It’s time to get back on the money savings plan. 2 weeks ago, I started two 5 day mini-vacations back to back: one with my step dad and one with my immediate family. During these vacations, I spent a lot of money, on average, each day.
At the end of the 2nd vacation, I found myself feeling some guilt about all the money I spent. Could I afford it? Absolutely. But, the money could have put us 1 month closer to our goal.
The other interesting feeling is “How do I get back into the saving mode?” With the end of vacation number 2, I wondered if I could stop spending. Maybe this is what a dieter feels like after being on a diet for 2 years then gorges on chocolate cake for 10 days.
I’m happy to report, I’ve successfully stopped being a spending glutton. All it took was putting foremost in my mind the end goal: sailing around the world. I imagined the sea spray, the wind, the anchorages, the salt smell, the girls sighting dolphins, and Val’s pride as she sails the boat through blue green emerald clear water.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Vacation with a Kitchen
About a week ago, the family went on a “normal” vacation staying on Hilton Head Island (in South Carolina). By normal, I mean a standard hotel room with 2 twin beds and no kitchen. Usually we avoid such vacations because they are costly and inconvenient but it was tied to a work function so we went. For us, we nearly always vacation with a kitchen in our room. Staying in a standard room reconfirmed our preferred mode of having our own place to prepare food.
Each meal we found ourselves looking at each other wondering what we should do. Some times we elected to snack (we brought small stuff), other times we wanted a full on meal. That meant we put on public presentable clothes and either wandered downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant or we hopped in the car and set off looking for food. Not only were each of these propositions expensive, but also inconvenient.
When we vacation, we don’t go for food (we know some folks do). We go on vacation to enjoy surroundings we don’t normally have (like the beach) and to spend time together. The food situation meant less time on the beach and more money out of our pockets. We’ve reconfirmed, we would much rather travel to a location where we had our own kitchen. If you’ve never traveled this way, we can’t recommend it strongly enough.
Each meal we found ourselves looking at each other wondering what we should do. Some times we elected to snack (we brought small stuff), other times we wanted a full on meal. That meant we put on public presentable clothes and either wandered downstairs to the hotel’s restaurant or we hopped in the car and set off looking for food. Not only were each of these propositions expensive, but also inconvenient.
When we vacation, we don’t go for food (we know some folks do). We go on vacation to enjoy surroundings we don’t normally have (like the beach) and to spend time together. The food situation meant less time on the beach and more money out of our pockets. We’ve reconfirmed, we would much rather travel to a location where we had our own kitchen. If you’ve never traveled this way, we can’t recommend it strongly enough.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
What matters most to a 77 year old?
About 2 months ago, I offered my step-dad (Lamar) a vacation of a life time ... I asked him were he wanted to go ... anywhere in the world! 7 years ago, I did the same thing with my mother and we ended up in the Arctic circle. So, I was prepared for whatever. Within 10 minutes of hanging up the phone with my step-dad when I made the offer, he called me back. "Hello?" "Hi, Bill ... I bet you didn't expect me to call back so quickly did ya?" "No I didn't ... so what did you decide?"
His response to the go and do anything you want in the world question was really interesting. It wasn't an African safari, or seeing the Great Wall of China, or riding camels in Egypt, or taking a rail across Europe ... nope, none of that.
"Bill", he said, "I want to go see my high school best friend Dave in Phoenix."
Woah. You are offered a trip anywhere to do anything, and you want to go to Phoenix to visit your high school friend?
"Yeah, his health hasn't been so good lately and I want to see him before he dies ... it has been at least 50 years since I've seen him."
Last week we returned from our "step-dad and son adventure any where in the world" from Phoenix, AZ .. Mesa actually. We met with Dave, and his amazing wife Sylvia, 2 times over our 5 days. The reunion and recollection of stories was fantastic. Each one had a different sliver or information and between the three (Sylvia was Dave's high school sweet heart) some super stories emerged, including the "bouncing the brand new, fresh out of college teachers car between two walls" story (they pinned the newbie teachers car in a position requiring 60 some odd 2 inch back and forth maneuvers for the teacher to get the car out). They also share how they would stoke a furnace with "Green Coal" and it would send nasty smelling, heavy smoke into the library causing everyone to race out. Other stories included causing toilets to over flow and get kids bottoms wet. On and on the time went.
What was also a common theme was how many of their classmates have died. Do you remember old so and so? Yeah. Well, he's dead.
After some long nights of regaling past high school boy antics and glory, they agreed to catch up again.
While riding back from dinner with Dave, he leaned over to me and said, "I wish I had kept in better contact with Lamar over the years." The look of sadness and sincerity in his eyes were almost haunting.
As the end of life is obviously closer, for these 77 year old men, what mattered most was their friends... old, good friends.
His response to the go and do anything you want in the world question was really interesting. It wasn't an African safari, or seeing the Great Wall of China, or riding camels in Egypt, or taking a rail across Europe ... nope, none of that.
"Bill", he said, "I want to go see my high school best friend Dave in Phoenix."
Woah. You are offered a trip anywhere to do anything, and you want to go to Phoenix to visit your high school friend?
"Yeah, his health hasn't been so good lately and I want to see him before he dies ... it has been at least 50 years since I've seen him."
