• On a recent road trip across the American West, I made a stop at The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town. 
• The ghost town is part of the mining town of Haynes, Arizona.
• Today, visitors can explore an impressive collection of old buildings, antiques, and automobiles. 

I will never turn down a visit to a ghost town.

Whether exploring an abandoned castle in the Australian jungle or opening the door to an old miner's cabin in my home state of Colorado, the deserted destinations feel like traveling back in time.

So, on a road trip across the American West in the fall of 2023, I had a few ghost towns I was eager to visit.

Some were deserted — like an abandoned water park in the desert of California. Others were bustling with tourists eager to dive into history.

On that latter list was The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a former mining town where visitors can explore a handful of abandoned buildings, mining machinery, and antiques.

Jerome, Arizona's charming downtown drew me in, but The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town, a site with abandoned buildings, antiques, and automobiles, was what enticed me to stay.

The ghost town is dotted with old buildings. Some are original to the site, while others came from nearby towns.

It's only a 5-minute drive from downtown Jerome, but the abandoned mining town is technically located in the town of Haynes, Arizona.

I knew I was getting close to the ghost town when I spotted dozens of old abandoned vehicles.

After driving up the dirt road, I arrived at the site's entrance and paid $12 for my ticket.

I was handed a brochure with the town's history and map. A few paragraphs on Gold King Mine's past wasn't enough, so I tracked down Jay Harshman, the self-proclaimed "main guy."

Harshman told me he grew up in the region. After a stint in the corporate world, he returned to central Arizona and has worked at the ghost town for the past two years.

Harshman is a jack of all trades. He tinkers with old machinery, takes care of the property's farm animals, cuts wood, restores old buildings, and shares the town's history with anyone willing to listen.

"There's a lot that we do every day, and every day is not the same," he told me. "That's why I fell in love with it."

Harshman said the old mining town of Haynes was active between 1890 and 1938. While gold, silver, iron, and platinum could be found in the mines, its main commodity was copper.

Haynes was small, Harshman said. The average population was 300, with a height of 504 residents. On the other hand, Jerome had an average population of 2,000 and reached 15,000 people during the same period.

As we walked through the ghost town, Harshman said the area where we stood wasn't where people lived. It was where the mining happened.

Above us, on the side of the mountain, was where 305 structures and the town of Haynes formerly stood.

Today, The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town are filled with structures, old vehicles, machinery, and antiques, but Harshman said not all of it was original to Haynes.

A mine's elevator shaft and headframe were part of the original town, he said.

A nearby boarding house was also an original Haynes building, as are the assay office and jail bars that can be spotted in the ghost town.

These structures, and so many more, exist at the site today thanks to a man named Don Robertson, Harshman said.

Robertson grew up in Iowa and came out to the West in the 1960s. According to Harshman, he fell in love with Wild West culture and started collecting things.

When Robertson had gathered too much, Harshman said he searched for a place to store his collection.

That's when he found The Gold King Mine.

Robertson came to Haynes in 1978 and made a 100-year leasing deal with the two corporations that continue to own the land today.

Robertson brought his belongings and, in 1982, opened it up to visitors.

"His whole purpose of revitalizing this town was to show people what kind of things people were working with and living with back in the day," Harshman said.

Beyond an automobile collection and antiques, Robertson also preserved historical buildings from nearby towns.

The outhouse, for example, came from Wickenburg, Arizona.

Visitors can step inside a schoolhouse moved from Perkinsville, Arizona, which is filled with its original desks.

In another area of the ghost town is a dentist's office. Harshman said it was where Jerome's first dentists, Joseph and Raymond Pecharich, worked. Inside, the chair, equipment, and paperwork are all part of the original building.

Elsewhere, a service station was relocated from Cottonwood, Arizona, once known as Clemenceau.

And there is a shoe repair store from Wickenburg, Arizona.

Today, Harshman is continuing Robertson's mission by helping restore Ma's Kitchen, which was named by Robertson. Its original frame and floors were once part of a communal kitchen for miners in Haynes.

Harshman took me inside, where I spotted an old pie safe, a vintage telephone, and a decades-old jar of vaporizing ointment.

As we continued to explore the property, I spotted more old automobiles and interesting antiques.

I walked by farm ducks, said hello to friendly goats named Bonnie and Clyde, and overheard visitors amazed by the items in each building.

"A lot of people are cooped up in apartments or cities, especially people our age, and don't know what half this stuff does or that everything here was used for purpose," Harshman said. "Nothing is a prop."

I agreed. Walking through The Gold King Mine and Ghost Town felt like stepping back in time — an experience I don't often encounter in my normal city life.

• Nancy Strong, 89, from Dallas, has visited no fewer than 92 countries worldwide.
• She's been a travel agent for 50 years and says experiencing other cultures enriches your soul.
• This month, Strong — who turns 90 in August — will fly to London for the 35th time in her life.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nancy Strong. It has been edited for length and clarity.

When I did the math with my granddaughter, Jennifer, I was amazed to learn I'd visited 92 countries.

I've been to five continents and scores of capital cities. On June 15, I'm flying to London from my home in Dallas for the 35th time.

I've stayed in luxury hotels and camped in the boonies

My life has been a global adventure with too many memories to count. I've taken a donkey through the ancient ruins of Petra in Jordan, walked along The Great Wall of China, and ventured into the deepest jungles of Vietnam.

