flights – One Dollar Allowance

Cruising with Kids

October 9, 2025October 8, 2025mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

After each trip, I typically summarize how much it cost us. I like talking about money, mostly to work towards eliminating the stigma about talking about money. The more information you have, the better informed you are when it comes to decisions, so here’s a reference point to file away. We sailed Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. I loved it!

COST BREAKDOWN

Flights – 25,000 miles + $273
We looked at several different flight options now that we’re a family of 5 flying and that adds up quickly. The first night we were looking to book the cruise, there was a group of 5 tickets for just under $700, which we thought was a great deal, but once we were ready to book, it wasn’t there anymore. We ended up going with Frontier for one direction and using American Airline miles for the other direction. When booking with miles, you only need to pay the taxes on it, so that’s what we did.

The flight options were very limited for the way home. We ended up just sucking it up and picking a 9 pm departure. Not long after the booking, we received an email saying our itinerary was changed and now the departure is 12 pm. While that seemed concerning at first – to get off the cruise, through the airport, and to our gate before noon – I had hoped it would be just fine, and it was. We got off the ship around 8:30, took an Uber to the airport, and arrived too early to check in for our flight. They built the airport expecting this isssue, so they sent us to the waiting room. We sat there for about 45 minutes and then checked our bags and got to our gate. We sat at our gate for a couple of hours and got home on time.

On the way down, we each got a checked bag because of our American credit card. However, we still needed to prepare for “carry on” status on the way home with Frontier. Then, once we were already packed, Frontier offered us to upgrade all our bags to checked bags. Had I trusted that they wouldn’t have said “no, you have to check a carry on size,” I would have happily changed our 3 carry on bags to one big bag to make traveling through places with 3 kids easier. So while some parts were harder because we had 3 rolling suitcases to account for, it was nicer through the airport to not have suitcases to manage.

Hotel – 34,000 points
If you’ve ever had to fly into a cruise port, you know it’s less stress-inducing to fly in the day before. I went on a cruise a year and a half ago, and we were flying out during a snow storm that was affecting travel all over the area. We ended up arriving at our hotel near midnight, so we were happy to know we were there for the cruise boarding time and not stressing about delays that morning. That means there’s a cost for a hotel one night.

The hotel was booked with points, so it wasn’t a literal cost to us. We stayed at the Tru in Dania Beach. They had a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so when we arrived, Mr. ODA called the hotel to come pick us up, and it worked out well. We had to wait 20 minutes for a crib to arrive, even though it was on our reservation as a request. This isn’t a huge deal, but when it’s 10 pm and I’m just setting up a crib to get over tired kids to sleep, I’m not thrilled. Otherwise, the hotel was nice and it provided a good breakfast.

Uber – $58; Airport Parking – $70; Dog – $289
The hotel provided a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, so we didn’t have to pay for that part. Then we needed an Uber from the hotel to the port, and then from the port to the airport. We requested a car seat in the Uber on the way to the port, so that limited our options. Then she was 23 minutes late to our pick up time, didn’t get out of the car to greet us or help set up the car (pick up the 3rd row to fit our 5th passenger we disclosed ahead of time), didn’t acknowledge being late, and generally didn’t speak to us except to say get our IDs out for the port. That’s not an Uber issue, it’s a specific driver issue, but that was not a great experience. On our way from the port to the airport after our cruise, we got charged a wait fee, even though the wait was because security was stopping our Uber from getting to us. Uber removed that charge though.

The CVG airport parking is $10/day for economy. That’s my first economy experience instead of the ValuPark lot, which is $12/day. I didn’t really think anything of it, but it wasn’t a great experience. I always thought it odd that the ValuPark lot has shuttles that pick you up at exactly your car, but the economy lot has the shelters. I didn’t properly account for the time to wait for the shuttle and then to have the shuttle drive through all the shelters.

Food – $44
Obviously most of the food was part of our cruise fare. We had McDonalds on the way to the airport, Burger King during our layover, and then McDonalds on the way home.

Cruise – $3,099
The big one! We did not prepay gratuities, so that was billed as we left the ship. Gratuities are $18.50, per person, per day. We had $50 on board credit. Ironically, and just coincidentally, we spent $50.40 between drinks and child care (the babies room (0-3 years old) is $6 per house before 7 pm and $8 per hour after). Royal Caribbean only requires $100 per person as the deposit, and then the balance is due a few months before the cruise departure. We booked right at that threshold, so we paid our deposit and then a few days later paid the balance.

LOGISTICS

The booking of the cruise could have been a bit more forward. Cruises are not family-of-5-friendly. There’s an option on Royal Caribbean to book a “guarantee” or GTY room. You get a discount for allowing them to assign you in an open room (of the category you picked (e.g., interior, ocean view balcony)) about a week before the departure. I did this for a cruise I took in January 2024, and it worked out perfectly fine. So we see these prices quoted online for GTY rooms, but they always make you call to book for more than 4 people. We’re expecting the cost to be just the taxes and port fees for the 5th person, but when we call, the difference is over $500.

