I haven't done one of these in a few weeks. If you are new to my blog (welcome!) GBU is Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the finances for the week. We all have them....and this is completely subjective. My bad might be your ugly. My ugly, well.....who knows! If I show you mine, will you show me yours? ;)
The Good - G-man and I had a LONG (3 hrs!) talk on Friday. It started with a huge step from me....letting him balance the checkbook. Now, you have to understand, I am always in the driver's seat...no matter the situation. I drive the car everywhere. I drive the cart in the grocery store. I sit at the desk when we do financial stuff. So letting him sit here and touch my beloved check book was HUGE for me. I am going to post separately the results of the conversation....but this talk is leading to good things.
The Bad - It started as a good. We got 2 free tickets to a local theme park because of our fundraising efforts for the recent Walk For Autism Speaks (we raised almost $1200!!). WOO HOO! Free tickets! Now this has led to us wanting to take the kids there for their birthday next month. This will require purchasing 2 more tickets, and the parking...and the food. No outside food allowed in the park, and just to be even more sneaky....no use of the picnic area unless you are a large group that has pre-reserved the area. So, our free tickets will probably turn into $120. We haven't fully committed to doing this yet, but we are trying to figure it out.
The Ugly - Computers are not our friend. A few weeks back....our main computer decided to stop working. So we are on the old laptop. We had decided to save up for a new one, and have since changed our savings goal to something else and will limp along for awhile longer. Then we started having internet problems. Tried a few things.....didn't help. Ultimately, we decided that our Ethernet cable was shot. I am a little confused by this since it is only 6 months old. But we think that a wire broke....possibly from connecting and disconnecting so many times with all the problems we have had. $40 later, we have a new cable and are up and running again.
About the theme park trip. I would investigate the no food rule a bit further. Do they really enforce the rule? Could you pack some PB & J's, grapes, granola bars and water bottles in a backpack and just eat them in the park? Disney World has a no food rule as well, but we have always brought food with us into the parks ... it's common knowledge that they don't really enforce the rule (and there are tons of suggestions online about what to pack and how to pack it to keep cool ... like freezing juice boxes, renting a locker for your soft sided cooler, etc.). We have never packed a full meal at Disney, but we always bring snack food and bottled water with us into the parks ... we usually buy lunch, but no snacks.
ReplyDeleteWe went to Sea World this year and they have a no food policy as well. I wasn't sure if it was a heavily enforced policy or not, so we only brought water with us ... I was insanely jealous when the family next to us at one of the fast food style restaurants unloaded their cooler from the bottom of their stroller and proceeded to eat food that looked 20X's better than ours and was surely less than the $45 we paid!
If they do enforce the rule, what about packing a cooler and leaving it in your trunk? Most theme parks have policies that let you re-enter the park on the same day ... you could always head out to your car to eat lunch, then go back to the park.
Also, can you get discount tickets for the adult admissions? We went to Dollywood a couple of years ago and some lady handed us an empty McDonald's cup ... the cup had a coupon on it that was good for a discount on up to 4 tickets. Similarly, Orlando area McDonald's had $10 off Sea World coupons on their fastfood bags. I'd do a google search to see if any discounts for your park are available.
I know you are in debt, but I think families need to have a little fun!
Yes we are looking at the food issue. I am happy with sandwiches and fruit at the car, if we can do that. I am slightly annoyed that they don't allow you in a picnic area unless you are a large group.
ReplyDeleteI have looked at discount tickets, and no such luck. This park is large enough for the area, but not on the scale of Disney. I thought about getting an entertainment book for $9 in the hopes that they MIGHT have one.
Yes, families should have fun....but technically that was taking them to the aquarium on vacation. This would be a bonus....and part of their birthday present.