Credit card review

Edit: I wrote the last few posts over the weekend, and had them queued up to post. I received a comment about why I didn't post about Israel. I'm as horrified by the news as anyone else, and have coworkers who have lost family members. It's devastating. Also, to the commenter, please leave my kids nationality out of it, because there is no relationship of any kind. 

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This isn't a sponsored link, just my own $.02 based on trying something this year. 

It goes without saying that the below only applies if you are comfortable managing credit card usage (it doesn't encourage you to "spend more" than your current system) & you are paying off the balance each month.

We applied for a new credit card this year, in advance of our Dubai trip. I took recommendations from friends, as well as did my own research, given the card has a super hefty cost ($550/year). Here are my takeaways, as well as value assignments. Note that I don't think this card would be worth it, unless you are a frequent traveler. We ended up with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

• You get the first $300 of travel spend credited back to you - $300
• It came with global entry for one person, which we used for Sam. Sam is 17, and his TSA pre check will stop applying when he's 18 when we travel as a group. Also, for college, he may be traveling on his own. Global entry provides the international benefits, as well as TSA pre check - $100
• We also received a subscription to Priority Pass, which is an airport lounge access affiliation. We have used the Priority Pass in the following ways:
• To pick up food at SFO ahead of our flight to Newark, as there was no lounge access in our terminal. Instead, you get a credit at a restaurant in the airport - $28/2 people = $56
• Four times at SJC, ahead of domestic flights - $60
• In Dubai - $80
• I used my Priority Pass membership in Paris, to get my friend into the lounge. I was able to get myself & my sister in, based on status, but you only get one guest - $30
• Lyft discounts - $40 or so
• Door Dash discounts (you get a $5/month credit, but I don't always use this) - $20
• Received a 60,000 bonus after the first four months. I used online calculations for this, as we haven't "spent" this yet - $900

So, all told, the cost for the first year was $550, and we've so far received $1586 in value. For us, this has been a great card, but again, I'd recommend this for folks who have plenty of travel queued up in the year ahead, for maximum value. 

Value of airline status

This is more for myself, than anyone else, as it helps to remind myself that there are perks for all of my travel status. Making the most of those perks can certainly have a financial value, but it goes without saying that chasing airline status is 100% not worth it, unless you have a very clear reason. 

In my case, work pays for the majority of my travel with United, and I ended up with two international personal trips (which, is two more trips than I've had in the last 20 years ;-)), and a few small local trips. I currently have 1K status, and am on track for 1K status next year as well. Having that status may influence timing of our next trip to see M's family. 

Here's the value I've currently earned, as a result of my 1K status. Cost value estimates are my own magic math, so take them with a grain of salt:

• Upgrade on a flight to Pasco/SFO (round trip for myself + M) - $400
• Upgrade for my sister, both ways from Portland to SFO/back - $400
• Upgrades for myself + M from Newark to Dubai, to business class (this was a double upgrade, first to Premium Plus, then to business. It's basically unheard of, but 40 people missed their flights due to weather on the east coast) - $3000
• Upgrade for myself + M to Premium Plus from Dubai to Newark - $1000
• Upgrades for the boys to economy plus from Dubai to Newark - $500
• Upgrade for me to first class from Newark to SFO - $500
• Lounge access in Paris for myself + guest, where we had breakfast + coffee - $40
• Gave a coworker an international upgrade voucher for two, and she gave me a gift card as a thank you - $200
• My airline status earns me a corresponding hotel status at Marriott. As a result of that status, we were upgraded to a better room/patio in Nice - $500
• Upgrade to business class on a return (work flight) to London in November, using plus points - $1500
• Increased miles earned - $1000 (I used a guide online to calculate this, so very much an estimate)

Total value of the status to me for the year = $9,040. This guide calculates the overall value of my status as worth $7,455, but we got lucky with a few pricey upgrades clearing for the Dubai trip, as well as the work trip to London.

I actually still have upgrades to use, and no travel (not already in business class) through the rest of the year, so I will likely offer these up to coworkers. One of my coworkers offered his upgrades to the boys (how they got business class from Newark to Dubai, which was a life experience for them ;-), so I like to pay it forward. 

Do you have any travel status that you track or pay attention to? Hotel chains, car rentals, airlines? I used to have status on our preferred domestic airline, but they really haven't been competitive vs Southwest over the last few years, so we haven't used them as much. 