We tried to explain how that feels like a bait and switch and that there’s no indication of that on the website, and they basically said “well, that’s the way it goes.” They can’t guarantee a 5+ room available at the time of sailing. This makes sense, but it also eliminates our ability to use that cheaper booking option. We asked if there was something they could do to help make us feel whole since we were being forced to spend $500 more than if we could be put into the guarantee-pool, and they gave us $50 on board credit.

Mr. ODA’s parents book Celebrity (same parent company) all the time, and if they book their next cruise while on their current cruise, they are given OBC. Turns out Royal Caribbean doesn’t have the same philosophy, and they hardly give OBC. We tried to see if there was a special deal for a cruise if we book on the ship and they had nothing to offer.

Our departure experience was horrific, and I’m not even sure how we timed everything so poorly. At CVG, the kiosk jammed printing our tags, so we had to wait in line to get to the counter for the last luggage tag. Well, the line took forever because there was a large group in front of us that couldn’t speak English, so the workers couldn’t get everyone checked in quickly. Then we were too late for her to print checked bag tags because it was 30 minutes before the flight. So now we’re stressed trying to get through her attitude, us being late, and having to get through security and run through an airport with 3 little kids. This is the first time I’ve ran to my initial flight (ran for connections countless times!). I’ve never had this issue before, but everything along the way took just a few more minutes than I had planned for, and the luggage tag issue stole about 15 minutes of time from us (plus, our flight was delayed by 20 minutes and then 45 minutes before the original flight time, they said it was on time… we hadn’t delayed our departure from home, but it was wiggle room we thought we had and then suddenly didn’t). After the attitude from the ticket counter, then we encountered two more attitudes from the gate agents. It was a rough start, but the flight attendants were nice, and we had plenty of time to catch our breath at our connection.

Child care is provided on the ship. They have a few hours in the morning (maybe 9-12?), then 1-5 for the afternoon, and then 7-1 am. For the kids 3-12 (split between two rooms of 3-5 year olds and 6-12 year olds), it’s free until 10 pm; then it’s $10 per hour per kid after 10 pm. For the babies (0-3 years old), you need to make a reservation for times when you arrive on the boat. We prioritized the buffet, so by the time we got to the kids area, lots of time slots were booked already. She offered me 6 hours worth of booking, which I split between 3 days. Our youngest is 7 weeks shy of being 3, but he wasn’t 100% potty trained (although we did try) so they wouldn’t let him move up. If he was potty trained, they would have let him go up to the 3-5 room. The first 2 hour block, we only used 1.5 hours worth of it based on the activities we were trying to get done. The second 2 hour block, we only used 1 hour worth. And then we didn’t use our final day worth of time because he got sick, and I didn’t want to contribute to the spread of it. We dropped the big kids off a few times and just took the baby with us to activities, which worked out fine. He’s so good when he’s alone, but the 3 kids feed off each other!

I brought lots of hook magnets. I used them to hang everyone’s lanyards with their seapass cards, hats, and to dry bathing suits. I also used them to hang from the ceiling and utilize curtains that I brought (actually, I bring these curtains everywhere we travel because a really dark room is important to getting the kids to sleep past sunrise when bed time is 2-4 hours later than usual). There were 2 hooks in the shower, 3 hooks on the bathroom door, 2 hooks in the bathroom with 2 towel bars, and 2 hooks outside the bathroom. We’re going on another cruise next year, and I’m going to bring more hooks because we could have used more space to dry out bathing suits. Having the curtains hanging to separate the kids from each other and then from us was great.

I also bought a pack of decorative magnets. This is very unlike me; I don’t like anything extra. But I put them on the stateroom door, and it helped the kids identify which one was ours. The door is textured, so they didn’t all fit. I put them inside the cabin on this big blank wall, and I actually really appreciated the decoration.

You’re allowed to bring on 12 cans/bottles that are less than 17 ounces each, so we did that for Mr. ODA’s sodas. We didn’t buy any drink packages. I don’t know what sodas cost on the ship. At the buffet, we have lemonade, iced tea, and water available. At some of the included restaurants, they have other flavored water type drinks like strawberry melon. At breakfast they had apple juice and orange juice. There are enough options for variety if you’re not looking to buy a package. I had Mr. ODA bring a non-diet/zero type drink in case I wanted some variety, but I was so full that I didn’t end up wanting any sodas and had a couple of lemonade and juice options throughout the week. The alcoholic mixed drinks are about $15 a la carte. They offer a happy hour special of margarita (and maybe one other option that’s $6-7) and have a drink of the day that’s $8. I didn’t know about the drink of the day special until day 3 and didn’t know about it at all on my last trip, so that’s a positive to know. I think the Truly/beer type option was around $8-9 each.

When buying the drink package, that’s your baseline. Are you going to drink 5 mixed drinks or 8 beers/Truly each day to make paying up front worth it? I’ve heard some people say “I just like not having to think about what I’m ordering.” But, do you enjoy paying $65 for 2 drinks? I understand it’s vacation and many people have the mentality that money is no object, but it is something to pause, have the perspective, and make an informed decision on.

