Cruise Vacation Budget Results

Car Service - Spent $186/Budget $200
Snacks/Pop - Spent $14/Budget $50
Hotels - Budget $190 for 1 night, paid $260 for 3 nights
Excursions - Spent $88/Budget $90
Gas - Spent $105/ Budget $200
Spending - $857/$500

Total Spent $1510/ Total Budget $1230

We were under budget on a lot of categories but way over budget on the spending money and hotel budgets.

Some of this was just our fault from over spending and not watching the budget close enough, but a majority of the extra expenses came from being gone an extra 2 nights.  A big snow storm was coming in the night before we were to leave so we drove half way a day early which added an extra hotel stay on the way to the cruise.  I had a free hotel stay through my Marriott rewards card, so that night ended up being free.  But we still had some extra meals on the road.

I had packed a lot of snacks, but it wasn't enough for the extended trip and we ended up eating out more and buying expensive snacks at the gas station on the way home.  Then on the way home we ran into another snow storm and had to get off the roads.  We added another hotel stay and more meals out.  We had planned on being away for 8 nights and ended up being away for 10.

Financial Updates, Reworking the Budget & Revising Goals

Financial Updates:

• $100 was set aside for car fees.  I wasn't sure how much I would end up having to pay for transferring the plates to my new car or any other car related expenses.  It ended up only being $3.50 so I paid out of my spending money.
• Electric Bill is $349 and some change this month! So that extra $100 that I didn't need for the car fees will go towards electric.
• We received our $50 refund check from the insurance company since the new car is cheaper to insure.  The $50 was moved to our savings account.

Revising Goals for 2015

I wrote about my original goals for the year here.  But things change.  We recently purchased a new car for myself and our plan is to buy out Mr. R's lease.  Since both are cars are newer and under warranty we won't need to save as much towards car expenses and a new car but I want to pay extra on the cars to get them paid off sooner.

My car payment is $232 per month for a 75 month loan.  Payments start in March.  I know 75 months is a ridiculously long time to pay on a car so the plan is to pay it off way before then.  It's the most expensive car we have ever purchased but I absolutely love it.  I've never had a car that has driven this well on ice and snow before.  I love the features of the car, it's very comfortable and has plenty of room.  But the reason I love it so much is that I feel safe driving it in the bad weather.

I'm estimating that our payment to buy out Mr. R's car will be less than $200 per month.  My goal will be to pay Mr. R's car off first as it will be the smaller loan.

Reworking the Budget & Goals for 2015:

• Save $50 per month towards car repairs to cover:
• oil changes
• brakes
• tires
• Pay $530 per month in car payments: 
• $232 my minimum car payment
• $298 towards paying off Mr. R's car quicker
• Increase mortgage payments on rental property: Starting in April, we will have an extra $60 per month from our mortgage income.  When we purchased the condo, I pulled $500 out of each of Mr. R's and My personal savings accounts to put towards the down payment.  I have been paying our accounts back $30 each per month out of the rental income.  Our accounts will be completely paid back in March.  With the extra $60, we plan to:
• Save an extra $30 towards repairs
• Pay an extra $25 per month on the mortgage
• Bump water bill payment budget to $55 if needed.  Used to only budget $50 but this past month it was a little over that.
• Add $4000 to EF in 2015
• So far this year, we have already added $587 to the EF
• Vacation Savings: 
• There are some small trips that I would like to fund this year and then start saving for our 2016 family vacation.  So far we've saved $772 but part of that was to finish paying off our 2015 cruise.
• Winery weekend with some friends
• Put in Bay with the kids
• Family Camping weekend at Camp Tippecanoe 
• Taking the girls tent camping for a weekend
• At least 1 night away for Mr. R and my anniversary
• The money to fund these trips will come from:
• Extra projects that I pick up at work that I earn commissions on
• Mr. R's overtime/holiday pay
• Ebay Sales
• Ebates Checks
• 3 paycheck months

10 Year Anniversary Plans

This was the original plan for our 10 year anniversary trip to Put-in-Bay:

• $400 for B&B for 3 nights plus tax - includes breakfast and complimentary bikes
• $50 per person Island Fun Pack
• transportation to and from the island
• Winery and Cave Tour
• Mini Golf
• Butterfly House
• Perry Cave
• $50 1 day golf cart rental
• $10 per person Put-in-Bay Winery Tour (includes 5 samples)
• $30 Gas - 2 hour drive each way to ferry
• $400 Misc., Food, Drinks, Spending

But I had trouble finding a hotel or B&B that was taking reservations for 3 nights.  Since the weekend we are going in October is almost the end of the season, most places only are open Friday and Saturday Night.  We want to stay Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

So, I did some more searching and found a hotel that is right across the street from the Jet Express. It's a very old hotel that was built in the 1800's.  But the reviews are excellent and so was the price! Only $280 for 3 nights including taxes!  

Our new plan is to drive to Port Clinton on Friday and stay at the hotel off the island.  On Saturday, we'll take the boat to Put-in-Bay for the day.  Sunday we might go to Cedar Point.  And Monday, we'll head back home.

