Last night I booked our airfare to England! It was complicated because it turns out it costs more to transfer your miles to someone than the miles would actually be worth. Idiotic and pointless! So what we did was book each of our tickets separately (well, I bought AA's and mine, and AS had SL added to hers as an infant in arms) and used the "pay with miles" option to pay for a portion of our ticket with our miles.
The tickets for the three adults and the toddler were $1151.50 each, and SL's cost $160 (I believe; AS added that over the phone and it hasn't shown up on the credit card, but I think that's what she told me). With miles earned mostly from our new credit cards and some from previous years' trips, NT got a $450 discount, I got $300 and AS got $300. So the airfare for three adults, a toddler and a baby came to $3716. Without the miles it would have been $4766! I'm reasonably happy with our final price, AND they're nonstop, and we only have to take off one more day of work than planned (leaving Thurs. night instead of Friday, which would have cost a thousand more OR we could take a flight with a layover).
Since we're booking so early, I don't have all the money for the trip. I'll pay off the cards near the end of this month, when we'll have all but $1266 of the fare saved up. The checking account surplus will have to float us until we get $850 in the November budget and the remaining money we need in December. I'm uncomfortable doing it this way because it locks in the travel portion of our budget; basically, if someone lost their job tomorrow, we wouldn't be able to slash "Travel" until we finish paying for the tickets. But with such a large airfare and wanting to book as early as possible, I decided to risk it.
Once the airfare is paid for, I'll start saving for the rest of the trip: insurance, car rental, cat sitter/boarder, food, entertainment, souvenirs/gifts, etc. Luckily we'll be staying with friends and family so we don't need to get hotel rooms and will be able to cook most nights to save on eating expenses. I've calculated we'll be able to save $8000 total for the trip by May, so with $3716 going toward airfare that leaves $4284 for everything else. Sounds like a lot, but two weeks in England, that money is going to have to be stretched out very smartly. (We'll also each get our regular $80 per week spending money, so that will help a bit.)
NT started a shared task list in Google Drive so we can peck away at the things that need doing gradually over the next six months.
Did I have other random money news as promised? Oh right. NT called about the weird hospital bill that we doubted was right but paid anyway. Turns out they'd mistaken it for a workman's comp claim he'd had around the same time (two unrelated finger injuries, one on the job and one not). Once he gets some records from the hospital and sends them to insurance, they should be able to reimburse us some or all of the $120 or so that we paid! This is REALLY good news in a hard-luck year for health expenses. Let's hope I get similar luck on the $60 bill I just got for my OB visit.
Speaking of that, I definitely got enough of the required preventive health measures done this year to earn $200 of free flex money next year! That will be great because otherwise I was probably going to up my flex contributions, but this way I get more without decreasing my pay!
And, I'm on track to do my 10,000 steps per day this week. This week they're counting Monday (yesterday) through next Monday, so we need to do 80,000 steps in 8 days. Then I'll get a $50 gift card. Just enough to keep me motivated!
The lady who rents our parking space sent us her check, $255 for 3 months. She only needs to pay a month at a time but chooses to do it this way. We're not complaining! That will certainly help me float the rest of the airfare until December.
I've been finding a lot of pennies recently, as well as a nickel. Wonder if it's just chilly enough that people don't stop to pick up the small stuff? Reminds me, I've got to empty it into the girls' piggy bank soon; I just stuff it into a pocket of my purse as I'm walking along.
Today I made an impulse purchase as I was getting some prescriptions refilled. CVS had these cute diecast cars with working doors and the thing where you drag them backwards and they shoot forward. They were $6 each, and they were all so cute, I finally gave in to temptation and bought a yellow VW beetle for AA. She really likes playing with cars at the barbershop, so she was very pleased to get it. I try not to buy them things, they have SO much more than they need. But considering the dozen adorable things per day I manage to resist buying, I guess I can forgive this one little purchase.
I still haven't eaten out! I'm having fun putting it off, deciding what I want to get first. Plus, with some extra treats I bought at the grocery store, and this VW car, and photo prints for my mom, I'm wiped out this week. Next week I need to help pay for a babysitter, and I'm going to a show (tix already paid for but will want drinks), and I'm still saving for clothes and theater tickets. So hmmm, not sure WHEN I'll feel like I have enough money to eat out. It'll be all the sweeter when I do.
I guess that's enough babbling for tonight. I need to clean up a bit before AS and NT come back from trivia and think I just sat around. (Which I kinda have so far. )
Trip to England booked! And other random money news
October 3rd, 2012 at 04:07 am
October 3rd, 2012 at 05:56 am 1349240214
I love the UK, myself. If only they could speak English without an accent... (that's my favorite line when talking to Brits).
October 3rd, 2012 at 03:27 pm 1349274439
Great deal on the tickets! I bet you'll have a wonderful time. Did you get SL a passport yet? My uncle is buying a house in Viet Nam and would like us to visit. I suppose I should start a long-term vacation fund!
October 4th, 2012 at 03:39 am 1349318388
October 4th, 2012 at 04:29 am 1349321353
October 4th, 2012 at 01:35 pm 1349354148
Our condo technically does not allow cats; we heard from our realtor (who also lives in the complex) that lots of people have secret cats, but since we can't be sure who would be OK with our cat and who would turn us in to the association, we can't ask anyone here. We have several friends who would stop by once a day to feed him, but we kind of thought for a longer vacation like this, he'd appreciate a boarding situation where he'd get company for more than 20 minutes a day. I don't know -- which would be least miserable/disruptive for him?
October 4th, 2012 at 07:11 pm 1349374307
October 4th, 2012 at 07:28 pm 1349375333