The app is really good. There’s a little room for improvement, but everything you need is there. We’d like to see a search feature, where you can search “bingo” or “laser tag” and see the offerings instead of scrolling every day and hoping you catch the times. I like the daily tips they post about what’s happening that day and some good reminders. I also like how many activities are offered. I wish there were a few more things in the 6-8 timeframe for those with a 5:00 dining time, but I understand that’s not the worst problem. There is so much offered for other times, and I found myself juggling wanting to do all the things, but also not wanting to be on a schedule.

A few weeks before your cruise, the app will have most of the shows and activities available. One example that we didn’t have until we were on the ship was laser tag’s schedule. But you should get on your app a month in advance and keep checking for the show reservations to be opened. They seats go fast. We were able to reserve the ice skating show and Cats, but we weren’t able to get a seat at the aqua show. I was really bummed about that, but we went to the aqua theater at the beginning of the show and were able to get a seat.

We did not pay for a wifi package, nor did we set up our phones for an international plan. I was looking forward to being completely cut off from the world for 4.5 days. To my surprise, iMessage worked the whole trip. It wasn’t too bad, and I got to share stories as we went with some people.

LESSONS LEARNED

Book any 0-3 year old child care slots ASAP
Pack half the pajamas you need (our kids wear pajamas through breakfast at home, so there’s no re-wearing, but they don’t eat anything in the cabin, and they don’t leave the cabin once in pajamas, so don’t use up the space)
Prepare accordingly for theme nights (I may have not planned well for my oldest)
Bring as many magnets as you can hold (although you may get flagged for a bag check in security)
Read the daily tidbits in the app each morning
Don’t pack lots of snacks (I thought I’d be looking for breakfast faster than everyone being ready to go, so I packed granola bars. I also thought we’d want more snacks, but we’re so full from eating bigger meals and being on a different type of meal schedule that eating in the room was never a thought)
If you’re on the cusp of 52″, 48″, age 3, or age 6, I may wait until those milestones are hit. While it’s not the end of the world and doesn’t kill your cruise, we had kids disappointed they couldn’t do some things based on height (water slides) or age (rock climbing).
Drink the happy hour or daily special beverages if you don’t have the drink package

THE CRUISE

We took a 5-night cruise. It was more time than I had planned for originally. I didn’t want to be stuck on a boat in case the kids didn’t take to sailing well, but the price was $1000 less than the 3-4 night offerings, so we went for it. It worked out well. Everyone’s first question seems to be, “were you afraid of them going overboard?” Turns out, there are very limited options for that to even occur. We were in an ocean view balcony, but the glass goes higher than the littlest ones, so that wasn’t an issue. Most decks have the staterooms on the outside, so the only real place they could attempt to get overboard is on decks 15 and 16, and a little spot by rock climbing on deck 7. It was barely a thought of mine the whole week.

The biggest hurdle of the week was getting the kids through crowds. There’s a lot of people on the boat, and people tend to congregate in certain areas. Keeping 3 little ducklings together in a crowd could have been worse, but it wasn’t the easiest either. The cruise ship gives you bracelets for your kid to wear with their muster station on it. I wish there was more information on it, so I put their names and room number on the back. The youngest didn’t have a yellow bracelet, and I wasn’t happy about that. Luckily, I had packed a bracelet that I could put his information on. I used a regular sharpie and the lettering was legible until about the last day. I could have rewrote the information, but by then I was feeling more comfortable.

We did not push too hard to get to all the activities. We made a concerted effort for a few activities, but I didn’t want to be tied to an agenda all week. We generally started the day with breakfast. We ate in the main dining room twice, which was quieter and calmer, but also slower. One morning, I ordered a small breakfast, and the waiter pushed me to get the “express” breakfast. It came with 2 things I didn’t want, and I was frustrated that he pushed me to waste food. We usually then went to the pool or splash area (the splash pad is pretty cool with slides and activities within it for the kids). Ice cream opened at 11:30, so that worked well as a way to get out of the pool and start drying off for lunch. We ate lunch in the buffet (Windjammer). I personally liked the variety of options with the kids, but it wasn’t the easiest process. Apparently kids really struggle holding plates flat. We only lost one apple once, but it was stressful every time trying to make sure they kept the food on the plate while walking. Our afternoon was spent either with the kids in the kids club area (Adventure Ocean) while we did trivia, or they came to trivia with us. We rode the carousel, the big slide (Abyss), and participated in some random activities (family festival, scavenger hunt). We would get back to the room at about 4:55, rush to change, and then run to the main dining room for our 5:00 dinner. On my last cruise, there were only 2 dinner times, so being on time seemed less of a priority. This sailing had a 5:00, 6:45, and 8:00, so I felt the push to be as close to 5:00 as possible so we didn’t delay a 6:45 sitting. We ate all our dinners in the main dining room. I truly appreciated the themes, but perhaps only 50-60% actually participated.

At Cozumel, we got off the boat, had a beer at a tourist trap, and got back on the boat. I don’t think we were off the boat a full hour. There was swimming available in some pretty water just next to the cruise ships. There are shops for trinkets and a few places to eat or drink. It was an area that clearly catered to cruise ships and I felt perfectly safe.