I've stayed in the best hotels and camped in the most basic settings. I've flown in economy, first class, and everything in between and met people living in remote villages in the Far East, even European palaces.

My first visit abroad was to Canada with my parents at 11. The next was to accompany my financier husband on a business trip to Paris in 1966 at the age of 32.

But I only caught the travel bug after working for a travel agency in Dallas in the fall of 1974. I hand-delivered airline tickets to corporate offices for $2 an hour. But, after five months, I struck out on my own after my three male bosses said I had to make their coffee.

My travels mix business with pleasure

My agency — which is still going after nearly 50 years — catered to top business executives such as bankers and lawyers. I booked first-class tickets and five-star hotels. I didn't want to recommend anywhere I hadn't stayed myself. I'd get to know the general managers who went the extra mile for my guests.

The stamps on my passport took up all the pages. Over the years, I went to countries as large as Australia and as small as Lithuania. I sailed on the Great Barrier Reef, toured the Taj Mahal in India, and visited the Berlin Wall.

One of my favorite continents is Africa. Once, on a safari in Kenya, we got a flat tire. But, lo and behold, a lion was feeding her cubs right next to the vehicle. The driver got out, and a man with a rifle stood sentry to protect us all. I never in my life saw anybody change a flat tire so fast.

I wish more people had the opportunity to travel

Many moments have taken my breath away. I've watched wildebeests migrate and monks pray in front of Buddha. I danced the tango in Argentina and drank wine in Tuscany.

Travel has taught me so much. It's opened my mind and rounded my character. I visited churches, synagogues, and temples. I saw people from different cultures and religions happily going about their lives. There would be world peace if everyone was able to travel and see how alike we are.

I'm 90 in August. My husband, Asa — to whom I've been married for 70 years — is 94. I don't want to leave him for too long, but it's not slowing me down. In May, I went to Paris to see Taylor Swift with some family and friends. Jennifer and I are hoping to catch another of her concerts when we're in London this month.

I've always joked that I've been everywhere but Antarctica. But I've just been invited on a cruise to see the penguins. I don't enjoy cold weather. But I never say never.

Do you have an interesting story about travel that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.

• Phil Coley moved from the UK to France with his wife after renovating a $29 four-bedroom house.
• Their children were born in France in 2021 and 2023.
• Coley, 55, shared his impressions of the country. He told Business Insider there are few negatives.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Phil Coley. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My wife, Kristi, and I were inspired to move to France after watching a documentary about British people who'd relocated there.

At the time, we rented a two-bedroom home in a sought-after area with high real estate prices. We realized we couldn't afford the type of place we wanted because it would have cost around $260K.

So, in 2017, we bought a four-bedroom fixer-upper in the north-west of France for $29K. Kristi, 38, lived in a tent during the start of the renovations, and I visited every two months to help. I fully transferred in 2020.

We're in a rural location close to Limoges, which has an airport. It's served by a low-cost airline, and, depending on the time of year, we can fly back to the UK for just $29 round trip.

Our family — we have two kids, Alicia, 3, and 18-month-old Haydn — is very happy. Meanwhile, the price of our property — now that it's renovated — has increased to between $215K and $260K. But, finances aside, we can't imagine going back to the UK.

Here are three pros and just one con about ex-pat life in France.

The French are friendly — but you need to make an effort with their language

It's important to try at least to speak some French, even if you get it wrong. In my experience, French people appreciate visitors and ex-pats who try to communicate and respect the culture.

Some ex-pats do themselves no favors by thinking, "Everyone speaks English, so why bother?"

It can be hard to understand colloquialisms and the local patois. But, if we trip up, it usually ends with a laugh.

Family comes first

The French don't live to work. They believe spending as much time as possible with family is essential.

In August, everything pretty much shuts down. Workplaces close — apart from essential services — and people go on vacation en masse.

It's usually four weeks of lovely weather, and the campgrounds, hotels, and B&Bs are often full. One of the most popular types of vacation is touring around in an RV. Practically every town and village has a motorhome stopover spot.

You stay there for free. The idea is that people will buy something from the local stores, and it will generate business.

Kids start school at 3

The education system in France is superior. There are public schools for 3-year-olds, who must be potty trained at that age. The authorities believe adamantly in early education.

Alicia goes to school between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. No academics, and formal classes don't start until the children are 7.

It's well-known that the French love their cuisine. Alicia is served a healthy, four-course lunch at school. It's far more convenient for parents, and she loves it.

There's a lot of bureaucracy

The French like everyone to have a job. It's one of the reasons that a large proportion of the population works in the public sector.

The downside is that you will never deal with one person. They'll say they must pass things on to a colleague, then another colleague, and so on.

Filling out paperwork for a driver's license or passport is laborious and involves a lot of red tape.

Personally, I've also found that some people dislike online forms and email for official applications. Sometimes, they prefer handwritten or typed paperwork you must print out before sending it.

You can wait months for an answer but keep being fobbed off. Eventually, they will say they've lost the forms. And you have to start all over again.

Do you have an interesting story about living away from your native country that you'd like to share with Business Insider? Please send details to jridley@businessinsider.com.

• Automakers and their suppliers have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in EVs.
• Demand for EVs has slowed over the past year while consumer interest in hybrids has soared.
• Kia says hybrids are an opportunity to get hesitant EV buyers into electrification. 

