more on timeshares…

February 28, 2012 in life

Thank you to Jeffrey for his great guest post yesterday about timeshares!  I thought I’d add in my two cents on the whole timeshare idea.

The fact is, I love timeshares.  I love using them, I love staying in them, I love their availability.  You know what I love even more about timeshares?  When they’re not mine.  

westin princeville ocean resort villas - a beautiful timeshare on the island of Kauai.

no one ever said timeshares can't be beautiful

I don’t own a timeshare.  I admit, I felt the pull toward them; which for someone like me who won’t even buy new clothes is sort of concerning.  The lure is impressive, when they sit you down and explain it to you.  More than once I’ve taken the sales-perfect-pitch written upside-down on a piece of paper back to our room and stared at it.  (God I find it so tacky, when the sales person sitting across from you writes the maintenance fees and mortgage upside down so you can read it, circling the amount you save just by owning!)  More than once I’ve done more research on the topic online to see if it’s for real.

For reals…ain’t no way we can afford a timeshare, no matter how logically they break it down.

We’ve stayed in the timeshare owned by a former coworker of mine four times.  I love staying in them.  They’re huge, luxurious, and extremely cheap compared to hotels.  My former coworker had a bajillion points that she never used up every year, so she would either just give me the points (very generous, I know), or I would pay her market value for them.  Sometimes market value was equal to what a room in a hotel would have been. Sometimes market value was way, way less than a hotel ($150 for 3 nights in a 2 bedroom condo in Kauai?  Sign me up.).  In all cases, the timeshare offered free wifi, free parking, and a giant condo that held a kitchen and other great amenities.

It’s no wonder I really, really thought about owning one.

But behind the scenes of every great idea is reality.  In reality, my coworker was paying $600 a month on maintenance fees for the timeshare properties.  On top of the mortgage she paid for the points.  Holy…what?  That was $7,200 annually she was spending on fees alone!  I just looked up a timeshare rental for a resort on the Big Island of Hawaii – it’s a 2 bedroom, 2 bath at a great resort…and it costs $1,500.  She could stay there almost 5 weeks out of the year, on her maintenance fees alone.

But wait!  There’s more!

My coworker likes going to Las Vegas.  I just found a 2 bed, 2 bath timeshare for rental at the Marriott Grand Chateau for $1000 for the week.  That means that for maintenance fees alone, she could stay in Vegas for seven weeks.  Seven weeks!  I don’t even know how many years I would have to go without vacation just to accrue 7 weeks of vacation in one year.

So is a timeshare for you?

It’s not for me.  I still feel the tug of the timeshare (Imagine!  A mandatory vacation you pay for every year!), and sometimes the number logic that they deal me when I’m trying to get my free $150 American Express gift card pulls at my yearn to travel.  (Note to friends with babies – they don’t allow kids.  But they don’t allow spouses to sit in the presentation alone.  So…they grudgingly allow the baby to be in the room, but the presentation ends up rushed because the baby is screaming.  You still get the gift card.)  But reality prevails, for sure.  We just can’t afford that type of vacation mortgage, when we struggle to find a way to get a regular mortgage.  Plus their interest rate?

Fuggedaboutit.

Thanks again for Jeffrey for his gust post!  Have you/will you/what do you think…timeshare-wise?

why timeshare freebies aren’t free

February 27, 2012 in guest post

This is a guest post from Jeffrey Strain. He is a digital nomad with a personal mission of trying to help people avoid falling into the timeshare trap. He’s also a writer on a large number of other personal finance issues.

The next time you travel to a resort destination, there’s a good chance that you’ll have an opportunity to get free stuff simply for attending a timeshare presentation. Don’t do it. While it may appear that it’ll be an easy way to get some free stuff, the reality is that there are a lot of catches that come along with that “free” tag. The reality is that timeshares are a terrible deal for the vast majority of people. If there is any chance at all that you may get pressured into purchasing a timeshare, that “free” gift will end up costing a small fortune. Even if you are sure you can withstand the high pressure sales presentation, the “free” gifts still come with some costs. Here are four reasons that those free timeshare gifts are anything but free:

Sales presentations are always longer than they say:

One reason these freebies aren’t really free is that sales agents waste your time. They promise that in just an hour or two, you could have a free vacation or tickets to a popular local show. What they won’t say is that the presentation is specifically geared to keep you there as long as possible, and much longer than they initially promised. One hour can turn into three very quickly when multiple sales agents use
tactics to keep the conversation going. Basically, they sales agents use time to wear you down and become more invested. They know you want the freebie, but if you leave early, you won’t get it. There hope is that you will sign a contract just so you don’t leave the presentation
with nothing (often giving the assurance that you can cancel the timeshare if you aren’t satisfied), rather than sit for another couple
of hours.