Last week we returned from our "step-dad and son adventure any where in the world" from Phoenix, AZ .. Mesa actually. We met with Dave, and his amazing wife Sylvia, 2 times over our 5 days. The reunion and recollection of stories was fantastic. Each one had a different sliver or information and between the three (Sylvia was Dave's high school sweet heart) some super stories emerged, including the "bouncing the brand new, fresh out of college teachers car between two walls" story (they pinned the newbie teachers car in a position requiring 60 some odd 2 inch back and forth maneuvers for the teacher to get the car out). They also share how they would stoke a furnace with "Green Coal" and it would send nasty smelling, heavy smoke into the library causing everyone to race out. Other stories included causing toilets to over flow and get kids bottoms wet. On and on the time went.
What was also a common theme was how many of their classmates have died. Do you remember old so and so? Yeah. Well, he's dead.
After some long nights of regaling past high school boy antics and glory, they agreed to catch up again.
While riding back from dinner with Dave, he leaned over to me and said, "I wish I had kept in better contact with Lamar over the years." The look of sadness and sincerity in his eyes were almost haunting.
As the end of life is obviously closer, for these 77 year old men, what mattered most was their friends... old, good friends.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Toothpaste – Roll up or Squeeze?
Toothpaste is one of those items you just can’t do without. Sure, you could use some baking soda, but that is good only for awhile and can become quite caustic to your teeth. So, let’s go with the premise that toothpaste is one of those things you can’t avoid.
How do you maximize your toothpaste? Simply become a roller. Roll your toothpaste from the bottom upward. In our highly scientific tests, we learned can get an additional 6 brushings out of a toothpaste tube we rolled up.
Don’t be a squeezer .. you will never get every drop of toothpaste out of your tube. There are some toothpaste rollers out there that you can buy. They clip on the end of the toothpaste tube to help you roll upwards, but why bother? You can do it all by yourself.
Can't get away from that amazing feeling of a good squeeze? No worries ... squeeze all that you can and want and then, just when you think you've squeezed as much as you possibly can, defer to the roll up model. You will still maintain the psychological benefits of the squeeze but you will also reap the fiscal benefits of being a roller. Taking this 2 pronged approach will prove to you being a high roller is still better than being a tube squeezer.
How do you maximize your toothpaste? Simply become a roller. Roll your toothpaste from the bottom upward. In our highly scientific tests, we learned can get an additional 6 brushings out of a toothpaste tube we rolled up.
Don’t be a squeezer .. you will never get every drop of toothpaste out of your tube. There are some toothpaste rollers out there that you can buy. They clip on the end of the toothpaste tube to help you roll upwards, but why bother? You can do it all by yourself.
Can't get away from that amazing feeling of a good squeeze? No worries ... squeeze all that you can and want and then, just when you think you've squeezed as much as you possibly can, defer to the roll up model. You will still maintain the psychological benefits of the squeeze but you will also reap the fiscal benefits of being a roller. Taking this 2 pronged approach will prove to you being a high roller is still better than being a tube squeezer.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sabbatical, Not Retirement!
Over the past few years, as our story has gained attention, I’ve become sensitive to one particular word. This word engenders all sorts of emotions and reactions from people. It has the same derailing power as “war”, “death”, and “abortion” in conversation. The word is “retire.”
If we were in our 60s, I doubt the word “retire” would cause such a stir. In fact, not using it may be a sensation. However, we are in our 30s and talking about retiring. As a consequence, we are often inundated with “retirement” questions. The barrage of questions trying to dive into the mechanics of how we can do it typically results a lack of understanding of how it is possible. The person asking the questions has their own context, or frame of reference, that they are trying to fit our answers into and they cannot seem to resolve how it all fits together. Their inability to resolve it isn’t surprising since they are fitting our answers into their world. They are not listening to the whole story, our story, they are force fitting our answers into their world. As a consequence, we’ve begun using a new word.
We’ve learned to curtail the usage of the word retirement when it comes to our trip and instead use the word sabbatical. Taking a sabbatical, even an open ended one, is easier for the listener. They focus more on our journey than they do on the mechanics of the money. When they learn about our transformation and our overall story, they begin to see how money fits into the bigger picture. Once they put the puzzle pieces together they begin to see how the forever sabbatical is not only possible, but achievable by anyone whom desires taking one.
What is the difference between an open-ended sabbatical and retirement? Only the baggage the listener brings to the conversation. In the end, they are no different.
If we were in our 60s, I doubt the word “retire” would cause such a stir. In fact, not using it may be a sensation. However, we are in our 30s and talking about retiring. As a consequence, we are often inundated with “retirement” questions. The barrage of questions trying to dive into the mechanics of how we can do it typically results a lack of understanding of how it is possible. The person asking the questions has their own context, or frame of reference, that they are trying to fit our answers into and they cannot seem to resolve how it all fits together. Their inability to resolve it isn’t surprising since they are fitting our answers into their world. They are not listening to the whole story, our story, they are force fitting our answers into their world. As a consequence, we’ve begun using a new word.
We’ve learned to curtail the usage of the word retirement when it comes to our trip and instead use the word sabbatical. Taking a sabbatical, even an open ended one, is easier for the listener. They focus more on our journey than they do on the mechanics of the money. When they learn about our transformation and our overall story, they begin to see how money fits into the bigger picture. Once they put the puzzle pieces together they begin to see how the forever sabbatical is not only possible, but achievable by anyone whom desires taking one.
What is the difference between an open-ended sabbatical and retirement? Only the baggage the listener brings to the conversation. In the end, they are no different.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