In recent years, global automakers and their suppliers have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in developing new electric vehicles and the infrastructure to build and support them.

However, even as the automotive industry marches toward the inevitable point of full electrification, demand for EVs has slowed over the past year while interest in hybrids has soared.

Hybrids, with their excellent efficiency and lower cost, offer consumers a range-anxiety-free alternative to help bridge the gap between internal combustion and EVs, Steve Kosowski, the manager for Long Range Planning and Strategy at Kia Motors America, told Business Insider in a recent interview.

While EV sales fell in the first quarter of 2024 by more than 15% compared to the previous three months — their first drop since 2020 — hybrid sales are booming.

Traditional hybrids, with lower price points and limited all-electric range, saw a 45.7% sales uptick from January to March, while plug-ins, which are pricier but can go upwards of 60 miles on batteries, grew a whopping 69.7%, according to figures from PWC.

As a result, some automakers have postponed their plans to abandon internal combustion engines completely.

This development would seemingly threaten Kia, which has launched about half a dozen new BEVs in recent years, including the stylish EV3 SUV this May.

But Kia sees hybrids as an opportunity to get potential BEV buyers in the door.

"If you look at resistance in the market to buying an EV, number one is price and then it's range and (charging) infrastructure, " Kosowski said. "But if you look at hybrids and PHEVs, the resistance because of price is much much lower."

"The last time I looked, transaction prices for EVs and plug-in hybrids were in the same area, which signals to me that consumers want to electrify and are willing to pay for it," he added."

With range anxiety a non-issue, hybrids, especially those of the plug-in variety, allow people who are hesitant to fully electrify a way to ease into it.

Hybrids accounted for about 8.4% of the total market during the first quarter of 2024.

But if you look at the largest and arguably most important segment these days, compact SUVs, hybrids account for nearly one-fifth of sales, Kosowski said.

This places added importance on the need to have hybrid options available for sale.

Fortunately for Kia, the company hedged its strategy and has no fewer than half a dozen hybrids and PHEVs currently on sale in the US, including the Niro Hybrid and Sportage PHEV compact SUVs.

"As an automaker, you take a step back from this, and you go, it makes so much more sense to proliferate hybrids within your lineup," he said.

For Kia, building hybrids instead of EVs affects its bottom line beyond the revenue it generates. EVs cost substantially more to build than ICE and hybrid vehicles.

According to Kosowski, who has spent the past two decades with Kia, the material cost of a typical ICE car is half of the sticker price. The cost of materials to build an EV is 50% more than that.

"This is the 800-pound gorilla in the room for the industry," he added. "The thing about EVs is their material cost is so high that the margin for everybody gets squeezed until it becomes negative."

The popularity is a surprising turn of events from hybrids. Until recentlythey were maligned by consumers for being substantially more expensive and complex than a fully ICE vehicle and by environmentalists for not being as eco-friendly as a full BEV.

However, hybrids' day in the sun is likely to be temporary due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations.

"EV sales can only go up. These cars are coming because every automaker has to sell in order to meet zero-emissions vehicle production (ZEV) regulations, and greenhouse has rules," Kosowski said.

• Apple might've been late to the AI arms race, but its new offering stands out by prioritizing privacy.
• On Monday, the company revealed the data it uses to train Apple Intelligence.
• Privacy is hot topic and a big concern in AI, and Apple is addressing it head on.

There's no need to panic — Apple says it definitely didn't train its artificial intelligence on your data.

Privacy is a massive concern when it comes to AI, but Apple stayed true to its brand by prioritizing customer protection.

Alongside its introduction of Apple Intelligence, the tech giant announced that the system would operate using Private Cloud Compute — an infrastructure designed for handling AI requests privately.

During the Worldwide Developer Conference keynote, Apple showed off impressive AI announcements like custom emojis called "Genmojis," a more helpful Siri, and a partnership with OpenAI.

While the ChatGPT maker uses the data from users' interactions with its services to train its models, Apple said that's not the case for iPhone owners. And while ChatGPT is coming to Apple products by way of a new-and-improved Siri, users have the option to opt out of using the tool from OpenAI.

"We do not use our users' private personal data or user interactions when training our foundation models," an Apple research note published Monday read.

Instead, it said its models are trained on licensed data and publicly available data collected by its web crawler called Applebot. It's up to web publishers to opt out of this if they don't want information on their site used for Apple Intelligence.

Still, the company said that it applies "filters to remove personally identifiable information like social security and credit card numbers that are publicly available," profanity, and other "low-quality content" from the data it uses for training.

Companies have found themselves in hot water over AI privacy concerns in the past. Zoom users threatened to ditch the video conference company in 2023 after taking a closer look at its terms and conditions. Part of the agreement said that users would consent to Zoom using their data for AI training.

In response to the backlash, the company added a line to its terms of service clarifying that users could choose not to have their data used for such purposes.

Apple is setting a new standard in the field.

"Apple has taken great pains to separate itself from the rest of the tech pack by its passionate advocacy of privacy," Dipanjan Chatterjee, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, said.

• The creator economy is catching notable VCs' attention — and their wallets.
• Creator-focused startups are raising millions of dollars.
• Here are the pitch decks that 34 startups used in Series A, seed, and pre-seed rounds.

The creator economy has bred a new generation of startups — from influencer-marketing companies to new social-media experiences.