Sales presentations can be invasive:

In order to get a better sense of who you are and how much you’re willing to spend on your vacations, sales agents will ask you a lot of questions. Many of these questions may be personal and financial in nature. They will sneakily ask about your vacation budget and other private matters in order to find that sweet spot price that you just might fall for. Even if you don’t buy, they may sell this information to other companies to solicit you.

Gift promises likely aren’t what they said:

Timeshare prizes and gifts are rarely what they first appear. Once you attend a timeshare presentation, the gifts are often presented in some sort of surprise or lottery in which each person must blindly draw for which prize they will receive. After sitting through that whole
presentation, surprise! The prize you’ve drawn is a “free” vacation, sponsored of course by the timeshare resort. Rather than go home with a brand new TV, you face a vacation with hidden fees and more mandatory presentations.

When timeshares offer free tickets to local events or shows for attending the presentation, the free tickets often come with catches.
The entrance to the show may be free, but there may be a two drink minimum at outrageously inflated prices. It’s important to know the
fine print in detail before you set off to get your freebie because it probably isn’t nearly as free as you think it is.

Small prizes are not worth your time:

Sometimes after attending a presentation, the sales agents will indeed fulfill their promises to you and hand over some free gifts. Everything from hotel stays to gift cards can be up for grabs, but is a $25 dinner or a $50 hotel stay really worth the hassle of attending and being pressured into an expensive buy? Consider how much it cost you to travel to the destination, and how much your time is really worth. Vacations are meant to be enjoyed outdoors with family and friends, not indoors with a stranger who’s asking about your spending habits. This is just another reason these free deals are not truly free.

It might sound cliche, but the old saying “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” aptly applies to freebies at timeshare
presentations. If something sounds like it would be an amazing freebie, incredible value, or smart buy, there are probably plenty of
associated hassles and fees. Always remember that the salesperson’s motive is to make money, and the first step towards accomplishing this is by luring you into a presentation with the promise of freebie gifts.

Thanks to Jeffrey for this great guest post!  Have you ever thought to own – or do own – a timeshare?  

anniversaries and trips

February 23, 2012 in life

We’ve been planning our anniversary trip for a year – saving up for it for two years.  Since we were married on Leap Day, my husband decided that very four years we would take a trip, thereby warding off the stereotypical flowers-dinner anniversary that most anniversaries default into.  Since we have a toddler, I tried to think of something that would be toddler appropriate while still being a blast for us.  What did I think of?  Disney Cruise!

i will not fall overboard, i will not fall overboard, i will not fall overboard.

We’ll be setting sail on the Disney Wonder next week.  It had a special “kids-sail-free” special going on, which made our balcony room (all included meals) about $2K.  We are very excited, and except for the ebola virus we seem to have caught, are amped to go on our trip.

Is it expensive? Sort of.  We bought the extra trip insurance because I’m pregnant and we have a toddler – in case the doc had put me on bed rest or something, at least our trip would have been covered.  Since we did, though, it comes out to around $350 a day for the 3 of us.  We’re not drinking right now (thanks fetus!) so booze expense will be nothing, and we’re only doing one port adventure as a family given our son’s age and my “fragile” state (which makes me ineligible to go canopy zip-lining with my husband, grr).  We’re going to have a couple meals apart from our son (which is an additional expense), and the nursery costs $6/hour.  Apart from that and the embarrassingly large sombrero I plan on getting, we should really have few expenses.

It is a bold departure from our honeymoon trip for sure, where we planned our day around the happy hour at the bar and participated in the bar crawl.  We also got tipsy and went to an art auction.  Not a good idea.  Don’t recommend it.  Buh-bye moolah.

But in reality, we are excited.  Happy to be getting away from my current drama.  Happy to be surrounded by people who have drunk the kool-aid of “the happiest place on earth”.  And happy to pretend for a second that our life isn’t quickly becoming, well, sort of ghetto (I duct-taped my kids diaper today because it ripped.  Is that normal?).

