Pack half the clothes, and bring twice the MONEY

Traveling ain't cheap!

So, as you're probably aware, traveling isn't cheap. Even when you do it on the cheap, such as backpacking, staying in hostels, cooking your own meals...the costs still add up. And the older I get, the less I'm inclined to backpack, stay in a hostel, cook my own meals on vacation....and most of my traveling companions want no part of that. This blog could be just about traveling-it is called "Melanie's Travel Bug" afterall. But, I want to write more often, and if I'm only writing about traveling, I won't be able to accomplish that. Which brings me to my point: Traveling costs money. Not only that, but plain and simple living costs money!

So I wanted to write a little bit about this topic that everyone avoids talking about. If you know me personally, you'll know that in the past year or two, I've gotten very interested in all aspects of money: debt payoff, emergency funds, living on a budget, saving for a down payment, retirement savings, etc. It has been a struggle for me the past few years balancing my travel bug, and the reality of what it costs to live. When I first started working full time, I saw my job as a great way to work for some time to save up for the next big backpacking trip. I had just returned from four months in South America, and my mind and heart were full of a dozen other awesome backpacking ideas. Little did I know...I had some maturing to do!

I'll touch on a few ideas here-I'll try not to geek out too much and lose the crowd. (Is there a crowd?! Anyone?!)

Dave Ramsey. Personal finance master. My financial guru. His book, "The Total Money Makeover" really changed my outlook on finances. He has seven baby steps which he teaches:
1. Save $1,000 in a beginner emergency fund.
2. Pay off all debt.
3. Put 3-6 months of expenses in savings.
    3b. Save your house down payment
4. Invest 15% of your household income.
5. Save for your children's college.
6. Pay off the house early.
7. Build wealth and give!

So, I began following his plan (but not exactly). I adopted some of the principles, but not all. I had Step 1 accomplished-$1,000 in savings. Next was to pay off all my debt-school loans, car loan, and personal loan to a family member. However, Dave teaches to use any savings you have above the $1,000 and put it towards the debt. I had a little nest egg that I didn't want to touch because my job is contractual and I needed that cushion for peace of mind. Also, Dave suggests holding off on retirement savings until your emergency fund is fully funded, and I just couldn't bring myself to stop saving for retirement.

However, I can totally see how accomplishing all these tasks before investing is a good plan. This is just my two cents. Anyway, sooo in 2013, I began living on a written budget. What this means to me is, EVERY.SINGLE.MONTH I do a written, pencil and paper plan of where my money for that month is going to go. I "spend" the money on paper before that month has begun. Do I always stick to the budget? No, but I try every single month. The nice thing about it is, every month is a chance to start fresh-to live below your means, accomplish goals, etc.

Living on a budget made it possible for me to pay off all my debt in 2013! It was a difficult process, and I changed my lifestyle and my spending, but month after month of both successes (and failures) led me to accomplishing that goal. . I didn't save a cent during that time, and practiced saying "No" over and over again  to fun invitations. I didn't take a trip in 2013. (Clearly a challenge in self discipline for me). Obviously this all depends on your income, your debt, your bills, etc-but I believe anyone can find success by simply finding a really good budget form and adopting this mentality with their money.
Right now, I'm a few months away from fully funding my six month emergency fund. If you saw my list of what my emergency fund consists of--typicals like rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, etc--but even down to six months of flea medication for Ava! :) Haha.

After this, I begin my down payment fund. And I'm PRETTY excited because all along up until about two weeks ago, I thought the condos in the area I may buy someday were $200K, but recently saw some decent ones for $100K...so perhaps I can be a home/condo owner much sooner than I may have imagined. First things first though, complete the emergency fund.

I've also adopted a crush on sinking funds. (Yes, my love life is wild!) A sinking fund is best explained with Christmas gift costs. Let's say it's January, and you think to yourself "Christmas is so expensive, this year I'm going to save each month, so when Christmas comes around, I'll have saved money to buy gifts with." Let's say you spend $1,000 each year on gifts and you have 11 months to save. Divide $1,000 by 11 months, and you'll learn you need to save $90/month for 11 months to have $1,000 saved by Christmas. Ta-da! Basically, it's planning ahead for purchases. If I can be successful if adopting that for all purchases in life (other than a home), hopefully I won't need to take out another loan ever again.