Here's a breakdown of our estimated costs:

• $280 Hotel for 3 nights
• $50 1 day golf cart rental
• $44 - Perry's Cave Combo Ticket including mini golf, fort amaz'n, laser tag - $22 per person
• $66 Jet Express
• $40 Wine Tastings at 2 Wineries ($10 per person per winery)
• $100 Cedar Point
• $40 Gas 
• $380 Misc: Food, Drinks, Spending

To save some money on food, I am going to pack a small cooler with lunch meat, cheeses etc. And take hoagie buns, chips and other snack foods plus wine, beer and pop.  That way we can avoid having to eat out for all our meals.  I can pack picnic lunches for the day we are at put-in-bay and Cedar Point.  

Using Birthday Money - Day Trip

The girls received a total of $80 in birthday money.  I'd rather use the money to take them to do something fun rather than waste the money on more toys.  We discussed this with the girls and they agreed they would like to use the money to go to the Columbus Zoo.

I've always wanted to go to the Columbus Zoo but every time we have tried in the past, the weather hasn't cooperated.  Tomorrow is going to be 75 degrees and Sunny.  A perfect day for the zoo.

The zoo is open from 9 am - 5pm.  My goal is to get the girls to bed early tonight so that we can be on the road by 7:30 tomorrow.  It's about a 2 hour and 15 minute drive.  I want to have as much time as possible at the zoo because it is a very large zoo with an aquarium and lots of rides.  But realistically, I don't think we'll get on the road before 7:30.

Here's a run down of the costs and ways we are going to try to save some money on our day trip tomorrow:

• Gas - Estimating about $40.  This will just come out of our normal Gas Budget of $100 every two weeks. 
• Food - Packing drinks, snacks and lunch.  Will probably purchase a fresh squeezed lemonade (my favorite) and ice cream at the zoo. We'll pick up dinner on the way home (McDonald's or Taco Bell). Est: $30, Money will come from Mr. R's and My Spending Money

• Parking - $8.00, Not much I can do to save money on Parking
• Zoo Admission -  $14.99/adult, $9.99/child.  We get 50% off with our Akron Zoo Membership Card.  Total Cost: $25.00
• Rides - All Day Unlimited Rides wrist band $9.99 per person includes 15 different rides.  A pony ride for the girls is an additional $4 each.  Not sure if we will do this but figure I'll plan for it.  Total Ride Cost: $48

Family Vacation Planning Time

I have this horrible need to have a vacation planned at all times.  It's like I can't concentrate or focus unless I know I have something to look forward too.  I've been spending way too much time online lately trying to figure out what our winter vacation will be.  I like to take a big family vacation in January or February to get out of the cold snowy Ohio weather.

My husband and I don't really have any hobbies.  I like to cook and try new recipes but I limit them to inexpensive ingredients and I like to read free books from the library on my nook.  Mr. R works out a lot in a gym he made in the back of our basement using all thrift store finds and is really into music and finding new bands to listen to.  I'm telling you all this to justify what I did two days ago...

I booked a cruise vacation for February 2015.  I love cruising.  I think it is one of the best ways to travel with children.  It offers the perfect mix of family fun and alone relaxation time with my hubby.

I got a really great deal on a 7 night cruise from New York. It goes to Port Canaveral, Florida, Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau.  Norwegian cruise line was running a promotion where kids sail free.  We booked a balcony room for the 4 of us for $2240 which includes all the taxes.  They also gave us $50 towards our cruise spending.  I only had to put $250 down.  I'm really excited.  The boat looks a lot nicer than the carnival cruise ships that we've been on in the past.

Part of my goals this year was to save $4,000 towards vacations.  So far we have saved $1850.  $250 was spent on our family camping trip and $1,000 is set aside for our 3 night getaway in October for our 10 year anniversary.  So I have $650 of money set aside for the cruise so far.

Whenever I book a vacation, I research all my costs and start an excel spreadsheet with all the estimated expenditures.  Then, as I save up the money, I can check items off the list.  So I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

When to Spend, When to Save: Family Cruise Vacation

I have vacations on the brain.  The girls and I spent the morning at a friends house.  The kids got to swim and play and I got to chat with my friend.  We both love to travel and so most of our conversation was about recent trips and future travel plans.  It started me thinking about taking a cruise next year.

This post was originally posted by me on 4/8/13 but the info is still relevant so I thought I would share it again.

In January 2013, we went on a cruise.  It was actually one of the most expensive and longest vacations that we have taken as a family but we had an amazing time.  The girls both really liked it and can't wait to go on another cruise.  I did plenty of research before we went and actually listed every expense in an excel spreadsheet to keep us on track.  I expected to spend $3900, but we came in under budget at $3600.

Here's how I saved some money and where I refused to skimp to save a few bucks:

Booking the cruise:

• Balcony Room: $2130.  I checked back once a week to see if there were any sales and there actually was a better deal a few months before we left.  I called carnival and they reimbursed me $130.  Total for 7 day cruise including transportation to the Bahamas, meals, camp carnival and entertainment =  $2000.
• We could have saved even more by not booking a balcony room, but it was something we really wanted.  It was great to watch the ocean from our balcony and have a place to read while Baby Ripples took her nap.

