March’s Real Simple magazine is full of ideas on saving money in your everyday life. A reader wrote in with this suggestion:

Rather buying the same items separately, my friends and I buy in bulk from warehouse clubs and share the cost. We buy chicken, bags of fruit and vegetables, packs of hair products and condiments. (Yes, we have bought a gallon of mustard and separated it into smaller containers.) Not only do we save but we also get to spend time together, even if it’s just running errands.

Brilliant, and right up my alley (aisle?). Of course, this works best if someone already has a card and doesn’t mind sharing, or if everyone pitches in for the cost of the membership. 

Plus: samples! 

[via Consumerist]

The last time anyone got excited about airplane food.

Everyone knows that the state of airplane food has steadily declined in recent decades, that is no secret. However, what is not as widely discussed is how awesome most airport food options have become.

Well, maybe awesome is an overstatement, but some airports are offering affordable, local dining options with availability to bring your items on board in stay warm to-go containers. Smart thinking, friends!

When I was in Texas earlier this year, I got a pack of Salt Lick BBQ to go from the Austin airport. One of the best hangover cures I ever had was a delicious, fresh breakfast burrito at McCarran in Las Vegas. I still talk about it whenever I get the chance. When at a layover in Seattle later this month, I’ve already planned to go for a wine tasting and have my nails done. Just the option to get a Starbucks tea misto is heaven to me, let alone decent food options and relaxing spa joints. I really love airports.

Food & Wine magazine listed some of the top options for dining at airports in a recent article and the choices include the spacey “Encounter” at LAX with organic salads and custom cocktails and Tamales by La Casita at Denver, serving up authentic Mexican eats.

Some of my favourite dining stops at airports include:

• San Francisco Soup Company and Gordon Biersch Brewery at SFO / San Francisco.
• French Meadow Bakery and Ike’s Fish House at MSP / Minneapolis
• Seattle Taproom for local beer and Vino Volo (a wine bar) and for food, Q’doba (this does not shame me) at SEA / Seattle Tacoma

I would list some international airports, but I usually sit in the airline lounges and am served beer by robots and sushi by pretty ladies.

You think I’m joking?

NO I AM NOT.

100% pure Asahi with intentionally poured head from the Northwest Airlines lounge in Narita, bitches.

And hey, Edmonton has pre-security Harvey’s and post-US-customs “shitty stand that sells old bagels and bruised bananas” aka “TOAST!”

So there’s always that.