I'll leave you with one pretty amazing tidbit: If a 30 year old saves just $263 a month and invests this money with a 10% return...he/she will be a millionaire by age 65. (I heard this on "The Money Guy Show" podcast).

I think that's enough financial talk for now....and I think Ava agrees.

Ava says: "This budgeting stuff is tiring" 

Sea Isle City, NJ

Sea Isle City water tower

In June 2014, my coworker/friend and I were recently lucky enough to score a free night in a beautiful condo in Sea Isle City, NJ right before it got really busy with the tourist season. We only spent a little over 24 hours there, but it was a really nice overnight getaway, and a really cute beach town!
There was a cute coffee place in walking distance from where we stayed-Red, White & Brew-which had some yummy flavored iced coffees, good breakfast sandwiches, and really good homemade muffins. Just a cute spot to grab some breakfast, from some really friendly people.
We spent some of the day walking around and checking out Sea Isle-really nice promenade/boardwalk with cute restaurants and shops. The beach was nice and clean, as well. In the afternoon, we shared some white wine with some wine and cheese & crackers and hummus while able to see the waves crashing from our deck. Not so bad!
Dinner was really the highlight at Mike’s Seafood Market & Dock Raw-Bar Restaurant which was a fun, outdoor, laid back, BYOB seafood restaurant. We sampled the steamed shrimp and the steamed scallops. We both had them steamed in an old bay butter sauce--with either red potatoes or corn on the cob, and coleslaw with both--yum! It was also Free Mussels Monday so they gave us some mussels in white wine for free! This was all pretty tasty with some white wine. Great dinner! We followed it up with some walking off our dinner and some icecream for dessert. :) (I guess the ice cream negated the walking, oops).
The next morning we had breakfast at Dock Mike’s Pancake House which was a cute local place.
We finished off our quick getaway with some sitting on the beach watching some waves and chit chatting.
Not a bad overnight trip! No pictures from this trip, but there's always the memories... :)

Maui, May 2014

Gorgeous flowers

Last stop on this epic trip, the island of Maui.....

We saved the best for last. When we came to Hawaii five years previous, we loved Maui the best, and we agreed once again that it's our favorite island. We actually stayed at the same place as we did five years ago, which is a very nice condo right in Lahaina, about a five minute walk to Front Street, which has tons of art galleries, stores, restaurants, bars....perfect location! Once we arrived and checked in, we headed right to Front Street for some cocktails and appetizers while watching the sunset (it pains me to write that now, haha, being back to "reality"). Later we headed to the Lahaina Fish Company and had some yummy macadamia nut encrusted Mahi Mahi!

First night in Maui

Our first full day we headed to Ka'anapali Beach with our rental car, about 15 minutes away. We laid out for a while and then went to Duke's (yes, Duke's again!) and had an A'u fish sandwich-yum-o! Later we hung out by the pool....ah, vacation.

Let's just say, we did a lot of relaxing in Maui. Laying out, swimming, eating, drinking....what vacation is all about! We had a list of different things to do on the island, and chatted about what was a necessity, a possibility, or a pass. Overall, we really went with lounging by day, whether beach or pool, and dinner/drinks at night. Isn't it amazing when you're on vacation that those are your biggest problems: "Beach or pool? Which restaurant tonight?"

On Saturday night during our trip we went to the Old Lahaina Luau! My advice is that you must go to a luau when you go to Hawaii! We went to this same luau on our last trip and were lucky to get spots that opened up from someone cancelling...they were booked almost three weeks out! We had a great time at this (open bar) luau! :) After the luau we stopped at a hibachi restaurant turned into a karaoke bar and had some very wacky entertainment there!! We had some drinks and some good laughs!

