Scroll down to read about week 3, but I decided that this announcement is big enough to warrant its own post.
We have too much stuff and it is dragging us way down. We call
ourselves stuff bulimic. We binge and we purge. Thrifting and poverty
are a bad combination for us. We go to these shops and see all we can
have for just pennies on the dollar, and we know it would be hard for us
to buy it new, so we buy. and buy and buy. We get the endorphin rush,
but the $20 or $30 adds up, and our house gets more and more full.
Neither the Dude nor I like cleaning, so we spend a lot of time shoving
piles of stuff around. This has led to 2 momentous decisions:
1. We are on a big declutter tear! Yard sale next weekend
We spent all day yesterday decluttering. All day and into the wee hours.
We have finished the kitchen and gotten a pretty good start on the
living room. There is still: dining room/office, bedrooms, bathroom,
closets, basement. It is sad, when we moved here 2 years ago, we had 2
vehicles and one small uhaul trailer of stuff because we had gone
through and pared down like mad. Now we have regained at least as much
as we had. And how much money have we spent on that? The problem for us
with thrifting is we are never faced with the full cost. If we were
going to spend $300 on a new sofa, that would slow us down to think
about the purchase. But when it is only $30 at a thrift shop, well,
anyone can afford that! And oh, look at these napkins for 25 cents each!
And I need a pan like this and it is only $3. And who doesn't need
another book? Throw it in the cart. Although we might not need that
thing today, we will need it someday. Maybe. Of course, we might not be
able to find it.
A few things set me off on a big declutter. I am tired of the house
always being a mess. I really like our house. And yet it is constantly
in chaos. Dishes are always done, eating area is clear of food debris,
for th most part the dining room table is open to sit at, unless there
is a project going on. But even the kitchen is cluttered. I took
pictures but will post them next week, when I can place them side by
side with after shots. The Dude has been losing things and complaining
loudly about it. He and I have both been suffering depression and
anxiety lately, so it seems like a purge will help lift the spirits. A
garage sale will help the bank account. And I am just grossed out by how
much we are consuming. I helped a friend move a couple of weeks ago and
we were able to pack her whole house in a morning. We are planning to
move next year, and I want my move to go as smoothly. So, the purge
began. It actually started a few weeks ago, and we have had a basket or
two of yard sale stuff sitting in the front room since. The Dude and I
started decluttering books, and then stopped to go clear out space in
the shed. It was bad. Already filled with lots of give away stuff. An
hour or so of rearranging and now we have plenty of room to fill with
our discards. The Dude went off to work and I decided to get serious
about it. I turned on Hoarders. I wanted to really revel in where it can
all end up. I had never watched that show before and I saw that many
people start with : dealing with poverty and finding bargains. Uh-oh!
Let me assure you, we are not at hoarder level. Everyone has beds
cleared off to sleep on, all sitting surfaces in the living room are
free, there are clear paths through rooms. But the message hit home
nonetheless. The boys and I spent the evening decluttering the kitchen
and watching Hoarders and thinking about it all. We are decluttering and
it is freeing!
The scary thing though, is it is cyclical for me. Stuff bulimia. I am so
happy to purge, but I am also so happy to binge. However, this feeling
led me to decision #2:
2. We are going to extend No Spend for a year.
Everyone person or family is going to define No Spend their own way. We
have decided the crux of it for us is to avoid restaurants (especially
fast food) and thrift shops. Those are the leaky sieves for us. We will
be mindful of all spending of course, and will try not to spend on any
non-need item, but those are critical.
My reasoning for this step:
1. We are moving next year. We don't want to accumulate more stuff. We want to b free to move.
2. We are moving next year. We want to have a cushion to move on, which is more likely if we don't spend.
3. We want to break the cycle of spend and purge. I am tired of it, my
wallet is tired of it, my house is tired of it. We need to retrain
ourselves and perhaps this is the method to do so.
4. I am tired of wasting so much life energy on stuff! Thinking about
it, shopping for it, caring for it. This weekend was a beautiful
weekend. Instead of taking a bike ride, hike, or even working on my
thesis, I cleaned and decluttered. That wouldn't feel so bad if we were
clearing out 35 years worth of accumulation, but it is just two years
worth! I don't want to do that anymore. I want to live life on my terms.
I also really want to travel. To do that, I need to stay unencumbered
with stuff and keep the cash flowing. This exercise may set us on the
right path to do this.
Things I have learned on my purge:
We have enough soap and shampoo to last about a year.
We finally located the bulk Dr. Bronners we bought months ago.
Hoarders is amazing inspiration, even gets the kids excited to release.
Houses are much nicer when they are clean and airy.
Decluttering is one step forward, two steps back.
decluttering is more fun with family members pitching in.
Really purging a house is exhausting.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Week 3
Week 3 is a bit of a blur.
Sunday we hung about the house. It was nice to have an unplanned day.
Monday I needed to go to campus and I took the boys with me. On campus, they can play Wii games. This is a big deal since we don't have such things at our house. They played Wii for a couple of hours while I got some work done. OK, while I meant to get work done but played online instead! It was cool to see the little dudes interacting with college kids over these games. That evening, the Dude took Luigi to feed and care for horses at a horse rescue farm nearby our house. We were considering signing the boy up for a horse program, but it was $300. This is such a better deal for us: Free, 80 horses, Luigi learns the importance of caring for animals and learns what happens when animals are not cared for or thought out, and the place can really use as many hands as possible. They will be doing this weekly.
Tuesday was a hang about at home and get some work done day. In the evening, the Dude and I went grocery shopping and made a bit of a date of it. Usually, when we go grocery shopping, we throw in a round of thrift shopping, often leaving $100 poorer and with lots more stuff. Not now. We went to a coffee shop. The Dude got an Americano (probably around $3) and I didn't get anything. We walked around a bit and then went shopping. We got 2 snickers and a Mexican Coke and went and sat by the cows and had a snack. One of our favorite cheap dates.
Wednesday, Luigi had his art class at the library the next town north. We dropped Luigi and Rin at the library (Rin had permission to use the computer while he was there) and we went on a walk. I read up on hike potential before we left and we found this beautiful hike along the river. It was a bit difficult to find, but we stopped by the city hall and got a brush truck escort to the spot! Small town living at its finest :)
This was the river we hiked along
It was an old railroad track that has been dismantled, but not in all places.
We hiked for about an hour and then got the boys and went on a bike ride. We absolutely stumbled across a fabulous bike trail, complete with sandy beach!
This is not a bad view.
