In the picture above, I’ve placed a Pyrex measuring cup so you can get a sense of the items’ sizes.

• 2 pounds of Pupperoni for dogs for $9.95
• 3 individually wrapped Digiorno pepperoni pizzas for $12.99

More on Costco:

• Three month cost comparison
• What Do Costco Items Cost? No. 1

Since it seems that people are interested at getting a look behind that membership-blocked door, here is some more information about what I’m able to get there and at what prices.

In the picture above, I’ve placed a Pyrex measuring cup so you can get a sense of the items’ sizes.

• 3 pounds of Kirkland tortilla strips for $3.39
• (2) 48 oz. bottles of San Antonio Farms salsa for $5.79
• 3 pounds of Kingdom Pets chicken jerky dog treats for $14.49
• (2) 67 oz. bottles of Prego spaghetti sauce for $7.69

Now the ponytail is off to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They have a simple program and their minimum length is only eight inches. Most other programs are up to ten or twelve inches now.

The hair donation restrictions just keep getting harder and harder to reach. Every time I do this, I swear it’s going to be the last time because hair that long is such a hassle.

But look at how much money I save:

• one haircut a year: $66 (tip included)
• a trim every month for a year: $792
• a cut every two months for a year: $396

Is my discomfort worth $330 plus part of a wig for a cancer patient? Probably, right?

Plan: 3-at-a-time
Cost per month: $18.35
Cost for the year: $220.20
Number of discs viewed: 59
Cost per disc: $3.73

Number of bonus Watch Instantly items viewed: 5

My overall DVD consumption dropped by 36 discs because of two factors. One, I was really busy this year. And two, a lot of shows went for free on my cable’s On Demand feature. I could just stream it to my TV whenever I wanted.

Even with the higher cost, I’m not at a point where Netflix is no longer good for my budget. I had planned to cancel cable this year, but Comcast made me a better deal. I’ll have to see how things go in 2010.

In the meantime, here are my rankings of what I’ve seen by how much I actually enjoyed watching them.

Special Programs (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. Time Management from the Inside Out
2. Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
3. Broadway: The American Musical: Episode 1

Television (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. True Blood: Season 1
2. The Big Bang Theory: Season 1
3. The Big Bang Theory: Season 2
4. The Office: Season 5
5. How I Met Your Mother: Season 3
6. How I Met Your Mother: Season 2
7. Wonder Pets (various)
8. Generation Kill miniseries
9. The Sarah Jane Adventures: Season 1
10. Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season 1
11. Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season 2
12. Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest
13. 30 Rock: Season 3
14. Twilight Zone: Season 1 (partial)
15. Heroes: Season 3 (partial)
16. Babylon 5: Season 1 (partial)

Movies (in order of most-enjoyed to least-enjoyed)

1. The Reader
2. Bolt
3. The Wrestler
4. Kung Fu Panda
5. Frozen River
6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
7. Wanted
8. Tropic Thunder
9. Akeelah and the Bee
10. Milk
11. Doubt
12. Frost/Nixon
13. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
14. Changeling
15. Slumdog Millionaire
16. Watchmen
17. The Tale of Despereaux
18. Rachel Getting Married
19. Monsters vs. Aliens
20. The Visitor (will see in the next few days)

Since my November statement just got sent, I can announce my results.

I cashed in $100 in cash back money for four gift cards. I have $5 and change left in the account. That doesn’t seem like a lot I know. This wasn’t my expectation either.

In a way, I’m happy because this means I actually spend less than I think I do. I focused on putting more purchases on this particular credit card throughout the year and all I ended up with was $100.

For me, I’m not going to try this strategy again. Even though I’m pretty frugal, I did find myself spending unnecessary money because of the cash back justification.

It’s just better to be smart throughout the year, save for holiday gifts as if they were a larger purchase, and be sane at Christmastime.

I hope my four gift card recipients will like their presents though. I think they fit well.

I think everyone knows they can do this with almost every service he or she currently has. I just have no idea what prevented me from calling sooner.

I am trying to cut down on the eating out, but sometimes you just get caught around town.

As a basis for comparison, I used the lowest on-sale price that I received at my local grocery store. They do buy-one-get-one-free sales. Costco doesn’t.

Also, I did my best to equal out the price-to-quantity ratios.

So just looking at the prices, things come out pretty even. Before I began this, I had expected there to be a greater difference—with the benefit going to Costco.

But for me, there are other factors to consider:

1. My condo is on the third floor of a building without an elevator. We also only have street parking. It’s nice to not have to limit my shopping trips to only the staples I can carry. If I have extras in the house, I can add a bit of variety to my cart.
2. There are items that should be on this list, but they are missing because I haven’t had to buy them in the last three months. (toilet paper, dish washing detergent, frozen chicken breasts, etc.)
3. The grocery store prices above are the best on-sale promotions of the last three months. But the sales are not always there. I will never go to the store and get buy-one-get-one-free on all of these categories at the same time.

Conclusion

If I use Costco for just these items alone on a twice-monthly basis (for rounding purposes), I will almost save back the $50 membership fee already. If I calculate in the other items I will purchase and the randomness of grocery store sales, I should come out ahead.

Convenience wise, Costco shopping is definitely a help.

So I guess when the renewal notice comes around, I’m signing back up.

I’m getting rid of my old cds. Yay!

Yes, I have an mp3 player, but like many of you, I’ve kept my old cds—just in case.

Over the years, I’ve never had to reload my computer or my player (knock on wood). These days, back-up drives are so cheap and large, I have no trouble keeping other sets of my music files.

So finally, the cds are going out the door. Right now, I’m using two sources for buy back.

Second Spin works in much the same way as the online book buyers do. Enter the CD info into their system. They’ll tell you how much they’ll pay you for it. If you agree, package everything up and ship your collection to them. They will check everything in and send you a check or a PayPal payment. Easy.

I usually check the same cd on Amazon. Amazon makes it really easy to sell your extra books and cds these days. If you already have an account, it will take you less than a minute to list an item for sale. And their fee structure beats eBay‘s by a mile.

This system has been working for me because Second Spin will often pay higher for the more popular titles while the more collectible and rare titles go for higher on Amazon. Of course, Second Spin is the immediate sale while you’ll have to wait for a buyer on Amazon.

If anyone out there has a reliable source to recommend to me, I would sure appreciate it. I still have half my collection to go.

Here’s how I’m doing so far.

Right now, I am a few cents shy of $40 in my Cash Back column. With it, I can get $50+ worth of gift cards from various retailers.

Since I started off with an unused balance, I really only made about $25 so far.

The Cash Back bonus amount always starts off slowly, because the 1% cash back on purchases doesn’t kick in until you are over $3000 in total charges. I anticipate this amount to grow more quickly over the rest of the year because I will hit that $3K mark and start getting a full 1% on everything.

Plus, their bonus 5% Cash Back months start in on the really helpful categories later in the year. From July through September, I’ll get 5% back on gas and bookstore purchases. Then starting in October, I’ll get 5% on groceries, restaurant bills, and movie tickets.

If I start shopping various retailers through their portal, I can also add significantly to my totals. I’m pretty excited about the addition of VistaPrint and Fandango as program participants. Although I’m not too hot on using VistaPrint for the important stuff, you can’t beat their prices on print items that do not have to be absolutely perfect. They’re going 20% cash back with Discover.

Fandango’s main sticking point has always been that $1.00 convenience charge. With Discover, they’re at 10% cash back, so it negates the $1.00 on a $10.00 ticket. Summer is about the only time that I actually go see movies regularly in the theaters. This convenience will really help.