Mom and I at the Old Lahaina Luau

Luau

The following day we had a little excursion to Napili Beach (about 20 minutes away)...absolutely beautiful! So, my goal was to find this hidden spot where you could snorkel with sea turtles. I did my research online and knew I had to look for a dirt path on one end of this beach. When we arrived, I did a little exploring up one path on one side of the beach, but it eventually led to nothing-the path just ended, so I turned around. I had rented some snorkel equipment, but had talked to some of the guys who worked right at the beach and they said visibility was crappy AND there was a tiger shark sighting somewhat recently...my odds of finding this hidden spot were not looking good, along with the sharks cramping my style!

Anyway, while I was on shore, I saw this big shadow swimming near all the swimmers, and it was swimming along the length of the beach from one end to the other. This shadow popped his little head up-a sea turtle! The people were oblivious so I'd yell out to them "Hey, look down!!" and they'd see this massive turtle swimming within inches of them. I was running like a major dork along the beach "following" this sea turtle--too scared to go in and swim near him because he was so big and I guess maybe nervous he'd bite me, haha. He was so cool when he'd pop his head up! Anyway, that got me all jazzed up and renewed my goal of finding this darn spot and getting my sea turtle experience!! I ran into a couple who were raving about their swim with the sea turtles "just over there" when they pointed to the opposite end of the beach I had explored-ah ha! So I gathered up my snorkel gear, and Mom, and we trekked over this sandy path, stony path, along some condos, through a gate that said "do not enter-no trespassing" and found the spot. The only thing was...I had to climb down slippery rocks to get to the entry spot, and this spot was the crashing point of some waves which swirled up a pretty serious current. Meaning, if you entered at the wrong time, you'd get smashed into the rocks. (No big deal). Mom was all nervous and such, and I was too..but I gave myself a little pep talk "Ah hello, you're right here, how often are you going to be in Hawaii at a spot to snorkel with sea turtles?! Get your butt in there!" and psyched myself up and got in. I timed the crashing waves and paddled out with no drama.

Napili Beach

Lo and behold, I started swimming around and within minutes, saw sea turtles swimming below me! It was this natural cove where they live/swim. It was AMAZING! The longer I stayed in, the more turtles I saw, and the more that I got to swim alongside...I'd even say hi to them.  It was honestly a really special moment and something that you can't say you get to do often! A true highlight of the trip. And, I didn't get smashed into the rocks on the way back in, either, so double score!

The following day was another beach in the AM, poolside by the afternoon kind of day. It was actually our second-to-last day, wahhh. We went to a fancy dinner that night, and picked up some ice cream on the way home. Oh, did I mention we got a little addicted to ice cream in Maui? Macadamia nut...coconut with macadamia nuts...chocolate with macadamia nuts...YUM! Not to mention that a pint was $10...woops.

Our last day was pretty awesome because our flight left at 10:30 pm so we had a full day of breakfast, shopping, pool lounging, staring at the palm trees while floating in the pool...just trying to sink it all in...let the sun warm us to the bones..Finished our trip with our final Mai Tais,and a gorgeous sunset.

Final sunset of our trip-in Maui

So...it was an amazing trip. Three islands, twelve nights....really a memorable and beautiful trip. When you're gone that long, you really do lose touch with reality a little-which works wonders! I didn't think about mundane things like paying bills, the work I needed to get done on the rust spot on my car, etc etc. I truly escaped and enjoyed each moment as much as possible. I'm so thankful my Mom and I are the best of travel buddies--we spent about two weeks together and had smiles on our faces for it all. We both agreed in the future, WHEN we go to Hawaii again, we'd probably do two islands maximum-Oahu and Maui-or even just Maui. There is so much to do and see if you have a rental car and a curiosity to see more of each island. So...until the next adventure....Aloha!

The Big Island, April and May 2014

So, this was our first visit to the Big Island of Hawaii. Our game plan was that we were spending 2 nights on the dry side of the island, Kona, and 1 night on the wet side of the island, Hilo. Our flight arrived around 11am or so, we picked up or rental car, and off we went to our hotel. When we arrived, the room wasn't ready yet, so we decided to walk around a little and have lunch at the Kona Brewing Company.