The wildflowers were in abundance
And our (tiny) sandy beach reward!
Thursday we went to an outdoor movie with kids and friends. After the movie, I got tired of the headache I had all day and went to Jack in the Box for a Jumbo Jack combo. It is an almost surefire cure for me, and I was ready for it to be gone!
Friday I had a nice time at a friend's house, and then came home and had a nice long phone chat with a dear old friend. The Dude got home from work late in the evening and was feeling down, so we took a walk to lift his spirits.
Saturday we spent all day decluttering and gathering things for a yard sale next week.
Things I have learned on my purge:
We have enough soap and shampoo to last about a year.
We finally located the bulk Dr. Bronners we bought months ago.
Hoarders is amazing inspiration, even gets the kids excited to release.
Houses are much nicer when they are clean and airy.
Decluttering is one step forward, two steps back.
decluttering is more fun with family members pitching in.
Really purging a house is exhausting.
Money spent this week:
The Dude's date night coffee: $3
Jack in the Box: $4.50
The Dude's dinners at work: $9
Total: $16.50
Sunday we hung about the house. It was nice to have an unplanned day.
Monday I needed to go to campus and I took the boys with me. On campus, they can play Wii games. This is a big deal since we don't have such things at our house. They played Wii for a couple of hours while I got some work done. OK, while I meant to get work done but played online instead! It was cool to see the little dudes interacting with college kids over these games. That evening, the Dude took Luigi to feed and care for horses at a horse rescue farm nearby our house. We were considering signing the boy up for a horse program, but it was $300. This is such a better deal for us: Free, 80 horses, Luigi learns the importance of caring for animals and learns what happens when animals are not cared for or thought out, and the place can really use as many hands as possible. They will be doing this weekly.
Tuesday was a hang about at home and get some work done day. In the evening, the Dude and I went grocery shopping and made a bit of a date of it. Usually, when we go grocery shopping, we throw in a round of thrift shopping, often leaving $100 poorer and with lots more stuff. Not now. We went to a coffee shop. The Dude got an Americano (probably around $3) and I didn't get anything. We walked around a bit and then went shopping. We got 2 snickers and a Mexican Coke and went and sat by the cows and had a snack. One of our favorite cheap dates.
Wednesday, Luigi had his art class at the library the next town north. We dropped Luigi and Rin at the library (Rin had permission to use the computer while he was there) and we went on a walk. I read up on hike potential before we left and we found this beautiful hike along the river. It was a bit difficult to find, but we stopped by the city hall and got a brush truck escort to the spot! Small town living at its finest :)
We hiked for about an hour and then got the boys and went on a bike ride. We absolutely stumbled across a fabulous bike trail, complete with sandy beach!
Thursday we went to an outdoor movie with kids and friends. After the movie, I got tired of the headache I had all day and went to Jack in the Box for a Jumbo Jack combo. It is an almost surefire cure for me, and I was ready for it to be gone!
Friday I had a nice time at a friend's house, and then came home and had a nice long phone chat with a dear old friend. The Dude got home from work late in the evening and was feeling down, so we took a walk to lift his spirits.
Saturday we spent all day decluttering and gathering things for a yard sale next week.
Things I have learned on my purge:
We have enough soap and shampoo to last about a year.
We finally located the bulk Dr. Bronners we bought months ago.
Hoarders is amazing inspiration, even gets the kids excited to release.
Houses are much nicer when they are clean and airy.
Decluttering is one step forward, two steps back.
decluttering is more fun with family members pitching in.
Really purging a house is exhausting.
Money spent this week:
The Dude's date night coffee: $3
Jack in the Box: $4.50
The Dude's dinners at work: $9
Total: $16.50
Friday, June 22, 2012
Week 2
We are not quite to the end of week 2, but I am avoiding thesis work, so I will update now!
We began the week with Father's Day. Although the boys are not being held to the no-spend challenge with their own money, I am encouraging them to be mindful of the experiment as well. I suggested they reach into themselves and their own talents to create gifts for their dad. They embraced the idea. Magnus is (still working on it) making a comic. Rin wrote an awesome and funny story. Luigi made this and fixed the Dude's knife sheath. We finished watching Colonial House.
I have been concerned about Luigi keeping busy. Well he worked it out himself this week. Paper crafts! He is currently designing a suit of armor (??) out of fiberglass, but the first step is a card stock mock up.
This project has been going on all week and is only at the beginning. He has found something to keep himself busy!
Wednesday was Luigi's birthday. I did not buy him a present since we had given him a tablet a few months back as an early gift. Scaling back my own expectations of what a birthday should be was a big lesson of the day. I am someone who believes every birthday should be phenomenal! And I have failed as a parent when they are less than that. We aren't into the bday party scene, so birthdays often equal trips to cities or camping or movie marathons. Something over the top. This year I realized it didn't have to be that and the kids are fine. So, no extra gifts. He spent the morning working on his papercraft. In the afternoon, we took him to an art program at a library the next town up. The evening festivities included a cookout, strawberry shortcake, and a bonfire. Luigi hung out around the campfire with his dad. They bent copper, made campfire tea and biscuits, and talked about life. The night ended with camping in the backyard.
We spent many quiet days at home this week. It was a nice change. I am working on my thesis and the boys are working on their projects. Trying to keep them off the computer has been challenging. I punished Rin with the hammock in the back yard, a book, and a glass of lemonade. I am a tough mom. We have moved on to the Colonial House series. It was brought to my attention by Magnus, which made me very happy.
We have a beautiful park near our house and we spent some time there, feeding ducks the crusty ends of our bread and visiting the farm animals that live next door to the park.
Cute pond, perfect for duck feeding
He finds friends wherever he goes
We took advantage of free library events and park spaces this week. We had planned to take a bike ride, but needed to do stuff round the house. The Dude hung our screen door, worked on our car topper, and made a small water fountain.
Although we are not including food costs in this experiment, we are trying to bring the overall cost down. Tonight, I made tortillas for the first time ever. Although they were tasty, it took an hour and a half to make enough for dinner! That seems over the top to me! Any advice from the audience? I am also looking for a good vegetarian baked bean recipe.
We are wrestling with the trickier parts of our budget. Does Netflix count as a necessity? The Dude bought batteries and glue sticks and some hardware for the door. Does that count? We are voting that Netflix is a necessity. Our library doesn't have really good selection of borrowing times. We only do the streaming plan. The things the Dude bought seem to be necessary and really framework basic building block type items, so we are not including them in the breakdown.
