Buy 4 Starbucks gift cards, get 1 free

This is all over the internet, so why not jump into the fray? You can go to your local Costco and grab 5 $20 Starbucks gift cards for $80. Sure, it’s a great way to stock up on stocking stuffers. But why not just keep them for yourself? You know you’re going to be reloading that card of yours anyway, right? And just think of how much free coffee you’ll get with that $20 card! Well, maybe don’t think of that.

Actually, I have a great tip on how to get free coffee at St. Arbucks. Go in any evening and ask for brewed decaf. Many times they will have stopped brewing it for the night because – and this was a surprise to me – they rarely get orders for decaf at night. I mean, I have to go unleaded after noon if I want to get a good night’s sleep. But the rule is that if they don’t have what you want when you ask for it, it’s free.

Just a couple of nights ago this worked for me. I ordered a Venti Pike Place decaf and got a Venti decaf Americano on the house. Try it!

Get a Costco.com search plug-in for Firefox

I’ve been a fan of the Firefox browser for several years. If you haven’t tried it yet, I challenge you to give it a spin and compare its functionality and stability to IE.

One of my favorite Firefox features is the search engine toolbar that appears to the right of the address bar. The browser comes standard with several pre-installed search tools for sites such as Amazon, Wikipedia, and Creative Commons. It’s nice to be able to punch in a search term on the fly and be taken directly to the site of your choice.

You can also add search tools that other (smarter) people have created. I added one for Target.com a while back and it works great.

“So, is there one for Costco.com?” you ask. Why, yes there is! A group calling itself the Mycroft Project has made such a tool available. You can install the plugin directly to your browser and begin using it immediately. Or you can visit the main site and search the more than 15,000 plugins currently available. Note that not all plugins work with the current Firefox version 3.

Harmonics flooring – Yes, it’s worth the savings

If you’re like me, you enjoy doing home improvements yourself so you can save some money and have the satisfaction of accomplishing something. If you’re a bit more like me, you’re afraid you’re going to blow a wad of cash on something that’s way over your head and end up wishing you’d hired a pro.

If you’re quite a bit more like me, you’ve invested in the Harmonics line of laminate flooring available only at Costco. You installed it yourself. And you’re happy.

Yes, as further evidence that we’ve drunk the Costco Kool-Aid in this family, we took the Harmonics plunge this past spring. I’ve admired the quality of this product ever since the store started carrying it. Then last year they introduced the wide-plank mahogany and I thought, “This might be it.” Then came the hand-scraped (looking) chestnut this year and I thought, “Now this is it.” Those beveled edges. The way the dark wood veneer throws off a subtle burgundy when the sunlight hits it. Wow, this stuff pops. It’s ours.

More advice on Harmonics flooring after the jump.

Sniff out the Chowhound for a dogpile of food advice

Don’t you love it when someone does all the hard work for you? There’s an excellent thread going on at this blog where people are sharing the best (and sometimes less than best) food they’ve found at Costco. I’m going to bookmark this discussion and keep returning to it. This is one of the reasons I love me some Inter-tubes.

It’s official: ‘Costco cheese works!’

Good post on a really funny web site. I plan to visit here often now, seeing as I’m a man and I like grub. If you’re a pizza-place owner, you might want to know that Costco’s shredded mozzarella and Belgioioso provolone make for a great pie. The per-pound price quoted here is excellent. And even if you just make an occasional pizza at home, the advice you get on this page is worth bookmarking.

‘5 things you should know’ about warehouse clubs

Good report from the CBS Early Show. I learned a couple of things about how to spot a discontinued product. Watch for the asterisk next to the price on the white product cards! I would take issue with one comment from reporter Vera Gibbons. She said the service is where these clubs are lacking. Well, that depends on your expectations. Of course you’re not going to find express lanes or fitting rooms. But overall, I’ve always been satisified with the attention you get from employees when you need help.

Kiplingers has some good advice

Via the WaPo: I would agree with pretty much everything here. Weigh this against my own column on the subject. I have bought a diamond at Costco and the results were, shall we say, desirable. And I’m going to be buying dog food soon. Frodo’s not getting any smaller.