HisHersMoney

We were booked to stay a week in Montego Bay, Jamacia. The trip was really planned as our honeymoon but when we boarded the plane that morning I have to admit we were completely unmarried and really didn’t have anything on the books as to plans to actually get married. Our original plan didn’t quite work out for us as to our wedding plans but we were determined to move on and have a great time since it really was our honeymoon.

My big surprise to Him was a upgrade to First Class on our flights down to Jamaica. I had a few upgrade points in my frequent flyer account so the cost was minimal. We had to fly out of BWI airport at 6:30am so it required a VERY early alarm clock setting and departure. It is about an hour drive up to Baltimore and at that hour there is luckily no traffic.

Our flight down to Miami was pretty uneventful. A few really strong OJs and Vodka certainly made the flight go a lot quicker (huge Kudos to our excellent bartender – I mean flight attendant). Our flight from Miami to Montego Bay was pretty much a party mobile up in First Class. Everyone was going on vacation, having a few drinks and just having a great time.

We met some great people on the plane including a rap / reggae artist who was handing out copies of his new CD (it’s pretty good). The flight flew by and before we knew it we were queued up in customs / immigration ready to kick off our vacation.

We were staying at the Sandals Royal Caribbean all inclusive resort (separate post to come reviewing the property and it service). Upon arriving at the airport you are greeted by resort greeters, they take your luggage off your hands and show you the way to the bar. They load everything up and then you board a bus to the resort.

It was only about a 15 minute drive but the scenery was NOT nice. It really makes you appreciate what you have and where you live when you see some of the huts and falling down structures that some people have to live in.

We had a great time on our vacation and met tons of great people. My next post will detail the resort and our experience there.

Well, we have been on a long hiatus for the last few weeks. It all started when I embarked on my eighteen day vacation from work. Yes, eighteen day of glorious non-working hours! I really hadn’t had a real vacation ever since I had started my new job almost a year ago so I was definitely due.

Our vacation was kicked off by a 4th of July party with a bunch of friends. One of our friends was house / dig sitting at a house that had a great backyard so our partying started off there with a great big potluck BBQ. Two of the guests were visiting from the UK and volunteers to whip up some great homemade Indian food. My favorite was a great Tandoori chicken dish.

After feasting for what seemed like hours and consuming a few adult beverages we headed on over to our building to watch the Washington DC fireworks. Our building has an unobstructed view of the Capital Building from the roof. There’s a pool, hot tub and huge lounge up on the top floor and the staff was pulling out all the stops to throw a big fireworks viewing party. Unfortunately the rain moved in along with the clouds and the fireworks were kind of a bust this year. We’ll hope for better next year.

The whole 4th of July weekend took up the first few days of our vacation and before we knew it , it was time to start packing a getting ready to jet off to Jamaica.

Programming note: Over the next week I will try to catch everyone up on our vacation time and bring it back to the present.

When we go grocery shopping we don’t go empty handed. We have a list, our coupons and a plan. This weekend’s grocery shopping trip is an excellent example of what our bill looks like. This is for two people and we are not starting from scratch as we have things in the freezer / pantry / fridge at home already that we are augmenting. I look at what’s on sale, what coupons I have and what we need.

This week’s trip was to Safeway but we don’t always shop there. It all depends on who has the rights things on sale that week.

• Ketchup $.99
• Cheez-Its $1.47
• Cranergy Juice $2.50
• Canned Cat Food 6 – $.33 each
• Kraft Cheese Singles – 2 – $1.50 each
• FF Half & Half $4.49
• Yummy mini ice creams 2 – $1.00 each
• Limeade $1.25
• Duracell 8pk AA $2.49
• Men’s Shave Gel $1.50
• OM Hotdog – 3pks for $1 total
• Lean Hamburger $6.11 for 4.8lbs
• Jumbo Raw Shrimp $5.39 for 0.9lbs
• Green Onion $0.99
• Ginger Root $0.25
• Cinlantro $0.99
• Beer 24pk $12.99 (July 4th parties)

Our total was $50.24 and obviously the beer at $13 was the biggest item but with July 4th parties coming up next weekend we grabbed it at a good price to bring to a big party we are attending. The shrimp was a treat for us which we will grill up for dinner and the hamburger has already been mixed up and made into hamburger patties and in the freezer for later use.

Our receipt claims that we saved $61.34 (56%) off of our bill which in fact we did but we wouldn’t have bought some of the items if they weren’t on sale and had coupons to go along with them. The hot dogs for example we couldn’t pass up at 3 Oscar Myer packs for $1, I just threw them in the freezer for later use. The same thing with the cheese slices, I’m not a huge fan of that kind of cheese but at that price I’ll make so for a couple weeks!