Vacations

Everyone has a different financial situation.  In my case, my wife and I both live far away from our families.  As such, almost every year we spend nearly $1,000 on flights to and from our relatives.  As our family grows, so does the heartburn spending $2,000 for a week-long trip.  We wish the situation was different, but we have no control over where we can work or where others' live.  Here are some travel hacks that most frugalites use.

Expenses - Let's talk about the expenses for a week of vacation.  First, the flights around the holidays are about $400 round trip.  A rental car can be about $20- 30 per day.  We have two dogs, so a kennel or dog sitter can be $20-30 per day.  For two adults, that's $800 + $140 + $140 totaling $1080.  For a family of four, the total would be about $1880.  If we were to stay in a hotel, we'd be adding at least another $400 - $700.

Distance - Live close or really far away to/from your family.  If our families lived across town, I wouldn't be writing this article.  We'd lose, at most, a half tank of gas and one vacation day in that situation.  That'd be easy.  If they lived an ocean away, we'd spread out the trips and make it a real vacation by adding in extra cities and sights.  Since they live one direct flight away, we try to make one vacation a year.  While the kids are under two years old, flights are free for them.  As they age, we'll have to readjust the frequency of our trips.  [Story about expenses with no family or live near or live-in family]  Driving is a less costly, but time-consuming option.  For our situation, that'd be about 1,400 miles and an extra day of travel each way.  The savings stars to make sense with a family of four as this option would cost at most about $250 in gas and $150 on a hotel.  Traveling for an extra day and saving $400 does not make sense at our current salaries.  The extra day equates to an hourly rate of about $25 an hour ($400/16 hours).  With a family of four, saving $1200 does start to make sense as $75 an hour is far more than we make now.  Plus, we wouldn't have to rent a car or lug our luggage through an airport.

Transportation - We're lucky here as family usually picks us up and drops us off at the airport.  They will also let us borrow a car.  If you aren't so fortunate, rental companies often have member benefits for free days and upgrades.  We've also used corporate benefits through our companies and relatives to get these member perks without the membership hassle.

Credit Cards - We  make use of travel credit cards.  One major hub of Southwest is about a 20 minute drive, so we both use a Southwest Credit Card.  We pay for our flights using the card about make the rare purchase with it.  About every third flight is free with points and that helps a bunch.  For larger, pre-planned vacations abroad, we plan with a specific airline and build up miles ahead of time.  We pay property taxes using a couple of these cards and, usually, the flights are fully paid.  [Housing expense / property tax story]  The same can be done with hotel points and other rewards.  [Credit Card Rewards Story]

House and Dog Sitting - A long time ago, we would drop our two dogs off at a kennel for $43 a day.  After a few trips, we decided to have a couple dog sitters come to the house instead.  They charged $36 a day.  The dogs stayed in a comfortable locations, someone was checking on our house, and we avoided adding 30 minutes of travel on our already heavy travel days.  The downside eventually hit us though.  The sitters weren't very punctual and a dog became ill.  We came home to fecal explosions all over the house.  The best option took awhile mainly because we're both independent and antisocial.  We eventually made friend with a few neighbors who have pets.  We trade pet sitting duties, save money, and trust each other.  We should've been more friendly early-on as the benefits of having trusted friends nearby are huge.  [Support network][Emergencies]

Thanks,
Dan

Money Spent on Lunch

The best way to save money on weekday work lunch is to mass prepare everything.  Inexpensive ingredients can be combined into meals which can be frozen and taken when needed.  This is a great idea because the cost and time per meal is extremely low.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, lentil soup, and salads are all quick and easy.   I'd like to recommend that you do this, but I can't.  I have never done this and here's why.

In grade school, my mom would pack the same five or so lunches and send me on my way.  Ham and cheese or Lunchables with a couple snacks were mainstays.  I'm not complaining, that was a full meal and I never went hungry.  In college, Ramen, PB&J, and Granola Bars were a staple of my diet.  Now, I'm repelled from those foods.  They just don't elicit any desire to be eaten.  Eat something long enough and you'll grow to hate it.  This tends to happen to a lot of the mega-ultra-family pack purchases at discount wholesale stores like Costco, Sams, and BJs.  I'll buy a mega pack and wear myself out eating the same thing over and over.  Monotony is a struggle.  My co-workers bring brown bag lunches everyday and I'm a bit amazed at their resolve.

