A good way to save money is to think about the 'cost per wear' or 'cost per use' of an item. Think of how often you will use this item and if you will still be wearing/using it a few months from now. Let's say I buy a $30 dollar sweater in October. It is just starting to get cool so I can wear this sweater for about 5 months this season. If I wear the sweater 10 times within this time, each wear would cost me about $3. That is like saying I paid $3 every time I wore it. That is just within one year too. If I wore it the next year 10 times then the cost per wear would be even less. But if I buy a fancy night out dress for $100, how often will I actually wear it? I would probably wear a fancy night out dress maybe once a month, but only if it was warm out, so probably about 10 times a year. The cost per wear for this item would be $10. Is this dress worth paying $10 every time I wear it? You really get the idea of cost per wear with expensive, 'special' items (like accessories, purses, nice clothes to wear on special occasions ect..). The key is to decide if you will wear or use an item enough to justify purchasing it.
I hoped this helped a little!!!
Friday, February 21, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Day Trip Idea: Horseback riding/Trail Ride
A great idea for a day trip would be to go horseback riding. A trail ride is a great way to enjoy the outdoors! Its different then being in a ring and it is great for all skill sets! Many barns have guides that will be with you every step of the way. They tailor the trail ride for each of the riders abilities. You may walk most of the way, or go faster and maybe even jump! This is a different activity to do during the summer, or for any month at that matter! I know a barn near me even has overnight trips where you camp out overnight with the horses on your trail ride. Make it into a weekend event with an overnight trip!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Weekend Trip Ideas: A short Cruise
A great weekend or long weekend trip idea is to go on a cruise! If you live near a cruise ship port this won't be hard at all.
Royal Caribbean has their own weekend cruise/short cruise section here! Most of these leave from Florida, but there are some that leave from New Jersey. These short cruises could be just what you need for a quick island adventure. Right now there are some starting at less then $200!!! What a great price! If I lived in Florida I would definitely take advantage of these short cruises and use them as an opportunity to travel more. Even if you spend $500 for a short cruise it is still an OK price. You could probably make $500 in a month of working.
If you live in New Jersey, you still have a few options, and they are a little pricier, but you can save on airfare by leaving from here.
Let me know if you have ever taken one of these 'quickie' cruises!
Royal Caribbean has their own weekend cruise/short cruise section here! Most of these leave from Florida, but there are some that leave from New Jersey. These short cruises could be just what you need for a quick island adventure. Right now there are some starting at less then $200!!! What a great price! If I lived in Florida I would definitely take advantage of these short cruises and use them as an opportunity to travel more. Even if you spend $500 for a short cruise it is still an OK price. You could probably make $500 in a month of working.
If you live in New Jersey, you still have a few options, and they are a little pricier, but you can save on airfare by leaving from here.
Let me know if you have ever taken one of these 'quickie' cruises!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Destination of the Week: Philadelphia
Philadelphia has a special place in my heart because it is where I am from. There are so many things to do here, both historical and fun! (not that history is not fun...) It is a must see place for all just for the history alone!
-Liberty Bell
-Constitution Center
-Independence Hall
-Betsy Ross House
-Boat House Row
-Franklin Institute
-Camden Aquarium (not technically in Philly, but right over the bridge!)
-LOVE Park
-Rocky Statue
-Art Museum
-Eastern State Penitentiary
-Mutter Museum
-Philadelphia Zoo
-Fairmount Park
-Rittenhouse Square
-Washington Square
-tomb of the unknown soldier
-Go to a Phillies Game
-Liberty Bell
-Constitution Center
-Independence Hall
-Betsy Ross House
-Boat House Row
-Franklin Institute
-Camden Aquarium (not technically in Philly, but right over the bridge!)
-LOVE Park
-Rocky Statue-Art Museum
-Eastern State Penitentiary
-Mutter Museum
-Philadelphia Zoo
-Fairmount Park
-Rittenhouse Square
-Washington Square
-tomb of the unknown soldier
-Go to a Phillies Game
Monday, February 17, 2014
Pros/Cons to traveling by TRAIN
I have traveled by train multiple times. Into Philly, into NYC, in Alaska; all over the place. Each ride has been a different experience.
When riding the train into Philly, I know what to expect because I have done it more than a few times. It is uneventful and I get there with no hassle. The ride is also fairly short and has not been too crowded every time I have used it.
Traveling to NYC by train is another story. I recently took the train to NYC back in December right after Christmas and before New Years. This has to be one of the most busy times of the year to do this. We had to wait in a long wrap around line to buy train tickets from a machine. Then once we were on the train, it was tough finding seats. Good thing we got a seat though because the closer and closer we got to the city, the train began filling up more and more and people were standing all throughout the aisles. Did I mention this was a double decker train? Cool, but it was PACKED with people. When we got off the train, Penn Station was packed with people too. It was tough finding the other people I went with since our group had to split up to find seats on the train but we found them!
In Alaska we took the train from the Yukon back to Skagway. This was a smooth, scenic ride throughout the mountains. Our passports were checked on board as we left Canada and entered the USA on the train. It was beautiful seeing the snow and old railroad tracks. We were even allowed to go on the platform outside of each train car to be outside and take pictures on our journey. These platforms got crowded but it was still cool.
