Budgeting Check In 2

It's the end of February.  This month went by so fast.  So, I'm back to check in with my budgeting goals again.  I was able to put about $100 in savings this month, which is still not great, but my finances are slowly improving.  And I was able to pay off my credit card again.

This month, my goal is to not overspend.  I don't expect to save much money since we've got a Disneyland trip later this month, but keeping within our budget is definitely an appropriate goal.  So, I guess the trick is to try not to spend any personal money for the next 3 weeks.  It'll totally happen, right?

This month, free activities were scarce outside of the house since it was raining most weekends.  We went to the mall once, but mostly we watched movies and baked at home.  Last weekend, the sun was finally out and I decided to take my kids to the L.A. Zoo.  Our zoo membership expires today, so it was nice to take one last trip with them.  Zoo membership, while not free, is a great value if you have a family that likes the zoo.  At the L.A. Zoo, they charge about $186 for the family deluxe, which is what we had for the past year.  It covered admission for 3 adults (my husband, mom, and me) and all of our kids.  So, it paid for itself in just 2 trips.  Plus, you get a small discount on food at the zoo.  It's a bigger zoo, which is nice for older kids compared to some of the smaller zoos like Santa Barbara, which is beautiful and cheaper, but does not keep my children interested for as much of the day.  L.A. zoo also has reciprocity with a few other zoos and aquariums throughout the United States where you can get either free or reduced admission by showing your member card.

Other than that, in all my ample free time trying to pass the time without spending too much money, I've been working on writing a novel.  It's not really related to travel or budgeting or Disneyland, so it's not the time to share it yet, but here's a little teaser for when I might share--it takes place in a location I'll be visiting this summer.  I'm hoping to have my book done by then so I can share more about the spots that inspired parts of the book.

For now, here's a few shots from my month:

Budgeting Check In 1

It's the end of the month, so it's time for my first check in on my budgeting/saving money series for the year.  January was complicated.  My two youngest children celebrated their 5th birthday, which cut into our budget a bit.  I also had to buy a few new pairs of shoes as I was having foot pain only to discover my feet had grown.  That's right ladies, be warned.  For some of us, our feet will continue growing throughout life, about 1 size every 10 years.  Some of you will be luckier.  But it was a bit of a shock for me.  So, we'll say my plan of only spending $300 dollars for the month was slightly off.

The good news is that I managed to only put a little bit on my credit card and I will be able to pay it off this time, giving me a little more room to wiggle for next month.  And I'm going to really clamp down on my spending in February as we have decided to take advantage of the Disneyland southern California 3-day $180 deal in late March.  You know what that means...more money needs saving. So, I'm shooting for $300 total spending, again not including bills or household expenses (groceries, medications, etc.).  I think it's possible this time.  I do have my car registry to pay, but otherwise it shouldn't be a bad month.  Unless, of course, I just jinxed myself...

So,  haven't been able to put money in savings this month, but I did manage to get the credit card paid off.  Here's hoping the end of February will yield more positive results.  I have several free activities planned in February for my family including L.A. museum free-for-all this coming weekend and a final trip to the zoo on our season passes from last year. If we bring our own food, we may just be okay.  And the rest of the time, there's always meal prep and cleaning to keep us busy.  But, more on that next month maybe.

It's that Time Again...Saving Money for Trips

Last year, I wrote about a challenge where I tried to find only free activities to do on weekends for 10 weeks in order to save money for trips.  It was mostly successful and helped me pay off some of my debt from the holidays so I could save up for my trips to Legoland, Santa Cruz, and New York.  I didn't quite reach my $6000, but I got close enough that I wasn't hurting at all and was even able to take an extra smaller trip with my oldest son.

This year, I once again find myself in a similar predicament.  I spent too much during the holidays and I have trips I want to take.  We will be going to Disneyland in November for Thanksgiving and staying onsite, which is no cheap date for 6 people, but we haven't stayed onsite in a long time.  I'm also hoping to take a short day or 2-day trip in June to see Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge...but I'm not sure if I'm crazy enough for that one.  We'll see.  Also in June, we're taking a trip Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada mountains for a week.  Most of that one is already paid, but I still have to rent a car, consider gas prices, and include money for food, excursions, and souvenirs.  And, there's that ever-present plan to hopefully go to Walt Disney World in 2021...I need $15,000 for that one alone and, well, let's just say I'm nowhere near close right now.  So, with that in mind, it's time to save again.