So here’s to happiness.  Here’s to vacations.  And here’s to hoping no one I love falls overboard.  Cheers Matey!

You want to know what’s not a good thing?  Reading this before you take a cruise.  Not cool.  Not cool at all.  Now my fears of my kid going overboard have increased tenfold.  Don’t read that if you’re going on a cruise soon.  

 

socially acceptable stealing…right or wrong?

February 22, 2012 in life

Who’s been burgled?  Really, who hasn’t been burgled?  Being a victim of theft is anger-inducing and scary…and no one likes to think of themselves that way.  But in reality, we’re all thieves…we’re all guilty of stealing something – even though those thefts might be of the socially acceptable variety.

“Seriously Kris”, you might be thinking.  ”I don’t steal anything.”  I challenge you!  I will hazard to guess that you might be guilty of one of the following…and not even think of it in terms of stealing.  Let me do a quick breakdown for you… Read the rest of this entry →

game plan

February 21, 2012 in life

Do you have a game plan for your life?  The idea/goal that you run your life by, thinking that the life you are living subscribes to the “rules” you’ve set it run by?

Then have you had fate laugh in your face for thinking you know better than destiny?

Ha!  (I’m fate, laughing in your face.) Read the rest of this entry →

interweb reflection

February 17, 2012 in interweb reflection

I’m waiting to hear from the company I want to work for that I didn’t get the job.  They said they’d get back to everyone by the end of this week.  I’m sure I didn’t get it – even though I’m overqualified, even though I had 2 letters of reference (one directly sent to the president of the company from a personal friend of his) – because it is such a prestigious place to work and the benefits are amazing.  There is a very likely chance that there are hundreds of applications for this same position – from people who are just as if not more qualified than me.

If I don’t get it, I’m planning on just being a SAHM until our next baby is about 3-4 months old – then I’ll job hunt like a madman until I find anything that hires me within the salary range I’m looking for.  I ended up turning down the part-time job I was offered because it would have caused us to incur additional monthly expenses of $1000.  I would have been bringing in $1000-1200 a month, and would pay $1000 for the privilege of working.  That was just ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend.  Here are some interesting things from around the interwebs this week.

Sam posted Tips For Finding Love and Getting Good Service From The Bartender With Red Hair on Untemplater.  Be nice to your bartender and tip well!

Ninja created MANteresting.  Go pin things that boys and their toys would love.

EE Musings wrote about Finding Your Healthy Balance.  Need to work on that one!

In honor of Valentine’s Day, femmefrugality wrote about Sugar Babies…Love or Prostitution?

And because the bloggess is amazing, go take a look at Juanita the Weasel.

 

ridiculous things i will spend money on

February 16, 2012 in budget, life

Yesterday J. Money posted 7 Hilarious Ways to Waste Money.  I am right with him that I will never spend $50,000 on a diamond encrusted cellphone, no matter how much money I have!  I do however disagree with him on the $1,000 sundae…if I had the dough I’d splurge on that.  Like, if I had multi-millions.  I’m a big fan of food though.  A huge fan.  Which led me to wonder…realistically…

What do I spend my money on that others wouldn’t?

well hello there

Read the rest of this entry →

valentine’s day slutty brownies

February 14, 2012 in food, recipe

oh hi. don't pretend like you don't want me.

It’s no secret on this blog that I am unemployed and money crunching like cookie monster on a cookie binge.  It’s also no secret that it’s Valentine’s Day.  So what does an unemployed girl do for her husband when money is an object?  Make slutty brownies, of course!

A friend of mine posted this recipe on Facebook, which is where my husband saw it and decided that some slutty brownies was all he wanted for Valentine’s Day.  It’s been making the rounds on Pinterest, from a blog called “What’s Gaby Cooking“.  She got them from The Londoner.  Both women are beautiful, have beautiful blogs, and I sort of want to follow them around town like a sad mommy stalker trying to gather up the lingering dusts of coolness that fall from them as they walk.  Sort of the way I feel about her.

Anyway, enough about my girl crushes.  On to food crushes.

cookie dough...

Read the rest of this entry →

personal finance tag

February 13, 2012 in Uncategorized

It’s been a weekend of blog swapping and other things!  If you missed my first blog swap, hit up John at Married with Debt  to check it out.  Then, if you missed my first guest blog post (!!), hit up Andi at Meal Plan Rescue to find my tips to find a good CSA box.

