I have reworked the budget to adjust for 4th grade son's band expenses per month. I shopped around and found a more affordable rent-to-own option on a Trumpet. I wasn't able to put too much into savings this month because my EXTRANEOUS category of expenses was pretty much depleted BEFORE $375 for new brakes and $225 for new dance shoes for my daughter (two pairs, she is on toe and needed new hard shoes, etc).
So, I'm feeling fine until I read an email this AM. I am (as are all mothers at the school my children attend) cordially invited to attend a three-day well-deserved spa experience at The Lodge at Woodloch in the Poconos from June 9th - June 12th. The group must be minimum of 100 for exclusive use of the entire resort. Cost per person per day is $399 based on double occupancy. Air travel from O'Hare will be $523 round trip, or $308 with a stop-over. Total would be roughly $1,500 to $1,700.
You can see it here:
http://www.woodloch.com/home/exceptionaloffer/poconosspa
I am too poor to go. Not that I want to go. Not that I would remotely want to spend time with most of these women. Honestly, though, I do feel envious after looking at the website, apparently one of the country's top resorts and #5 in the world (I quote that from the email invitation)
This is where I copy and paste what I spent on my ENTIRE FAMILY'S VACATION from August.
$691.75 hotels for 7 nites on priceline.
$751.75 entertainment (bounce tickets, Jamestown, WV Cavern, ghost tour, huge bounce slide)
$298.36 souvenirs and gifts (each child had $40 to spend, plus we got a bevy of salt water taffy and the standard mugs for inlaws, etc)
$405.30 for gas (2200 miles logged on odometer from start to finish)
$147.98 on groceries for the picnic there, snacks in the car and the hotel, breakfast food in the hotel room
$414.07 for dining out (we did some costly snacks, mostly Wendy's and a pizza, an expensive breakfast, a buffet at Golden Corral for $54 and then a dinner at a local VA Beach bar called Harpoon Larry's for $100).
All spent: $2,709.21
OK, let's average the cost of my possible solo trip to the Poconos ($1,600) and realize that for $1,100 more I could do a family trip. I guess I'm just not of the mind-set that I need or deserve a trip to the Poconos because I'm a harried wife and mother. (I'd have included the email, but for privacy of others, I can't).
More evidence that I clearly don't fit in with the majority of the mothers at the school.
Can you stand yet another round of "Running with the Joneses"?
September 21st, 2011 at 03:46 pm
September 21st, 2011 at 04:00 pm 1316620849
Delete the email.
September 21st, 2011 at 04:04 pm 1316621082
September 21st, 2011 at 04:13 pm 1316621610
September 21st, 2011 at 04:28 pm 1316622499
You could do a weekend getaway somewhere local with people you might actually enjoy spending time with for MUCH cheaper. I had a friend who went away for a two nights with her best friend, went to get mani/pedis at a local nail salon, ate room service each night, bottle of wine, etc. Total spent $500 including gas, food and hotel that she split with her friend. So $250 each. She said it was the best break she could have asked for and it's less than 1/5 the price of the Poconos.
September 21st, 2011 at 04:48 pm 1316623736
For one - I wouldn't waste my time being envious. Some people simply can afford it. Others will go into debt for it. Either way, it is what it is. You can't grow money on trees, but you could go into debt if you really wanted to.
So, plan your own mom's getaway with people you enjoy. Reminds me the mom's group here did a spa weekend get away a few years back. On maternity leave with no income, I happily sat it out. BUT, I remember seeing the pictures of them lounging in the hot tub in the middle of a snow blanketed forest. Looking back, it was a pretty frugal getaway in the grand scheme of things. SPAs are not my thing, but hearing the great time they had, I Was thinking I might have to partake next time. Anyway, I could plan a FAB getaway for just a couple of hundred dollars per person. I am generally too cheap for even that, though (just have other priorities -and free hotel stays to take advantage of).
September 21st, 2011 at 05:45 pm 1316627144
Worry about yourself. There will always be someone richer than you. What good do you do yourself by dwelling on it? (The rest of the saying my mother told me included there always being someone prettier and smarter than me, but that doesn't apply here!)
Seriously -- do you not have enough to worry about in your own life that you have to worry about what other people are doing in their lives?
September 21st, 2011 at 05:48 pm 1316627282
I use this place sometimes to process my thoughts/feelings about money and spending and priorities.
In an earlier post this month, I wrote about my first encounter with this group of women. I left my time with them feeling very judged about what I wore (which was from a 2007 line) and what I drank (who should really care if I chose to drink diet cherry coke that has dye in it) and how many children I have (seven pregnancies with five surviving children). I suppose that being home sick leaves me too much time on my hands, this just seemed like another round to me.
September 21st, 2011 at 06:05 pm 1316628320
September 21st, 2011 at 06:11 pm 1316628670