Transportation to and from the cruise:

• Chose a cruise out of a port that is only 6 hours away so we didn't have to fly anywhere. 
• Carpooled with my mom and mother-in-law, split the gas costs and tolls

Hotel Stay:

• Since we went in January, we were worried about weather being bad for the 6 hour drive to get to the port.  I booked us a really nice hotel close to the port for $160 per room including taxes.  The hotel included free breakfast, parking for my car for the week we were gone, and shuttle service to and from the port. 

Excursions: Excursions can be ridiculously expensive, most being close to $100 per person or more, here is what we did at each port.

• Port Canaveral: Booked a shuttle to Cocoa Beach and then Cocoa city = $60. We spent about an hour lounging around on the beach while the kids played in the sand and put their feet in the water.  Then we took the shuttle into the city to walk around the shops.  We had lunch at a little farmers market.  My husband got 2 hot dogs and a bag of chips for him and the girls and I had a great spinach feta strudel thing.  Lunch was less than $10. Total Cost: $70
• Nassau:  We booked an excursion to go on a submarine type boat to look at fish.  The excursion took us on a 20 minute boat ride to the submarine and then we rode around looking at fish for about 40 minutes and had another 20 minute boat ride back.  Total Cost: $138
• Freeport:  The kids didn't really want to get off the boat.  We did get off for about an hour and just walked around the little outdoor market that was at the port.  I bought my only souvenir which was a purse made out of coconut tiles.  I love it and get tons of compliments on it!  We danced in the middle of the market with the kids to  a band playing.  And then the kids kept asking to go swimming so we went back to the boat. Total Cost: $75 for souvenirs

Entertainment:

• Only entertainment purchase was $40 to play bingo. 
• We didn't gamble and didn't hit the shops.
• We did enjoy the free entertainment like going the dance club a few nights,  watching live bands, the hilarious comedy shows, and musical performances.  We went to a few of the trivia challenges and had a blast at the sail away party on the deck when we left Freeport. 
• The kids loved camp carnival which was free until 10pm.  We did pay for them to stay for one of the late night parties but the kids fell asleep at 10:30 so it was a waste of money and we didn't bother doing it again.

Food and Beverages:

• Most of the food is free on the cruise.  The one restaurant that cost money to go to, we chose not to try.
• We did purchase a wine package = $131 which saved a little off of the price if we were to purchase the bottles separately.
• We purchased other various mixed drinks throughout the cruise.
• I bought 2 cookies at a specialty bakery.

Photos:

• They have tons of photographers all around the boat and many opportunities to get professional photos.  They are always trying to get you to book a photography session or just in the spur of the moment pool you into a really nice scene and start taking photos.  Most of the time we just kept walking and said "No Thanks".
• We did purchase a family photo in a really cool light up frame and a photo with just my husband and I.  (I know these can be expensive but I've always regretted not purchasing a certain photo at Disney on our honeymoon and have decided that if there is a great photo on vacation, I'm going to buy it)

Passports:

• My husband and I had passport cards already but we did purchase cards for each of the girls.  It wasn't necessary but did give us some piece of mind to have them.

In Hindsight, we could have saved even more.

Excursions:  The kids really just wanted to hang out on the boat and swim so we didn't really need to do any excursions.

Drinks: Ummmmmm....well... nope.  Couldn't save any money here :)

Camp Carnival Night Owls:  It cost us $26 for the kids to sleep right through the after hours party.

Hotel: Next time I don't think I would bother getting a hotel room the night before.

Camping Expenses vs. Budget

Camping Expenses

• Campground Fee $45 for 2 nights
• Air Mattress $25
• Food - $57
• Misc: $13 - sparklers, bubbles, batteries, foil
• Spending Money: $50 for firewood, ice cream at the concession stand, misc. spending, worms for fishing

Total - $190

My goal was to only spend $200 and so far we are under budget.  I think we'll need to pick up a couple more packs of batteries for flashlights but we should definitely be able to not go over the $200 budget.

The campground fee includes unlimited use of miniature golf, water park at the lake, fishing, kayaking, playground, indoor pool and hiking trails.  Plus they have an activity barn with crafts for the kids and face painting (not sure if this will cost extra), live music by the lake during the day, karaoke one night and a family sports event Friday evening.

We've packed a Frisbee, jump ropes, bubbles, sparklers, books, portable DVD player to watch Frozen, a large ball and our nooks.  So we should have plenty to do to keep us busy without spending much extra money.

Saved Over $67 on Our Camping Trip in June

In this previous post, I talked about planning for the cost of two trips we want to take this year.  The first trip is to take the girls camping for a weekend.  I had planned on going to the same campground that we did last year and my budget for the trip was $250 for everything including food. Here's the breakdown of camping expenses I had planned for:

• $45 per night for a primitive site - includes hiking, swimming, fishing, game room, playground, hay ride and other planned activities based on weekend theme

• $5 for 1/2 hour paddle boat rental x 2

• $2.50 per person miniature golf (half price on Sunday)

• Sunday morning pancake and sausage breakfast (not sure the price)

• Last year they also had short pony rides for $1

Today, I saw a Groupon for 2 nights of camping at Clays Park for only $45!  The $45 includes use of the water park, kayaks, unlimited miniature golf, sand volleyball courts, indoor pool, fishing lake, and nature trails for hiking or biking.