This week:
Iced Coffee (trying to stave off migraine while out, it failed): $2.50
Slice of pizza (The Dude): $1.25
Total: $3.75
And I will leave you with the free hat Luigi made for the little dog today. Paper cup, rubber band, duct tape. Cute dog.
We began the week with Father's Day. Although the boys are not being held to the no-spend challenge with their own money, I am encouraging them to be mindful of the experiment as well. I suggested they reach into themselves and their own talents to create gifts for their dad. They embraced the idea. Magnus is (still working on it) making a comic. Rin wrote an awesome and funny story. Luigi made this and fixed the Dude's knife sheath. We finished watching Colonial House.
I have been concerned about Luigi keeping busy. Well he worked it out himself this week. Paper crafts! He is currently designing a suit of armor (??) out of fiberglass, but the first step is a card stock mock up.
This project has been going on all week and is only at the beginning. He has found something to keep himself busy!
Wednesday was Luigi's birthday. I did not buy him a present since we had given him a tablet a few months back as an early gift. Scaling back my own expectations of what a birthday should be was a big lesson of the day. I am someone who believes every birthday should be phenomenal! And I have failed as a parent when they are less than that. We aren't into the bday party scene, so birthdays often equal trips to cities or camping or movie marathons. Something over the top. This year I realized it didn't have to be that and the kids are fine. So, no extra gifts. He spent the morning working on his papercraft. In the afternoon, we took him to an art program at a library the next town up. The evening festivities included a cookout, strawberry shortcake, and a bonfire. Luigi hung out around the campfire with his dad. They bent copper, made campfire tea and biscuits, and talked about life. The night ended with camping in the backyard.
We spent many quiet days at home this week. It was a nice change. I am working on my thesis and the boys are working on their projects. Trying to keep them off the computer has been challenging. I punished Rin with the hammock in the back yard, a book, and a glass of lemonade. I am a tough mom. We have moved on to the Colonial House series. It was brought to my attention by Magnus, which made me very happy.
We have a beautiful park near our house and we spent some time there, feeding ducks the crusty ends of our bread and visiting the farm animals that live next door to the park.
We took advantage of free library events and park spaces this week. We had planned to take a bike ride, but needed to do stuff round the house. The Dude hung our screen door, worked on our car topper, and made a small water fountain.
Although we are not including food costs in this experiment, we are trying to bring the overall cost down. Tonight, I made tortillas for the first time ever. Although they were tasty, it took an hour and a half to make enough for dinner! That seems over the top to me! Any advice from the audience? I am also looking for a good vegetarian baked bean recipe.
We are wrestling with the trickier parts of our budget. Does Netflix count as a necessity? The Dude bought batteries and glue sticks and some hardware for the door. Does that count? We are voting that Netflix is a necessity. Our library doesn't have really good selection of borrowing times. We only do the streaming plan. The things the Dude bought seem to be necessary and really framework basic building block type items, so we are not including them in the breakdown.
This week:
Iced Coffee (trying to stave off migraine while out, it failed): $2.50
Slice of pizza (The Dude): $1.25
Total: $3.75
And I will leave you with the free hat Luigi made for the little dog today. Paper cup, rubber band, duct tape. Cute dog.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
First week
The boys finished school on Tuesday, so it was the first week of summer for us.
It started with a separation. I helped a friend move to Portland and hung out there for the weekend. The Dude took the boys to the river to take advantage of Free Fishing Weekend. The first day of the weekend was too cold and wet and rainy. The second day, he could only coax the little dude out with him. Too bad, because it was a great day for it.
The little dude is learning to love fishing
Glorious Scenery
They were not the only ones out there fishing
The beaver was probably more successful.
They had a lot of fun. My friend picked up the tab for eating in Portland, to thank me for my big strong muscles :) I bought tea and a muffin on Monday, as well as a cookie at the airport. Maybe $7 spent. And it does fall into travel, which is something we are willing to spend money on this summer. The dude picked me and the other helper friend up at the airport, we had a picnic in a park on the way home.
I brought a cold home with me so was pretty miserable the next few days. The Little Dude had a 5th grade celebration *sniff*
*sniff* *sniff*
Now they were officially home from school! Let the summer begin.
They got signed up for summer reading. We have been watching 1940s House, 1900 House, and Frontier House. They are fascinating and fun and give a nice perspective.
So, now to keep the boys entertained. The boys do need to be bored and entertain themselves, but we also supply resources and want to hang out with them.
Since it has been so long since I have blogged, I will update names:
Magnus: Oldest son
Rin: Middle son
Luigi: Youngest son
Magnus and Rin are quite self directed, introverted, and contained. Magnus is 15, Rin is 13. Magnus is happy reading, drawing, walking downtown to the library and used bookstore. He blogs and reads stuff on the computer. He must be coerced into family fun sometimes. Rin can usually be found reading, playing video games, or Minecraft. Luigi is different. He is 11 (in 3 days) likes to read. But he also likes to build, hang out in nature, draw, create. He is more extroverted and needs more direction and companionship. So my challenge is finding things for Luigi to do and finding things interesting enough that they will engage the sullen teen types.
The Dude and Luigo made boffers. It turns out if you give a kid pool noodles, duct tape, and pvc pipes, they can do a lot. Boffers, torches, pocket knives, double ended weapons.
On grocery day, we took all the kids and dropped them off in town to wander around and be kids while we shopped. Then we picked them up and went to the park for an epic boffer battle.
Saturday, we headed to Idaho for more free fishing . Rin is not a fan of fishing, so he and I were going to hike while everyone else fished.
Meanwhile on the trail:
We didn't find a good trail near the fishing area, but we did find butterflies!
Luigi caught a fish
Then we spent some time catching frogs, which was ridiculously fun! I have never caught frogs before. It was a very simple activity which was great.
Our tally for the week:
1 lunch at Arby's: $13. We were running behind for lunch, heading to grocery shopping, and were in between home and shopping. The best solution seemed to be fast food. I set a $2.50 per person budget, so it was not outrageous.
1 State Park entrance fee $5. The trailer event was in a state park, so we had to pay the parking fee. Worth every penny.
1 after work pint of beer- $3.
1 during work lunch- $4.
Goal- $0. Actual- $25.
Upcoming week-Father's Day and a birthday on a zero dollar budget!
It started with a separation. I helped a friend move to Portland and hung out there for the weekend. The Dude took the boys to the river to take advantage of Free Fishing Weekend. The first day of the weekend was too cold and wet and rainy. The second day, he could only coax the little dude out with him. Too bad, because it was a great day for it.
