by Claire
A family member has a home in the Rocky Mountains. We were actually married in this mountain town. With our “glamour” travel all over the great State of Texas via Southwest Airlines…we were able to purchase 5 airline tickets (the 3 youngest kids are going with us) from SA to Denver via Rapid Rewards. I reserved the minivan rental 6 months ago (that is, by the way, the best frugal travel tip that I never read anything about…there’s no risk in reserving a rental car b/c you don’t give a credit card number and you don’t even have to remember to call and cancel. If you don’t show up to get the car…no harm, no foul). So I managed to reserve a minivan for $380 for 7 days…but wait…we have free days with National so that will be reduced by 4 days; worth so the final charge for the van will be closer to $160. I have managed to squirrel that away from my spending money and although I know many of you will say every cent should go to debt…I’m not willing to go to that extreme when it comes to family trips.
This house has been available to me for many years–we are blessed. The family member who shall remain anonymous believes in paying it forward and is extremely generous…and he might also see this as the least he can do since he lives out of state (not Colorado–this is where he plans on retiring) and isn’t able to help with our aging parents. LOL…that gives it away! My kids and I have been going there for years now (yes that also explains some of the debt b/c I didn’t worry much about those airline tickets not being free back then!) Steve and my stepson have been to the house as well. We have always cooked all of our meals–even before the strict budget–so I don’t anticipate too much difficulty in sticking to our food budget…even on real food. We have already had the discussion that there’s no need for any shopping (besides grocery) and are doing our homework on free events in the area. A National Park pass is $20 for 7 days and really…when you are from Texas where going outside is near impossible bc of the heat and the landscape isn’t much to look at when you do…just being in a National Park in Colorado presents plenty of things to do!
There will be no “pre-trip” shopping madness like in years past. We all have everything we need for this trip.
So we are taking this budget living, real food eating show on the road! We leave July 1 and return July 8. I plan on providing daily spending reports to all of you so you can rest assured we have not gone crazy. I am prepared for criticism for this decision but also know that we are serious about debt reduction and going on this trip is not going to change that. In fact, I see it as a challenge to keep up the good work in a different setting.
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
Claire,
My hat is off to you in your progress so far – way to go!
Sometimes in blogging, less is more. Enjoy the time with your family. Be there and be in the moment. Don’t feel the need to update us every day.
Hang in there and keep your eyes on the prize.
Blessings,
Steve
Thanks Steve! I think my goal of blogging each day is more about my need than anything else. It helps me tremendously to know that I have a group of people that I am accountable to about spending!
The trip sounds fabulous Claire! No flogging from me! Sometimes you have to reward yourself along the way and when you have young kids you still need to live your life. Have a great time:)
same here, sounds like you’ve really thought this one through, no criticizing from me. also that vacation sounds marvelous.
i really think you’re becoming more content with a more simple lifestyle and you’re seeing how rich of a life it can be.
i hope you’ll write a post sometime on the real food journey, i’m very curious about what you’ve been eating, if it’s changing your health, how the family is coping, and of course how it’s affecting the finances.
Adam–I had business in New Braunfels this morning so I took another “real food” meal to my parents! They were so excited. All I did was taken whole wheat pitas with just 6 ingredients (that is technically 1 ingredient over the 5 ingredient “rule” that Lisa @ 100 Days of Real Food suggests) but my parents aren’t on this crazy “diet” with me…so that’s okay. Then I bought a ton of organic veggies–only needed a small amount b/c it is just the 2 of them…add some organic cream cheese and I got my Dad some Boar’s Head ham and you would have thought I was Emeril! They were so excited! I spent $15 but it was so worth it b/c at their age having a meal made for them is like hitting the jackpot! And for that 15 bucks they have at least 2 more meals. Oh I forgot…fresh mozzarella medallions, tomato and basil with some balsamic vinegar (that I brought from home). I don’t get to NB often for work so this really was a special treat. The real food–more strict than what you see here–is still going strong. I keep saying I haven’t committed to the plan for life–too early for such proclamations–but I AM seeing major improvement in my energy level and sleep patterns. More on that via a post soon! Thanks for the comment.
There are always going to be folks who criticize. But as you point out in this post, you’ve made huge changes to your lifestyle. You’re going there on free airline tickets, you’re saving on a car rental, you’re passing on the pre-vacation shopping spree. All three of those are things that wouldn’t have even crossed your mind to do before this journey started. I say kudos to you for applying what you’ve learned so far to every aspect of your life.