Menu Plan Monday

 October is another wild month for us, so rather than doing a weekly menu, I thought I'd try to plan out the month. Let's see how we do:

Friday (10/6) - boys at Homecoming, I had leftovers from the freezer

Saturday (10/7) - ground beef tacos

Sunday (10/8) - spent most of the day in Monterey for a soccer game, so chicken shawarma

Monday (10/9) - leftover tacos

Tuesday (10/10) - risotto (freezer) + cauliflower risotto (M) with garlic butter shrimp

Wednesday (10/11) - leftover shawarma

Thursday (10/12) - any remaining leftovers

Friday (10/13) - wings & gyozas

Saturday (10/14) - grilled chicken + rice

Sunday (10/15) - grilled burgers + roasted potatoes

Monday (10/16) - leftover chicken & rice

Tuesday (10/17) - parents in town. Chicken fajitas

Wednesday (10/18) - parents in town. TBD, based on what my parents request.

Thursday (10/19) - Hawaii

Friday (10/20) - Hawaii

Saturday (10/21) - Hawaii

Sunday (10/22) - Hawaii

Monday (10/23) - Hawaii

Tuesday (10/24) - Hawaii

Wednesday (10/25) - Hawaii

Thursday (10/26) - grilled chicken (freezer) over salads

Friday (10/27) - wings & gyozas

Saturday (10/28) - butternut squash, goat cheese crostini + grilled chicken

Sunday (10/29) - carnitas

Monday (10/30) - chicken tacos

Tuesday (10/31) - traditional takeout pizza for Halloween

What about you? What's on your menu for October?

October Goals

 I'm late to the party, but better late than never! It's going to be another busy month, so setting some (hopefully) reasonable goals.

Financial:

• Stick to our budget
• Use three "hard to use" freezer or pantry items
• Stick to our travel budget in Hawaii

Family:

• One fun activity with each teen
• Have two meetings with each teen (review grades, etc)
• Help Sam with college applications
• Finalize Hawaii plans
• Have a fabulous trip to Hawaii with M
• Plan a menu for the month
• Deep clean one item/area in the house

Fitness/Health:

• Run 30 miles
• Follow the No S diet, entirely when not traveling. And, loosely while traveling.
• Complete 10 strength training workouts. 
• Attend a pickleball clinic

Personal:

• Clean up the garden
• Start learning Farsi
• Do something social with friends
• Give away 20 items on Buy Nothing
• Try a new recipe

What about you? What's on your goal list for October?

Saturday Happenings

 I'm valiantly attempting to recover from jet lag, and not having as much luck as I'd like. But, I must press on! I did get off the wait list for a workout class this am, so heading there shortly. Other than mutter under my breath about how tired I am (my neighbors had a party with a live band until midnight. And, they are sincerely lovely & I admire their zest for life, but could have truly used an earlier bed time), here's what I plan to get up to today:

• Workout class
• Laundry
• Make applesauce muffins
• Make a huge batch of taco meat for the freezer. I have enough ground beef that this will likely be a 4x batch. Or, I may do a triple & freeze the rest. TBD.
• Clean the kitchen
• Clean the bathrooms
• Clean the fan in our bedroom. This requires a stepladder, so need to sort that out
• Vacuum
• Make a salad for a potluck
• Review college application checklist with Sam
• Schedule for next week
• Deadhead 2 plants outside
• Find 10 items to give away on Buy Nothing

What about you? What are you up to today? Do you have a long weekend? The boys don't have school on Monday, but M & I will be working. 

September Goals Recap

September was a wild month, with an unexpected business trip to Tokyo, plus my planned trip to France. I do not recommend two international trips in one month!

As a result, it was not a particularly productive month on the goals front, but no use avoiding that reflection. Best to just review it & move on. 

Financial:

• Stick to our budget - it was a budget buster of a month. I upgraded our flights to Hawaii, as part of M's anniversary gift. Our (one) TV broke, so we replaced that. And, France was more expensive than anticipated. 
• Use 3 "hard to use" freezer/pantry items - goodness, I think so? I'm really struggling to remember what I used. I know I used some overly ripe freezer bananas & a ton of frozen fruit, so I'm giving myself a 2/3. 
• Stay on track with travel budget - that's a big fat no! 

Family:

• Have one date with M - yes, we had a fabulous & fun dinner out 
• Take Nick out - I took him to his favorite store (the sports store) & we looked around for several hours, where he made a list of things he'd eventually like. 
• Set up weekly kid/mom meetings - I've met with each kid 1x. 

Fitness/Health:

• Lose 3 lbs - oh my, no. I'm afraid to get on the scale, post-trip. 
• Run 60 miles - I was recovering from COVID, traveling, jet lagged & traveling again. Definitely no. 
• Follow the No S diet...entirely, when not traveling + in Tokyo, and loosely in France - I did great when I was in Tokyo (best I've ever done on a trip), but France was a free for all. 