They had a lot of fun. My friend picked up the tab for eating in Portland, to thank me for my big strong muscles :) I bought tea and a muffin on Monday, as well as a cookie at the airport. Maybe $7 spent. And it does fall into travel, which is something we are willing to spend money on this summer. The dude picked me and the other helper friend up at the airport, we had a picnic in a park on the way home.
I brought a cold home with me so was pretty miserable the next few days. The Little Dude had a 5th grade celebration *sniff*
Now they were officially home from school! Let the summer begin.
They got signed up for summer reading. We have been watching 1940s House, 1900 House, and Frontier House. They are fascinating and fun and give a nice perspective.
So, now to keep the boys entertained. The boys do need to be bored and entertain themselves, but we also supply resources and want to hang out with them.
Since it has been so long since I have blogged, I will update names:
Magnus: Oldest son
Rin: Middle son
Luigi: Youngest son
Magnus and Rin are quite self directed, introverted, and contained. Magnus is 15, Rin is 13. Magnus is happy reading, drawing, walking downtown to the library and used bookstore. He blogs and reads stuff on the computer. He must be coerced into family fun sometimes. Rin can usually be found reading, playing video games, or Minecraft. Luigi is different. He is 11 (in 3 days) likes to read. But he also likes to build, hang out in nature, draw, create. He is more extroverted and needs more direction and companionship. So my challenge is finding things for Luigi to do and finding things interesting enough that they will engage the sullen teen types.
The Dude and Luigo made boffers. It turns out if you give a kid pool noodles, duct tape, and pvc pipes, they can do a lot. Boffers, torches, pocket knives, double ended weapons.
On grocery day, we took all the kids and dropped them off in town to wander around and be kids while we shopped. Then we picked them up and went to the park for an epic boffer battle.
Saturday, we headed to Idaho for more free fishing . Rin is not a fan of fishing, so he and I were going to hike while everyone else fished.
Meanwhile on the trail:
Luigi caught a fish
Our tally for the week:
1 lunch at Arby's: $13. We were running behind for lunch, heading to grocery shopping, and were in between home and shopping. The best solution seemed to be fast food. I set a $2.50 per person budget, so it was not outrageous.
1 State Park entrance fee $5. The trailer event was in a state park, so we had to pay the parking fee. Worth every penny.
1 after work pint of beer- $3.
1 during work lunch- $4.
Goal- $0. Actual- $25.
Upcoming week-Father's Day and a birthday on a zero dollar budget!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
A No Spend Summer
Hello blog readers. Did you miss me?
Once again, that whole school thing got in the way. I was going to write more about my trip, then couldn't figure out how to quickly upload zillions of pics to go with it, then spent many days just organizing those pics, then had to get the house in order for back to school, then went to Portland for a week, and then school started. All those people who told me that the first year is the hardest lied. The second year was so hard. Well, not hard, but insanely busy. But I survived, even got good grades, and have students who like me and turned to me for advice. That is a good feeling. It is now summer and I must write my thesis. Yay.
Since it is summer, I have no funding. None. Current income-$0. I could try to get a job, but I need to write my thesis this summer. I am taking three classes in the fall, which is a heavy load. In the spring, I will be taking one class, studying for my giant qualifying exam (taken next summer) and packing to move. We will be moving back across the state to our "hometown" next July. I place that in quotes because it is not our hometown, we didn't grow up there or anywhere near there. But it is the place that we think of when we think of home. When I take (and pass) my exam, I will be ABD, all but dissertation. I will finish that work over there, and The Dude will get a real grown up job, or will go to graduate school, or both. So, next school year will be packed and now is the time to write.
The Dude has graduated college. Yay! But now we are living in a town that has a shortage of good jobs and an overage of qualified candidates. Therefore, he is at his old fallback-waiting tables. It is good but unsteady income. Overall our loan amount was much less in the spring-Dude had zero loans, since he graduated. I only took out the subsidized loan, and last year I took out both. So, we had quite a bit less money, but will owe less in the end. The Dude didn't have a job for a few months, so that was a hit to our pocketbook as well. The tax return is pretty much spent. I splurged out and bought an iPad, which I still feel good about because it actually keeps all my notes in one place and I am terribly disorganized. I tried to do notes on my computer, but I failed. I like to write in handwriting. The iPad will pay for itself when I have successfully completed my degree. We also had some dental bills and bought the littlest dude his own computer for his birthday. The Dude's student loan repayments have started. Whew. Money is tight right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8kRsoAZjpM
How should we respond?
We are planning to do a no-spend summer! Here are the rules: no spending on anything not necessary. We will be food, shoes (if needed), gas, and pay bills. We also include some family outings as necessary to our family sanity. We will be going to Glacier National Park for a week. We had planned to do a week in Yellowstone, but have decided to scale back. Now we are focusing on how we can get away for free. We live near some really pristine parts of the US, and for the past few years, we have been stocking up on backpacking gear. So, it occurred to me that maybe this year is the year to try out that equipment and do some backpacking. There are forests nearby that don't require a pass, and there is free camping in those forests, so the only cost will be gas. Of course, gas is almost $4 a gallon, so that cost is not insignificant. I have a (free) app on my iPad, Cost2Drive. It is sobering and may help keep some of the trips in check. We are also close to some really nice bike trails, so biking is on the summer list.
As for the rest of it, we simply won't buy it. It will be a summer without garage sales or thrift shops. This will be difficult, because we love both of those things. But the less we spend elsewhere, the less stress we will have about bills, and the more we will have to spend on trips.
So far, we have had some interesting things happening. On Wednesday, we decided we should do this. Friday, June 1st, might as well start then. But we also thought we might as well jump start it on Thursday. Thursday we went grocery shopping. On the way, we saw three super cute chairs in a free pile by an apartment complex. We have the ugliest chairs known to man in our dining room. I have wanted to replace them, but chairs are spendy. 4 of our chairs were ripped up vinyl. 2 of them are vinyl and not great, but not ripped up. We have one other vinyl chair that is cute but had no home. So we brought home the 3 chairs, added the 4th, homeless chair, kept the 2 blue ones, and now have a cute, eclectic mix for nothing.
We did our shopping, nothing extra at all, just what we needed. Then we were heading home and The Dude went past a furniture making shop. They had a TON of good wood out front, for free. The Dude is a pretty accomplished, self taught carpenter with quite a few projects on the list. Now he will not need to buy the wood for them.