As with most things, moderation is key.  I'm not a mega ultra saver on lunch, but my wife and I do make mega portioned meals on Sunday.  We pack an extra few lunches for later in the week and save a bit that way.  Plus, the healthy and nutritional aspect of home cooked meal helps to balance out our other unhealthy eating habits.  The money saving aspect is only slightly influential in my food choices.  Compare the inexpensive lunch to eating out and you can save $5 per day or more than $1,250 a year.  Personally, I budget and spend about $8 per work lunch, which equates to about $2,000 a year.  That is a little painful to type, but this is my luxury item.  I bargain with myself by declining unnecessary extras such as soda, chips, and sweets on a regular basis.  The dollar saved sates my inner accountant.  This also sates my inner athlete and health-nut who is buried somewhere deep inside.  [Story about health and medical costs.]

I find the time spent lunching is more valuable to me than the dollars spent.  Here's a flowery and wistful view.  Lunch is a restorative time when you can get away and breathe fresh air in a peaceful, meditative trance.  All my bitterness subsides and I exhale a deep, easy breath.  While that isn't always the case, it does occur and is sometimes needed.  That time when no one needs me can be the best part of my day.  In contrast, the social lunch is the more important part.  Friends keep you mentally and emotionally stable.  Friends are crucial to enjoyment and career growth.  The information gained about your sphere of influence, upcoming possibilities, and new technologies will be the hammer you use to drive the nail into the rat race.  You'll gain a better understanding of your options, where you stand, and when to make moves.  More than once, this has helped me pull away from life's habitual periscope and open up my peripheral vision.

The emotional side of money is rarely discussed.  Losing $5 a day on lunch may be worth it.  Evaluate the importance levied your luxuries.    [Story about Consumerism & Luxury Items]  Manage your self alongside your finances.  Mental and emotional health matters.  Breaking for lunch allowed me to start new endeavors and find enjoyable hobbies.  Money Glider began as an idea during lunch.  Do you think it was worth it?

Thanks,
Dan

Hypermiling - Maximize your Miles per Gallon

The act of maximizing a car's miles per gallon is called Hypermiling.  In 2009, gas prices were about $2.50 and my commute increased to 40 miles round trip.  In my 1996 Volvo 850 at 24 miles per gallon, the daily cost of gas was $4.00 or about $1,520 a year.  To curb this expense, Hypermiling took my interest.  If you've already bought a vehicle with poor gas mileage and want to save cash, here are some suggestions for achieving better mileage.

Regular Preparation - A key to every endeavor is to have the right tools and setup.  Remove unneeded items  to reduce the weight of your car.  A car has lots of moving parts and its efficiency is detrimentally affected by excess weight and poor maintenance.  Your oil, spark plugs, and air filter should be changed per the schedule or sooner.  Those items factor into your engine's efficiency.  Use the correct gasoline.  Your engine is built for a specific octane.  A different octane will not improve your miles per gallon.  These are the normal items that everyone should follow.

Hypermiler Preparation - Hypermilers tweak these elements for best mileage.  As a warning, overdoing these tips can have undesirable impacts on handling, traction, and safety.  Less energy is expended by lower resistance tires.  Low rolling resistance tires can be bought.  Without buying new tires, you can inflate your tires with additional pressure.  A couple psi within normal operating range should lower rolling resistance.  The tire diameter will also increase allowing your vehicle to travel farther on the same amount of energy.

Hypermiler Mentality - The whole goal is to keep moving and conserve momentum.  Vehicles are the most efficient in the highest gear.  To get to the highest gear, accelerate evenly.  Quick acceleration can waste energy.  Speed increases wind resistance, so drive at or near the speed limit with the windows up.  Once at speed, maintain that speed by traveling on the highway or long stretches of road without stops. Use cruise control and balance the ebb and flow of the road and other drivers.  When stopping or slowing is needed, use your transmission to absorb momentum and adjust by slowly gliding.  Brakes will last longer this way.

I don't agree with some elements of Hypermiling.  Drafting like a NASCAR driver by tailing larger vehicles is tad extreme and can be unsafe.  I consider tailing other cars an aggressive behavior that can cause accidents or unwanted road rage.  It's an unnecessary risk.  Also, air conditioning uses gas, but its a necessity in Texas.

By using some of these methods, my miles per gallon increased 8% to 26 mpg.  This reduced my yearly cost of gasoline to $1,400, saving $120.  Some Hypermilers have attested to saving more than 20% using these methods.  Shortly after achieving my goals, I bought a new, more efficient car.  [Buying a new car]  [New vs Used Cars] To balance my fore-thoughtfulness, highway construction began and added a bit of traffic and gridlock.  As with all new hobbies, the convenient pieces became habit and improved my efficiency.  The knowledge and insight stuck with me while the inconvenient pieces fell away.  I still gun the accelerator with the windows down, but, for the most part, my driving style has improved and saved money to use in other ways.

Hope you enjoyed a good read.

-Dan