Personal/Creative:

• Do something social with friends - I met a friend for a workout + coffee, and had a girls trip!
• Practice French on Duolingo - yes, most days before the trip
• Have a fabulous trip to France - Absolutely! It was incredible. 

What about you? How did you do with your September goals?

A very short Frugal Friday

Because, well, my trip wasn't exactly about frugality.

So, in no particular order:

• When I got home from the airport, I ordered a delivery lunch. I had no car, could have definitely made something from around the house, but that just wasn't on the agenda. Obviously, not frugal. But, I used a $5 reward for the order.
• Baked chicken today, to serve with the other half of yesterday's lunch salad. 
• Somehow, managed to convert almost exactly the right amount of money into Euros, avoiding the need to change back & pay a fee. I do have about $6 or so in coins, which I'll hand off to the next person I know heading to Europe. You need those coins to pay for the bathroom! Which, I admittedly still don't fully get, but nevertheless, being without change & needing to use the bathroom is a situation I like to avoid.
• Made an incredibly lazy dinner of Trader Joes orange chicken, to feed to the teens on Thursday night. 
• Watched two series of Ted Lasso on my sister's iPad at various points on the trip, eliminating my desire to sign up for yet another media subscription. 
• Made the most of the coffee & free breakfast at our hotel, which was fantastic. 
• We received a free upgrade to our hotel room in Nice, which meant we had quite a large balcony - enough for a table & two chairs + two lounge chairs. 
• Submitted form for $100 in reimbursement for soccer volunteering. (I'm "required" to volunteer 3 hours/kid, and then get the money back in the form of soccer fees discount). 
• I gave away a flight upgrade to a coworker, as it's clear I won't be able to use them before they expire. She got me a gift card as a thank you.

What about you? Any wins to share?

Back from France

Oh my goodness, such an incredible adventure. I feel so lucky that my travel partners (my sister, & BFF/roommate from college) all get along well. That makes all the difference. 

I'm definitely still very jet lagged this am, so a random assortment of things;

• The view from our hotel in Nice was amazing, and we got upgraded to a room with a patio. That was perfect, as the rooms are tiny, and we had a rollaway already added, making a small room even smaller. 
• Our tour of Epernay (Champagne area) was incredible, and one of the highlights of the trip.
• The weather was warmer than expected in Paris, and we had way too many pair of pants, and not enough dresses. 
• The breakfast at the hotel in Nice (Le Meridien) was fantastic & came with a view of the ocean.
• So much girl time & laughs.
• We bought champagne on our tour, and enjoyed that in Nice, on the patio. 
• We could see the Eiffel Tower from our room in Paris, and it's stunning at night.
• We are all very much not big city travelers (good to know for whatever we plan next) & enjoyed the beach/relaxing vibes much more than the big city, despite all that Paris has to offer.
• I'm reasonably confident I gained 4 lbs, because the food was incredible.
• We ate at a Michelin starred restaurant in Nice, and did the lunch option, which was quite reasonable, & the food was perfection. 
• We did laundry at a laundromat.
• We do not speak nearly enough French to manage a train journey. After taking the train from Paris to Nice, we swapped our travel plans, and opted to fly from Nice to Paris, to catch our return flights home.
• Antibes was gorgeous.
• Saint-Paul-de-Vence was absolutely incredible.

I'm working today, so need to get myself sorted! And, a few pictures, from the many we took. The ones of the Nice beach are from our patio. 

Saturday Happenings

 It has been a week! I've been trying to get adjusted back to our timezone, get as much work done as possible & prep for being out of the office, and Sam had a lot of school based deadlines for college applications. That meant we were mostly working on college stuff each evening. We got Greek food last night, as a treat, and crunched through a huge amount of work. 

It's been awhile since I applied to college (understatement), but the process is very time consuming now. In order to get letters of recommendation from teachers & the high school counselors, we filled out 25+ pages of content. I'm ever so grateful to the teachers for writing these letters, as I know they do it out of kindness for the kids, and don't get paid. They each have their own process, template, & Sam & I wanted to make sure he gave them enough information to be able to quickly write the letters & make their jobs as easy as possible. There are parent surveys the school requires, brag sheets (so counselors can understand who you are outside of school), resumes, etc. Phew! 

This is the longest I'll have ever been away from the kids, the longest from work since COVID (can't remember the last time I took more than a week off), & I *think* the longest I've been away from M. There's been a lot to prep!

Here's what today looks like. 

• Attend workout class
• Come home for super fast shower
• Volunteer at a soccer tournament (this satisfies $100 worth of my volunteer hours with the club - one kid)
• Laundry
• Last minute packing
• Pick up my sister at SFO, ahead of her flight. She's flying in, as she needed to be on my reservation for an upgrade. 
• Package a few returns
• Help Sam with college tasks
• Load Kindle
• Check in for flight
• Finalize timing for tomorrow
• Make Costco list
• Make a salad for dinner. M is making kebabs & rice!