Our second stop was Royal Caribbean’s island, CocoCay. I can’t sing enough praises about this concept. All your food is available. There are servers just like on the boat if you want a drink. It’s clean. There were some concerns about jellyfish while we were there, but we didn’t have any problems. My youngest was struggling with the sand concept (and not touching the sand and then rubbing his eyes or sucking his thumb), so we eventually moved over to the pool. The pool was packed, and I almost said lets just go, but we got in. Once you were in, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all, and there was plenty of room. There’s a 0 entry area with water fountains, which kept the kids entertained well. There are life vests on the island for your little swimmers. I did hear that snorkeling was sold out when we arrived around 10, so you could keep that timing in mind. The ship staff give you towels as you get off the boat (you sign them out with your seapass card), and there are towel stands on the island if you want to swap out your wet, sandy towel for a new one.

I will note that we had a medical emergency just hours into the cruise. It didn’t affect us at all. We heard the “alpha alpha alpha” call while we were at dinner, and about an hour later, the captain came on the loud speakers and announced the plan. We departed Ft. Lauderdale, but we were going to return to Miami to get this patient off the ship. They were making a plan on whether we’d have to fully dock or if the coast guard could come out to us. They announced a bit of time later that they decided the coast guard could come out. Then about a half hour after that, they said that the swells from the tropical storm we were near were too rough and the coast guard couldn’t get close to our ship to safely transport the patient between the two boats. So then they decided to send out a helicopter, and that happened just as the sky opened up on us at the aqua theater and we gave up and went to bed. So even though the course changed, it really didn’t affect anything we were doing on the ship. The patient actually got off and received emergency coronary bypass surgery that night and was recovering, so that was a blessing. There was also supposedly a death in another cabin, which I knew nothing about until after I got back home. I share this just to say – things happen, and there’s so many people, so it’s not surprising, and it didn’t affect the rest of the trip.

Getting on the ship and off the ship on the bookends of our cruise was extremely easy. I had a similarly easy experience at Cape Canaveral (actually probably easier). On the way there, we went through the security check points. I was flagged for my magnets, and in the process, they found my extension cord. Honestly, it wasn’t clear what the rules were about the extension cords. I wasn’t worried about the number of plugs as much as I was the extension to an outlet. They’re quick to say “there are plenty of outlets,” but they don’t address the fact that 3 outlets are on one end of the room and there’s only 1 at the bed. It didn’t matter though. We plugged in a phone overnight by the bed, and the sound machine was over by the kids with that 3 outlet option on the desk. They confiscated my extension cord, but they tagged it, and I got it back at the end of the cruise. After that, we went upstairs to a huge waiting room. We were told to sit in order as we entered. The place was packed; I expected this to take a while. It was less than 2 minutes. We scanned our boarding passes and walked right on. On the way off, everyone just left when they were ready. We walked right into the main dining room, scanned our seapass cards, and left the ship. There was luggage areas to pick up any luggage you had carried off the ship overnight, but we hadn’t done that. Then you go through the immigration check where they take your picture and approve you to continue. And that’s it. There was no queuing through either process except for the 2 minutes we sat in the waiting area at the port on the way on the ship. It’s incredible to me.

SUMMARY

I was a reasonable level of nervous taking 3 young kids on a cruise for 5 nights, but it went significantly better than I expected. Our next cruise isn’t until this time next year, but I wish it were sooner! I highly recommend cruising, especially with Royal Caribbean.

Year in Review

January 2, 2025January 1, 2025mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

This was a good year. We took a lot of trips, made some good memories, and purchased some fun things. While day to day life has been hard with 3 little kids and managing some of my own interests, it really was a fun and rewarding year when I look at the big picture.

PERSONAL: MY YEAR

I went through a lot of growth in this year. I started the year with a girls trip, which was really healing in my mom-of-3 world. After that trip, I hunkered down on my diet and exercise. Over 10 months, I lost 22 pounds. Each kid added about 10 pounds to my body’s desired size (where I just plateau unless I put a lot of effort in). It’s not something that I regularly discussed with people or mentioned, but it is something that I’m pretty proud of and took effort. I ran a 5k in August, where I beat my time from the year before, and it didn’t feel like it took any effort to beat that, which was nice.

But then my oldest started kindergarten, which was a surprisingly hard adjustment in my schedule. He was completely ready for school, and him going wasn’t the hard part. I welcome new phases of life and mostly don’t dwell on the losses that those mean. However, the schedule of the year took me two or three months to get used to. He gets on the bus at 7, #2 gets dropped off at 9, she gets picked up at 12, baby takes a nap from 1:30-3:15, oldest gets off the bus at 2:45. It was just a lot of broken up time in my day, and it took so much out of me each day. I finally feel like I’m used to it and can be productive in those short periods in between.

We were told that our preschool will be changing ownership next school year, which threw a wrench in my plans. Sure, things will work out. But it doesn’t change that I had a plan that didn’t need to be thought about. I had a financial expectation that didn’t need to be budgeted for or considered any further. It was another thing that took mental energy from me. I had originally thought I’d not send the 3rd kid to a 2s year like the other two kids. I spent some days mourning that alone time I was giving up by keeping him home. But I toured a preschool, and that’s my wish list for next year. If we don’t get into that preschool, I’ll likely just keep him home with me and try for the 3s year there. It’s just a socializing desire. I don’t work and need child care, so it’s a privilege to send him if it works out.

