Phoenix on a Budget

 The sister's three, Shannon, Sara and me. Yes, that's the new get up I purchases at the Velvet Owl last week.

Planning for a trip to Phoenix for my sister Sara's wedding was agonizing because I wasn't sure we would have the money to go. I fretted constantly about putting all the trip expenses on the credit card because it was my sister's wedding and who wouldn't look back on missing that event and think, it was only X dollars, I should have just gone?  Yet, I take after my father more than anyone, and if you can't afford it, then you don't do it and don't buy it. I don't always make this decision, but the principle is strong and I work hard to abide. The pressure was heavy from my sister to make an appearance, and bringing the whole family would have been great but we compromised with just me taking the trip.

All those money saving things we do are great, but typically we are still left living pay check to pay check. Several additional and beneficial things have occurred over the summer that have made the purse strings a bit more loose around here. Brent took on many extra contracts and has been grossing the equivalent of a double salary paycheck for a couple months, and we expect it to continue for a few more. Since we had the extra funds, we paid off the van at the end of July, thus reducing our auto expenses in terms of payment and insurance. We increased our auto fuel savings by not driving our van in August and have maintained a very reduced mileage for September. We gave away our second vehicle last month, also reducing our insurance obligation. London choose not to continue swim team this year and opted for the free fencing practices instead. All of these measures have contributed to about $650 in monthly savings, not including the extra income.

We are guilty of spending the dollars we see in our bank account. I took the breathing room we have been fortuneate to have as an opportunity to catch up on some wants and needs. There were the two bike purchases, Brent's GT and our Yuba Mundo, then there was the trip to Phoenix. Just because I had the money didn't mean I was crazy with it. My trip this past week was frugal, but not stingy. I certainly could have done a better job with my spending, but I was trying to relax a little and enjoy myself.

The expense break down

Summary and Explaination

• $300--Airline ticket (not shown because it was purchases weeks ago)
• $46.84--clothing
• $136.24--food

 The larger food expenses were when I was buying a meal or coffees for everyone because they bought meals and coffees for me. We just shared the expenses and kept it as even as we could. My sister fronted the gas for her car and I slept on her couch. I could have done without the new outfit for the wedding, but I needed those flip flops from Walgreens if I didn't want to bandage my bleeding feet. My sister's new in laws treated us to homemade dinners twice and I will be sending them a thank you gift. I really think I was able to make a seven day trip affordable because of the generosity of others time, space and resources which I always return eagerly.

All the touristy things we did were free, or we did things that were around meals and family, so the expenses were ones we might have had anyway, were we not "sight seeing." I will be putting up a full post of pictures from my actual adventure later, but you can see some here, here, here, and here from the past week.

Before leaving Huntington we did take the whole family out for dinner, at Griffith and Feil's in Kenova. I didn't include this expense, but we had a wonderful time. I also packed a homemade granola trail mix, banana, sandwich and empty water bottle so I didn't purchase anything in transit.

I traveled light, thus eliminating the need to check any bags. My sister let me use all her soaps and shampoos and sunscreens. She even gave me a razor.

I ended up leaving the book, as it wasn't my sister's after all. I didn't bring the plain brown dress either. I opted to wear the yellow 1/4zip to the airport to save more space, and I added my bike helmet.

It all fit, and room for more.

Returning from Phoenix I bought trail mix, an apple and banana at the grocery the night before and refused to purchase anything in transit, although I was very hungry. Seeing a bottle of water for $2.25 and a small sandwich for $6.50 was an instant appetite suppressant. I made do with what I packed. It wouldn't hurt me to eat all the trail mix even though I desired something else.  I filled up my reusable water bottle and spent my two hour lay over in Detriot with my new book, Bike Snob. It was a gift from Sara and Micheal. I opened it up on the plane from Phoenix and didn't set it down until I finished it yesterday afternoon.

It's certainly good to be home. It is great that I still have money in the bank and I was able to open and pay all those bills waiting for my yesterday without a knot in my stomach.

How do you travel on a budget? Have any tips on how we could have taken the whole family? Something we could try next time?

Test Riding Bikes in Columbus, OH

Miles Walked: 13.9	Biked: 56.9	Bused: 2.1	Drove: 396.3	This week
37.7	112.9	12.6	399.9	Since August 14, 2011

Downtown Mechanicsburg, OH

Flat fields of Champaign county Ohio

 Grandma got settled at home in Mechanicsburg,OH  at about 1:30PM yesterday and I set off in my empty mini van for Columbus. I was meeting my dad at Handy Bikes in Grandview to check out a cargo style bike. I had only looked at their website and found they carried the Madsen brand, but I know now I should have called first. The ladies at the counter didn't know anything about a Madsen and said there were none in the shop, but the owner came out and said he happened to have a used one in the back that he was trying to sell. It was the older model, powder blue and ready to ride.