These startups have captured the attention and wallets of influential venture capitalists and angel investors over the last several years, giving rise to several unicorn valuations in the space, such as the link-in-bio service Linktree (valued at $1.3 billion in 2022) and the affiliate-marketing platform LTK (valued at $2 billion in late 2021).

Check out 14 VCs who are investing in innovative startups focused on the creator economy and influencers

Even as the economy has weathered changing tides and investments have cooled across industries, some startups in this sector are still raising money.

Several startups announced seven-figure seed rounds in 2023, including the Web3-inspired social network Seam Social's $2.5 million round in December. Last year also saw several later-stage funding rounds, such as one from Whop, an e-commerce marketplace for digital goods, which announced its $17 million Series A in July. Karat, a financial startup for creators, raised a $70 million Series B in June — though it proves that a big VC round doesn't ensure stability, as the company later conducted layoffs in October.

Here are 16 creator-economy startups that raised the most money in 2023.

So, how do creator-economy startups land those investments? Often, it starts with a pitch deck. 

Lumanu, a creator-focused financial startup, uses a simple pitch deck that's more of a "conversation guider," its cofounder and CEO, Tony Tran, told BI.

"My pitch is always why, what, how, and why now?" Tran said. (Read the full pitch deck here.)

Skye, a career-coaching startup, had different pitch decks depending on the type of investor or fund they pitched to.

"I had two different versions, depending on the fund," Jessica Wolf, Skye's CEO and one of its cofounders, said. "If I knew a fund was more into pre-seed, all about the founder, I had one deck. But if I knew that they were a numbers person, I would use another one."

Every startup has a different approach.

Some, such as Throne, even ditch the pitch deck altogether and opt for an email or Notion document.

Read the email template creator-economy startup Throne used to secure its seed investment.

BI talked with founders who've pitched their startups to investors about their process. They broke down the pitch decks they used to secure millions of dollars in funding.

Read the pitch decks that helped 34 creator-focused startups fundraise millions of dollars:

Note: Pitch decks are sorted by investment stage and size of round.

Series A

• Restream, a livestreaming alternative to platforms like the Amazon-owned Twitch: $50 million Series A (14 pages)
• ShopMy, an affiliate platform that lets creators earn commissions through shoppable landing pages: $26.5 million Series A (23 pages)
• Pearpop, a creator-marketing platform: $18 million Series A (18 pages)
• Spoon Radio, a social-audio startup: $17 million Series A (15 pages)
• Kyra, a content studio, talent-management firm, and influencer-marketing platform: $15 million Series A (20 pages)
• Allstar, a startup helping gamers become social-media creators: $12 million Series A (6 pages)
• Lumanu, a business-solutions platform for creators: $12 million Series A (8 pages)
• Hype, a platform for link-in-bio and other creator-monetization tools: $10 million Series A (13 pages)
• Catch+Release, a startup that helps creators and everyday social-media users license their content to brands: $8.8 million Series A (12 pages)
• Slip.stream, a music startup focused on gamers: $7.5 million Series A (13 pages)
• Brag House, an esports startup: $5 million Series A (24 pages)

Seed

• Scenario, a generative-AI startup to create gaming art and assets: $6 million seed (8 pages)
• Authoritive, an online course-development startup: $5 million seed (11 pages)
• Dharma, a travel startup for creators and brands: $4.7 million pre-Series A (17 pages)
• Glystn, an AI-powered community-management platform: $4 million seed (15 pages)
• Anima, an augmented-reality startup: $3 million (15 pages)
• Grandstand, a sports startup working with athlete creators: $2.75 million
• Seam Social, a new Web3 social-media platform: $2.5 million (10 pages)
• Spark, a digital-art platform from the YouTuber Moriah Elizabeth: $2.5 million seed (9 pages)
• Insense, a startup helping e-commerce brands get low-cost ads: $2.5 million pre-Series A (9 pages)
• Supercast, a podcast subscriptions startup: $2 million seed (20 pages)
• Chartmetric, a music-data and -measurement company: $2 million seed (46 pages)
• Ultimate Playlist, a music-marketing startup: $2 million round (9 pages)
• Magroove, a music-distribution and -discovery platform: $1.6 million seed (21 pages)
• Stagetime, a professional-networking startup for performing artists: $1.5 million seed (13 pages)
• Jubilee Media, a content studio looking to expand beyond YouTube and TikTok: $1.1 million seed-plus (12 pages)

Pre-Seed

• Storiaverse, a startup for animators and writers: $2.5 million pre-seed (16 pages)
• July, a "talent manager in your pocket" for creators: $2.3 million pre-seed (9 pages)
• Squads, a startup that helps creators mint and sell crypto coins: $1.8 million pre-seed (12 pages)
• Skye, a career-coaching platform: $1.6 million pre-seed (33 pages)
• Punchup Live, a comedy platform: $1 million pre-seed (19 pages)
• Spore, a content and community-building startup: $1 million pre-seed (17 pages)
• Hashtag Pay Me, a startup that helps creators price brand deals: $200,000 pre-seed (9 pages)
• Our Future, a short-form video-news brand that targets Gen Z: acquired (15 pages)

• My family reviewed and ranked 14 prepared Kirkland Signature meals from Costco.
• Surprisingly, we weren't huge fans of the super-loaded chicken pot pie because it was too rich.
• The comforting and flavorful meatloaf and mashed Yukon potatoes with glaze came out on top.