On top of all the parenting jobs I have, my job managing our rental properties is another job that takes a ton of time and mental energy, but no one really sees the fruit of that labor. May was the only month this past year where everyone paid rent on time. While I’m pretty lenient on that, that’s still time that I’m taking to manage and keep up with. I have one tenant who hasn’t put the water bill in her name yet. Supposedly it’s a city issue, and she always pays when I send her a picture of the bill, but it’s still a time sucker that I have. Then add in that we have several maintenance requests that come up, and a few big projects that were needed.

Related to the rentals, I made 44 posts on this blog. I set a goal to post once per week, preferably on Thursdays, for the year. I fell short by 8 weeks, and I wasn’t consistent with the Thursday post each week. I did well when I had inspiration, and I always did the monthly updates, but I didn’t meet my goal. I’ll keep the same goal of once per week, preferably on Thursdays, for this year. While my reach isn’t far, I do hope that someone will find this little corner and gain a new perspective on their finances. Plus, I appreciate being able to go back to our monthly updates to see how things have changed. It’s hard to see it when you’re looking month-to-month, but to see a drastic jump in numbers from a year ago is nice.

PERSONAL: THE FAMILY

We made it to 12 states this year, and that’s pretty cool. The kids got to see a lot, and they’re really interested in different states and their stats. I appreciate that curiosity and the ability to learn while traveling. Only one trip was on a plane, which was to Colorado. We did a 2-week long trip to New York and Michigan, with a few stops in there. We went to Chicago for a wedding and explored the area, took the kids to Gatlinburg for Fall Break, went to Ohio to watch the eclipse in totality, and tagged along on Mr. ODA’s work trip to South Carolina.

Mr. ODA sold his 15 year old vehicle, and we purchased a Tesla. I didn’t have a great experience with one in Colorado, but I think that was more related to the circumstances than actual electric vehicle ownership. I had a great experience with the test drive, and we picked one up by the end of that week. We took advantage of their 0% interest and 3 months of free charging. We also referred a friend of ours, so we received $1000 in Tesla credits that we’ll use for charging after the free period.

We bought a hot tub. That was a purchase that was about a year in the making, so it wasn’t made lightly. There hasn’t been two days in a row where someone didn’t get in it, until we just left for a week (hoping that the water is in good shape when I get back!). Our deck was crushed by a tree in July 2023, and it wasn’t rebuilt until May 2024. Then we had to take the time to make the decisions on what we wanted, get it ordered, and wait for delivery. It was delivered in November, and it’s been a great purchase thus far. We haven’t done such a splurge before, and it’s nice to give ourselves something that we can enjoy.

The kids are doing their activities. We’ve been in a nice lull, but I recently saw our March calendar from this past year and was reminded of all those hours! Our oldest is doing t-ball for a second year. Our second is regularly doing gymnastics, but we’re also letting her do t-ball this spring. Our oldest is also doing an after school activity for checkers, but supposedly it’s in a fun way, so that’ll be interesting to see pan out. He was accepted into an advanced program for his 99th percentile state testing scores, which was a really exciting moment as parents. Our second will finish out her preschool year and go to kindergarten next year. And we hope to have another fun season over the next two months with everyone on skis!

RENTAL PROPERTIES

Besides the management of late rent payments, I had to put a lot of hours into these houses this year. We took a trip to Richmond, VA to work on quite a few of these houses. On top of that, there were several other activities that were needed, management of tenant turnover, and management of rental income, but I’ll save that for a future post so this doesn’t grow too long.

FINANCES

Our net worth increased by $745,000. We started the year with a goal of hitting $4 million net worth, and that was achieved in a short time. Month to month feels like we’re barely moving the needle, but it’s amazing to see that number over the course of a year.

We paid off one 0% interest credit card from our carpet replacement in our personal home, and then we opened a new 0% interest credit card to pay for the hot tub. That new card gets 2% cash back, so it’s being used more than we usually use a 0% interest card. Typically, we just pay for the major purchase and then pay it down over the 0% interest period. This time around, it’s being used for every day purchases so the monthly payment I’m making is more than I’d usually see.

I have a separate post that goes into our extra income that we brought in over the last year, which is related to earned credit card rewards and interest on savings accounts and bonds. That’s even cooler to see the total ($14k!) because that was actual cash that went into our account and was used.

In the last year, I only officially worked 11 days, which is crazy to think about. But I’ve been doing random other jobs to help others out. I’m on our homeowners association board of directors, and I’ve been helping a new school get their financials up and running. I’m ready to take a step back from the finance work because my commitment to the HOA feels more pressing, but we’ll see how the next couple of months progress. It’s just really hard to get things done when I’m rarely without a toddler who wants my attention (unless I get up at 4:30 or 5 am).

