More Work Travel: New Hampshire!

Work is sending me to New Hampshire for a couple of days. All I really know about the state is that their motto is "Live free or Die" and the have no state sales tax. I will be in the border town (with Maine) of Portsmouth. It doesn't look like the most exciting place but it is only for one night.

I will be fly on a miles ticket so that means no earning for me. Being a sort of last minute trip this is to be expected. I will be on the road from Mar 22-23. It will be a nice change from the office!

I wish I could do trips like this every week! It would certainly make work more interesting...

Cash versus Card: Which is best?

An ongoing debate in the personal finance world is whether it is best to use cash or card for all of your purchases. Cash folks believe it is best because you cannot spend what you don't have. Card folks argue that you are missing out in interest, bonus points, etc. Personally I side with the card people. Here's why:

• If a card is lost it can be replaced. Cash cannot.
• I earn bonus miles for every purchase
• I have automatic electronic tracking of my spending via mint.com
• I am not wasting time and gas going to an ATM frequently
• I earn interest on my "spent" money until the credit card bill comes
• I am very aware of my finances and spending habits. I have self control

I use a credit card but the majority of the above can be achieved with a rewards debit card too. You only miss a little interest earned since the money is taken immediately.

I do use cash but rarely. I always have less than $20 on me at any given time unless I have a specific purpose. I would rather earn the bonus points and interest than have a wallet full of notes. I also find that I simply do not track my spending with cash either. All of this made me decide to use cards instead.

What do I use cash for?

• Highway tolls. In most cases you have no choice
• Small transactions where the merchant balks at my card
• Yard/Garage/Estate Sales
• Establishments that only accept cash.
• Travel abroad

Cards and cash both have their uses. Here in the USA cards work out way better for me. When I am traveling overseas they are accepted a lot less and usually involve and addon fee. I simply use cash there and withdraw my daily budget (I get ATM fees refunded).

Do what works for you! This is my stance on the debate.

State Tax Refund Came!

Yay!

I got my state income tax refund today. This is a record for them with only 2 weeks to get it to me. I usually have to wait a month or more. This will definitely boost my numbers this month!

My plans for the money are:

• Pay for my college course
• Pay an annual fee for a very lucrative credit card bonus
• The majority goes to savings

It is nice to finally feel like I am not treading as much water and getting ahead!

My first mileage run booked!

This is a little geeky but I have just booked my first ever mileage run flight. I found a deal where I can Fly from Boston to San Diego via Houston one way and Washington, DC on the way back for $62 round trip. I could not pass this up!

I am doing this trip all in one day/night. This will boost the miles in my account to where I can have enough for a one way business class ticket to Bangkok! To me this is worth $62 and 24 hours of my time. I will spend most of it in the air with a good book and my laptop. It is on a Saturday so I do not have to miss work.

I am excited about the trip and look forward to using the books to book my ticket to Asia this year!

Back to School!

At the end of this month I will be taking an online college course to complete my CIS: Networking degree. I have worked in the IT field for over 10 years but only only hold a degree in Finance. Even though the degree I will receive will be from a 2-year technical school I believe it will help me in job searching.

In the IT field certifications and experience are the top two items that land you an interview. I have a couple of certifications under my belt with more to come this year. I am starting with completing this final class to get a degree and then plan to move forward with Microsoft certification. Having both of these opens up newer (and higher paying) job options.

This is all part of my big picture plan of earning more so I can save more. The more I can save the sooner I can stop working all of the time and focus on what matters to me: travel, helping others, and freelance consulting. I understand that money is not everything but I have to increase my income to have any chance of getting to my goal before age 60 or later. Time is money too!

Hello Bonus Miles!

I have ventured into credit card churning in order to get my self some free travel. Things are going very well!

I do not recommend this to everyone since you must be responsible with credit for this to work. It also involves reading and understanding all of the fine print and completing all of the steps to gain the bonus awards. You also may have to front some annual fees and have to do a cost/benefit analysis. For me it is worth the trouble!

So far I have gotten:

• Continental Airlines: 50,000 miles
• US Airways: 35,000 miles
• American Airlines: 75,0000 miles

All of this is on top of my normal Delta earnings from my American Express card. For those who are not familiar with the programs this means that with American I can get a free round trip to Asia or Europe or South America, With US I can get a free round trip to Central America, and I am close to another free round trip to Asia or Europe or South America with Continental. 

My total costs for this so far is $85 (one annual fee). Not bad at all! This also gives me a chance to compare Delta + partners to others and see what is my best choice for the long haul. I can also compare programs, fees, and flexibility as well and figure out how I want to proceed.

