Monday, August 17, 2015

Reno Reveal and The Answer To Where We are Traveling!

Yes, we will be replacing the microwave to match :)
Just a quick post to share our new floors - and look at that!  A new fridge and stove!  I missed my stove the most - broke it in Friday night by cooking up homemade pizza, even before I had finished unpacking the fridge (they put about a mile worth of tape and wrapping on these to keep all the bits in place in transit).  Unfortunately the installers ran into a snag about halfway through, several boxes of laminate had broken interlocking bits so they could not finish the project.  Fortunately, they managed all of the kitchen, most of the living room and the entrance.  All they have left is a small bit in the livingroom and the hallway.  They are coming back Friday to finish the job which should only take about two hours then all the trim can be replaced and we can start touching up the baseboards.  That likely will be slated for a couple of weeks down the road though, since my eldest stepson flew in from the Armed Forces yesterday.




The bits left to be done

Buddy is fast learning how to run/walk on the laminate and does so at a much slower pace than carpet.  He has wiped out twice but seems to be doing better now.  We have a very large area rug in the living room so he likes to hang out there.  In the Fall we will be upgrading the countertops and getting a backsplash!  I will be glad - so tired of washing food off painted walls in the kitchen.

I was so happy to have a fridge again that as hubby was driving to get my stepson from the airport (we flew him into a neighboring town 1.5 hrs away to save him $200 as the airfares were lower) I went out and dropped $250 on groceries.  That includes that watermelon on the counter - I missed watermelon as there was no way we could buy one living out of a minifridge.  Later this week we will try and do a few tourist type things in between work appointments and flooring.  Thursday hubby has a business meeting in Victoria (3 hrs away) so we decided to make a day of it and the three of us will drive there together and do a bit of exploring after the meeting.  Buddy will get taken care of by Grandma who is mourning the loss of her ancient cat last week.  She needs some cheering up.

Thanks to those who ventured a guess as to where our next travels will be in April.  The answer is....Spain!!  Anne had the right country!  Mitchel of Mitchel is Moving lives fulltime in Fuengirola (spending the summer in Brooklyn caring for his Mom) on the Costa Del Sol has been a huge influencing factor - too many beautiful pictures of the area posted on his blog!  There is all sorts of cheap accommodation there including apartments, hostels and hotels.  Prices seem even cheaper than Portugal if you avoid the tourist trap restaurants!  We are not hostel people (well, I would easily stay in hostels but Hubby won't) and most of our accommodation in nice 3 star hotels is between $80 to $100 Canadian!  If we didn't require good wifi there are even cheaper hotels, but since we have to stay connected for our business that is something that is really important.  Our currency has taken a big nosedive this year next to other currencies (Canadian dollar versus USA we pay $1.25 for $1 USD) so stretching our poor Canadian dollars as far as possible is critical.
Malaga

Malaga

Ancient walled city of Cordoba

Royal Palace, Madrid

Madrid
The Andalucia region to be precise with 3 nights in Malaga(Costa Del Sol), 3 nights in Cordoba and 3 nights in Madrid.  We would love to go longer but just can't cease operations in our business for long periods of time.  I ended up booking our air tickets as we have a huge contract in the works for next year and if we didn't book the time now - we simply wouldn't be able to go.  Since traveling is something we love I needed to make it happen.  Fortunately there was enough money in the travel fund for the taxes on our points ticket and to pay the other ticket in full.  Other countries trips that were considered?  Greece - everyone says it is a bargain right now but based on my research the trip will cost nearly twice as much so we will do it in the next 3 years when we have more cash (*kid #4 will be off the dole), Turkey, Barcelona, Spain then taking  the train into the South of France, Croatia as the Medievil city of Split intrigues me, the Czech Republic, a stopover in Paris (not enough time!) but Andalucia won out.  I love ancient history and so does hubby and this area is full of it.  Things are reasonably close together by high speed train and we can easily see a lot on foot.  The bus system in Spain is an excellent and really cheap one but it does take more time that we don't have.

We managed to get an airfare much lower than I expected, important as we were paying for the 2nd ticket and it included the connector to get us off Vancouver Island which was a nice surprise.  We paid $200 each more last year when we went to Portugal which is just next door to Spain.  There is enough money in savings to cover 9 nights hotels and now I just need to save the spending money.  When I was sick a couple of weeks ago I spent hours researching it all and then went about finding the cheapest way to do it based on our time frame.  I love researching travel :)  I guess that is why I used to be a travel agent (back when you could make a living at it, really difficult to do these days).

It seems like the livingrichonthecheap household is not frugal anymore.  You couldn't be more wrong, but I just don't talk about all the things we DON'T do, like eating out constantly or buying brand new clothing.  Like disregarding prices at the grocery store and just piling the cart high.  Like getting into debt for things like travel.  We have had a paid off house for a few years, drive used paid off cars and live a cash life (*we do use credit cards for points but always have the cash to immediately pay it off).  That is how we are affording the things we do.  If you are not there yet - you will be if you place a priority on it.  If you don't have to pay interest you have way more money in your pocket, and way more freedom to roll with any punches life may have in store for you.

