Hope everyone had a great weekend! I feel like I didn’t do too much, I definitely slept a lot and spent a lot of time in my pajamas.
Our vacation starts this weekend! I’m very excited. We’ve officially decided on Kauai. It says it’ll rain, but everyone keeps telling me that the rain isn’t that bad because it doesn’t last too long. So I’ll be fine with that. Does anyone recommend anything specifically that we should do while we’re there?
We plan on hiking a couple of days (pray for me because I might die from my laziness), kayaking, snorkeling and relaxing.
We’ve only rented a car on one of our vacations so far, but does anyone have any rental car savings tips? We’re under 25, so we automatically have to pay the underage fees, but I’ve gotten rental car places to waive that in the past. We’ll be renting a car for 5 days and it’s definitely expensive with all of the fees added in and we want to save money. We’re thinking about maybe just renting a car for a couple of days and not the whole time since we most likely won’t need it everyday. And of course the BF wants to rent a jeep but that is super expensive.
I know I mentioned in the past that my sister would be staying at our house, but it turns out that she won’t be. She’s too busy to take care of both dogs by herself next week, so we will be dropping off one dog with her at her house (her work is literally 1 mile from her house so she can stop there often), and our other dog is going to the BF’s mom’s house.
I hate leaving my house for a whole week with no one there. I’m also terrified of someone breaking in. Any tips on this? We’ll leave lights on but not sure what else. We’ve never gone on a vacation this long with no one staying at our house.
My updates:
Getting rid of my work outfit laziness: Wow I’m doing horrible with this. And I’m not going to lie, I’ve probably been a little lazy with my clothes at work. Nothing horrible, just a lot of boring outfits.
School: Only 7 more weeks until the semester is over. I have one last mid-term this week, and it shouldn’t be too bad. This semester has definitely gone by quick. We’ll be spending probably 2 full traveling days at the airport (on the way there and back) because of layovers and just how long the trip is, so my plan (which will make me sound extremely boring) is to bring homework and class reading with me on the trip so that I’m not just sitting there waiting for my flight. Hopefully I’ll get a lot done this way because I have a test the day after we get back and I won’t have any other time to study.
Extra Monthly Income: I’ve been doing good in this section. I’ve hardly done any secret shops because I haven’t had time and I’ve done no surveys because I have had no time. I did make another $110 this week in blog advertising though. I do have around 5 or 6 phone secret shops lined up for this week which will be around $30, not a ton of money but it literally takes 2 minutes to complete.
Budget Cutting: I don’t think we cut anything out, but we also didn’t add anything this week.
Spending: I need to finish going through my closet this week. I’d like to get rid of a lot more and sell it all before our trip for some extra spending money while we’re there. I would like to make an additional $100 from selling clothes. My closet is still a huge mess!
We had to stock up on new household items yesterday. Spent around $110 at Target yesterday, but we did not sway from our list AT ALL. I would definitely say that’s a great improvement and accomplishment since we were at Target. We had to get toilet paper, a furnace air filter, a fan, toothpaste, etc. It all adds up very quickly!
Food: We’ve been doing GREAT with our food budget. We only ate out once this whole past week and that was at my absolute favorite Mexican restaurant which also just happens to be at the end of our block. I can’t remember exactly how much we spent this week, but it was minimal. I don’t really plan on doing much shopping this week either since we will be on vacation all of next week.
How’s your spending and food budget been going?
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Ginny says
IS there anyone that lives near you that can stop by once or twice to check on your place? Leaving a light or two on is always good.I just cleaned out my closet and it felt great to get rid of stuff and organize.
Astra says
To save money you should put a few lamps on timer plugs, that way they look more realistic can go on and off a few times (who leaves there lights on all night?) and save money, you can also leave a radio or tv on a timer plug – then it really looks like your home.Did you guys not have to pay a lot extra to book at the last minuet? over here its about twice the price if you book in the last month.happy packing x
Michelle P says
Good idea! And no we don't usually pay anything more. We get our tickets through my dad's employee benefits and usually hotels are more flexible with their pricing.
financialconfessions says
If you get a newspaper, either cancel it for while you're gone or have someone come grab it everyday- a bunch of newspapers at the door or on the lawn signals to criminals that no one's there to pick them up.
This That and The MB says
Kauai omg I am jealous!!!! When we went to Maui we rented a Jeep. I didnt get 2 miles down the road I brought it back. I dont know how people drive those things. The winding roads felt like we were going to flip over. Got a red mustang when we brought it back! Mucchhh better
Michelle P says
We have a Jeep right now, so the BF wants one for when we're on vacation. I could really care less! A mustang would be much more fun.
lora kathleen says
I second the timer plug… we always did that as kids and some people I've housesat for in the past have timer plugs.Also put your mail on hold with USPS so it doesn't build up in the mailbox and your newspapers if you have any. The less things look out of place, the better!Kauai sounds awesome, I hope you have a blast!!
debtntaxes says
We have been tracking our spending this month (first time doing it) and I know at the end of the month when we add it all up we are going to see a high number for eating out. I think this will be easy to fix, but still sucks that we spent so much. Other than the food budget we should be somewhat normal on everything else.
Rafiki says
Things seem to be going well for you. I don't see the rain being a problem either even though I am not from Kauai. The rain may not even fall. I find weather predictions to be false most of time.
Live Simply- Live We says
Do you have AAA? They give car renal discounts. Or just google for discount codes. They should get you 10-20% off.
bogofdebt says
Have fun on your vacation! (So excitedly jealous of you–but in about 18 months I am going on one so I'll just be excited for you)
Anthony Thompson says
It sounds like you're doing just fine in spite of a few setbacks. You may call it laziness, but I don't see it that way at all. My guess is that you're suffering from some burnout, and need some "you with your family" time. This is much needed vacation, and I would just suggest that you rest as much as you can while you're enjoying your vacation. Hope that gives you a bit of a pick-me-up.
femmefrugality says
For rental car savings…check with your insurance company to see if they have any cooperative discounts with a specific rental agency. Not all do, but it's worth checking out. For being away from home…they actually sell these timers you can hook up to your lamps/other electronic devices. Then you can set them to turn off and on by themselves so it's more convincing.HAVE A TON OF FUN!!!!!!
Sarah says
That food looks AMAZING!!! I'm hungry now….ha! And Hawaii! That's exciting! Y'all are gonna have so much fun! Don't you forget to take some pictures so all of us jealous bloggers can at least pretend we are on a beach 🙂
SavvyFinancialLatina says
Ahh very jealous! I agree with Sarah, post some pictures :)I've been thinking of applying to Secret Shopper to see if I can get some extra money.
shopping2saving says
I'm hungry now that you posted all these food pics 🙁 And can't wait to hear about Kauai!!!! I know you will love it so much. I'm so jealous!
lil desiqua says
Nice job on not swaying from the list! Target is definitely one of my shopping black holes! As for leaving your house- last time we went away for 2 weeks, we had my bf's parents check in on it every other day or so, just to make sure everything was alright. We also put our mail on hold so it wouldn't build up in the box. Have a great time!
Faith says
You are amazing at this!!!Our neighbors always check on our house when we're away….do you have any neighbors you trust?We never rent a car for the whole trip … Just for a few days to save money!Have an amazing time!
Michelle P says
Are you from STL? I am!