Friday we were going to go out on a bike ride. The littlest dude couldn't find his helmet and so wanted to do out and buy a new one. We found it but it turns out that he is outgrowing it and so he still needs a new one. Well, it just so happened that there was a safety fair this weekend and they were giving out free helmets for kids under 16. We went to it, and our kids are giant and have big heads to match, so there weren't any large enough in stock. However, the woman working there gave us a coupon for a free helmet at the local bike shop. We went over today, got their heads measured and will have free helmets in 2 weeks.
I will post later about the many projects that are happening around our house. But I will give a glimpse at some of the ways we plan to entertain ourselves this summer for no money:
Swimming. We have an annual pass to our community pool. That will come in handy
Picnics in the park
Catching butterflies
Boffering with pool noodle boffers This is kind of a cheat because they aren't no cost. We bought the material in May. But that was before we knew we were no-spend challenging. We got the noodles at the Dollar Tree and the PVC pipe for handles was less than $5, so the total cost is less than $10 for a family full of boffers,
Croquet and bocce on our lawn or at the park
Disc golf. There is a course nearby
Games. We have lots of un-played board games
Stories by candlelight
Bonfires in the back yard
Blowing bubbles
Baking bread
Picking fruit
Biking
Hiking
Touring the campus
Making movies
Drawing
Painting
Nerf gun wars
Learning outdoor skills
Visiting local free events
In addition to a no spend challenge, we are limiting internet. The boys will not be using the internet during the day and there will be at least one day per week when the internet is turned off completely.
Kids skate free:
http://kidsskatefree.com/
Free Milkweed seeds (bring monarchs to your yard):
http://www.livemonarch.com/free-milkweed-seeds.htm
Kids bowl free. Two games per day, all summer long:
http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/#
Free Redbox movie rental codes:
http://www.coupondad.net/blog/redbox-free-rental-codes/
Redbox text club:
http://www.redbox.com/textclub
Once again, that whole school thing got in the way. I was going to write more about my trip, then couldn't figure out how to quickly upload zillions of pics to go with it, then spent many days just organizing those pics, then had to get the house in order for back to school, then went to Portland for a week, and then school started. All those people who told me that the first year is the hardest lied. The second year was so hard. Well, not hard, but insanely busy. But I survived, even got good grades, and have students who like me and turned to me for advice. That is a good feeling. It is now summer and I must write my thesis. Yay.
Since it is summer, I have no funding. None. Current income-$0. I could try to get a job, but I need to write my thesis this summer. I am taking three classes in the fall, which is a heavy load. In the spring, I will be taking one class, studying for my giant qualifying exam (taken next summer) and packing to move. We will be moving back across the state to our "hometown" next July. I place that in quotes because it is not our hometown, we didn't grow up there or anywhere near there. But it is the place that we think of when we think of home. When I take (and pass) my exam, I will be ABD, all but dissertation. I will finish that work over there, and The Dude will get a real grown up job, or will go to graduate school, or both. So, next school year will be packed and now is the time to write.
The Dude has graduated college. Yay! But now we are living in a town that has a shortage of good jobs and an overage of qualified candidates. Therefore, he is at his old fallback-waiting tables. It is good but unsteady income. Overall our loan amount was much less in the spring-Dude had zero loans, since he graduated. I only took out the subsidized loan, and last year I took out both. So, we had quite a bit less money, but will owe less in the end. The Dude didn't have a job for a few months, so that was a hit to our pocketbook as well. The tax return is pretty much spent. I splurged out and bought an iPad, which I still feel good about because it actually keeps all my notes in one place and I am terribly disorganized. I tried to do notes on my computer, but I failed. I like to write in handwriting. The iPad will pay for itself when I have successfully completed my degree. We also had some dental bills and bought the littlest dude his own computer for his birthday. The Dude's student loan repayments have started. Whew. Money is tight right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8kRsoAZjpM
How should we respond?
We are planning to do a no-spend summer! Here are the rules: no spending on anything not necessary. We will be food, shoes (if needed), gas, and pay bills. We also include some family outings as necessary to our family sanity. We will be going to Glacier National Park for a week. We had planned to do a week in Yellowstone, but have decided to scale back. Now we are focusing on how we can get away for free. We live near some really pristine parts of the US, and for the past few years, we have been stocking up on backpacking gear. So, it occurred to me that maybe this year is the year to try out that equipment and do some backpacking. There are forests nearby that don't require a pass, and there is free camping in those forests, so the only cost will be gas. Of course, gas is almost $4 a gallon, so that cost is not insignificant. I have a (free) app on my iPad, Cost2Drive. It is sobering and may help keep some of the trips in check. We are also close to some really nice bike trails, so biking is on the summer list.
As for the rest of it, we simply won't buy it. It will be a summer without garage sales or thrift shops. This will be difficult, because we love both of those things. But the less we spend elsewhere, the less stress we will have about bills, and the more we will have to spend on trips.
So far, we have had some interesting things happening. On Wednesday, we decided we should do this. Friday, June 1st, might as well start then. But we also thought we might as well jump start it on Thursday. Thursday we went grocery shopping. On the way, we saw three super cute chairs in a free pile by an apartment complex. We have the ugliest chairs known to man in our dining room. I have wanted to replace them, but chairs are spendy. 4 of our chairs were ripped up vinyl. 2 of them are vinyl and not great, but not ripped up. We have one other vinyl chair that is cute but had no home. So we brought home the 3 chairs, added the 4th, homeless chair, kept the 2 blue ones, and now have a cute, eclectic mix for nothing.
We did our shopping, nothing extra at all, just what we needed. Then we were heading home and The Dude went past a furniture making shop. They had a TON of good wood out front, for free. The Dude is a pretty accomplished, self taught carpenter with quite a few projects on the list. Now he will not need to buy the wood for them.
Friday we were going to go out on a bike ride. The littlest dude couldn't find his helmet and so wanted to do out and buy a new one. We found it but it turns out that he is outgrowing it and so he still needs a new one. Well, it just so happened that there was a safety fair this weekend and they were giving out free helmets for kids under 16. We went to it, and our kids are giant and have big heads to match, so there weren't any large enough in stock. However, the woman working there gave us a coupon for a free helmet at the local bike shop. We went over today, got their heads measured and will have free helmets in 2 weeks.
