by Hope
It’s official, school is over for the school year…well, at least for Princess. The twins are back up and running for the summer semester.
Princess ended her semester not only with a full load of high school classes completed, but also two college classes. And her lowest final grade…96! She took 150% of the credits of most high school students and aced them all!
But she did have some setbacks here at the end, not tied to her grades. And frankly we are both relieved that the stress and schedule of the school year is over. I am so glad that I decided we needed a Staycation to celebrate.
Here’s our plan…
- Booked a hotel with a pool using points for two nights.
- Went to the library and checked out a large stack of books (Princess and I both have a large stack.)
- Packed pjs and swimsuits.
- Packed some snacks and sandwich makings.
We are not going to the beach, but we have a beautiful pool!
And we are off. Leaving the twins home because they have work and school. Sea Cadet is dropping us off at the hotel and then picking us up in two days…
I am over the top excited about this down time, some quality reading time and some one on one quality time with my girl. She’s got some big decisions to make for next year, and while there is no rush at this point, I do want to be available to talk things over as she rolls them around in her head.
So I’m signing off work, my daily life and my hustle for a couple of days to recoup and spend some quality and free time with my girl. I’m sure I will return with a variety of new creative ideas for work and renewed energy to take on the slower summer schedule! How are you kicking your summer off?
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
Okay, listen. It’s great you want to treat your daughter but you just had to take money out of your car fund to pay for classes for your son and you’re still treading water on your credit card every month. How are you funding this? The last budget you posted had a weekly entertainment fund of $50….have you been saving that up?
I thought Hope said she used her credit card points to pay for the room. Got to wonder just how high is the balance though.
You are correct, she says it is points. I missed it! Thanks.
Points yes… but you can also turn those points into cash or use them to pay down the balance of your credit card. You have to use a card a LOT to earn these kind of points
Are they really going to eat just snacks and sandwiches for 2 days too? Food out would be another expense.
Yes, and it was great…we had a refrigerator in a our room and didn’t feel deprived at all.
I will admit, I did splurge on a $4 blueberry pineapple smoothie for breakfast one morning.
Way to go Princess! I know that 16 is a challenging age, and I’m so happy that you two are taking time to relax and recharge. I hope you enjoy the pool and your summer reading.
My children are little (3.5 and 6) and I will be planning out some “mom school” activities for the summer break, but for today I’m cleaning and doing yard work while the weather is nice in Phoenix.
Enjoy your time with your girl – she will be off and on her own before you know it. You aren’t spending any money on this time with her so just enjoy and forget about the world for awhile 🙂
That was exactly my thought. I keep thinking this is the last summer of her “childhood” with driving and working beginning next summer.
It’s bittersweet. So I’m glad we were able to do this, it was alot of fun!
Aren’t you going on vacation in July? I would save the points for a future trip to Texas but I guess that is too practical.
I don’t consider visiting my parents vacation…just more of the same in a different location.
I don’t take off work on these trips…
For this brief day, I took a break from work. It was fabulous and I needed it!
I just want to find a tacky blonde wig, a ton of makeup, and video myself sobbing, “Leeave Hope Alllooooone!!!”
?? Akasha.
Hope, I think that sounds delightful. I hope you had fun!
Oops those ? We’re supposed to be crying- laughing emojis but I guess they don’t translate.
Hope, I really am sorry that people are being such assholes in the comments. You’re doing something fun just you and your daughter, and people are trying to make you feel bad about it. Ignore them. I hope you had a great time.
Paid with points, I think this is a pretty frugal vacation. Points don’t expire with some cards; i’ve been racking them up for years on mine. Hotels often provide breakfast (sometimes even a waffle maker!), and you can carry off a danish/cinnamon roll and fruit for a snack later. A takeout pizza could be a cheap treat for dinner. It’s nice to have a change of venue for a mental break. One of my favorite parts of travel is hanging out in a nice hotel that i don’t have to clean and watch premium cable all night. I love staycations.