101 Goals in 1001 Days Update

It has been a while since I have updated my progress on my list. You can find my list here.

Since my last update I have accomplished the following:

• Visited a new country (The Bahamas) which brings me to 2 out of the 4 goal
• Started recycling at home through the curbside recycle program
• I went on a cruise last weekend! (The Bahamas)
• My Skymiles Balance is almost halfway to the 500,000 goal!
• I am registered for a class that will land me an IT credential (2 year degree!)

This list has really helped me much more than I realized to stay the course and move forward in my life as a whole. I am constantly improving both financially and otherwise. Why didn't I start this 10 years ago?!?

Next mini-vacation: New York City!

I am just off my cruise and I am already booking another trip!

I finally convinced a friend of mine to come with my to New York City. He has never been, always wanted to go, and with my experience in the city from work we are going for a weekend. I used my $300 Delta voucher to buy my plane ticket and scored a 3-star room in SoHo for $115 per night for the weekend! New York is expensive but it doesn't have to be!

I will be there from April 8 - 10. There is so much to see that I always save something for the next time I go. My main goals this time are to show my friend the good stuff, have a coney dog on Coney Island, and go to one of the nicer restaurants in New York for an excellent meal. The balance of the time will be spent exploring the city and visiting with a friend who lives there.

I am already excited about the trip and am doing some more side work to get extra money to cover the extras costs I will incur for that weekend. With around 5 weeks to prepare I should be all set!

March 2011 Net Worth Update

It is the 1st of the month again and it is time for my net worth report card. I had a great month due to a tax refund and extra side work this month. I am also waiting on a few rebates that will boost later numbers.

As of today my current net worth is $10,361.06. That is an increase of $5,429.39 over last month. The major contributing factors: side income, a large tax refund, increase in investment values, and selling some stuff on ebay!

I expect next month to be good as well. I have a tax refund on the horizon and I am working on increasing my income on a special project.

Alternative Income this past month:

IT Consulting: $137.76
Focus Groups: $0
Rebates: $83.22
eBay: $473.96

Bahamas Celebration Cruise: What it really costs!

I am back at work from my 3-day weekend and 2-night cruise aboard the Bahamas Celebration. Overall it was a good experience and to date it is the longest amount of time I have spent on a boat. I was expecting to notice the motion of the boat but it was perfectly still almost the entire trip!

My opinions: I got pretty much what I expected from this cruise. The drinks were a little high priced, sodas cost extra, and the food somewhat on the top end of the spectrum. They were constantly pushing the excursion tours and certain shops on the island (they get a cut from them of course!) and it was borderline excessive marketing. Other than that I enjoyed the change of pace and scenery and there was some good entertainment in the evenings. The weather was perfect the entire time with sun and 80F during the day.

The costs: I spent a little more than I expected but overall not too bad. Between my girlfriend and myself we spent a total of $282.03 during the 3 days away from home. Here is a rough breakdown of what we spent it on:

• Palm Beach Airport to Palm Beach Port and back: $41 shared van service ($10 per person each way and baggage tip)
• Atlanta Airport Parking: $27
• Ship Bar Tab: $142.64 (included drinks, mandatory tips, and $11.25 for sunburn spray for girlfriend)
• Freeport meals, drinks, and incidentals: $71.39 (we had lunch there and a few drinks on the beach)
• Freeport Share Van: $20 ($5 per person each way to and from harbour to beach)

On the surface it seems a little expensive but it is the Caribbean and prices are high there anyway.  These numbers also represent the costs for 2 travelers. It works out to around $47.00 per day per person. That is not bad at western prices! Our biggest cost was alcohol on the boat as expected. We went after the drink specials that were constantly changing so we had variety and kept the costs lower!

The all in cost of the entire vacation for 2 people was $793.63. Subtract airfare and the total is $551.13. That means the all in cost per day is $91.86 per day per person excluding flights. Having the majority of meals (except for 1) covered by the cruise made this much more affordable. We would have saved around $40 per day if we did not drink alcohol at all.  It is a good deal as most hotel rooms around would run you around $90 per day or more in The Bahamas.

I enjoyed the trip and would consider another trip like it again. For me personally I think 2-3 days on a cruise ship would be my maximum. Seeing the same surroundings and people 24 hours per day can wear on you over time. I feel I got good value for the over costs for the 2 of us to go. I wouldn't want to pay much more than we did the combined sale on the cruise and free airfare for my girlfriend made this possible.

For those looking for the cheapest way to try out the cruise scene I believe this is as good as it gets from a cost perspective. Your dollar commitment is not large compared to other cruises and you can "test the waters" before moving onto a longer cruise with a lot more dollar and time commitment. Give it a try and see for yourself!