While making an infrequent bulk-supply run at Costco the other day, I was surprised to see for sale gift cards for the Paragary Restaurant Group – that’s places like Paragary’s, Spataro, Esquire, and R15.  The cards, sold in packs of two $50 cards for around $75, give you a discount on a night out and give you a chance to support a more-or-less local business. (I say more-or-less not because there’s any question that it’s local, just because I think “local business” conjures up an image of a more struggling mom-and-pop operation than Randy Paragary’s Sacto restaurant mafia.)

I didn’t expect to find the local fare among the many gift cards Costco offers at a discount (stuff like movies, Starbucks, etc).  Good idea though.  And who doesn’t appreciate a discount – the Dow just fell below 8000! Ack. Be frugal. Happy Slim Holidays.