SUMMARY

This year has felt like it took a lot more hours from me for work and management of things. But I also feel like I have more energy now that I’m two years from having our last baby. We have lots of other things planned for this coming year, and I hope to take some even bigger trips to see more of the country now that we have a bit less baggage coming out of the baby years. We have no plans to make any big purchases at this time (although there are new windows needed on our house in the next couple of years), and I really hope this year is lots of fun with the family more than anything else.

Summer Trips

August 29, 2024mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

In 2021, we looked to buy a lake house. We tried so hard to find something, and we almost settled on something that didn’t fully make us happy. It was March or April of that year, and we finally stepped back and said, “instead of buying a house here that we feel pressured to come to every weekend, what if we just went on vacation more.” Up until that point, we traveled a good bit, but it was typically with a purpose instead of just traveling for the sake of seeing somewhere new (e.g., one of us tagging along on work travel). We calculated that our mortgage payment on that second house would be $1200 per month. That was our budget for travel each month. I wrote a whole post about it.

Then I got pregnant and we bought a new primary residence in the summer of 2022. Almost all our ‘travel’ that summer was just us going to the new house to work on it before we moved in. Then the summer of 2023 was spent recovering from the newborn phase of that third kid that was unbelievably painful. I was just happy to be sleeping and in a routine again, and I wasn’t willing to leave home much and risk lack of sleep.

We made up for it this summer.

JUNE: MD, NY, OH, MI $1,251

Our first trip of the summer was two weeks long. I was so nervous to manage 3 kids (one of which is still a high maintenance sleeper) and a dog for that long, but I had hoped it would be fine if I prepared correctly. We hit four states.

Our son was on the Oriole’s for his baseball team this spring, so that became his favorite MLB team. It just so happened that they were playing at home on our drive from KY to NY (meaning, if we really wanted to, Baltimore could be on the way). As an added bonus, they were playing the Braves, which is Mr. ODA’s favorite team. So we made that work. We booked a hotel in Baltimore that was pet friendly and walking distance to the stadium, and then we bought the tickets. Actually, we bought two tickets for 5 of us to go. The Oriole’s stadium has a program where if you buy a ticket in the upper section, you can have up to two free tickets for kids up to 9 years old. It’s an incredible program. The detour cost us more in tolls than we’d typically spend on our route. It was worth it. Our son watched the whole game and was so happy with it.

Then we traveled to NY. There’s no lodging cost there because we stay at my dad’s house. We went to the local team’s baseball game one night, hung out at the beach one night, had two cookouts, and went to my cousin’s bridal shower. The bridal shower was the reason for the trip. The Michigan component then was booked as the other side of the family’s annual trip. It didn’t make sense for us to drive home from NY and then back up to MI, so we just buckled up for the two weeks gone. We didn’t eat at any restaurants while we were in NY, so our costs were a couple of grocery trips and our family cookouts.

The trip from NY to MI was 13.5 hours without any stops, so we didn’t want to push the kids that far. We typically do the KY to NY trip in one day. That takes 13-14 hours depending on traffic and our stops. It would take about 11.5-12 hours without kids. We usually do two quick stops and one longer meal out of the car when we drive straight through. But with it starting at 13+ hours, I didn’t want to risk it. Plus, I wanted to arrive in Michigan around check in time, which would have us leaving NY at about 2 am. I covet my kids’ sleep too much to risk that one!

Our stop on the way was Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Again, we needed to find something that was pet friendly without charging us $175 to have the dog there for 14 hours. We found a hotel that didn’t charge for a pet, and it appears that’s because they don’t really care about cleanliness. The room was disgusting. The mirrors looked like they’d never been cleaned, the counters had someone’s old rice on them, the door wasn’t fully attached to its hinges, and the sinks didn’t drain. At least the bedding was clean (I inspected closely). I was grateful to only be there for 14 hours.

We went hiking that morning and then headed to MI, dropping the dog off at a sitter on the way there. We use Rover to find a sitter, which is where the sitter takes the dog into their house. I appreciate this type of care/attention than a kennel; we’ve used this service for 11 years now.

Our MI trip was Mr. ODA’s family trip for the year. His parents treat us to the house, and the kids’ families cover the food. Usually our trip doesn’t involve many extra expenses, but this year we sought out a place with activities, so there was a lot of money spent. We went on a dune buggy ride, walked a windmill island, went to a little ‘dutch village’ theme park, picked cherries, and spent a lot of time at the beach. We usually eat all our meals at the AirBnB, but we did have two meals out and lots of ice cream this time around. Honestly, it was the best trip we’ve taken in a while. I appreciated the ‘vacation’ aspect of it, where we did things around the area and had fun with activities.

JULY: VA $570

This was actually a work trip. Last summer, we didn’t make it to Richmond to do property walk throughs because our baby was such a handful. We’ve had a lot of work done over the last year, and there were a few things noted by tenants that are just easier for us to handle in a few minutes than pay someone hundreds to handle.

We cleaned the siding on multiple houses, checked some gutters, replaced a few things, and painted a front door and front porch. It was a 3 night trip, and we put about 20 hours worth of work into it. It was hard to juggle the work that needed to be done, having 3 kids in tow, and a heat index of over 110 each day, but we got what we could get done. I wrote a post about the work we did earlier this summer. Our expenses were the hotel ($401), gas, and food. We actually had a surprisingly low food expense on this trip considering we stayed in a hotel (lack of kitchen and time).