So of course I bought the groupon right away.  We have to use it before the end of June.  As soon as Mr. R gets his schedule for June, I am going to book the first weekend he has off.

Since almost everything is included and we are getting a night free, we will be saving a lot of $.  At least $67, based on the costs above.  Plus, I used ebates to get 8% cash back and I put it on my Disney Rewards visa so I'll earn a whopping $.45 in rewards!  

I'm re-adjusting our camping budget to only spend $200 for the whole weekend.  $45 for the cost of the campsite and the rest of the money will go towards food, fire wood, and any extra expenses like ice cream from the camp store.

• 
  

2014 Vacation Plans and Costs

I have 2 plans for vacations this year.  I would like to take the girls camping for a whole weekend.  We've only ever taken them on a 1 night camping trip.  And I want to plan a long weekend get-a-way for Mr. R and me.  It's our 10 year anniversary in October.

The Camping Trip will be in either June or July on a weekend that Mr. R has off. The campground is only about a 20 minute drive from our house.  They have some fun weekend themes planned with lots of activities to go along with them. They also have a dj on Saturday nights and last year we had fun dancing with the girls.

• $45 per night for a primitive - includes hiking, swimming, fishing, game room, playground, hay ride and other planned activities based on weekend theme
• $5 for 1/2 hour paddle boat rental x 2
• $ per person miniature golf (half price on Sunday)
• Sunday morning pancake and sausage breakfast (not sure the price)
• Last year they also had short pony rides for $1

My budget goal for this weekend camping trip will be $250 including all food, activities, and cost of campsite.

For our anniversary weekend, I would like to spend 3 nights at Put-in-Bay.  I looked at other trips but everything is so expensive especially if we were to fly anywhere.  The weekend of our anniversary is zombie fest where people bar hop dressed as zombies.  I've never dressed up and gone out for Halloween so maybe we'll dress up.  Making zombie costumes should be easy and inexpensive.

• $400 for B&B for 3 nights plus tax - includes breakfast and complimentary bikes
• $50 per person Island Fun Pack
• transportation to and from the island
• Winery and Cave Tour
• Mini Golf
• Butterfly House
• Perry Cave
• $50 1 day golf cart rental
• $10 per person Put-in-Bay Winery Tour (includes 5 samples)
• $30 Gas - 2 hour drive each way to ferry
• $400 Misc., Food, Drinks, Spending

My budget goal for this trip will be $1000. 

Part of my 2014 savings challenge was to save $12,000.  $4,000 of that money for vacations.  I almost have enough money already saved to pay for these two trips in our vacation fund.  Only need to save another $60 and we should be good. Anymore vacation savings will be put towards a big family vacation in 2015.

vacation planning - so many decisions

Mr R and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary in October.  I have a list of trips I would love to take with him including Key West, Las Vegas, the Poconos or another cruise.  I really want to do something great since its our 10 year anniversary and its been a few years since we've taken a real vacation with just the two of us.  In fact,  I think it was back in 2009.

2 Factors that are limiting us: Money and Vacation Time (No biggie right?!)

Mr. R is out of vacation time.  He should have 2 personal days but on our last vacation they messed up his scheduled time off and they gave him the choice of not being paid for 12 hours or using a personal day.  He chose the personal day.  His work will give him the time off if he requests it, it will just be unpaid.  But I'm sure he'll have plenty of opportunities to pick up a couple shifts to make up any loss of income from requesting time off for a trip.

I'm really would love to do a cruise because the cost of airfare and hotel stay for a 3 night 4 day trip to either Las Vegas or Key West is more expensive than a 5 night cruise.

I've always wanted to stay at a specific resort in the Poconos.  It has 7 foot tall champagne glass Jacuzzi in the room and a swimming pool in the room.  The rates are all inclusive and a lot of time they have bigger name comedians or entertainment but for the room I want it would cost over $1000 for 2 nights and the reviews are hit or miss.  Some are great and some are horrible so I don't feel confident dropping that kind of money for 2 nights.

I was really excited because I thought I found 2 great cruise deals but both the ports are 7 1/2 hours away and with the cruises being 5 nights, Mr. R would need to take 7 nights off and I think that's just asking a bit too much.

I'm getting frustrated trying to figure this out.  I know I have plenty of time.  But still. 

If all else fails there's an inn/winery a few hours a way and they offer transportation to local wineries for a wine tasting tour.  This would be our cheapest option and require the least amount of time off but I really wanted to take a trip and not just a small weekend away.

Disney World vs. Disney Land Review

I've been to Disney World a lot.  This was our first trip to Disneyland.  A lot of people told me that if I was used to Disney World I would be disappointed in Disneyland.  So I thought I would compare them.

