered, it may no longer be able to crystalize, and that sort of manufacturing lowers the healthy attributes of honey.
I’d be more inclined to buy it in smaller containers for the utility. The giant bottles get a bit unwieldy, when all you want is a teaspoon for your tea.
I cashed mine at the customer service counter and put the money in the safe. May get more silver.
This may be the best idea here.
Do they sell any gift cards you’d use? Some of them are 25% off like the BassPro/Cabelas thing you mentioned . I don’t think I could eat ~$300 in Subway but I could use it on lithiums or simple Green and shop towels at Home Depot.
How about dropping it on some legitimately nice steaks for the chest freezer – tenderloin & filet mignon?
Not a bad idea….
Why not take an elderly man, or woman who only has monthly soc.security. to live on to Costco and let them get what they need? You surely have tons of stockpiled goodies, help someone else out that is barely making the necessities.
And steak!
There’s something just really right about this idea. What would be extra for a lot of us right now might absolutely be an incredible blessing for someone on a fixed income, either an elderly person or a young family down on its luck. Pay it forward.
Clothing is usually decent quality there, get an assortment of stuff you wear to vacuum pack and put away.
Auto consumables like oil and antifreeze are nice to have. $250 would go a fair way towards getting a set of tires.
Ya don’t have to spend the Costco rebate money at Costco – at my Costco, I bring in the rebate voucher, and they give me a check made out to me, most of the time – sometimes they give me cash if it’s a smaller rebate voucher. I can deposit the check in my account and spend it anywhere.
CZ, from my experience as an older shopper at Costco and having more that we need in later years – and knowing of the rather deep stocks you keep of things you deem important to you already, here is my suggestion: Divide up your dividend into, say, five roughly equivalent parts (your general selection of areas may vary): Canned goods; batteries & lighting; perishables/frozen goods; pharmacy/meds/vitamins; coffee/spirits. Then take a portion (say the canned goods) of that which you already have plenty of and donate it to you local food bank. It is a way to return to your community and you still fill in your low areas. Your acumen for making good deals and record keeping lead me to believe you can be generous as well to those who may be in need and you not be wanting in other areas. Changing up is a good thing now and then. Just my .02 – redclay7
Take it to the service desk and tell them you want the cash for it. Spend it anywhere you want to. If you spend it at Costco, you will not earn 2% back on it. Continue to use your Costco credit card for any new purchases. Hey, 2% of $250 is another 5 bucks you will give up if you spend it at Costco.
Hmmm good point. I never considered that.
No duracells. The damned thing are leaky.
Duracells are complete and utter crap. I’ve had them leak while still in the package, many years before their supposed expiration date. And Duracell’s so-called warranty is garbage. Don’t even try to get them to honor it when — and it will — a Duracell battery wrecks a piece of your gear: you’ll just be out the money you spent to send the damaged device to them, and they’ll find some excuse to say it wasn’t their fault. Battery corroded into flashlight? “How can we tell this was a Duracell battery?” Battery removed from a flashlight? “How do we know that this [leaking] battery caused the damage?”
Energizer lithium batteries have yet to cause me any issues, and lithium cells have both a very long shelf life and perform well in cold weather. Haven’t tried the Eveready lithiums yet as no one stocks them locally.
i had a pair of lithium energizers, rather new ones, swell up and leak on me. i also had my first eneloop leak, but its very rare and i use them a lot.
things
If your store has Bake At Home shelf stable loaves of bread, they are a nice treat.
The Essential Baking Company Organic Sourdough Bread, 54.6 oz
I’m sure they last even longer in the freezer.
n
I’m on board with Jimbo— partly. Cash it out yes. Then metals. Note the inflation showing up. Countries are not buying treasuries. Lots of things like TVs and game/computers won’t go up much, but a package of Lorna Doone cookies was 4.59 at the store yesterday. Shiner Bock was up a dollar/6 pack. Now 9.99. Signs are showing up if you look. That 250 dollars of silver might be worth a grand soon. People might have something you need but won’t take greenbacks……
i too have a $250-ish rebate. My plan:
5 flats of drinking water
4 boxes of Kirkland coffee pods
1 package of Ribeye steaks
2 packages of sliced cheddar
2 packages of sliced Salami
1 Chicken
And $100 in cash
How are your preps fixed for general household cleaning supplies and TP? Also consider their bags of roasted coffee beans if you drink coffee or need bartering supplies.
As long as you’re stocked up on essential long term stuff maybe entertain this thought. At the rate this shitshow is evolving I’d say maybe invest it in popcorn. Cause I’ma guessing by the end of this year, next year tops, this is going to quite the circus, and we all know you simply cannot enjoy the circus without popcorn…. Just a thought!
Like!
I took our, coupled with what we brought home from the Hamilton Gun Show and paid off our vehicle. I replaced our 260k mile van with a 40k one in July, and now it’s paid off! That frees up more money for debt relief (our current major prep item).
What does your Preponomicon indicate that you need? Buy that.
I love reading everyone’s ideas. May I suggest blow and whores….
that was #2 on my list. The feds printed $100 billion LAST WEEK! we don’t have much longer.
The obvious is what others have suggested – fill in your preps.
I’d suggest differently – since this is ‘free money’ to you, spend it on something you’ll enjoy, particularly if it is something that is also a prep.
There are some great suggestions here, but I’ll add a new one: reference books. If or when the lights go dark and there’s no internet for instant access to information, a solid collection of print reference books on a wide variety of topics will be worth its weight in gold (or almost). It would be worth a swing through the CostCo book aisle to see what they may have.
Otherwise, my favorite suggestion is cashing out your check and buying silver.
Something that hasn’t been mentioned yet is renewing your Costco membership with part of that?
There isn’t a Costco close enough to deal with but our Sam’s membership pays enough back to cover the next year’s dues plus a little more. Not a huge amount but comfortable thing if funds are tight.
Steelheart
Costco vodka is supposed to be equivalent to Grey Goose,a few bottles for barter/entertainment/morally lax coeds may be a good way to go. I might suggest a delivery to a veterans home(they need almost anything they sell-a talk to the Manager might even leverage a discount).
Stupendous idea! You are right that many retail chain managers have an amount they are expected to spend annually on charity. Approaching the manager about helping vets and ponying up some or all your own refund might just punch that manager’s buttons.