It sounds like a lovely vacation – and that’s a GREAT rate for the rental car!! It sounds as though the only big expense is the airfare. Were you able to get a good deal on that as well?
One thing you might want to do is to notice what you’re able to do without when you’re on vacation. I think sometimes when you’re away from home and don’t have all your usual stuff around you can gain insight into what it is you really need, as opposed to stuff that’s just… stuff. This might help you pare down you expenses even more.
Of course, since it’s vacation, it’s ok to just relax and spend time with your family 🙂
Oops Jen–I talked about that in the post. Due to all of work travel Steve and I do…we were able to score FIVE free tickets with Southwest Airlines! The oldest son isn’t joining us (he’s 18…not interested). We also found some fun “camp out” games to play in the park! Fun!
Ah – I must have missed that. That’s great! I hope you all have a wonderful time 🙂
Trips over the 4th of July can be very frugal as many towns plan free or cheap celebrations for the national holiday. I suggest finding a list of fireworks shows for free evening entertainment every day. A blanket, some lawn chairs, a picnic…perfect.
Based on your numbers I would estimate a July budget increase of 300.00 for a seven day vacation for five. I’m also guessing past trips would set you back closer to 1700.00. And if you are so inclined the 300.00 can be recovered with reductions elsewhere in the monthly budget (but just try finding an additional 1400.00.) Very impressive.
To me, the key good money management is making a conscious decision to spend money- there is a big difference between careful planning of a vacation and an impulse stop for take out on the way home, even if the cost is much greater for the former.
My biggest concerns are with perceived spending without thinking, later leading to defensive justification. To me this vacation is the opposite of that- it is thoughtful and deliberate spending, where you’ve determined the the experience has a higher value than a 300.00 reduction in debt. Kudos, and hope you have a great time!
This is great stuff Cissy. Thanks for sharing! This really is a completely different way of thinking….or maybe it is just thinking! In past years, I didn’t even engage thinking!
Paying down debt doesn’t mean not living your life. As long as you’ve planned for it and can make the trip without going into debt, you’re perfectly fine. I hope you have a good time!
I agree with the other posters. You have planned this, you are doing this as efficiency as possible, it is deliberate spending and you and the family deserve it, especially if you stick to your plan to enjoy the simple joys. A national park pass sound like a great bargain.
Sounds like a big change from how you’ve paid for vacations in the past. Just make sure you stick to your plan while you’re on the trip and enjoy.
I think everyone needs a break now and then and you’ve certainly done your homework. That being said, there are two take aways: 1) A frugal lifestyle does not mean you pay debt and never do anything fun. Rather, it means you put things that are important to you in the budget. It’s going to be a long haul until you are out of debt so little things here and there to keep you on track are o.k., as long as they are planned out. 2) As you go through this journey, I think you’ll see that having a lot of debt takes away the freedom to live how you want to live. While yes, it’s very rewarding to live a much simpler life, the true cost of debt is that you can’t do what you want, when you want to do it, whether it’s a vacation, going to the grocery store, etc. Something to think about.
Be sure to enjoy your vacation. It sounds lovely. And no worries about daily posting on the spending…you’ve accounted for it so enjoy it:)
It sounds fun! Have a great time. I don’t think this is going to throw you off your game at all!
If you are away from your home for 7 days, is there a way to ‘recoup’ some of the costs that you would incur if you had stayed at home?
ie. electricity and other utility costs … everything turned off AND unplugged should save you something
ie. do you have newspaper delivery? where I’m from you can suspend delivery and get credited the amount …
I’m unsure of all your itemized monthly expenses but now that you’re tracking you may be able to do a quick review of the past few months to see if you can ‘save’ the cost of expenses that you would have incurred if staying at home.
ONE TIP: Plan your next week’s food purchases accordingly … you’d hate to buy food that spoils while you are away thereby wasting it.
When we calculate the cost of a vacation we always deduct the cost of the spending which won’t happen because we’re away.
$100/wk gas for DH’s truck
$30/wk bus tickets for DH
$45/wk gas for my car
$180/wk groceries
$250/wk summer camp not required for my 10yr old
TOTAL $605/wk not being spent because we went on holiday.
I’m currently making the final arrangments for our upcoming 2wk trip, and based on the above calculations, the first $1210 doesn’t really count as we’ll be saving that amount by not being home.
That’s a good point, JMK. I think in Claire’s case they’ll be able to save a bit on electricity since they can set their AC for a higher temp while gone.