As far as Disney World Magic Kingdom and Disneyland go, they are pretty similar.  The majority of the rides were the same or very close to it.  Disneyland did have a few rides that I've never seen at Magic Kingdom and it goes the same for the other way around.

I was a little disappointed in Disneyland just because they had some major rides shut down for repairs while we were there.  I understand that we were going in the off season and expected that a ride or two might be shut down, but not so many major rides including my absolute favorite: splash mountain.

The following were closed: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, It's a Small World, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, and Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes. Also, the park was open until 11 pm.  We made it over to Mickey's toon town around 7:45 but it had closed at 7:30.  The map did say it might close early due to fireworks but it didn't specify the time and so we were really disappointed that we missed that section as we hadn't expected it to close 3 1/2 hours earlier than the rest of the park.

Disney World is definitely better for an extended Disney Vacation as it has 4 theme parks and 2 water parks.  If I didn't plan on spending 4 days at the parks in Florida, I would definitely skip Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  Magic Kingdom and Epcot are the best Disney Parks in Florida.

We spent 1 day of this past trip at Disney California Adventure Park which was a little disappointing.  The rides were no where near as elaborate as what we are used to from Disney.  It was more like carnival rides that just had a Disney Theme applied to them.  The only really cool rides were Soarin', Little Mermaid Under the Sea Adventure, Toy Story Midway Mania, Radiator Springs Racers and the swinging cars on Mickey's Fun Wheel just because I've never experienced a Ferris Wheel where the cars would slide around.

If I only had 1 day at Disneyland, I wouldn't waste it on the Adventure Park and if we had paid full price I would have been really disappointed.  Since we got the Southern California Resident Deal of only $129 for 2 days at Disney, it wasn't that much more than just going to Disney for 1 day. Overall it was an enjoyable day and the girls did have a lot of fun.

Back to Reality

Our plane got in at 4:15 yesterday afternoon.  We went from beautiful California weather to a major snow storm.  The hour drive home from the airport took us almost 2 hours in scary weather conditions.  But we made it home safe and sound and today will be a nice stay-at-home recoup day.  I got to sleep till almost 1pm.

The last 2 nights of vacation were spent at a hotel near Disney.  There were trains nearby that went passed every hour and blasted their whistles all night long.  I'm the only one that seemed to be bothered by this; I barely got any sleep the last two nights.

I had great plans of really tracking our spending on this trip but it didn't happen. Over all we spent: $1427 while we were gone.  We have $395 left of California Vacation Money that we didn't spend.  I'll be adding this to our savings account to go towards our savings goal for 2014.

Vacation Spending Round Up:

• 1 Day at the San Diego Zoo 
• Budgeted $160, Actual Cost with Coupon $144
• 1 Day at the Scripps Aquarium - 
• Budgeted $130 for Queen Mary and Aquarium (ended up being farther away than I thought, so we went to Scripps Aquarium), Actual Cost with Coupon $51
• 2 Days at Disneyland - 



Tasting Wine at our First Stop on
the wine tour.

• Budgeted $674 ($392 was Disney Rewards $'s), Actual Cost with California Resident Discount $516 
• Wine Tour for Mr. R and I -  $125 for the tour, plus over $200 for wine tastings at 3 wineries, 4 bottles of wine, plus lunch, snacks and deserts
• We only ate out once per day except the last day at Disney where we ate out twice. Averaging around $45 per meal out.  We usually didn't buy the girls their own meals, they just shared what Mr. R and I ordered.
• My Dad and his wife did buy us lunch for our first meal in California and Breakfast for our last meal.
• Went grocery shopping the first day for food for the week.  I spent $130 on groceries.  My Dad and his wife wanted to buy the groceries but I insisted on paying for some.  The $130 wasn't even half of the grocery cost. But they buy almost everything organic, so if I had done the shopping myself we wouldn't have spent near as much.  I mean, I really don't care about organic mustard, ketchup or peanut butter.  Especially when its 2 - 3 x the cost of non-organic items.

Disney Rewards Balance Final Update

We just got our final amount of Reward $'s that we will get before the trip.  I transferred them over to our reward card.  We ended up with a grand total of: $392.62!

I've never paid any money to have the Disney Rewards Visa Card and I've never paid any interest on the card.

  $674 (Tickets for 2 Days at Disneyland for 2 adults and 2 children)
- $392.62 (Disney Rewards)
= $281.38 (Cash out of pocket for Disneyland Tickets!)

We had saved $300 for Disney.  I'm going to keep the extra $18.62 set aside for this vacation just in case we need it.

Getting Ready for Vacation: Preparing to Fly with Children

We'll be flying out of Cleveland straight through to LA.  Flight time is 5 hours and 17 minutes.  The flight on the way home is 4 hours and 33 minutes.

Transportation to Airport: My parents will meet us at our house at 6 am and drive my van to the airport, 1 hour away.  Then they'll drop the van back at our house and pick up their car.  They'll repeat the trip on the day we come home but luckily it won't be so early in the morning.  This saves us $ since we won't have to pay to park at the airport for the week.