As a busy dad, finding the time to prepare, cook, and clean up dinner can be challenging. So when I saw how many prepared Kirkland Signature meals were available at Costco on my most recent trip, I figured it might be time to see how good they actually are.

My family ate and ranked 14 Kirkland Signature meals to see which was the tastiest and easiest to prepare.

Here's how they stacked up, from our least favorite to our top pick. 

The Kirkland Signature mac and cheese looked promising.

I figured the macaroni and cheese would be the safest bet of the meals I took home, and nothing about how it looked changed my mind.

It was bright yellow and seemed amply portioned. My kids usually love mac and cheese.

The prep was straightforward, as I covered the tray in foil and threw it in the oven for 45 minutes.

However, the mac and cheese disappointed us all.

In my opinion, the mac and cheese was way too rich. There was a lot of cheese and a lot of sauce, and it was unpleasantly gooey and thick.

I ate a few bites before the grease started working on my stomach. Even my kids turned it away, deeming it "too cheesy."

It was the only Kirkland Signature meal we didn't eat to completion, and the sauce was so thick that I practically had to chisel out the refrigerated leftovers to recycle the tray. 

We figured we'd enjoy the shepherd's pie.

The shepherd's pie was filled with meat and vegetables and topped with mashed potatoes. My family already loves pie, so the novelty of mashed potatoes and pastry immediately appealed to my kids.

I removed the pie from its plastic container, placed it onto a baking sheet, and put it in the oven for about 45 minutes until golden. Individual pieces of pie fell apart as I served them, which wasn't surprising.

We weren't fans of the shepherd's pie.

I thought the mashed potatoes were mealy and dry, the vegetables were mushy, and the filling was overseasoned and too sweet.

The filling was stew-like, but the ground beef was dry and crumbly. I thought I noticed pieces of steak, but these were just hunks of ground beef resembling burger meat.

Overall, my family wasn't a fan of the meal.

The Kirkland Signature Southwest wrap with rotisserie chicken seemed like a good on-the-go option.

The Kirkland Signature Southwest wraps were the only meal that required no prep whatsoever, making it a good option for on-the-go eating.

They came with a pinkish chipotle sauce. When I unwrapped a wrap to put the sauce inside, I saw that the employee who made the meal sealed the wrap with a tangy, creamy spread.

The Southwest wraps were moist and flavorful.

I thought the wraps were good because they tasted fresh, and the spread that glued them together helped prevent dryness.

There was ample chicken, and the seasoned mix of corn and beans reminded me of a burrito from Chipotle. The pinkish chipotle sauce tasted like a Buffalo sauce to me, but that's not something I'd ever complain about.

Each wrap made for a viable lunch, and at less than $4 each, they're way less expensive than takeout. I could imagine buying them again when I need a lunch that saves time and money.

The chicken pot pie was huge.

At nearly 6 pounds, I thought the Kirkland Signature chicken pot pie was huge and surprisingly heavy.

Some of the latticework on top of the pie broke in transit, but it was only cosmetic damage.

The instructions called for at least an hour of baking time, which I thought sort of defeated the purpose of making it as a quick weeknight meal.

Nevertheless, I baked the pie until it was golden brown, which took about an hour and 10 minutes.

The chicken pot pie felt a little too heavy after a few bites.

The first bite of the pie was great.

The pie crust was sweet, flaky, and crisp, the hunks of rotisserie chicken were huge, and the pea-heavy cream and vegetables were rich and salty without being mushy or overcooked, as they sometimes are in pot pie.

But in subsequent bites, the initial richness became a goopy sort of heaviness that didn't sit well, and the whole pot pie started to taste a little too salty.

At the very least, the crust was good enough to make me want to try one of Costco's dessert pies.

The Kirkland Signature beef bulgogi Korean BBQ seemed like a meal my kids would enjoy.

The Kirkland Signature beef bulgogi Korean BBQ is one of the more bare-bones options among the meal selections at my local Costco. The container had a large portion of thinly sliced raw beef and white onions drenched in brown bulgogi sauce.

My kids don't have much experience with Korean-inspired food, but I thought the meal would appeal to them because it's sweet, tender, and gooey.

The meal was too sweet, and the beef fell apart while cooking.

I figured I'd cook the meal in a skillet over medium-high heat until the beef was browned. However, I quickly realized it was difficult to tell when the beef was cooked through because all sides of the meat were covered in a dark-brown sauce.

I went by instinct, stirring frequently to make sure it cooked evenly. Some slices fell apart due to the constant stirring, but the dish seemed fully cooked after five minutes.

Unfortunately, the small pieces of meat made the bulgogi look more like a stew, and its appearance alone turned off my kids.

We thought the meal was tasty but too sweet, as the sauce's flavor overwhelmed the beef. I'd prefer this dish if the beef came in thicker pieces that I could remove from the sauce before cooking.

I was impressed with the portion size of the Kirkland Signature meatballs with rigatoni.

This meal, which included rigatoni and six enormous meatballs, cost $20 and was enough to feed my entire family twice.

Unfortunately, we thought the meatballs and rigatoni were underwhelming.

The meatballs were a little spongy in texture, and something about how the ground-beef-and-pork mixture was seasoned tasted more like sausage than I expected (though that's hardly a bad thing).