I do believe there's a hint of fall color here.

I took it for a couple of spins around block, checking out the gears and breaking. I wasn't able to add any weight into it, as all my precious cargo was at home. Over all it was a fun ride. It didn't have some of the features of the newest model, like front cargo rack, front disc brakes and parking brake-lock, but what it did have was good enough. It rode smooth and easy and more upright than my box-store bike or Brent's GT. I am not experienced enough with bikes to give any sort of review, but I did have a great time riding this box bike around Grandview. The owner said he would sell it to me for $1000, and seeing that a new bike retails for $1500 with shipping, it sounded decent, but it was the older model and it was used, AND I hadn't ridden anything else to compare it with.

I was testing out the Madsen

The Madsen in front of Handy's Bikes

When driving to Handy's Bikes, I had some extra time before my dad was to arrive so I went to WholeFoods on Lane Avenue looking for a lunch and ended up a little backwards going from the store to the bike shop. I am glad I got a smidgen turned around because I drove past a shop called Roll:, also on Lane. After Handy's, dad and I went to Roll: to see what they might carry. The shop didn't have anything I was looking to test ride, but was stocked with some beautiful bikes. They also sold the Yepp Mini front style child seat I considered before we bought the iBert. I think the Yepp Mini seat is worth a second look. It had a higher back which might allow for napping. There was a higher cushioned front bar for both comfort and sleeping as well as the seat itself was made from a very dense but modestly pliable foam.

Chocolate cherry trail mix from WholeFoods, aka lunch.

Roll:

The salesman at Roll: told me about a shop in the Short North that sold cargo style bikes so dad and I headed downtown. Paradise Garage had an electric assist Kona Ute bike in the window. The sales-guy gave me a run down on the specs, since I was completely unfamiliar with this long-tail style. Then he mentioned having a Yuba Mundo, something I had been researching. The Yuba Mundo long-tail cargo bike was one of two I had been considering, the other being an Xtracycle.

This Yuba was ready to be fitted with disc-brakes, something that dad, the salesman and I discussed and decided would be most beneficial to my riding situation. Two child seats could fit on the rear and one could fit on the front as well as two extra-large pannier bags for groceries. This bike was ready to haul 600 lbs. I took it for a couple of loops around the block and loved how smooth the gear transitions were. It was more of an upright seating position, something I am realizing is more comfortable for me. It was overall a very well built bike. The deflating moment came when I returned from my ride, had a conversation with my dad about how I might be able to talk the sales-guy into selling me the floor model and was ready to give my pitch. Before I could even make an offer he told me the owner would not sell this bike. He was keeping it around for test rides and as the company "truck" for events. Maybe in the spring, when the new model was released, I might be able to purchases it. Huge disappointment, but it held me accountable to my "I am only shopping, not buying" creed for the day.

Yuba Mundo at Paradise Garage

I came away from these two test rides knowing what a better quality bike looks and feels like. I learned a lot about what I need for my situation, how far my money might go and how long a bike will last post-children. There are a few more bike styles and brands I am looking to ride, so if you have something and are willing to let me give it a spin, I would be most grateful.

Dad and I had an early dinner at the Short North Tavern then we parted ways. He went home and I met up with a great friend who was in Columbus, coincidentally, for the day as well. We met at the Raisin Rack in Westerville and then she drove us to old downtown for some live music and espresso drinks at Java Central. Near 10pm we said goodnight and I drove home to collapse contentedly into bed at 12:45AM this morning.

Jockey style post bike racks were embedded all along High Street Columbus.

Beer bike! in the Short North

We didn't wait in line for Graeter's but I love this Ohio based ice cream

Java Central, Westerville

We stayed till the sun had long since set

Downtown Westerville, OH

Spinning my hypocratic-web

Can you have a car-free month and still drive your car once, how about twice, three times? I know we got off to a rough start, but we have been going great since the 2nd of August. Oh, then there was that one time Brent drove to get Grandma from the Greyhound station. Does that count? I mean, if we really didn't have cars, we would have had to rent one in that particular situation, so driving was relatively unavoidable. Having two cars sitting out front and driving one to the station was sort of like renting a car right? One of the purposes to this entire car-free month was to set out to discover what was possible, for our family of six, without driving a car in Huntington, WV.

If part of our self-inflicted contract was to reduce our carbon foot print, this blog would read more like No Impact Man. While what we are doing has great benefits to the environment, it's not one of our primary purposes, just another great by-product of our efforts.

