The $65.00 Vacation

To kick off my better budgeting, I sponsored a family getaway to Scottsdale. It's been almost 2 years since I used Fun Dollars for a get-away. (I did it the second month into our Fun Dollar implementation.) During the fire in Oak Creek Canyon last week, I watched on facebook as friend after friend packed up and left Sedona for the "fresh air" of Phoenix. (That in itself should tell you how bad the smoke was here, when people go to Phoenix for fresh air, you know it's bad.) After three days of staying in the house with the children and not letting them play outside from the "unhealthy" to "hazardous" air quality rating in Sedona, I couldn't take it anymore.

I had been in discussion with Corey about getting out of town anyway.  It would most likely be a stay-cation (when you go on a vacation within driving distance) to Phoenix, since we had just purchased plane tickets to visit family later this summer. We had decided that the earliest we could afford to go anywhere would be after our house closed escrow on the 19th. I couldn't wait that long. We were breathing polluted air and going stir crazy from being inside.

Then, something wonderful happened. While I was watching post after post go up of poolside frolicking on facebook, another friend of mine posted that she needed a massage chair for her new business. One post and a pickup later, I successfully sold our massage chair. It has literally been sitting in our garage for three years unused, not once seeing the light of day.

My friend gave me a $100.00 bill to pay for the chair. I now held in my hand the bargaining chip I needed to get us out of town. As it turned out, we were able to get a very nice hotel room with a full-sized fridge and kitchenette, two TV's a king sized bed, and a hot breakfast for $50.00 per night. It was the same hotel where all our friends were staying, so there would be kids there to play with my children as well. We stayed two nights. I literally paid with the same $100.00 that my friend used to pay me. Zero cash came out of our bank account for this excursion.

I bought snacks and lunches, Corey bought dinner at Tommy Bahama. I chipped in with my Sedona friends, who were staying there, for pizza on the second night. I also bought a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Safeway. We did Zero Dollar activities, while we were down in the Valley, like play in the splash pad at the Scottsdale Quarter, hang out at the pool, and watching TV (which we do not do at home). 

When we returned from our three-day, two-night get-away, the smoke had cleared out of Sedona, and the fire was 90% contained up on the rim. Oh happy day! Refreshed and renewed, we came back to clear skies and fresh air.

And that, my friends is how we went on a stay-cation and didn't touch our bank account to do it.

Happy Spending!

2 lunches, snacks, wine and pizza- $65.00

Balance this pay cycle- $25.00