The rigatoni held up surprisingly well after 50 minutes in the oven — not quite al dente but not at all mushy. However, the sauce was a bit too sweet and seasoned for me.

My kids liked the pasta but not the meatballs. I also thought the shredded cheese on top seemed like an afterthought, and I could've gone for more.

The Kirkland Signature udon-noodle salad with dressing and peanuts came together easily.

The Kirkland Signature udon-noodle salad was extremely easy to assemble — it already came with a shredded-vegetable slaw, peanuts, lime wedges, and a miso sauce.

I tossed all the ingredients into a bowl and served the finished salad alongside some chicken wings. 

The salad was fine, but I probably wouldn't buy it again.

The dressing was sweet and tangy with a strong miso flavor, but I thought the udon noodles were a bit mushy. I also wished the vegetable mix of shredded bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots was crisper to balance out the noodles' softness.

Overall, the salad wasn't too heavy or saucy, so it would likely be a nice, no-cook option for a quick meal or picnic.

The Kirkland Signature chicken quesadillas looked pretty large.

The Kirkland Signature quesadillas came with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

The instructions on the packaging called for heating them up in a frying pan with some oil, so my first batch got a chimichanga-esque crunchiness I don't always expect from quesadillas.

I thought it was a big portion, as there were eight wedges, and two of them felt like more than enough for an adult-sized meal.

The chicken quesadillas were quite satisfying.

It was sort of the perfect meal to suit my family's quesadilla needs.

The chicken was seasoned but not spicy, and there was tons of cheese without being too greasy.

The salsa, a sweet, fresh, restaurant-style dip with jalapeño, was the surprise star for me. The Kirkland Signature quesadillas were my wife's favorite of all the meals. 

The yakisoba stir fry with seasoned chicken was actually packed with veggies.

The Kirkland Signature yakisoba stir fry was a fun and easy-to-prepare dinner.

I heated the meal in a Dutch oven because I didn't have a wok or a large enough frying pan. Per the instructions, I heated up oil and first added the vegetables, then chicken, then noodles, and then sauce.

It was ready in less than 10 minutes. And because there were plenty of vegetables, including broccoli, carrots, onions, peppers, and snow peas, I didn't have to prep a side or a salad.

The yakisoba stir fry with chicken was really tasty.

We thought the yakisoba noodles were warm, comforting, and satisfying, with tender hunks of chicken and some nice texture from the fresh vegetables.

It was a bit sweeter than I usually like, but a hit of hot sauce helped balance out the sweetness.

If I bought this again (and I would buy this again) I'd use only one container of sauce. My kids liked the noodles, and we finished most of the portion in a single sitting.

My kids were excited about the ravioli lasagna with beef and pork Bolognese sauce.

I figured — correctly — that something called ravioli lasagna would appeal to my kids, who love a novelty.

The ravioli were stacked in twos and topped with a meaty Bolognese sauce and mozzarella. It was easy to prepare, as all I needed to do was cover it with foil and bake it for an hour.

At the end of the hour, I deviated from the instructions and gave it five more minutes uncovered in the oven to get the cheese nice and bubbly on top.

The ravioli lasagna was a pretty tasty, easy pasta dish.

The lasagna was good. The Bolognese sauce was hearty and sweet and my kids appreciated that the ravioli were glued together with melted mozzarella.

It was about a dinner and a half's worth of food for my family, though it felt like a smaller portion than a traditional lasagna made in an equivalent pan size.

The Kirkland Signature gyros came with a lot of ingredients, which impressed me.

This dish came with many components, which made me appreciate Costco's attention to detail and how much goes into prepping a gyro.

Only the gyro meat and the pitas needed to be heated, but the meal also came with a cucumber and tomato salad, red onions, feta cheese, and tzatziki.

Unfortunately, I needed to find my own hot sauce.

The finished gyros were delicious.

I thought the gyros were delicious. If there was a weak link in the sandwich, it was probably the gyro meat itself, which was a little heavy on the onion powder and heated up to a scrapple-like consistency.

That being said, the assertive seasoning on the meat was mellowed by the sweetness and crunch of the veggies and the tangy creaminess of the tzatziki and feta.

It wasn't better than a gyro I might get from a street cart, but the price was right, and there's no street cart inside my apartment.

I thought the container of Kirkland Signature chicken Alfredo was surprisingly heavy.

My first impression of the chicken Alfredo was that it was heavy. The label said it was a little over 4 pounds, and though it might not sound like much, it was a lot of food for my family.

There was an impressive amount of chicken but I expected a higher ratio of noodle-to-meat. Like the macaroni and cheese, the whole tray was covered with foil and baked in the oven.

The chicken Alfredo wasn't too overwhelming or rich.

The chicken Alfredo was better than I expected.

Alfredo sauce is often a bit too indulgent for my tastes, but I thought Kirkland Signature's version of the creamy, cheesy sauce wasn't overwhelmingly heavy. The chicken was also moist and flavorful.

My kids liked it even though they normally prefer their chicken and their pasta separated. Alongside some steamed broccoli, the chicken Alfredo stretched to two full meals for my family with little effort on my part. 

The Kirkland Signature chicken street tacos came in a hard-to-carry package.

For whatever reason, the chicken street tacos came in a longer container than the other meals.

I thought it was vaguely festive but difficult to fit into a shopping bag or a refrigerator. Like the gyros, the street tacos came as a kit.