I will post later about the many projects that are happening around our house. But I will give a glimpse at some of the ways we plan to entertain ourselves this summer for no money:
Swimming. We have an annual pass to our community pool. That will come in handy
Picnics in the park
Catching butterflies
Boffering with pool noodle boffers This is kind of a cheat because they aren't no cost. We bought the material in May. But that was before we knew we were no-spend challenging. We got the noodles at the Dollar Tree and the PVC pipe for handles was less than $5, so the total cost is less than $10 for a family full of boffers,
Croquet and bocce on our lawn or at the park
Disc golf. There is a course nearby
Games. We have lots of un-played board games
Stories by candlelight
Bonfires in the back yard
Blowing bubbles
Baking bread
Picking fruit
Biking
Hiking
Touring the campus
Making movies
Drawing
Painting
Nerf gun wars
Learning outdoor skills
Visiting local free events
In addition to a no spend challenge, we are limiting internet. The boys will not be using the internet during the day and there will be at least one day per week when the internet is turned off completely.
Kids skate free:
http://kidsskatefree.com/
Free Milkweed seeds (bring monarchs to your yard):
http://www.livemonarch.com/free-milkweed-seeds.htm
Kids bowl free. Two games per day, all summer long:
http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/#
Free Redbox movie rental codes:
http://www.coupondad.net/blog/redbox-free-rental-codes/
Redbox text club:
http://www.redbox.com/textclub
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The epic overview
Hello all!
We have returned. Washington to Washington and back. 7845 miles. 25 days.
I will give a full recording over the coming days and weeks, but wanted to run through the highlights quickly.
Coolest discovery: we can travel in a small minivan for that many days and miles with only mild squabbling.
Favorite state: Montana
Least favorite state: New Jersey
Most surprising state: North Dakota
Favorite city in MT: Bozeman
Favorite town across the whole country: Medora, ND
Hottest temperature: 115 with heat index, Washington DC
Coldest temperature: below 45 (estimated) Gallatin National Forest, MT
Favorite accommodation: Sandy's house!
Nicest hotel: Hyatt Place by the Dulles airport
Most surprising hotel: Baymont Inn and Suites Des Moines, IA
Worst motel: Thoroughbred Lodge White River, SD
Best campground: Langohr in the Gallatin National Forest
Worst campground: KOA in Kankakee, IL
Best public transit experience: Staten Island Ferry
Best surprise: 1. Finding out the Dude's sister and brother-in-law were stuck at a hotel right by Dulles when we were there. We got to see them before they returned to Paris.
2. Museum of Modern Art was open on Tuesday in summers. Very shocking!
Worst surprise
1. The $800 worth of repairs in DC
2. The unflushed (very unflushed) toilet in our motel room in White River, SD
Coolest souvenir:
A hook newly forged before our eyes by a blacksmith at a living history museum. Won by Magnus (oldest son) for answering the test question correctly. What was the blacksmith's favorite working temperature for steel? 1800 degrees F.
Most prolific free/odd souvenir finder: Luigi (Youngest son)
Strangest roadside find:
1. A long distance unicyclist on the freeway in northern Idaho
2. A dead top half of a garter snake with 2 live babies inside at a rest stop in Iowa.
Coolest unplanned museum stop: Museum of the Rockies Bozeman, MT
Guiding motto of the trip:
In 10 years what will we remember? That we got there on time or that we got in late and had a lot of fun?
Best boat trip:
Maid of the Mist (Niagara Falls)
Worst boat trip:
Chicago Water Taxi across Lake Michigan (riding backwards on the engine)
Best Beach:
Lake Michigan, Michigan
Best roadside picnic stop:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park rest stop, ND->Bison across the canyon and horses in the parking lot
Fort Niagara State Park. Eating dinner on the banks of Lake Ontario with the sun setting over the lake and Toronto skyline looming in the distance
Thing that brought me closest to the tear: Star Spangled Banner (THE Star Spangled Banner) at Smithsonian American History Museum
Coolest things to see:
1. Hope Diamond
2. The Air and Space Museum
3. Prairie Dog Towns
4. Les Demoiselles D'Avignon
5. Forevortron
6. Family and friends
7. Hundreds of different types of barbed wire on display
8. Opera singer in a tunnel in Central Park complete with crutches
9. Moon rise over Lake Wassota
10. Thousands of fireflies in Illinois
Coolest things we did
1. See Lincoln Memorial
2. Rode subway to Times Square
3. Horse and buggy ride in Medora, ND
4. Drive through liquor store Dayton Ohio
5. Dune climbing at Lake Michigan, Michigan
6. See the world's largest Holstein cow: Salem Sue New Salem, ND
7. Setting up camp by moonlight on Cayuga Lake, NY
8. Visited the ugliest state capitol (building not city) in the US: Bismarck, ND
9. Bought lunch meat from an Amish butcher in Nappanee, IN
10. Rode the "trolley" in Chicago
Scariest happenings:
1. Car trouble in DC
2. Connecticut driving
3. New Jersey driving
4. Driving directly into a huge and damaging thunderstorm in SD and then turning back to outrun it and finding the only motel for 50 miles to have the office closed. While waiting for the manager, we then heard a siren, possibly tornado!
5. Gas station northern Idaho
6. Gas station Livingston MT
7. Getting lost in Niagara Falls, NY
8. Skinhead campground neighbors, Kankakee, IL
9. Driving north of Chicago
10. Losing Magnus at the Lincoln Memorial
Biggest disappointments:
1. Missing Lego store at Mall of America
2. Jamestown, ND
3. Not finding our campsite-Flathead Lake, MT
4. Field Museum (Sue) and missing MOSI and other museums in favor of that one
5. Not going to National Archives
6. Atlantic City
7. Not camping in Badlands
8. Not visiting Greenwich Village
9. Our motel room in Wildwoods, NJ
10. The heat and humidity from Chicago-DC
State Awards
Awesomest: Montana
Crappiest: NJ
Worst road conditions: NJ and NY tie
Worst road signage: NJ
Worst drivers: CT honorable mention: IL
Most overpriced for time spent ratio: Delaware
Most overpriced food: DC (not a state, but)
Most toll booths: IL
Best rest area welcome center: Wyoming
Saddest rest areas: Montana Honorable mention: Minnesota (closed due to govt shut down while we were there)
Most exciting: South Dakota
State with most sandbags holding water off the freeway: Iowa. Runners-up Minnesota and North Dakota
Most sanity saving device: Audio books
Favorite audiobooks:
Stormy Weather Carl Hiassen
Smoke Jumper
Journey James Mitchener
A Reason for Hope Jane Goodall
More to come. Stay tuned....
We have returned. Washington to Washington and back. 7845 miles. 25 days.
I will give a full recording over the coming days and weeks, but wanted to run through the highlights quickly.