What about you? What are you up to today?

Frugal Friday

 A few frugal things we've been up to this week. 

Saving on things we buy

• Bought lounge passes from a coworker, saving 50% off the rate I can normally get them for. I was hoping our business class upgrades would clear on our trip, but that seems super unlikely, so we can have a mimosa & snack at the lounge & meet up with our friend who is flying in from Seattle ahead of our flight. 

Earning money

• Sold some Orange Theory workout swag on eBay. 

Avoiding spending

• I was very, very tempted to order takeout on Friday, when I got home unexpectedly much later than planned, but put together a not fancy but fine dinner with some items on hand. 
• I have a credit on one of my credit cards, so remembered to use that card to buy groceries at Trader Joes
• Used a gift card to buy dinner out for the four of us for "family dinner" (rare & hard to plan, with the teens on a weekend). Covered the overage with an Amex gift card. 
• Whipped up a banana bread with Sam, when he needed to take a treat to school. 

Eating what we have

• Dug out some fresh mozzarella & tomatoes to accompany basil from the garden, to make up a caprese salad. 
• Made a double batch of protein bars for Sam, who loves them as a quick snack before soccer practice
• I discovered a container of grilled chicken sausages in the freezer, and they are close to needing to be tossed. I added one to my salad, and will try to work through them this month, to avoid waste. 
• M offered to make dinner on a very busy week night, so I pulled out two small packages of steak & leftover hoagie rolls, plus a package of provolone that I bought at some point during the summer. He made Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner, and they were a big hit!

For others

• Treated my sister to first class flight upgrades on both Portland to SFO & return legs of her flights. I also added my upgrades to my manager's work flight, as he is the one who helped get our boys upgraded on the flight to Dubai last spring. It's looking more like these upgrades will expire (they only clear based on availability). If that happens, I'll give away the rest to coworkers & friends. 

What about you? Any wins to share?

Menu Plan

It's a one week menu (plus bonus day), before I leave for France on Sunday. Here's what we're planning to eat this week: 

• Friday - chicken, caprese salad
• Saturday - steak, shrimp & salad
• Sunday - out, family dinner, using a gift card from a neighbor
• Monday - Philly cheese steaks
• Tuesday - spaghetti & meatballs + garlic bread for the teens
• Wednesday - tacos
• Thursday - leftovers
• Friday - leftovers (if we have anything), otherwise, wings & gyozas
• Saturday - kebabs & rice. My sister will be in town, ahead of our flight to France, so M will be making a Persian feast (one of her favorite meals). 

What about you? What's on your menu this week? 

Sunday Things

 Well, I've been up since 3, and got about 4 hours of sleep last night, so today promises to be a real adventure. I heart jet lag. ;-) Let's hope I can regulate my sleeping again before work tomorrow. 

I was reasonably productive yesterday, all things considered. I went to Sam's game, finished most of my packing for France, got a pedicure, set out new ant traps, did the laundry, worked out, & washed the spare bedding. I also went to Trader Joes, & made a menu plan/shopping list for the week. 

Who knows what I'll get done today, particularly given how tired I am. Here's what's on the list:

• Weekly check in with boys (this is overdue, so needs to be done)
• Vacuum
• Clean kitchen
• Bathrooms
• Finalize last France travel detail
• Make protein bars
• Run
• Meet a friend for a hike
• Schedule for the week
• Family dinner out (using a gift card)

What about you? What's on your to do list for today? Hope you have a lovely & productive day!

Saturday Happenings

It was a long, long travel day yesterday. We sat on the runway for 5 hours in Tokyo, due to a thunder & lightning storm. My back was already hurting before we took off, which was not a good sign with a long flight still ahead. I got home much later than planned, but did a load of laundry, unpacked & made dinner with M before I went to bed. I slept for 12 hours (!) last night, and then got up & went to my workout class. My body protested a bit, but it definitely gave me some energy that I desperately need. 

Here's what's on the to do list for today 

• Workout class (done)
• Pedicure (I'm losing 2 nails & need professional help ahead of my trip)
• Start packing for France
• Figure out where ants are coming from (plus, spray for ants, put out new ant traps)
• Clean closet
• Wash spare bed sheets
• Vacuum
• Bathrooms
• Clean kitchen
• Laundry
• Make a menu plan
• Go to Nick's soccer game
• Costco list
• Trader Joes
• Grocery store
• Sort out toiletry list with friends (we'll each bring items, so we don't duplicate)
• Finalize one last France travel detail

Anything that doesn't get done today will swap over to tomorrow. What about you? What's on your to do list today?