I write this short post as my wonderfully patient wife and I are enjoying evening drinks at the Grand Hyatt Bali’s Grand Club. We happened to be discussing how much we spent today for some spray sunscreen, lunch (with beverages), and a pair of massages. Suffice it to say, it was well under $100, however my wife comments: “and that’s actually kind’ve high, since we didn’t buy any gift cards.”
Actually vacationing
For starters, we started ramping down our reselling and manufacturing spending down earlier this week, in anticipation of our trip, since you never want to travel with VIsa Gift Cards (VGC) sitting at home. The reselling, we ramped down less, because we can schedule/delay UPS deliveries, or as awesome reader Kent C put in the comments, you can also send them to a local UPS store
While in Bali, at least for our first 24 hours, we have actually been vacationing. In fact, I stole away to post the Weekly Roundup just after breakfast and went a solid 12 hours without doing anything else on the blog, better yet, I wasn’t even very active on Twitter! Instead we walked, got massages, napped, walked, walked some more, and generally relaxed.
But what about the opportunity cost?
This is the biggest challenge to vacationing is that there is always a deal to be had. Earlier this week was another AMEX Gift Card 2.25% shopping portal bonus, and oh yeah, $20 back from Staples when you buy $400 in VGCs. And that isn’t even considering the post-Father’s day sales occurring-which I could even leverage some online purchases for, but, again, on vacation here!
Now, I’m not advocating that you plan (or not plan) your vacation around manufacturing spending or reselling, heck, I went to see the Great Wall on Black Friday last year. Rather, I would argue purely non-mathematical response: leverage what you can when traveling–if you want to-but more than anything, make sure you enjoy your time away. Why? Because it is the very reason you are manufacturing spend to begin with!
So, as the summer travel season gets into full gear, remember, manufacturing spend is a means to an end, don’t forget to enjoy that end, after all.
Eat Drink and be Happy… Or: Stay Thirsty, my Friends. The choice is yours:
And remember: always where sunscreen
I’m so glad you are enjoying your trip.
There will be plenty of oppertunities when you get back!
@Haley – Thanks!! I would highly recommend Bali, and the Grand Hyatt Bali, even though there are no overwater bungalows like Disney World! Hope you are well!!
Absolutely agree that we MS so we can travel. The world awaits us – and so will MS.
Enjoy the trip and all the bennies you two have worked for!
@Karyn – Its so hard sometimes; like today’s Doctor of Credit Staples VGC deal ($10 of $200 VGC) kills me… of course, I took the Ink out of my wallet to reduce risk.. Although, had trouble logging into Staples anyway. But, the point remains – it truly is hard to “turn it off” — hope you are having a great week!
Only time I made an exception to this rule was for the WF 5x promo. There was just so much easy money coming in I cut back on all trips to juice out the extra income, but for ongoing MS like 2x or SPG, I can always play catch-up later.
@Rick – that reminds me, I need to open a WF account… Sometimes I think I’m the last guy on the planet to do these things; missed out on the TY 5x… hopefully won’t miss out on WF 5x. Too focused on reselling sometimes.
Very practical. Like you, I don’t always think to slow down and enjoy the fruits of the hobby. Thanks.
@Christian – Thanks! Good to know I’m not the only one! Hope you figure out ho to slow down on your next trip (I’m still learning!).
Had 3 July trips scheduled before the ST 7/25 deadline was announced. Oh well….
Ouch — I guess this may be one of those times, when they say “Go big, or Go on Vacation?”
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