Beer flight at Kona Brewing Company

It was a great lunch! Mom and I each got a beer flight so we could sample several beers, and shared a yummy salad & pizza. It was just a nice, chill place with outdoor seating-perfect to enjoy some pizza and beer.

After our lunch, we checked into the room in the late afternoon and decided to do some lounging by the pool. We didn't have a ton of time, because I was scheduled to meet somewhere at 530pm for my night snorkel with the manta rays!

So this snorkel experience was one of my highlights of the trip. This was one of the few "organized" trips I did while on my trip. I scheduled ahead of time with Jack's Diving Locker, who had an awesome reputation (and lived up to it). We all headed out on the boat around sunset, suited up in wet suits, and arrived at the cove where the manta rays are. It's a spot where several companies know about, and do these organized snorkels. Basically there's scuba drivers who go to the bottom and shine light up, and the snorkelers shine light down, which makes it really easy to see the manta rays. Let me say--we had no problem seeing them because they're HUGE!! Most of them in this area had a 12 ft wingspan. They are like much bigger versions of stingrays. It was amazing!! It was scary (to me) being in the water at night--and when these gentle giants come close to you, at first, it's terrifying! But they just swim really gracefully and seem totally comfortable with doing their thing and hearing the screams and delight from the tourists. Some of the manta rays brushed against me--and I was told it means good luck for 7 years! I haven't gotten the pictures back from my underwater camera yet, but this is what they look like on the right. We didn't see this many at once, but we definitely saw maybe 4-5 at once and they looked identical to this. Truly an amazing experience!

Manta Rays--photographs by Thomas P. Peschak

I got back later that evening so Mom and I just got some snacks from the ABC Store (like 7-11) in the hotel and relaxed in our room as I relayed my big adventure to her!

The following day we spent the morning visiting a clinic and getting more some meds because her allergies were really bothering her. Once we did all that, we decided it would be best to just spend the afternoon relaxing rather than trying to do a big beach adventure that day. It was our only full day in Kona, and our pool was so pretty and nice, so we relaxed. That's what vacation is all about sometimes! We had a nice little brunch and then vegged for the afternoon.

 We saw an amazing rainbow this day, as well.

Beautiful rainbow

Later that evening, we went to a place called Huggo's on the Rocks, where we caught an amazing sunset, while having cocktails, dinner, and a man playing Hawaiian music, with a woman dancing. It was a lovely way to spend our last night in Kona.

Sunset at Huggo's on the Rocks

The next morning began our big adventure day to see the volcano and travel to Hilo. We drove to Volcano National Park-it was interesting how barren the landscape became as we drove in that direction! While we saw some cool scenery in the park, I wasn't too impressed...I wanted to see some lava! But really you just saw big holes from the distance with steam coming out and some crazy landscape.

Volcano National Park

We stopped at a black sand beach along the way, which was funky looking. We also walked through the Thurston Lava Tube, which was a tube formed from where volcano used to flow in the past. That was funky looking!

Black sand beach

Thurston Lava Tube

We only spent an hour or two in the park and were on to Hilo!When we arrived in Hilo, we checked into our little guesthouse room, which was really cute. We really only had the afternoon in Hilo, and just wanted to hang out and experience the town. It was raining a lot on and off, (it is the wet side of the island!), so sightseeing in the rain wasn't huge on our list. We ended up just hanging out at a bar for a while, drinking some beers, and chatting with a multitude of people. The bartender was from there and grew up there, a guy who was a transplant from Arizona, another a transplant from a town in Mass 15 mins from where I grew up and Mom lives, and a woman visiting. It was a nice way to enjoy Hilo, just hanging out with some nice people. We finished the night with dinner, and returned to our room to rest for our next flight in the morning.

We really enjoyed seeing the Big Island, and were happy to see Hilo, where our family friend Fred lived for many years and has told us about for many years! As you can see by reading, it was a lot to do in three nights, but Mom and I both agreed we were happy we came to the Big Island.

Next.....to Maui!