While there, we were able to see a few of our old friends. However, we planned this trip fairly last minute and had to fit it around other activities already scheduled at home, so we didn’t get as much ‘play’ time as we’d prefer.

JULY: CO $3,350

Mr. ODA’s brother wanted to celebrate his 40th birthday by hiking 14-ers in Colorado. He invited a few people to join, and Mr. ODA spent the first half of this year getting in shape for that activity. Honestly, in January, this idea seemed so far away, so it was exciting when the moment arrived. Mr. ODA wanted to go out earlier than the trip’s original itinerary to acclimate to the change in elevation. That’s where I came in.

We booked a flight for all 5 of us to fly out there on the 18th (well, the baby was free). We spent the weekend around the Denver area, and then I flew home with the kids on the 22nd, while he stayed to hang out with his brother’s crew.

We had to buy flights, rent a car, book lodging, and buy groceries/meals. We did more-than-average entertainment for this trip with a concert and baseball game, so that increased our expenses.

On our first full day, we visited Mount Blue Sky, which is a drive up to the top of a 14er (a summit above 14,000 feet). It was a really unique and cool experience. On Saturday, we hiked at Red Rocks and went to a concert at Ball Arena. On Sunday, we went to a Rockies game and walked around Denver. It was a great trip, and the kids were troopers through all the fun.

AUGUST: NY $430

My cousin got married in NY. Typically, I’d take this opportunity to get my whole family to NY to see my side of the family. However, our oldest started school already, and I didn’t want him to miss any of that, especially on day 3. The whole family flying to NY is expensive, plus we’d have to figure out the babysitting need for while we’re at the wedding. While I have a few people I could call on, it’s more difficult when the intent is for the closest adults I know to be at the wedding.

We booked direct flights for Mr. ODA and me to fly out Friday afternoon and come back Sunday afternoon. We had the kids stay with grandparents for the two nights, and this way the grandparents didn’t have to manage any kid activities except getting our oldest off the bus. Our two flights cost $376.40, and it included a checked bag if we wanted it because of our American Airlines credit card rewards. Parking at the airport is $11 per day, so that was $33. Our original plan was to take the train from JFK to where my dad’s house is, but we pivoted because he offered to pick us up and take us out to dinner. Our meals were covered except for on the way out and the way back, and one coffee I purchased while there. It was a nice little trip where we had fun and could just focus on that versus managing the kids’ schedule, so I appreciated that.

Mr. ODA had two work trips this summer on top of all that we did as a family. Those net us income instead of expenses, so I won’t go into them. I mention it just to point out how busy and entertained we were. I’d say we’re looking forward to winding down, but now baseball and gymnastics start up on top of managing kids at two different schools. But I’m loving it and looking forward to what this next season brings.

March Financial Update

March 14, 2024mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

We’re just going to cut to the chase – $4 million net worth! I mentioned that this was a goal for this year. Unlike other years worth of large jumps because of purchasing houses, this was less in our control (granted, our market allocation decisions are what’s driving it…. and by “our,” I absolutely mean only Mr. ODA’s because I don’t do anything in that realm).

RENTALS

Well, we’ve had a quiet month. What’s going to be funny is, I’m going to list the things that we did. Quiet doesn’t mean silent or without effort, but we’ve had a rough go of it over the last year, so this was a welcomed break.

We had termites at a property. We pay $98 annually for their termite warranty program, since we found extensive termite damage and live termites when we bought the house. We’ve had to treat the house several times, so this $98 is a steal. However, I’m wondering why we keep needing to treat the house.

We paid $125 for a plumber to go out to a clogged sink. When we received the invoice, it was for 2 plumbers to go. Between the phone call that they were on their way and the tenant saying they were great, only 35 minutes had elapsed. The company charged us almost $300. Mr. ODA called to ask why they choose to send two plumbers to do a one-man job, while also charging us for it. The owner said it was for liability purposes, which Mr. ODA fought back on. They agreed to a reduced rate, but we were only charged $125, which was less than agreed upon.

We had our third tenant move in, after we unexpectedly had to turnover three houses in the middle of winter. We also were given notice by another tenant that she’s vacating by the end of March. We handled increases for two houses (one handled by a property manager to increase $50/month, and one handled by me to increase by $25/month).

We had one tenant pay on the morning of the 6th with no communication, so I did have our property manager let them know that’s not going to be ok. We also had a usual suspect pay late, with the late fee. However, their communication was frustrating. They said they’d pay on the 6th. At the end of the 6th, they said the money hadn’t cleared like they expected. No communication on the 7th. I asked for an updated on the morning of the 8th, and they said it would be that day. At 11 pm, I hadn’t received anything and reached out. I was then told that money was going into the ATM right then so that she could pay. Sometimes I wish I could do a deep dive into tenant finances so that I could help them out.