Yes, life is very busy and honestly we are pretty tired after the last 10 days of moving furniture, cleaning and working, but you just have to get on with things.  I turn 46 this coming Thursday and am feeling every year of it right now.  Have a great week everyone!


26 comments:

  1. LOVE the new floors! We don't have a backsplash (yet) either,so I understand the frustration (and the spots of tomato/curry that will never come out). Your vacation looks wonderful,and seems quite the bargain!
    Jane x

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    1. We have a garburator and hubby never puts the cover over the hole so things splash up - forever frustrating me!

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  2. I love the new floors and the kitchen!

    Woo hoo for me getting the country at least right. My dream vacation is to see Spain and Portugal. Hope you have a wonderful time.

    Being frugal is not about zero spending, it is about spending wisely. Each family gets to decide what is worth spending and what isn't. We always have travel in our budget, but that is the point, we budget for it.

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    1. You will love Portugal - we did and I feel that we may go back, next time to the Porto area :) I am sure we will feel the same way about Spain. Stay tuned!

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  3. The floors look great, and jealous of your travels - sounds amazing!

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    1. Honestly, booking away is the only way I can get my Type A hubby to relax. He is in work mode 24/7 and it doesn't help that we work from home.

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  4. The remodeling looks great! It's nice to have a great reward for your frugal lifestyle. Spain sounds like fun. - Margy

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    1. Some spend on clothing or Starbucks, I spend on travel :) My one vice.

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  5. Funny, Barcelona was actually my first guess, but it seemed too obvious, so I went with Prague. Sounds like it will be amazing. Um...those floors...well, they are just beautiful! Enjoy!

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    1. Prague is equally beautiful, although likely better seen May or June versus April as it is still a little cold/wet there - but I can definitely making it there in the next five years. So beautiful!

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  6. Your home looks amazing! You guys did an incredible job! AJ and I are poor students again putting any excess toward biz start-up with little room for anything else so travel is nearby, but I can't wait to world travel it up when the time is right! The whole reason we're sacrificing now is to build up flexible income sources that allow us to travel and 'live life" more. Enjoy it, you guys!

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    1. Thanks! We traveled way less when we were trying to pay things off. But we always managed to travel occasionally!

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  7. Love your kitchen! I am looking forward to our new range and hood too.

    It is so funny to see a dog learn to walk on laminate. They are sorta like Kramer on Seinfeld when they slide into a room. I think Buddy will learn faster than my Teddy did!

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    1. He tends to burn around in the bedrooms where we left the carpet - it is really funny though.

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  8. The house is looking fab, definitely worth the upheaval.
    You must visit Ronda when you're in the Costa Del Sol, escape the Brits, we'll all over the region! xxx

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    1. Thanks! Ronda is somewhere I would like to go if we have time. I know you can day trip there on the train, and you are not the only one who said it is beautiful!

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  9. Gorgeous floors!! One of my cats wipes out constantly as she turns corners while the other one takes the corners at a more sedate pace. I've heard such wonderful things about Spain and you have plenty of time to save up spending money.

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    1. Thanks! Cats are even funnier on slippery floors. My Moms cat used to burn around her laminate after using the litter box :)

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  10. Everything looks wonderful. Despite the tiny glitch, you must be very happy. Caeli refused to walk on our wood floors when we first got them. Took them both about a month to get use to them. Enjoy your visitors.

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    1. Buddy won't eat if we set his food dish on the new floor. Fortunately there is still lino in our utility room next to the kitchen so he eats there. Weird.

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  11. I love the floors and kitchen! Buddy is looking so big now.

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    1. He is 10.5 pounds and what we think is full size. Still small enough to pick up if you have to but heavy if he bounds up into your lap!

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  12. Ooooh Spain! I am sure you will have a beautiful trip!

    It is just a matter of time until Buddy gets used to the new floor. Years ago when we removed the carpet from the dinning/living romm area, one one my cats refused to walk on the wood floors! We had to make a path with bits of carpet but eventually he got used to it.
    Your kitchen is gorgeous!

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    1. Spain has always interested me so this is the year! So funny that you had to make a path :) Cats are stubborn sometimes.

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  13. STUNNING!!!! Now come fix my house!!!!!!
    I know how you feel. It seems we post about spending money and we feel guilty and feel like we are lying or something. But we are cheap on everything else so we can splurge on the important things. I have credit card debt for the first time in 15 year. BUT and that is a huge BUT, it was a car and we have it on 0% interest for a year. But I still felt I needed to explain it to everyone that reads my blog.

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    1. No way Jose! I am so over doing renos (I never was the driving force, is always hubby). I just want peace and tranquility again. We have saved and pinches many times and sometimes you get to spend when you do that. Zero percent interest on a vehicle for a year is a good deal. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and spend the money, no regrets.

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