This year, in addition to doing my 10-week "free stuff" challenge once again, which won't begin until Martin Luther King Day weekend since we have to celebrate my twins' 5th birthday before that, I am also setting myself a budget to follow for at least the next 6 months.  I've realized looking at my credit card bills that I spend a lot of money on things that I don't really need.  New shoes, new clothes, extra toys for the kids...it adds up.  I won't disclose how much I spend on average, but my new budget for personal expenses and extras every month is going to be $300 per month.  This does not include my monthly bills, gym membership,  payments on my Knott's season passes, gas, car payments, or student loan payments.  But it does include eating out, clothing for my kids and myself, and fun activities/extras.  My goal in all of this is to keep my credit card payments down (and pay off Christmas) and start some heavy duty saving.

I'm going to try to update monthly with how my vacation savings is going and tips I've found along the way.  Here's hoping for some positive results.

Knott's Merry Farm 2018

What better way to celebrate the winter holidays than with a trip to a theme park?  As many of my Disney-fan readers know, Disneyland is getting to be so expensive that it's hard to afford annual passes, or, in many cases, even a day pass, for a large family anymore.  Meanwhile, many other theme parks in the area are still comparatively very affordable.  In the past, we've had Legoland passes, but Carlsbad is a bit too far of a drive to make the passes worth it.  So, this year, since our kids are older now, we decided to give Knott's Berry Farm a shot.  For less than $100 per person, you can get an annual pass.  They also have options to add a year of parking, a meal plan, and more.  Though the fees look steep at first, when you calculate the cost of eating in the park and parking, some of these add-ons start looking very reasonable.  Most of the options would pay for themselves after 2-4 visits.

Ordering season passes for Knott's is so easy.  I love their online system, which allows you to upload your own pictures so that you don't have to waste time getting pictures taken at the park.  You simply take your vouchers straight to the turnstyle and the attendant will print out a card for each person with a voucher.  You can tell which pass is which by scanning your new passes into the Knott's app on your phone.  And with your pass, you get a few discounts, which especially are exciting when you're buying lunch or dinner for 6.

I went to Knott's regularly as a child as my family loved the classic fried chicken dinner and old western vibes.  Nowadays, the park is owned by Cedar Fair, which runs many amusement parks in the midwest, and the look and feel are quite a bit different with several roller coasters where berry fields once stood, but the old West is still alive and well in Ghost Town and kids can still enjoy fun rides built just for them in Camp Snoopy.  We took our kids a few years ago when my oldest was around 5 and my youngest were barely 2.  Back then, it still felt like it wasn't a good fit for our family.  Not enough to do for any of the little ones.  But, now, our oldest is 8 and the twins are turning 5 next month, so we thought we'd give it another go.  And we were not disappointed.  Our boys love roller coasters and our daughter finally enjoys slower spinning rides and shows, so overall, there was plenty to do for everyone.

First off, I took my oldest son to ride Ghost Rider.  He has been on wooden roller coasters before, but nothing quite as big as this one.  While he was terrified and cried a bit, afterwards he said he loved it and would be happy to go again. 

From there, we headed to Camp Snoopy, where I made the mistake of taking both of my boys on the Sierra Sidewinder.  My younger boy had never been on a roller coaster before and was begging to go on and my oldest was definitely up for it.  I noticed the cars were rotating, but I didn't think much of it.  Unfortunately for me, I didn't account for the fact that the weight distribution in our car would all be on me, so any time I reached the top, we started spinning like crazy.  The boys loved it, but I think I'll be taking dramamine before I ever take them on it again.  I'm all for a good roller coaster and it was that, but I think I'm getting too old for spinning and dropping simultaneously.

The kids really enjoyed Camp Snoopy and we had lunch at the Grizzly Creek Lodge, where there were plenty of kid-friendly choices including pizza, hamburgers, chicken strips, and more.  Food is a little pricier here than Disneyland for quick service, and for a family of 6, our meal came out to about $85 after our season pass discount.  But it was good quality for theme park food and satisfied everyone.

Fiesta Village was another favorite area with plenty to do between the carousel, the parasol chairs, an arcade, and a lively atmosphere.  Unfortunately, we didn't have time to explore too much in the Boardwalk area as we were running out of time.  We headed over to Ghost Town and made sure to hit the Calico Mine Ride and Calico Railroad before we had to go.  While we were waiting for the train, my son and my mom had a fake wedding at Judge Roy Bean's, located right next to the stagecoach.  For a nominal fee ($5 for the certificate), they'll run a fake wedding ceremony just as it would have been done back in the Wild West.