And even more, there is the personal finance tag that is going around (my god I’ve never been so social in my life!), which you can find below.  These are bloggers I’ve met either through the Yakezie Network, or through Edward Antrobus’s 3K challenge.  They’re good peeps, check them out!

Personal Finance Tag

So I was recently “tagged” by my friend John at Married (with debt).

To play, I have to:

  1. Post these rules.
  2. Answer the 11 questions from the person who tagged you.
  3. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag.
  4. Tag 11 people and link them to your post.
  5. Let them know that you tagged them.
Here are the answers to the questions John posted:
    1. What is your money philosophy in one sentence?  No one is in control of your finances but yourself.  
    2. Have you ever had a crazy adventure? If so, describe.  Adventure?  Either roaming around Europe for a month with my boyfriend, or roaming around NYC with him.  Now a crazy adventure?  Those usually involved lots of alcohol, barhopping, and possibly singing karaoke with a crazy old hawaiian man.  
    3. Did you get an allowance as a child?  I was paid to scrub the floors at my dad’s office  for 5 cents an hour.  It went up to 25 cents (when I was 8), then $1 as I grew up (when I was 12). I was given $20/month in high school.  
    4. What is the biggest personal finance problem facing America (or your country) today?  Honestly, it’s lifestyle inflation.  When I was a kid I used to play with sticks and stones.  Now, kids have all sorts of crazy toys.  People my age spend a ton of money on “necessary” stuff – like internet access and new iPhones.  We do too, and it’s crazy money for that stuff.  There’s going to be more “necessary” stuff popping up in the future – companies are really good at convincing us we need things.  The amount of things we “can’t live without” these days is so much higher than it was 10 years ago.
    5. Name the most famous person you’ve ever met.  Desmond Tutu.  If we’re talking Hollywood famous, then Billy Bob Thornton or the Rock. 
    6. What did you most want to be when you grow up?  a nurse
    7. What is your most embarrassing guilty pleasure?  Paris Hilton’s song “Stars are Blind”.  It’s a favorite karaoke song.
    8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?  Besides Hawaii?  Paris.  
    9. What’s your biggest financial pet peeve?  credit card debt.  I don’t understand it.  
    10. What do you think the biggest news story of 2012 will be?  Who the next president will be
    11. If you found out you had 6 months to live, what would you do with your life?  Honestly, I’m 4 months pregnant right now, so for the next 5 I’d be working on getting my family ready for my demise, and for the month after that I’d be spending as much time with my husband and sons as possible.  I’d write letters for them to read as they grow up, and make sure there was financial and emotional help for my husband.  I imagine that would include moving to the mainland to be nearer to his family.  (this answer was not the whimsical, fantasy answer this question usually expects…)
Here are my questions!
  1. What is the charity nearest and dearest to your heart?
  2. What is your “safe” retirement number?
  3. What comes first, paying for your kids education or your retirement?
  4. How are you spending valentine’s day?
  5. Do you pay the extra money to eat organically or local?
  6. What’s your most successful investment so far?
  7. What’s your dream way of making passive income?
  8. If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would that be?
  9. What is one thing you try to do everyday?
  10. What is your “safe” emergency fund number?
  11. Would your problems be solved if you made double what you do today?

And here is who I’ve tagged…if they want to play!

Making Sense of Cents 

Modest Money

Discovering Adulthood

Odd Cents

Counting Our Pennies

Money Smart Guides

When Life Gives You Lemons

Musings of An Abstract Aucklander

Super Frugalette

Jai Catalano

Edward Antrobus

the best budget traveling tip i ever learned

February 10, 2012 in budget, life

The following is a guest post from  John at Married (with Debt), as part of the Yakezie Blog Swap. I wrote a post on the same topic on Married (with Debt), so make sure to check it out here.

The best budget travel tip I ever learned happened to be a double edged-sword, meaning it both saved me money and provided me with a deeper and more authentic travel experience than I would have received without it.

a couch and a pillow is all you need

While most money-saving travel tips end up leaving you feeling cheap or cheated out of an experience, using a free service like Couchsurfing or Tripping to connect you with people who actually live in your destination will instead make you feel smarter for saving money in a way that enhances your vacation or holiday.

That’s because sites like these are filled with people who are eager to open their spare bedrooms and their cities to you. Most of what I am going to cover pertains to Couchsurfing, as it is the only service I have used. But I understand other sites like Tripping to work essentially the same way.

Read the rest of this entry →