Money expert Clark Howard loves Costco. It’s his favorite store. He’s never been shy about it.
Given how long Clark has talked about personal finance on TV, the radio and his podcast, he’s probably spent hundreds of hours espousing Costco’s virtues to the public.
However, a listener of the Clark Howard Podcast recently asked a new question. And this time, it took a more personal turn.
Who Would Clark Invite To a Costco $1.50 Hot Dog Party?
It’s an age-old question with a definitive Clark-centric spin.
If Clark could eat a Costco $1.50 hot dog with any three people, who would he pick? A curious listener posed the question on the April 26 podcast episode.
Asked Steve in Missouri: “Clark, you work so hard for your listeners and give impeccable advice. I want to ask you a fun question for a change: If you could invite any 3 people (living or dead) to a Costco $1.50 hot dog and soda dinner party, who would they be and why?”
The money expert took a fun detour in that podcast episode to answer. And he decided to answer twice — once for non-famous guests and once for famous guests.
Clark’s 3 Dream Non-Famous Costco Party Guests
We’ll start with Clark’s non-famous choices first.
As a topic, Costco is in many ways synonymous with Clark’s career. He’s passionate about helping people spend less and save more. And by that token, it seems like a meal of Costco $1.50 hot dogs is a perfect fit considering the company Clark would choose to keep.
“One, I would love to meet both of my deceased grandfathers. I never knew them. It would be neat to meet people I heard about but never knew,” Clark says. “And my dad died when I was pretty young. And it would be neat if he could come back.
“Oh man, did we have conversations about housing. My father started a homeless shelter for couples back in the 1980s after six people froze to death in a real cold snap. He wanted to do something. That shelter still is operating 40 years later.”
Clark has built 97 houses for families unable to otherwise afford them through Habitat for Humanity. (His goal is to reach 100 next year!)
Told by his producer that he and his father are kindred spirits in their charitable efforts, Clark got emotional, which you can see in the YouTube video at the top of this article.
Clark’s 3 Dream Famous Costco Party Guests
His “famous people” guest list took a British turn. Let’s just say the guests may wonder why they’re left with soft drinks instead of tea.
“I know it would be Margaret Thatcher. It would be Winston Churchill. Because I’m fascinated with what the two of them did for Britain. Where’s today’s Maggie Thatcher, by the way? They need it really badly,” Clark says.
“Third person? Oh, it would be Dr. [Martin Luther] King.
“And a $1.50 hot dog and drink is like a Costco signature. It’s a Kirkland Signature hot dog now, by the way. Who knows how many tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars Costco loses every year as a loss leader on that hot dog and drink.
“I just had it the other day when I was at the Costco tire center. So I got my tires at a discount and my lunch was with tax, $1.59.”
Final Thoughts
There you have it.
Clark does important work teaching us about saving more and spending less. But this was a fun break from the usual routine. And it gave us some insight into who Clark values and respects.