Checking Luggage vs Carry On:  I learned the hard way that trying to carry everything onto the plane just isn't worth the $ savings when traveling with small children. 

• What we'll be checking:
• $25 - 1 large suit case - with mostly only my clothing, shoes etc.  But this will also hold all of our toiletries.  Full size shampoos, conditioners, tooth pastes, hair spray/gel, and so on.  All those little bottles of liquids add up, so instead of buying lots of little bottles, we pay the $25 baggage fee to check one bag and just use what we have on hand at home to pack.
• Free - Car Seat Bag - I will only need to take 1 car seat bag this time which is great!  Both of the girls booster seats should fit in the 1 car seat bag.  It's free to check car seats and I can sneak a few extras in the bag if I need some extra packing room.
• Free - Stroller checked at the gate - We have a double stroller that has 1 seat in the front and then a platform/ledge on the back for Big R to stand on or sit on.  This is also a great thing to have since we can pile all the carry on items onto it and just push everything instead of carrying it.  We take the stroller all the way to the gate.  When we give the airline attendant our ticket to get on the plane, they give us a tag to put on the stroller.  We then collapse the stroller and leave it buy the door on the plane.  Someone gets it, stows it under the plane and it's waiting for us when we get off at our destination.  We've done this many times and have never had a problem. 
• Carry Ons -
• Each girl gets a small back pack to put toys and entertainment items in that she can stow under the seat in front of her. 
• They also each have their own small suitcase they can carry on and we'll stow in the overhead compartments. 
• Mr. R might need his own suit case in which he'll carry on or else he can share mine.  We'll have a lot less luggage now that both the girls are out of diapers.
• I also carry a book bag with anything else we'll need (this replaces my purse for the trip).  Snacks, magazines for Mr. R, my nook, antibacterial gel, lotion.  It seems like we still carry a lot on but we can stack everything in the stroller and push it.

Entertainment - If we have a plane that has the tv screens in the back of the headrest of the seat in front of us, we may purchase the TV for Mr. R to watch.  I don't remember how much this was last time, I think around $5.  For the girls:

• Big R has a nook she just got for Christmas and a V-reader that she's had for a while.  Both devises have plenty of books and games for her to play.  She has some Christmas money so I'll help her pick out some videos, books and games to download before we go.  Plus I can add lots of books for free to her nook through the library.
• Little R got an Innotab for Christmas so I will use some of her Christmas money to download games, shows and books for her.
• The girls pick some small quiet toys to put in their book bags: crayons, coloring books, notebooks, cards.
• Before we go, I'll pick up a few "surprise" toys from the dollar store or on clearance so when they get bored I can give them something new to keep them busy.
• I'll have my nook and Mr. R will probably bring a book and a couple magazines.

Food, snacks and beverages:

• Drinks are free which is great!  We'll let the girls get pop or something special that they don't normally get to drink instead of making them drink water.  This will hopefully make the trip more fun and enjoyable.
• Because our flight is over 3.5 hours, we will have the option of purchasing food off the snack menu or bistro menu.  Here's some examples of what is on the menu:  EXPENSIVE!
• Haribo Gummy Bears $3.99Hummus and pita chips $3.99
• Classic Snack Box $7.49 includes applesauce, gold fish crackers, cheddar cheese spread, pepperoni, crackers, candy and oreos
• Ham and Cheddar Baguette and other sandwiches - $8.99 each
• We'll probably pick up burger king sausage, egg and cheese croissants on the way and get the girls French toast sticks.  We have an hour drive to the airport.
• I also pack a gallon sized zip lock bag full of plenty of different type of snacks to have on hand.  I try to buy fun things that I don't normally purchase.  It helps keep the kids satisfied and Mr. R away from buying lots of food at the air port and on the plane.  I'll pack things like boxes of raisons, breadsticks with cheese dip packets, fruit snacks, suckers, gold fish crackers in fun flavors, dried cherries, beef jerky, etc.

It's a lot of work flying with young children, but with lots of planning it will hopefully go smoothly and be an enjoyable part of our trip for the girls.  I hate flying, but driving from Ohio to California is not an option.

Vacation Budget Planning

In January, we'll be flying to California to visit my dad and his wife.  We'll be gone for 8 days.  I like to overestimate on our budget for vacations.  That way if we over spend, I'm not stressed when I'm supposed to be relaxing.  We're in the process of paying off the airfare and I'm trying to figure out how much money to save up for the rest of the trip.   We'll hopefully be staying in a time share with my parents so lodging won't cost us anything and we'll all fit in their vehicle so we don't have to worry about transportation costs either. 

Its hard coming up with a budget for this vacation because I really don't know the area we'll be staying in.  My dad told me we'll probably stay around the San Diego area and we'll have about an hour drive to Disneyland.  Disneyland is the only place that I want to make sure we absolutely go to.  Other than that, I'm flexible.  So I picked some things that sounded fun and figured that's a good way to estimate some entertainment expense even if we don't do these particular things.  Rounding up to include parking fees, I'm going to estimate $1100 for entertainment expenses. 