The island of Oahu, April and May 2014

Aloha! Having recently returned from an epic trip in Hawaii with my Mom, it's time for another travel entry! The trip took place towards the end of April and the beginning of May. We spent 12 nights/12 days in Hawaii. We spent four nights in Oahu, three nights on the Big Island, and five nights in Maui. I'll stick to the island of Oahu in this entry.

I love Hawaii. We went five years ago and had an amazing trip filled with great memories. My Mom was selling our house, and vowed when it was sold that we'd take a trip to Hawaii-and that we did! We arrived around 5:30pm, which is a nice time to arrive since you can get to your hotel, get a little freshened up, and head out for some drinks and dinner. Our first stop? Obviously Duke's for some mai tais!

First Mai Tais of the trip!

We knew we'd finally arrived when we started sipping our mai tais! After a 5.5 hr flight and a 6.5 hour flight, it was so nice to be back on land for close to two weeks.

Our first day we started off with some delicious breakfast at the Hula Grill-some yummy eggs benedict and some amazing banana macadamia nut pancakes. YUM!! Check these out: 

Banana Mac Nut Pancakes

Anyway, we spent the day relaxing on Waikiki Beach--a hub of activity, surfing lessons, Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boarding lessons, swimming, lounging...a fun, gorgeous beach which has beach, tall buildings, and a mountain all in one setting. One of my favorite beaches in the world for sure!

Waikiki Beach

So anyway, we spent the day lounging around-perfect plan for your first day in Hawaii-and that night we went to "Art After Dark" at the Honolulu Museum of Art. They have this every last Friday of each month with music, performers, artists, drinks, food, a dj....we had a blast and ended up dancing for the last half hour or so!

Mom and I at Art After Dark

We finished the night at Duke's bar once again.

Our second day our main activity was a hike to Manoa Falls. We ended up taking some city buses to get there, which worked out well, but definitely would have been a lot easier with a car (we didn't rent one on Oahu). Anyways, the hike was only .75 mile each way, but was treacherous due to previous rainy weather, so the rocks were slippery and muddy. Mom survived with her walking stick and she kept a positive attitude the whole time! In the end, we both had some laughs and were happy we accomplished this wacky hike. We celebrated that night with a nice steakhouse dinner :)

Manoa Falls

We made it!

Hanuama Bay

Our final day we went on an adventure to Hanuama Bay to snorkel and lounge. It's known to be very pretty and have great and easy snorkeling, since the coral reef is so close to the shore. We had a wonderful morning here. We took the city bus, which was easy and convenient, and spent the first half of the day here. I snorkeled and saw lots of cool fish, especially some funky neon-colored guys. Just laying out, reading, and relaxing was also quite nice!  After we had had enough of the sun for the day, we headed back to Waikiki Beach and had a drink at the Mai Tai Bar, which was right on the beach, so we watched the passersby and all the action on the beach. There was also a Zumba-thon going on, which we may or may not have joined after our drink! :)

We had a casual dinner that night at Jimmy Buffett's, and then of course, where else did we go? Duke's to finish off our last night in Waikiki, Oahu.

What can I say? A few days of beach, lounging, restaurants, mai tais, with some hiking and dancing thrown in....a great start to an amazing trip!

Next, onto the Big Island!

2014...I'm baaccck!

Greetings! It's been a long time since I've written on this blog. And I'm ready to get going again! Not only do I have a big trip on the horizon, but I also feel that I have many "adventures" on a much smaller scale that I'd like to capture in my blog. I love to write, I love to travel, I love to cook, I love personal finance...so why not blog about it for my own benefit? It makes me happy, and if it makes anyone else happy, that's an added bonus!

So, expect some more blog entries soon. Maybe they will be about my upcoming trip with my Mom to Hawaii in late April, as we plan and think about where we want to go, what we want to do and see, what we want to experience, etc. Maybe it will be about new recipes I try-most recently, making my own bread! And Im going to make a new meatloaf recipe this weekend, as well. Maybe it'll be about my new debt-free living and experience as I build my emergency fund.... Maybe this won't interest anyone...haha. But maybe it will :) Stay tuned!