With two blemishes on our record since August first, I am knowingly committing to another. After spending four days with my grandma she was picked up by her friends from Milton last Saturday, and has spent the past week with them. Before she left our house she was wanting to get her return ticket from the Greyhound station to leave tomorrow, August 27. Grandma is 76. She was obviously slowing down considerably since the last time she visited and I feel that going home on the Greyhound isn't right. I am driving her home tomorrow. She's paying for the gas, at her insistence, and no objections from me. It was a compromise. She doesn't like to have folks go out of their way for her and she really just wanted to take the bus. I told her I had been wanting to get up to Ohio anyway and she would be doing me a favor by providing the excuse. I think we are both happy.

I couldn't let an opportunity to go to central Ohio pass by. I am making plans for an afternoon in Columbus.

While I feel like a cheat and hypocrite, I do feel justified with the next breath. We are still saving enormous amounts of money. We have been able to live without our cars here in Huntington and I am replacing a potential rental with my own van. Yet, obviously I feel guilty enough to lay myself out here to try to assuage my own mind and keep my path honest.

Small Local Grocer & Greyhound

 

Miles Walked: 14	Biked: 21.4	Bused: 6.3	Drove: 3.6	This week
14	21.4	6.3	3.6	Since August 14, 2011

Brent went out for ground beef and bacon on Monday night and I needed a few things this morning. Biking to Kroger 2.5 miles away is not a very convenient option for small trips. When running out for a couple items we have a few other choices from our house. We can stop at Clark's BP gas station a couple of blocks away or Rite Aid several blocks further. There is a mom and pop shop (Ujamma's?) in the neighborhood behind Cabell Huntington Hospital, I think it's on Charleston Avenue, or a street south. Then there is Julian's market on 12th Street and 11th Avenue.

For both of our recent trips we chose Julian's. It's 2.2 miles round trip, less than 1/2 the distance of Kroger and still on level streets. Their prices are a bit higher than Kroger, but nothing outrageous. I paid .69/lb for bananas and they were .59/lb at Kroger last week. 2lbs of popcorn kernels were $1.99 and everything they sell is homemade or name-brand. 

Avery with eggs in the trailer

I did want to get bread today, but nothing whole wheat was under $2/loaf so I passed and will make my own later today with this recipe that just posted on another favorite blog site, 100 Days of Real Food. I also needed soy milk and it was near $3 for a liter, another pass today. The larger Kroger trip will be later this week. We make it stretch around here until we just can't scrape together the basic nutrition requirements.

Helmets and groceries, Oliver and list. Julian's used to be Mansour's.

Front door parking for every one at Julian's.  Yet, no bike rack.

Oliver, Avery and I took off at 10 till 9AM. We stopped for our eggs (4 dozen) first then to get a few provisions. Today's purchases and weights:

4.12lbs bananas
2.97lbs sweet potatoes
2lbs butter (actually margarine b/c butter was $4.89/lb and the margarine was .89, I still feel guilty over the compromise, but my budget won this fight)
2liters (4lbs) of diet Coke
2lbs of popcorn

About 20lbs in total, plus Oliver and Avery, the tools and diaper bag and waters. I think we maxed out the trailer's weight limit of 100lbs today. We were home by 10AM.

Time to Slow Down

Part of the slow journey today was my own physical condition. My throat has been very sore for a couple days and my legs ache. I can work through the muscle aches and pains, but then coming up the first of two hills home the pressure in my chest got to me. I have a history of my heart changing pace and rattling around in my chest like it's trying to jump out, even though my breathing is steady. The Drs say it's a change in pressure. Well, it started up at an intersection and didn't let up till I got home. The intensity of the pounding was making me light headed, so I stopped the bike, drank a lot of water, tried all the breathing tricks I know to get it to stop. Because it wasn't changing I decided to walk the bike home for the last couple blocks. When I reached down to unbuckle Avery in the trailer it quit. Just as quick as it started, it was over. I have been home taking it easy since.

HighSpeed

Did you catch a couple of things on this post? First there were miles listed in the "drove" section of the header. Then there was the diet Coke. We don't drink diet Coke, but you may not have known that. My grandmother took the Greyhound down from Columbus last night to visit with us and friends for a couple of weeks. Her bus came in at 10:45PM and we didn't dare let my 76 year old granny walk home or get on a bike. The local buses don't run that late, so Brent turned over the engine on the van, aka HighSpeed, and puttered down to pick her up.

Grandma been taking the Greyhound bus down here since we moved in. She likes the independence of getting where she wants to go without overly burdening anyone to take her. She enjoys sitting back and taking in the characters she sees on the bus. Now that I think about it, she's a car-lite woman. Her neighbor does her grocery shopping and she gets rides with family for doctor's appointments and errands. Way to go Grandma!