Here's some things I would like to do and the cost for our family:

San Diego Zoo - $156
Science Center with Show - $62
Disneyland, 2 days - ($674 - $300 in Disney Rewards Dollars) $374
Queen Mary and Aquarium Ticket - $122
Wine Tour (for me and hubs) - $300
Total - $1014

8 days x $100 per day for food = $800
Entertainment = $1100
Misc. and souvenirs = $300

Grand Total = $2200

If we stay in a timeshare we'll be able to buy food at the store and eat in our room.  I also always pack a gallon size Ziploc bag with tons of different snacks from home and easy food like oatmeal packets, fruit snacks, granola bars, raisons etc.  It doesn't take up too much room and usually by the end of the trip we've eaten through most of it.  But I'm sure we'll eat out at least once per day, since part of the fun of vacation is trying new restaurants.  And I know I'll earn more Disney Rewards in the next 5 months as I put everything on our Disney Card and then pay off the balance each month.

Vacations seem to be getting more and more expensive as the kids get older.  This will be the first vacation where we've had to pay for airfare for all 4 of us.

Oops, I spent it again

Well, we haven't even officially rented out the new condo yet.  Haven't replaced any money in our savings account and haven't made any new payments on my student loans.  But what did I do?  I spent a whole bunch of money on airfare to go to California.

I've been wanting to go visit my dad.  I asked Little Ripples the other day if she would rather go to Disney or visit Grandpa and she said, "I really miss Grandpa." Awwww!  Super Cute.  So anyways I happened to see that a straight through flight from Cleveland to LA was only $320 per person, round trip including taxes.

I purchased tickets for the family to go in January.  Yep, that's right, I spent $1280 on air fare and put it on my credit card.  And I call myself Frugal...  Uggh!

My goal is to have it paid off before I will pay any interest.  But if I really need to, I can take money out of savings although I really don't want to.

I'm so super excited though.  We aren't going until January, but I can't wait.  My dad and his wife haven't seen my kids since Baby Ripples was actually a baby and had just turned 1 and Little Ripples had just turned 4.  It's been almost 2 years since our last visit.

Our expenses once we go won't be too bad.  We will be staying in one of my dad's time shares and will use my Disney Rewards money to go to Disneyland.  I have never been to Disneyland so that will be super cool too.

Weekend Review: Camping and Cookout

We had a great time camping.  We swam.  Little Ripples got to go fishing while Baby Ripples and I took a nap in the tent. The girls got to go for a pony ride.  We played pool and air hockey in the game room and then we played Frisbee and badminton outside.  Cooked hot dogs and marshmallows on the grill and made smores.

It rained lightly in the evening when we were trying to build a campfire but Mr. Ripples was able to keep the fire going.  The campground also had a dj so we went to that for about an hour.  Mr. Ripples did Karoake and sang Queen's We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions and we all danced and had a great time.

This is how the budget went:
Food: $25
Campground: $37
Wood: $8.50
Pony Rides: $2
Game Room: $5
McDonald's Breakfast: $14
Total: $86.50

We woke up this morning to down pouring rain.  We had planned on playing mini golf and having breakfast before we left the campground but since it was raining so hard we weren't able to.  The first time the rain slowed down, we packed everything up as quickly as possible and left.  We picked up McDonald's and were home by 8:15 this morning so we all took a long nap.

Then we had our Father's Day cookout.  Since the weather wasn't good, I just boiled the hot dogs, brats, and sausages on the stove.  I served macaroni salad, baked beans, chips and dip and I even ended up getting an ice cream cake for dessert.  It was a super easy cookout, or cook in I guess, didn't require much work.  Even though we have a small house, I still like to have everyone over here.  Most holidays we go to my parents and my husbands parents for a big meal, so it was nice to be able to do all the work for them for a change.  Even though I didn't actually make much of anything.

Oh and here's a picture of my girls in the tent watching Tangled on our portable DVD player while Mr. Ripples and I enjoyed sitting by the fire.

Planning our First Camping Trip with the Kids...

Before we had kids, Mr. Ripples and I used to go camping a few times a year.  We haven't been able to go camping since we had Little Ripples almost 6 years ago.  I'm pretty sure the last time that we went camping was when I was pregnant with her.  Our camping gear was ruined when our basement flooded with sewage a couple years ago.

We are hoping to take the girls camping for the first time on father's day weekend.  We'll have to wait to make sure the weather will be nice.  We will only be able to go for 1 night because of my husband's work schedule. 

I found a 4 person tent at Aldi the other day for $29.99.  I wanted to buy a bigger 2 room tent but decided to just get a cheaper one for now.  If camping is something we decide to do more often then we can invest in a nicer tent.  Also investing in an air mattress would be a good idea.  It's been a long time since I've slept on the ground.  I didn't purchase an air mattress this time because I wasn't sure how well it would fit in the tent with 4 people, I was afraid there wouldn't be enough room.  For now we'll just load up on pillows and comforters to make the ground softer.