PERSONAL

Mr. ODA has a trip in July where a group of guys will hike in the Rockies. Our family is going out before that trip is scheduled to do our own exploring. We booked 4 round trip plane tickets, and Mr. ODA handled the lodging booking for the guys’ portion. That’s almost $3,000 worth of purchases, so our credit cards are higher than usual.

Speaking of the plane tickets. We purchased gift cards from Costco for Southwest. The gift cards are essentially $450 for $500 worth of purchasing power at Southwest. We bought two, therefore saving $100 on the tickets. For an extra few clicks on the computer, and the 15 minutes waiting time before the e-gift cards were delivered to my email, that’s $100 that can be used somewhere else.

We bought a new vanity for our bathroom. That was about $700 for the vanity, faucet, toilet flusher, and mirror. I sold the old vanity (in rough shape) for $30. And because I’m proud that I did most of it on my own, here’s a picture. I needed Mr. ODA’s help with the supply lines because I lost patience with how tightly they were screwed on and my lack of progress. I cut the baseboards down to size, except I somehow measured wrong on one quarter round cut (I was cutting while it was on the wall). Mr. ODA cut and installed the replacement piece for me.

We finished up the ski season. The kids did great. I was really proud of them for sticking with it. We used our season pass well (i.e., exceeding the cost had we bought individual tickets for each visit). I took two of the three kids to the aquarium, and we took the baby for a procedure at a local children’s hospital. We’ve started tee ball for our oldest. Our March is very full and busy, so we’re getting into the swing of things and keeping track of the schedule.

NET WORTH

Well, we far exceeded that $4 million goal. The market went up big, with our biggest changes being in our retirement account, IRAs, and cash. Our cash increase is offset by the lower amount in our Treasury account. Some of the short term bonds were transferred back into our savings account, and we’ve kept that money in savings since our deck replacement is slated to begin.

“Cheap” Flights

February 8, 2024January 26, 2024mrsonedollarallowanceLeave a comment

I recently went on a trip. We booked one of those “cheap” airlines, where you pay a la carte. Our round trip flight was about $50. In the process, I was amazed at the number of people who were frustrated by the rules, as if you don’t have ample opportunity to learn the rules in the process. So I wanted to go through a booking, to show you that there are plenty of warnings, and that it may or may not be cheapest to go this route.

I’m going to pretend to book a flight. From Cincinnati to Orlando, round trip, I found a flight for $87.96. The next page asks for my personal information. They then offer me a few options.

The price highlighted is for one way, and in smaller font, it indicates the round trip price. This could be a bit more straight forward, since my selection is for a round trip flight, so one way worth of baggage isn’t the expectation. I decide to ‘continue and customize.’ The next page is seat selection.

Every single seat has a price associated with it. Again, this could be more straight forward. Nowhere on the page does it clearly indicate that you don’t have to pick a seat. I click “continue.” There is a link below continue that says “what if I don’t pick,” but I didn’t check that. The next page causes me to pause and lets me know I should rethink my options.

I select no thanks. The next page provides my carry on and checked bag costs. I can select that I want to carry on and board first, just carry on, or have no carry on. I select no carry on and no checked bag. As I scroll down, it lets me know that I can have a personal item for free, and it lets me know the size restriction for this personal item. It tells me multiple times on this page that bags will be more expensive at the airport.

I click continue, without selecting any baggage, and it halts me again.

I then get asked a few questions about the check in process and any other add-ons. I decline everything, and I’m sent to the payment page. At the end of the page, I have to agree to several things, including baggage requirements, before booking.

The entire point here is that this airline has warned the consumer several times, through multiple pages and “clicks” that there are fees outside of the ticket price. So even if you didn’t know that the reason you found such cheap flights was because their pricing is a la carte, they’ve told you multiple times through the booking process. Similarly, you know going in, on any airline, that a bag over 40 or 50 lbs is going to be considered overweight.

It was frustrating to watch so many people get mad that they checked your bag size as you boarded the plane. You signed up for that. You could have checked the size. I read the wrong section when I packed my bag, so I had verified it as a carry-on size, which I didn’t pay for. I was able to move things around in my bag for it to be able to fit. If it didn’t fit, I knew that mistake was on me, and I’d pay the fee. The fee in the airport was $99. Yes, it seems astronomical to pay that fee for something that you can walk on with if you’re flying Delta or American, but it’s the rules for this airline, and I know that going in. I could have adjusted things for the flight home, so my total for this roundtrip would have been $150, still cheaper than roundtrips on other airlines.

For the pretend flight I went through above, if I had selected The Perks bundle, my total would have been $279. I’d get a carry on, checked bag, and the ability to select my seat at that price. Had I selected just a carryon each direction, my total would have been about $225. For the same dates, I could fly more inconvenient schedules (e.g., midnight arrival) for $209 through American.

When comparing the prices, you need to see what the best options are for what you need. If you can’t get by with just a personal item, then you need to factor that into the flight cost when comparing to other airlines. If you can’t handle the psyche of having your bag checked for size when you board the plane, then stick with the traditional airlines.

Be an informed traveler. Know the fees associated with your airline. Know the restrictions for each item. Plan in advance instead of having to move things around at the airport where you’re going to feel the stress.