We spent a little time viewing some of the other shops in Ghost Town and even saw a woman make blown glass jewelry.  My daughter and I also had the opportunity to see A Christmas Carol performed live in the Bird Cage Theater.  The actors were magnificent and even my daughter, who I thought might be a little young for the show, really enjoyed it.

We finished off our day with an early dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant, enjoying a meal just as my grandmother had when she was a girl when it first opened in the 1930s.  The restaurant has updated its sides and atmosphere, but the chicken is still the same.  And don't forget a piece of boysenberry pie to end the day.

We can't wait to go back again and explore some of the stuff we didn't have time to see this time.  Having season passes is so worth it for the chance to experience everything and take our time.

The California Science Center and Los Angeles Public Transit Adventures

This past week, the celebrate the beginning of Winter Break, I took my 8-year-old son to the California Science Center, located in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California, to see the space shuttle Endeavor.  He is extremely into astronomy and space exploration, so this was a big deal for him. 

As all southern California natives know, the drive from the northwestern-most reaches of Los Angeles to Expo Park is not ideal, especially if you are required to drive during rush hour on a weekday.  So, with that in mind, I decided after much deliberation that my son was old enough to take public transportation.  I will start by saying I do not recommend public transportation options in Los Angeles to anyone who is not from a big city and already comfortable with making connections and navigating schedules and train platforms.  If you're from a small town or don't go out much, the system can be intimidating.  But, if you're feeling adventurous or already have experience with public transportation in large cities, you should definitely do this.  It's so much better than dealing with driving in gridlock.

To get to Expo Park, we started off on the Metrolink, a commuter train that runs several lines throughout the greater Los Angeles area.  Our particular train was on the Ventura County Line.  Tickets on weekdays, roundtrip, are $20 for adults and $15 for kids, but these tickets allow you to also make free and unlimited connections on other transit providers, including the Metro system, meaning we didn't have to pay additional fees for the other lines we used to travel on for the day.  We arrived at Union Station around an hour after we boarded Metrolink and, after a quick bathroom break, made a very easy connection to the Red Line subway toward North Hollywood.  We rode a few stops and found ourselves at our next point of transfer at the 7th Street/Metro Center station, where we walked up the stairs to the upper level and connected directly with the Expo line.  The Expo line is a light rail line that travels between Expo Park and Santa Monica.  Again, the connection was easy and within about 30 more minutes, we had arrived at our destination at the USC/Expo Park stop. 

My son wanted to explore USC a bit since we had some extra time.  The architecture is absolutely beautiful and my son was so taken with the beauty that he now wants to go to college there. I told him he better do something amazing and get a really good scholarship.

Exposition Park is always a beautiful place to explore.  It's a fun piece of history and symbols from the 1984 Olympic Games remain, serving as a reminder of why this park exists.  While we were waiting for the Science Center to open, we took a walk around and checked out the rose garden, some of the aircraft on display, the entrance to the Coliseum, and some of the buildings in the area.  There are several museums within the park, including the Natural History Museum, which we visited last year, and you can read about here.

The California Science Center is a museum with interactive exhibits offering children, adults, and families fun and educational displays to explore.  The Science Center offers free admission to most of its permanent galleries, with small fees for timed entry exhibits ranging from a few dollars up to about $30 for the more impressive offerings such as the current King Tut exhibit.  An IMAX theater is also connected, offering educational films related to current exhibits for a fee for about $9 per person. 

There wasn't enough time to explore everything in a day, so my son and I stuck to the Space Shuttle exhibit, an IMAX show related to space exploration, and the free galleries.  The space shuttle was the whole reason for our trip and we were not disappointed.  We did expect there to be a little bit more to it, but a whole pavilion for the space shuttle is still in construction, so it's currently housed in a temporary location within the museum walls.  Though the exhibit was smaller than expected, it was amazing to see a shuttle that has traveled many times through space up close.  It's an experience any fan of astronomy and space exploration should have at least once.

Aside from the space shuttle and space-related exhibits, my son also enjoyed an exhibit on the science/psychology of fear.  Several classic psychological experiments are set up in order to challenge your perceptions and help you realize your fears.  It was a fun little area and one of my favorite hands-on exhibits.

Overall, it was a great trip.  The ride back home was a little tricky because we didn't time ourselves correctly and had to wait for a train at Union Station for a little over an hour, but overall, it wasn't bad.  We had a great day and I can confidently say I would take public transit down there again.