Things you will never hear me say

I love it when new readers stumble across The Deal Mommy. (Welcome, by the way!) I thought it would be useful to share not only what my blog is about, but what it ISN’T. Volume 1 takes on the “Frugal” blogs and some of the crazy advice they pitch. Volume 2 will take on the my pet peeves in our beloved points community.

Things you will NEVER hear me say, Volume 1!

“Staying with relatives can be a great way to have an affordable vacation.”
Nope, nyet, nada. Visiting relatives is great, but it’s a family visit, not a vacation. Sleeping in the basement and sharing the bathroom do not a vacation make!

“Enjoying nature with your family is a great way to spend quality time without spending a lot of money.” Ok, fine. I’m all about the outdoors. “Campgrounds charge minimal fees…” Uh, WHAT? Hold it right there. Camping, again? I’m sure it’s great for some, but you will NEVER hear me suggest it. I love nature, but you can rent a cabin in most State Parks for just a little more than camping, so sleeping on the ground is a total no-no for me.

““Dude, Check out this gnarly hostel!” I love Lonely Planet, and can’t say I’ve never done it, but I’m SO past the hostel stage of my life, especially with Deal Dad and the two Deal Kids in tow. Why would I when I can rent a condo in Tenerife for $35 a night or earn 88 points per dollar at the Radisson Martinique.

“Check out travel websites” . Seriously. I’ve seen whole posts with gems such as “Surf the net for specials”. If I have to tell you about the internet, I’m surprised you made it this far!

“Explore your own backyard” Again, great. I highly recommend getting out and exploring both the free and discounted stuff in your own town. But any day that involves you returning home at the end of it is NOT a vacation!

“Frequent flier programs are a scam”: This one is the most dangerous of all, and was put out there by none other than travel ombudsman Chris Elliot. I know Chris is famous for click-bait, but had to include it as one of the all time worst pieces of advice given to budget travelers! Even with all of the recent devaluations, free money is free money. Loyalty programs are no different than your Giant or Safeway card: if you’re buying groceries there anyway, you might as well get the points. I will concede that changing your behavior in drastic ways for a program may not be smart, but to chuck them entirely? Bone-headed!

So, you might be asking, what would you say? Glad you asked! Browse the archives to get some idea of what I have to say. You can also easily keep up with The Deal Mommy via Email, RSS, Twitter, Pinterest, or Facebook…just look up!

Please let me know if you have any specific travel questions you would like addressed, and stay tuned for our next installment of “Things you will never hear me say!”

What’s the most inane budget travel advice you’ve heard lately?

Original publish date: Feb. 28, 2013

Things you will never hear me say, Vol. 2

I thought it would be useful to share not only what my blog is about, but what it ISN’T. Volume 1 takes on the “Frugal” blogs and some of the crazy advice they pitch. So here I present: Things you will NEVER hear me say, Volume 2, taking on some my pet peeves in posts I’ve seen in travel and points blogs.

Before I begin, let me just state that I enjoy many different blogs and bloggers, and just because I disagree with a specific post doesn’t mean I disagree everything they say, and it certainly isn’t personal! I find most of the travel and points community to be extremely generous with their time and expertise. I’m grateful to be just a small part of it.

I’m going to begin with the end here: travel in my world is both aspirational and accessible. While I feel the frugal bloggers lack any sort of inspiration factor, I see in some points posts total disconnection from the accessible.

Travel is also inclusive. I’m not anti-scheme per se, I AM anti-entitlement. We (as a community of travelers) should want people to travel more, not be intimidated or feel left out of some secret club.

With those conclusions in mind, I present:

Things you will NEVER hear me say, Volume 2

Just pull your kids out of school to save money on vacations! You see this gem quite a bit on the “Family Travel” Blogs. Well, I tried it, once. I kept Deal Kid out for two days to visit his Grandparents and got a truancy warning from the school district. Did I mention he was in KINDERGARTEN? So while it may work for some (and with the right teachers I’ve been able to sneak the Deal Kids out a bit after that year), I’m going to write with the school calendar in mind.
It was only $300/night for the upgrade to a suite, so of course I took it. In my little corner of the world $300/night is the difference between taking a trip and not taking a trip! I would suck it up and sleep in the lowly room in the five star hotel instead of blowing a car payment per night on a suite upgrade.
HOT! $4,000 Business class fare to Singapore! Leaves tomorrow only! As a Mom, there’s just no way I could take off for Asia on 24 hours notice, and I don’t have 4k lying around to drop on a plane ticket. (Yes, I do have the credit, but you have to pay for it eventually, don’t you?) One of my biggest challenges at Chicago Seminars was finding people who were stuck scheduling around a school calendar, as I am. I’m thrilled at how many 20 something dudes read The Deal Mommy, but I just won’t blog a deal I don’t think most Moms could take! Now a weekend in Europe, that’s another story.
Join this thing you’ve never heard of for 5 free United Miles! If I wouldn’t bother, I won’t blog it. (But I might re-tweet it.)
Using miles for coach plane tickets is a waste. Uh, no, it’s a free plane ticket! I love me a lie-flat seat as much as the next girl, but the extra 50k miles to get it on a six hour flight to Europe is an entire new trip, or a ticket for another family member. Domestic first class? Unless it’s cheaper than buying coach, which can happen so always check the awards availability, a first class domestic ticket is total waste of miles IMHO! Now to Asia, I kinda get it.
You’ll get an extra .0000004 cents per point if you use it this way. Truth be told, I LOVE these math-whiz posts, but they’re just not me. I focus more on the total experience than the retail value. The “What’s a point worth” posts are interesting reading, but IMHO a point is worth what it is worth TO YOU, with one exception:
Use your points to buy stuff! NO!!!!! NEVER gonna hear me say that. Here’s a fun post where I blast a blogger for pushing “merchandise with points”.
So I spent $20,000 at Office Depot yesterday… A lady doesn’t re-load and tell.
My cajillion point bonus posted! As I saw on my twitter stream after an offending post: “What you want, a cookie?”