I heated the chicken and tortillas and topped them with cheese, shredded veggies, salsa, cilantro-lime crema, and a squeeze of fresh lime.

The chicken street tacos were one of our favorite meals.

The chicken street tacos were excellent. The chicken was smoky with a chipotle flavor but not too spicy for my kids, the veggies were fresh and crunchy, and the sauces were tasty. I think the salsa was the same kind that came with the quesadillas.

If I were at a restaurant and got these tacos, I'd be more than satisfied with my purchase. 

I was skeptical of the meatloaf with mashed Yukon potatoes and glaze.

I'm normally not a big fan of meatloaf, and my kids' exposure to it has been limited. It's often grayish and covered in a dark red goo that looks like ketchup.

I'm also not much of a mashed potato guy and, in my experience, they never keep well.

By the time I put the Kirkland Signature meatloaf and mashed potatoes in the oven, they had been sitting in my fridge for a few days so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I didn't expect it, but the meatloaf was our winner.

Like almost every one of these meals, the meatloaf and mashed Yukon potatoes were surprisingly good.

It was heavy (but of course, most meatloaf is), and I don't think I'd usually choose it over tacos. But my family ate the meatloaf on an unseasonably cold day when I was hungry, and the sweet, juicy, and beefy dinner hit the spot.

My son, who's normally hesitant about unfamiliar foods, took to it like he was a paid spokesperson. "I'm very happy with this," he said.

I thought the mashed potatoes were just a touch mealy, but overall, they weren't bad.

Overall, the Kirkland Signature meals surprised us.

I normally cook for my family and, for whatever reason, prepared meals like those from Kirkland Signature have never been part of our dinner rotation.

But aside from the mac and cheese and rigatoni with meatballs, every one of the meals we tried was better than I expected it to be, and my kids enjoyed them more than I would've guessed.

Now, I'll likely regularly buy some of the Kirkland Signature meals when I don't have much time for meal prep.

This story was originally published on October 27, 2023, and most recently updated on June 11, 2024.

• My ex-husband and I had been together for 27 years when we decided to divorce.
• We remain close, and some people understand our friendly split — but others don't.
• Just because we remain close friends in our divorce doesn't mean we should have stayed married.

The saying is ubiquitous on wedding invitations, picture frames, and heart-shaped lockets: "Today, I marry my best friend." And I did marry mine, a wonderful man who became a close friend before anything else.

Back then, I believed that best friends made the most compatible partners, and maybe that's true for some couples. But ultimately, I also chose to end my marriage because ultimately, that just wasn't enough for me.

Our marriage was rooted in friendship — and that's still solid today

Five years ago, after 27 years together and almost 20 years of marriage, I told my husband I wanted a divorce. We rarely argued, and we always enjoyed each other's company. But as the years stretched on and we raised our two kids, it became increasingly clear to me that our marriage weighed too heavily on friendship and not enough on other kinds of connection.

I was no longer the same person I had been when we met when I was 18. I couldn't see myself coasting along and settling for the rest of our lives. I wanted to release us both back into the wild for the chance to find something more. That may sound selfish to some, but my intention was absolutely the opposite.

We went through the divorce process during the early days of the pandemic, and we were locked down together — luckily, we did get along so well. Five years later, we remain dedicated co-parents and great friends. He's been part of my life for three decades, and I couldn't imagine cutting him out of it because our marriage ended. I give him cooking tips, and he helps me repair things. We send each other funny memes and attend our son's sporting events together, and we even stay for dinner at each other's places sometimes during our weekly drop-offs with our kids, aged 20 and 17.

If you met us, you probably wouldn't even guess we were divorced. It's so ironic that the very factor for me wanting to end our marriage is the glue that holds our current relationship together. But as normal as it seems to us, some people just can't grasp the concept of a friendly divorce.

Amicably divorced spouses are more common than you think

These days, situations like ours are way more the norm than they used to be. I know a divorced couple who are not only best friends, but who plan on living in the same house until their kids graduate from college. During a recent girls' trip, my best friend's friendly ex-husband texted her a picture of his new baby.

Arrangements like these prove that divorce doesn't need to be vicious or ugly. Marriages end for all sorts of reasons. Some just have a limited shelf life; they serve their purpose until they no longer do. And yes, I know there are those who would argue that you need to press on and make it work, or live in limbo if you can't. But if you're certain it's not what you want, I don't think that scenario is healthy for you, your spouse, or your kids.

Soon after they heard about our split, my best friend from high school and her husband, who my ex and I have both known for more than three decades, told me they planned on remaining friends with both of us. I obviously supported that, and to this day, we all hang out around the holidays. Ditto for another close friend who I've known since birth, who hangs out with both my ex and me when she visits from Philly. After all, friends weren't part of the settlement. We didn't have to divvy them up like we did the furniture.

Some people are left scratching their heads at our relationship

But not everyone gets it. When I told others in my various circles about our split, I felt like I immediately needed to follow it with the disclaimer "…but we're still good friends" to stave off the quizzical stares and inevitable "I'm sorry"s. I told them there was no need to be sorry, that this was the outcome I wanted. It was almost as if it would have been easier if I'd come to them wringing my hands because we hadn't been getting along — people know how to sympathize with conflict.