We also took the train from Denali back to Anchorage. What started as a calm trip turned into a big ordeal, all due to the weather. This train was awesome. It was a double decker train with seating on top with a glass ceiling and a dining car below. There were comfortable seats and they served drinks. It was great! After a while we noticed we were still crawling along at a slow pace. This was because Alaska was going through a warm spell and the ground was warming up and warping the tracks, so we had to go slow to be careful. At one point we had to BACK UP OVER A RAVINE AND WAIT ON THE TRACKS for people to fix the tracks ahead of us. That was really scary. Then we were told that they were unsure of the track condition ahead so they did not know what the arrival time would be. People had flights to catch and people were getting tired of the slow train, so they offered us the option to get off the train and take buses back to Anchorage. So that is what we did. We got off the train and took a 2 hour bus ride back. It was a really cool experience though and it is a shame we could not go faster and see the entire scenic trip. Eating on the train was fun, and being served drinks was different as well. We also saw all kinds of wildlife including moose. It was a great train ride besides the fact we were going slow and could not finish the whole trip.
Ok, without further ado, here are my pros/cons to traveling by train:
Pros
-comfortable
-can relax and let the train take you to your destination
-bathroom aboard some
-can watch the scenery fly by
-do not need to stop for cars (they stop for you)
Cons
-too many stops
-go backwards depending on seat (can be con if you get motion sickness)
-annoying people when it is crowded
When riding the train into Philly, I know what to expect because I have done it more than a few times. It is uneventful and I get there with no hassle. The ride is also fairly short and has not been too crowded every time I have used it.
Traveling to NYC by train is another story. I recently took the train to NYC back in December right after Christmas and before New Years. This has to be one of the most busy times of the year to do this. We had to wait in a long wrap around line to buy train tickets from a machine. Then once we were on the train, it was tough finding seats. Good thing we got a seat though because the closer and closer we got to the city, the train began filling up more and more and people were standing all throughout the aisles. Did I mention this was a double decker train? Cool, but it was PACKED with people. When we got off the train, Penn Station was packed with people too. It was tough finding the other people I went with since our group had to split up to find seats on the train but we found them!
In Alaska we took the train from the Yukon back to Skagway. This was a smooth, scenic ride throughout the mountains. Our passports were checked on board as we left Canada and entered the USA on the train. It was beautiful seeing the snow and old railroad tracks. We were even allowed to go on the platform outside of each train car to be outside and take pictures on our journey. These platforms got crowded but it was still cool.We also took the train from Denali back to Anchorage. What started as a calm trip turned into a big ordeal, all due to the weather. This train was awesome. It was a double decker train with seating on top with a glass ceiling and a dining car below. There were comfortable seats and they served drinks. It was great! After a while we noticed we were still crawling along at a slow pace. This was because Alaska was going through a warm spell and the ground was warming up and warping the tracks, so we had to go slow to be careful. At one point we had to BACK UP OVER A RAVINE AND WAIT ON THE TRACKS for people to fix the tracks ahead of us. That was really scary. Then we were told that they were unsure of the track condition ahead so they did not know what the arrival time would be. People had flights to catch and people were getting tired of the slow train, so they offered us the option to get off the train and take buses back to Anchorage. So that is what we did. We got off the train and took a 2 hour bus ride back. It was a really cool experience though and it is a shame we could not go faster and see the entire scenic trip. Eating on the train was fun, and being served drinks was different as well. We also saw all kinds of wildlife including moose. It was a great train ride besides the fact we were going slow and could not finish the whole trip. Ok, without further ado, here are my pros/cons to traveling by train:
Pros
-comfortable
-can relax and let the train take you to your destination
-bathroom aboard some
-can watch the scenery fly by
-do not need to stop for cars (they stop for you)
Cons
-too many stops
-go backwards depending on seat (can be con if you get motion sickness)
-annoying people when it is crowded
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
The Georgia Aquarium
The Georgia Aquarium was fantastic! There were so many animals that I don't think I have ever seen in real life before. These include Beluga Whales and Whale sharks! What a site to see! The Georgia Aquarium is also home to one of the largest tanks in the world!!!
Check out my video of the Whale Sharks:
Check out my video of the Whale Sharks:
Sunday, February 9, 2014
The Coca Cola Factory
The Coca Cola Factory was a lot of fun! It starts out in a room filled with Coke memorabilia from all different countries and years. Then we moved into a movie theater room where we watched a short movie with the Coke polar bears. It was very cute! After this we moved into a different area where we could split up from the group and do our own thing. There were different sections to explore. There was an area to get your picture taken with the polar bear, an area to see the vault that the secret recipe for Coca Cola is supposably in, an area to see the bottling process and a museum type area. This was all on the first floor. The first thing my group decided to do was go into the Vault to learn about the recipe. After that we got our picture taken with the polar bear then explored the bottling area and museum. After doing all there was to do on the first floor we made our way upstairs for the 4D movie, other museum and tasting area. The tasting area was fun because there were types of Coca Cola drinks from all over the world. Some were gross, others were OK, but my favorites were all still from the USA. On our way out, we got to take a small bottle of Coke that was made that day at the factory. It has special labels on it so I will be keeping it as a souvenir. The gift shop was fun to look around as well. There were all types of Coke souvenirs. I did not buy anything but there were A LOT of options.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Trip to Atlanta, Georgia
So sorry for the lack of posts last week. I was in Atlanta for a conference. I have been to Atlanta before but that was for a band competition. All I saw back then was the Varsity and the Georgia Dome.
On this trip I got to see much more! I saw the ferris wheel, CNN, olympic park, the hotel where Mockingjay was filmed and I went to the coke factory and the Georgia Aquarium. I am going to do a seperate post on the Coke Factory and Aquarium, but here are some other pictures from my trip.
On this trip I got to see much more! I saw the ferris wheel, CNN, olympic park, the hotel where Mockingjay was filmed and I went to the coke factory and the Georgia Aquarium. I am going to do a seperate post on the Coke Factory and Aquarium, but here are some other pictures from my trip.
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