When to Save and When to Spend on a Cruise Vacation

In January, we went on a cruise.  It was actually one of the most expensive and longest vacations that we have taken as a family but we had an amazing time.  The girls both really liked it and can't wait to go on another cruise.  I did plenty of research before we went and actually listed every expense in an excel spreadsheet to keep us on track.  I expected to spend $3900, but we came in under budget at $3600. 

Here's how I saved some money and where I refused to skimp to save a few bucks:


Booking the cruise:

• Balcony Room: $2130.  I checked back once a week to see if there were any sales and there actually was a better deal a few months before we left.  I called carnival and they reimbursed me $130.  Total for 7 day cruise including transportation to the Bahamas, meals, camp carnival and entertainment =  $2000.
• We could have saved even more by not booking a balcony room, but it was something we really wanted.  It was great to watch the ocean from our balcony and have a place to read while Baby Ripples took her nap.

Transporation to and from the cruise:

• Chose a cruise out of a port that is only 6 hours away so we didn't have to fly anywhere. 
• Carpooled with my mom and mother-in-law, split the gas costs and tolls

Hotel Stay:

• Since we went in January, we were worried about weather being bad for the 6 hour drive to get to the port.  I booked us a really nice hotel close to the port for $160 per room including taxes.  The hotel included free breakfast, parking for my car for the week we were gone, and shuttle service to and from the port. 

Excursions: Excursions can be ridiculously expensive, most being close to $100 per person or more, here is what we did at each port.

• Port Canaveral: Booked a shuttle to Cocoa Beach and then Cocoa city = $60. We spent about an hour lounging around on the beach while the kids played in the sand and put their feet in the water.  Then we took the shuttle into the city to walk around the shops.  We had lunch at a little farmers market.  My husband got 2 hot dogs and a bag of chips for him and the girls and I had a great spinach feta strudel thing.  Lunch was less than $10. Total Cost: $70
• Nassau:  We booked an excursion to go on a submarine type boat to look at fish.  The excursion took us on a 20 minute boat ride to the submarine and then we rode around looking at fish for about 40 minutes and had another 20 minute boat ride back.  Total Cost: $138
• Freeport:  The kids didn't really want to get off the boat.  We did get off for about an hour and just walked around the little outdoor market that was at the port.  I bought my only souvenir which was a purse made out of coconut tiles.  I love it and get tons of compliments on it!  We danced in the middle of the market with the kids to  a band playing.  And then the kids kept asking to go swimming so we went back to the boat. Total Cost: $75 for souvenirs

Entertainment:

• Only entertainment purchase was $40 to play bingo. 
• We didn't gamble and didn't hit the shops.
• We did enjoy the free entertainment like going the dance club a few nights,  watching live bands, the hilarious comedy shows, and musical performances.  We went to a few of the trivia challenges and had a blast at the sail away party on the deck when we left Freeport. 
• The kids loved camp carnival which was free until 10pm.  We did pay for them to stay for one of the late night parties but the kids fell asleep at 10:30 so it was a waste of money and we didn't bother doing it again.

Food and Beverages:

• Most of the food is free on the cruise.  The one restaurant that cost money to go to, we chose not to try.
• We did purchase a wine package = $131 which saved a little off of the price if we were to purchase the bottles separately.
• We purchased other various mixed drinks throughout the cruise.
• I bought 2 cookies at a specialty bakery.

Photos:

• They have tons of photographers all around the boat and many opportunities to get professional photos.  They are always trying to get you to book a photography session or just in the spur of the moment pool you into a really nice scene and start taking photos.  Most of the time we just kept walking and said "No Thanks".
• We did purchase a family photo in a really cool light up frame and a photo with just my husband and I.  (I know these can be expensive but I've always regretted not purchasing a certain photo at Disney on our honeymoon and have decided that if there is a great photo on vacation, I'm going to buy it)

Passports:

• My husband and I had passport cards already but we did purchase cards for each of the girls.  It wasn't necessary but did give us some piece of mind to have them.

In Hindsight, we could have saved even more. 

Excursions:  The kids really just wanted to hang out on the boat and swim so we didn't really need to do any excursions.

Drinks: Ummmmmm....well... nope.  Couldn't save any money here :)

Camp Carnival Night Owls:  It cost us $26 for the kids to sleep right through the after hours party.

Hotel: Next time I don't think I would bother getting a hotel room the night before.

My 2 Favorite Credit Cards

My favorite credit card is my Disney Rewards Visa.  I opened it a year ago and received a $50 credit to my account after I used it for so many purchases.  I also receive a percentage back in Disney Reward Dollars on all my purchases.  I have earned $244.97 in Disney Dollars.  I don't carry a balance on this card, in fact I check it almost daily and make payments to it within a couple of days of putting money on it.  We are planning on taking the girls to Disney World in the next year or so and the rewards will really help pay for that vacation.

My second favorite credit card is my REDcard for Target.  I get 5% off of every purchase in store and online and I always get free shipping when I use it to order online.  I don't carry a balance and pay the balance off within days of using the card.

These are the only 2 credit cards I use.  I love the rewards and because I keep the balances paid off, I have never paid any interest on them.

Do you have a favorite rewards credit card?