Coolest discovery: we can travel in a small minivan for that many days and miles with only mild squabbling.
Favorite state: Montana
Least favorite state: New Jersey
Most surprising state: North Dakota
Favorite city in MT: Bozeman
Favorite town across the whole country: Medora, ND
Hottest temperature: 115 with heat index, Washington DC
Coldest temperature: below 45 (estimated) Gallatin National Forest, MT
Favorite accommodation: Sandy's house!
Nicest hotel: Hyatt Place by the Dulles airport
Most surprising hotel: Baymont Inn and Suites Des Moines, IA
Worst motel: Thoroughbred Lodge White River, SD
Best campground: Langohr in the Gallatin National Forest
Worst campground: KOA in Kankakee, IL
Best public transit experience: Staten Island Ferry
Best surprise: 1. Finding out the Dude's sister and brother-in-law were stuck at a hotel right by Dulles when we were there. We got to see them before they returned to Paris.
2. Museum of Modern Art was open on Tuesday in summers. Very shocking!
Worst surprise
1. The $800 worth of repairs in DC
2. The unflushed (very unflushed) toilet in our motel room in White River, SD
Coolest souvenir:
A hook newly forged before our eyes by a blacksmith at a living history museum. Won by Magnus (oldest son) for answering the test question correctly. What was the blacksmith's favorite working temperature for steel? 1800 degrees F.
Most prolific free/odd souvenir finder: Luigi (Youngest son)
Strangest roadside find:
1. A long distance unicyclist on the freeway in northern Idaho
2. A dead top half of a garter snake with 2 live babies inside at a rest stop in Iowa.
Coolest unplanned museum stop: Museum of the Rockies Bozeman, MT
Guiding motto of the trip:
In 10 years what will we remember? That we got there on time or that we got in late and had a lot of fun?
Best boat trip:
Maid of the Mist (Niagara Falls)
Worst boat trip:
Chicago Water Taxi across Lake Michigan (riding backwards on the engine)
Best Beach:
Lake Michigan, Michigan
Best roadside picnic stop:
Theodore Roosevelt National Park rest stop, ND->Bison across the canyon and horses in the parking lot
Fort Niagara State Park. Eating dinner on the banks of Lake Ontario with the sun setting over the lake and Toronto skyline looming in the distance
Thing that brought me closest to the tear: Star Spangled Banner (THE Star Spangled Banner) at Smithsonian American History Museum
Coolest things to see:
1. Hope Diamond
2. The Air and Space Museum
3. Prairie Dog Towns
4. Les Demoiselles D'Avignon
5. Forevortron
6. Family and friends
7. Hundreds of different types of barbed wire on display
8. Opera singer in a tunnel in Central Park complete with crutches
9. Moon rise over Lake Wassota
10. Thousands of fireflies in Illinois
Coolest things we did
1. See Lincoln Memorial
2. Rode subway to Times Square
3. Horse and buggy ride in Medora, ND
4. Drive through liquor store Dayton Ohio
5. Dune climbing at Lake Michigan, Michigan
6. See the world's largest Holstein cow: Salem Sue New Salem, ND
7. Setting up camp by moonlight on Cayuga Lake, NY
8. Visited the ugliest state capitol (building not city) in the US: Bismarck, ND
9. Bought lunch meat from an Amish butcher in Nappanee, IN
10. Rode the "trolley" in Chicago
Scariest happenings:
1. Car trouble in DC
2. Connecticut driving
3. New Jersey driving
4. Driving directly into a huge and damaging thunderstorm in SD and then turning back to outrun it and finding the only motel for 50 miles to have the office closed. While waiting for the manager, we then heard a siren, possibly tornado!
5. Gas station northern Idaho
6. Gas station Livingston MT
7. Getting lost in Niagara Falls, NY
8. Skinhead campground neighbors, Kankakee, IL
9. Driving north of Chicago
10. Losing Magnus at the Lincoln Memorial
Biggest disappointments:
1. Missing Lego store at Mall of America
2. Jamestown, ND
3. Not finding our campsite-Flathead Lake, MT
4. Field Museum (Sue) and missing MOSI and other museums in favor of that one
5. Not going to National Archives
6. Atlantic City
7. Not camping in Badlands
8. Not visiting Greenwich Village
9. Our motel room in Wildwoods, NJ
10. The heat and humidity from Chicago-DC
State Awards
Awesomest: Montana
Crappiest: NJ
Worst road conditions: NJ and NY tie
Worst road signage: NJ
Worst drivers: CT honorable mention: IL
Most overpriced for time spent ratio: Delaware
Most overpriced food: DC (not a state, but)
Most toll booths: IL
Best rest area welcome center: Wyoming
Saddest rest areas: Montana Honorable mention: Minnesota (closed due to govt shut down while we were there)
Most exciting: South Dakota
State with most sandbags holding water off the freeway: Iowa. Runners-up Minnesota and North Dakota
Most sanity saving device: Audio books
Favorite audiobooks:
Stormy Weather Carl Hiassen
Smoke Jumper
Journey James Mitchener
A Reason for Hope Jane Goodall
More to come. Stay tuned....
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Over the river and through the woods...
Long time no post. That whole graduate school deal got in the way of my blogging!
A while back I wrote a whiny rant about our lack of travel. We have decided to do something about it. The Dude's dad got sick last month and it put the need to see him on the front burner. We looked into airline tickets for the Dude to fly out. Over $600. We figure that it wouldn't cost too much more for us all to drive out and then boys could see their grandfather.
We have some interesting things in our house. For one, our youngest has never seen fireflies. He really wants to and has been angling for a trip east of the Rockies in order to fulfill this desire. For another, my boys want to see Washington DC. My oldest had the opportunity to go with his class this year, but the package was $2500. I really thought we could take him and his brothers to see DC for around the same price. So we began to plan for such a trip. But when? First we thought of this summer, but I want to work on my thesis and the cost seemed like a lot. Next summer? Maybe, but I will have a conference in Denver and so that puts DC out of reach. The following summer I will need to prep for my qualifying exam. It was getting further and further out and became a "someday." Of course, the oldest is entering 9th grade in the fall and we are running out of somedays. But the conversation got shelved for several months.
The youngest was writing a poem and somehow the Smithsonian came up. He asked if we were ever going to go there. We began talking and realized this is a priority. We thought about going next year and tacking it onto our Denver trip. But then we realized that the Dude would be paying $600 to fly out, so we thought it would make more sense to roll that into our travel fund, add to it, and take off this summer. We have money in the bank and are able to at this time.