Some didn't know what to say, so they stayed silent. Most of the members of an organization for which I've volunteered for more than 25 years never reached out after I sent a very personal email. Others seemed to be incredulous that ex-spouses could actually be this friendly with one another. Maybe they thought I was overselling cordiality, I don't know.

The unspoken question seemed to be, "If they're still that close, then why aren't they still married?" According to my therapist, some people can act a little standoffish toward their newly single friends because they're worried that divorce can "rub off" on them. If our marriage ended because of what it wasn't, yet we still have a close relationship, they might start to wonder if the same could happen to them.

Not surprisingly, the invites for couples' events quickly dried up. I get that, to some degree. If I put myself in their place, I probably would have felt some awkwardness, or maybe thought that I needed to "choose sides." But it doesn't have to be like that.

However, true friends understand our new reality

My ex and I have both found love again, and we're obviously supportive of our respective relationships. But that doesn't mean I view our marriage as a failure, just one that ran its course. We took a vow "to love and to cherish," and we still are, in a different way.

I run my life on the idea that "you only get one life, and it's short," which was the catalyst for my divorce. Despite everything, I still believe our marriage was meant to be, not just meant to be forever. The friends who get that, get it.

• I buy almost all my kids' clothing secondhand. 
• Buying and selling takes time and energy, but saving a significant amount of money is worth it.
• Here are my tips for having success on the kids' resale market.

Kids grow like weeds, and there's a short window of time for them to wear each clothing size.

I'm picky about what my girls wear, but I would not be able to afford the brands and styles that I wanted to dress them in if I bought their clothes brand new. I also don't feel great about buying brand-new when I know they'll wear each item for such a short amount of time.

Instead, I scour the internet and local consignment sales to find clothes secondhand and then resell them after they're done wearing them. It saves me money and is a more sustainable option as well.

Here are four tips for kids' consignment success.

I buy online and at consignment sales

Kidizen is the kids' equivalent of the popular consignment site Poshmark. I use it for buying as it's easy to filter by brand, size, and item quality, and shipping is fairly inexpensive.

There are also great local consignment sales where I live in Raleigh, North Carolina, many of which happen twice a year (in early fall and early spring). They're great for buying many items at once and for building out my kids' closet for the upcoming season. These sales are typically only a few days long, and on the last day, items are usually reduced even further for mega deals.

Chances are there are similar sales or consignment stores specifically for kids in your area. If you're not familiar with any, ask your local parenting group or do a quick Google search to find them.

Facebook is also a great place to buy kids' clothes. To make it easier to find what you want, look for specific Buy/Sell/Trade (BST) groups for brands you love, like the popular Mini Boden & Hanna Andersson BST group (which has over 60,000 members!). You can also search the Facebook Marketplace by category or brand.

Here's how I sell secondhand clothing to make the most money

As a seller, you'll make different profit margins based on where you sell your clothes.

Kidizen takes 12% (plus an additional flat $.50 fee) of each sale, so I typically start by listing things on Facebook Marketplace or specialty BST groups because there are no fees when you make a sale. You'll also have to ship your item if you use Kidizen, but you can choose whether you pay the shipping fee or pass the fee along to the buyer. If you're using Facebook, you have the option of local buyers only or whether you want to ship.

If an item isn't selling on Facebook after a couple of weeks, I'll list it on Kidizen to reach a wider audience. Then, my last resort is selling through the local seasonal consignment sales because they can take up to 50% of the profit for each sale. They're a great way to sell a lot of things quickly, though, so I'll take whatever hasn't sold through other methods to these and then donate whatever is leftover at the end of the sale.

Certain brands have a higher resale value

The kid resale market is similar to the adult resale market. Higher-end brands have a better chance at reselling, and you're going to get more of your purchase price back when you resell them. Keep this in mind when you're buying (new or secondhand), as the ability to resell effectively brings your purchase price down since you're making back some of what you spent.

Mass-market brands like Old Navy and Carters are tougher to resell, and you'll likely only be able to recoup a small percentage of what you originally paid. Higher-end brands like Hanna Andersson, Mini Boden, and The Beaufort Bonnet Company have high resale values and often pass through several rounds of ownership.

When I buy an item from one of these brands secondhand, I can usually resell it for 70-80% of what I paid. Knowing this, it makes more sense to pay a bit extra for the higher-end brands.

It takes work and patience to buy and sell secondhand kids' clothing

Buying and selling kids' clothes is a marathon, not a sprint. Over time, I've made and saved hundreds of dollars selling my girls' clothes. It feels good to contribute to the circular economy by giving gently used clothes a new life, but it does take a lot of work.

Creating a listing to sell an item takes work. You'll need to take multiple pictures and write a description, and you might need to list the item in multiple places to make a sale. Keeping yourself organized is also important. You need space in your house to keep mailers and packing supplies to ship things and space to store the clothes you want to sell.

If you aren't making many sales, you may need to reconsider what brands you're listing, how you're pricing, or the quality of your photos. Have patience, but know that your time also has a cost, and over time, if you aren't selling, it may not be worth it.

On the buying side, you may not find things you love every time you try to shop. There is no way to tell what inventory might be available in the size and condition that you are looking for. Browse Kidizen and your favorite BST Facebook groups for a few minutes whenever you have time. If you find something you love, act quickly, as once the item is gone, there is no backup.

Kids' clothing is expensive, and they don't wear anything for long. It takes time and effort, but buying secondhand and reselling is a way to drastically reduce your spending.