I heart COSTCO!!! (and Weekend Potpourri)

I love Costco. I just love, love, love it. My boyfriend will argue that no person needs two gallons of mayonnaise, 36 rolls of toilet paper, or 40 AA batteries. I politely disagree (well, I agree with him on the mayo- yuck!). Especially in NYC when 4 rolls of toilet paper at the neighborhood drugstore go for $5+, my heart hearts Costco!

We were supposed to go to the beach yesterday, but woke up too late after seeing Wall-E (thanks to everyone who posted about the BOGO Discover Card offer at Fandango- NYC movie tix are $12 each!! I wouldn't have otherwise gone.) Instead of the beach, it was BF's idea to go to Costco, as he needed some new undershirts and dress socks, and since he's not picky, Costco would do. (Turns out, he is picky- they only had crew cut, and he likes V-neck t-shirts... oh well)

I spent $134, broken down:

16 cans of Progresso soups: $21.78 $1.36/can
32 cans of Caffeine-free Diet Coke: $8.49 $0.27/can
14 bars of Dove Soap (I hope I like them!): $11.90 $0.86/bar
6 cans of black beans: $4.45 $0.75/can
12 cans of green beans: $6.99 $0.58/can
Concentrated Tide w/ Downy: $19.99 81 loads= $0.25/load
10 Chapsticks: $8.99 $0.90/chapstick
8 cans of stewed tomatoes: $4.99 $0.62/can
3Q bottle of Tilex: $7.69 $2.56/quart
48 Swiffer wet pads: $12.79 $0.27/pad
8 boxes of whole grain pasta: $7.85 $0.98/box
48 Trailmix Bars: $11.99 $0.25/bar

I'll check on the math later, ha.

As part of my diet, I've been eating a lot of soup, veggies, and beans for dinner, and I've learned to like them, too! Finding them in bulk made me very happy. A woman in my building elevator asked me what I was going to do with so many green beans, and I happily said, "eat them!!" :-D

I'll try to give you a cost-savings analysis tonight/tomorrow...for example, I know that I pay $1-3/can of soup at my grocery store depending on size and type, but I think the cans I bought at Costco were smaller. If I have time on the way home, I might walk into my Gristedes tonight and take notes on how much my bulk items cost when I buy them individually at the store. This should take care of my groceries for a LONG while... the only other things I will need to buy on a regular basis are fresh lettuce and toppings for my salads and maybe some brown rice. You should have seen the huge bags of rice they have at Costco... no way am I tackling those! Of course, I don't have room to store 24 cans of soup in my tiny NYC kitchen, so one corner of my bedroom looks like a soup kitchen right now (no pun intended!) with stacks of canned goods.


Other weekend expenses:
*Bertucci's on Friday night+ RT on the Path: $51 total... my treat, to celebrate my bonus!
*Breakfast and coffee for two at Dunkin' Donuts on the way to BF's parents' house upstate Saturday morning: $9
*Lunch/dinner: provided by BF's fam + Bertucci's leftovers
*Entertainment: $14.50 BOGO Fandango tickets to see Wall-E Saturday night
*Lunch for two at a diner on Sunday morning: $18.50 It's been so long since I've been in town on the weekends that I forgot to make sure I had breakfast food in the apt! I actually ate a piece of cold pizza before both BF and I gave into hunger pangs and decided to get lunch.
*Dinner at noodle shop in West Village: $34

Most of my expenses this weekend were food related, but I acknowledge that this is a weekend luxury, and I don't eat out too much mid-week. These are also moderate eating-out expenses for NYC... dinner for two can easily run $100+ . During the week I eat a lot of soup/veggies/salad at home, or I go to client dinners that are paid for by the firm. I try to minimize the number of client dinners, though, because they are the primary attacker of my waistline :/

On another note, I got my lease renewal form on Friday. I have lived in this apartment since October, 2006, which has to be a record of some kind... I moved twice in my first 16 months in the city alone! Last year we escaped a rent-raise, but this year we were not as lucky. Our $2700/mo rent is going up 4% to $2808, which is not terrible as far as raises go, but it's more than what most people's income goes up by each year. And this is 'rent-controlled!' Further, our unit is not renovated, and as most of the units have been renovated since I moved in, I think the market rate for a new lease in my building is in the $3200-$3400/mo range. Insanity, just to have faux-marble countertops and a nicer stove. Hey, my stove may be older than I am, but it works and I'm not paying an extra $600/mo for it!

I have to find out if they will write a new lease for my unrenovated unit at the same $2808 rate, because my old roommate moved out this summer and my new roommate cannot put her name on the lease unless we open a new one. If it's going to be much more expensive (market rate versus our rent-controlled rate), then I will just keep her on as a subleasee.