We leave tomorrow. This blog will turn into my travel blog for a little while. I thought of starting a new blog for the journey, but decided that this is a good example of living well while broke.
The trip is 3 1/2 weeks long. We wanted to upsize to a Suburban so that we would have more leg and elbow room, but it came down to: we can stay home and buy an SUV or keep our minivan and hit the road. The road beckoned all of us. So we will be spending the next 3 1/2 weeks in a small minivan. We have downscaled our things. Everyone is taking 3 days worth of clothes. We have a small box of books on tape and compact games to keep us entertained. We will be buying food along the way. This smaller scale living should help the gas mileage some as well.
Best way to save money while traveling is to camp. We will be doing this all along the way. We splurged a bit and bought an air mattress. It is more than paid for the first night in a tent instead of a hotel. All the rest of the camping equipment was bought used. We will be camping at state, city, and national parks, with a few private campgrounds thrown in. I did use the reservation services. This is a mixed bag. It is nerve wracking to travel without knowing whether you have a site, especially if you are driving late into the night. But with each reservation, I was greeted with a $5-$9 reservation fee. And if I needed to change a reservation, there would be a double penalty-a cancellation charge and a new reservation fee. For some nights we are going without a reservation. However, even with fees, our lodging for 3 1/2 weeks is running about $500. We have budgeted another $500 for meals out. I don't think we will use that much, but I wanted to overplan. I am not including camp and road food that we buy at grocery stores because we would be eating anyway.
Gas is our biggest expense and there is no way around it. I used Gas Buddy to try to find our cheapest option.
For attractions, I have scoured guide books and the Internet seeking out the best free and cheap things to do. We have a rich and varied itinerary and are spending less than $200 on activities. All told, our 3 1/2 week vacation for 5 should cost around $3000. I know that this is a lot, but for what it is, I think it is pretty good.
Highlights:
2 days in Chicago, 3 days in DC, 2 days in NYC
Museum of Modern Art
Greenwich Village
Staten Island Ferry as mode of transportation
Maid of the Mist (maybe) Niagara Falls
Cape May
DoWop tour in Wildwood, NJ
Field Museum of Natural History (Sue!)
Museum of Science and Industry (largest science museum on the western hemisphere)
Lake Michigan boat ride
National Zoo
Air and Space
Sand Dunes
Deep River Muster
Badlands
Lego Stores
SPAM Museum
Music Man Square
and the list goes on...
I will be blogging about it when I can, but I intend to keep notes and update and dump pictures here after the trip is over.
25 days, 7000 miles, 18 states, lots of nights under the stars.
Stayed tuned....
A while back I wrote a whiny rant about our lack of travel. We have decided to do something about it. The Dude's dad got sick last month and it put the need to see him on the front burner. We looked into airline tickets for the Dude to fly out. Over $600. We figure that it wouldn't cost too much more for us all to drive out and then boys could see their grandfather.
We have some interesting things in our house. For one, our youngest has never seen fireflies. He really wants to and has been angling for a trip east of the Rockies in order to fulfill this desire. For another, my boys want to see Washington DC. My oldest had the opportunity to go with his class this year, but the package was $2500. I really thought we could take him and his brothers to see DC for around the same price. So we began to plan for such a trip. But when? First we thought of this summer, but I want to work on my thesis and the cost seemed like a lot. Next summer? Maybe, but I will have a conference in Denver and so that puts DC out of reach. The following summer I will need to prep for my qualifying exam. It was getting further and further out and became a "someday." Of course, the oldest is entering 9th grade in the fall and we are running out of somedays. But the conversation got shelved for several months.
The youngest was writing a poem and somehow the Smithsonian came up. He asked if we were ever going to go there. We began talking and realized this is a priority. We thought about going next year and tacking it onto our Denver trip. But then we realized that the Dude would be paying $600 to fly out, so we thought it would make more sense to roll that into our travel fund, add to it, and take off this summer. We have money in the bank and are able to at this time.
We leave tomorrow. This blog will turn into my travel blog for a little while. I thought of starting a new blog for the journey, but decided that this is a good example of living well while broke.
The trip is 3 1/2 weeks long. We wanted to upsize to a Suburban so that we would have more leg and elbow room, but it came down to: we can stay home and buy an SUV or keep our minivan and hit the road. The road beckoned all of us. So we will be spending the next 3 1/2 weeks in a small minivan. We have downscaled our things. Everyone is taking 3 days worth of clothes. We have a small box of books on tape and compact games to keep us entertained. We will be buying food along the way. This smaller scale living should help the gas mileage some as well.
Best way to save money while traveling is to camp. We will be doing this all along the way. We splurged a bit and bought an air mattress. It is more than paid for the first night in a tent instead of a hotel. All the rest of the camping equipment was bought used. We will be camping at state, city, and national parks, with a few private campgrounds thrown in. I did use the reservation services. This is a mixed bag. It is nerve wracking to travel without knowing whether you have a site, especially if you are driving late into the night. But with each reservation, I was greeted with a $5-$9 reservation fee. And if I needed to change a reservation, there would be a double penalty-a cancellation charge and a new reservation fee. For some nights we are going without a reservation. However, even with fees, our lodging for 3 1/2 weeks is running about $500. We have budgeted another $500 for meals out. I don't think we will use that much, but I wanted to overplan. I am not including camp and road food that we buy at grocery stores because we would be eating anyway.
Gas is our biggest expense and there is no way around it. I used Gas Buddy to try to find our cheapest option.
For attractions, I have scoured guide books and the Internet seeking out the best free and cheap things to do. We have a rich and varied itinerary and are spending less than $200 on activities. All told, our 3 1/2 week vacation for 5 should cost around $3000. I know that this is a lot, but for what it is, I think it is pretty good.
Highlights:
2 days in Chicago, 3 days in DC, 2 days in NYC
Museum of Modern Art
Greenwich Village
Staten Island Ferry as mode of transportation
Maid of the Mist (maybe) Niagara Falls
Cape May
DoWop tour in Wildwood, NJ
Field Museum of Natural History (Sue!)
Museum of Science and Industry (largest science museum on the western hemisphere)
Lake Michigan boat ride
National Zoo
Air and Space
Sand Dunes
Deep River Muster
Badlands
Lego Stores
SPAM Museum
Music Man Square
and the list goes on...
I will be blogging about it when I can, but I intend to keep notes and update and dump pictures here after the trip is over.
25 days, 7000 miles, 18 states, lots of nights under the stars.
Stayed tuned....
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