Next month, which is rapidly approaching, I am making a trip to Wisconsin to visit a friend.  As excited as I am, I am also thinking ahead on the financial effect it is going to have on our October budget.  At first, I thought I would fly up there, but I couldn’t find a non stop flight that wouldn’t take longer than driving, and I couldn’t find one cheaper either.  It looks like I will be driving.

I’m still searching air fares in the event something comes available.  I really wish I could get a plane ticket for a decent price, because it would be a whole lot shorter time wise to fly than it is to drive.  Driving won’t be as stressful on me as flying would.

I’ve thought about taking a bus or train up there, but there are no buses that go from here to there, and neither does the train.  Sometimes I wish we lived closer to a larger city!

I’m going to save money on a hotel room by staying with my friend.  We’ll cook in some meals but I’m sure that we’ll eat out as well, so I’m going to save money for that, as well as gas.  I also have to save some money to buy Mr. Money some cheese!  Last time I was up there I didn’t buy him any and I heard about it for a long time!

I’ve got some money set aside, and I’ll continue to do so up until I leave.  I’d like to go cash only because then I’ll have a visual on how much money I have left to spend.  I think it’s a good plan.

 How do you save money on vacations?

Posted under Budget, Gas

I have been wanting to make a new post for a few days now, but every time I come to update, I shy away.  The truth is I’ve been making quite a few money mistakes lately.  I’ve been spending too much and it is making me feel horrible!  Much of the spending was done while we were on vacation.  I told Mr. Money how bad I felt about it, and he told me “relax, we’re on vacation.  You can spend a little extra.”  Granted, it really wasn’t that much money, but it was more than I had planned on spending.  Here are a few surprises:

• $30 each way for luggage on the airline.  Horrible!
• $2 for a soda or water on U.S. Airways. Not nice!
• $260 to board our dogs (a necessity)
• Around $280 for spending on things while we were in Colorado.

There are some things I wish we had done differently.  I wish we had set aside money specifically for this trip.  I think we would have been better off had we used cash, or even bought a pre paid debit card.  Having our checking account accessible was a bad idea.  But, it’s all said and done, and I need to get over it and move on.

Here’s my next guilty admission: I want to spend more money!  I have been trying to “green” our house and life and all I want to do is go to Whole Foods and our local health food store and buy natural laundry detergent, shampoos, conditioners, and food! I also think that part of my problem is that when I am home alone, I get bored and want to go out shopping and spend money.  I think that I need something to do, or to spend money to satisfy myself.  I need to work on this.

Help me jump back on the frugal bandwagon!  What are some things you do when you feel like this?

Posted under Budget, Money Mistakes

For months we have been going back and forth between purchasing a Costco membership.  The frugal side of me didn’t want to spend $50 on something I wouldn’t physically see.  I felt like that was money I was throwing away or being frivolous with.  One of our family friends has a membership there and we had been going with her.  When she left the country for 6 weeks, we were running low on dog food and decided that with as much fresh veggies and fruit we eat that it would be worth it just for those three things to buy our own membership.

We did it Sunday night.  I’ve been two times since.  The first time Mr. Money and I went grocery shopping and the next I had to return peaches that someone (not me) didn’t check to make sure they weren’t moldy.  They were pretty gross.  I’ll have to say Costco was amazing about taking them back.

We bought a lot of fresh fruit, vegetables, and even some things we hadn’t planned on because they were a really good price.   One of my fears is that I’ll go over board with the membership and buy things just because they are a good price in bulk.  I tend to do that sometimes.  I think as long as I make a list before hand and go in prepared to buy just those items I’ll be fine.  If I don’t have that list, I think it will be a million times harder to stay on track.

All in all, I am really glad we bought a membership.  I think it will definitely pay for itself over a year.  The only thing I am worried about is that we should have bought a Sam’s Club membership over Costco, but then again, it is MUCH closer for me to go to Costco, and with gas going up again, I think we made the right decision.

Do you have a membership to a bulk wholesaler?  Do you think they are worth the money?

Posted under Budget, Food, Save Your Money