Thursday, June 19, 2008

Beach Budget Bingo!

I'm sitting here with a pile of receipts wondering how close I came to my $500 budget. I feel like I did great, but I forgot my trusty moleskin notebook. I just kept stuffing receipts into my purse pocket instead of my usual running tally that keeps me on track.

I filled up the Beetle on Thursday evening. I didn't want to have to worry about it on the way out of town and I was leery that it might go back up in price on Friday morning. I had some gas in the tank, so the damage wasn't too bad. I also made sandwiches for a picnic on the drive and loaded the cooler for drinks and snacks.

I really didn't want to spend any other money on the way down. However, DH is a convenience store fiend. Have you ever seen the beer commercial where they guy buys his girlfriend (or possibly wife, I don't really remember) a greeting card from the register at a convenience store? Of course, he never opens it up, but she absolutely loves it. Well, DH missed the point of the commercial altogether. He did not notice beer being sold, or any social commentary. He only saw validation of convenience store shopping. Overcoming this when we travel is always a bit sticky. Case in point, we stop at Kort's Korner in La Grange (a favorite of ours) and I was planning on buying a bag of their fresh baked chocolate chip cookies after using the restroom. They are 3 for $1.99 and would have been a great addition to our picnic. Well, DH was already in line and purchased $7.46 worth of drinks and candy. Hello, cooler full of drinks in the trunk, bags of M&Ms and beef jerky in the picnic bag. *sigh*

Dinner out was at Joe's Crab Shack, as planned. We had four adults, one child, and no alcohol on the tab. Our total including tip was $77.56. I was pleasantly surprised and even told my mother that I thought we would've done more damage. She promised to make it up for me later.

We spent Friday evening out on the beach and it was gorgeous. We didn't stay out long, but really wanted to give Hoot some time to run out all his trapped energy. After the beach, we made a quick fresh food run at the HEB down the street from the hotel. We purchased yogurt for Hoot's breakfast and cinnamon rolls for us. Throw in some milk, cookies, antacids, and something I am forgetting, and it comes out at $17.43. This rounds out Friday's totals (including gas bought the night before) at $133.09.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast in our room. My mom made us all sandwiches to take to the beach, so lunch was covered by her. We hit the beach around 11am. We stayed until around 1:30 and headed back to the hotel to chill for a while. It was a great time, however, my DMom put the sunscreen on my back in such a manner that I have a giant red amoeba right in the middle. Oh, it hurts. I haven't had a sunburn like that since I was a kid.

For dinner on Saturday, we went to Wings N More. We had a great time, and I indulged in a margarita on the rocks. I did however limit myself to one. When the waitress asked if I'd like another, I was honest. I told her, "Yes, about six of them, but I'm not going to let myself, so could I get a sweet tea?" The tab included two margaritas (my mom had one) and a beer as well as food for five. Total with tip was $74.00. Hey, that's great! However, Hoot was less than thrilled by our dinner choice. We kept promising him we'd go back to the beach, but he wanted to stop at the Shark store.


So, here's my DH, Hoot and DMom at the shark store:
Sadly, my dad stayed in the car. Sometimes it's hard to get the old man to take a picture.
After the beach, we stopped at another store. Hoot picked out a gorgeous turtle bamboo wind chime, complete with a bobbing head. We were going to ask my Mom if she wanted one, but on the way to check out, I saw that she had a handful of merchandise. I decided to just pay for her stuff instead of offering a matching set of chimes, but didn't convey that to DH. So, I told her to put her stuff in with mine and I would buy. The DH walks up and offers to get her the matching chimes as well. But hey, it made the old woman happy. Cheesy souvenir shop: $78.97. Saturday's total: $152.97.
Sunday morning, we packed it up and headed home. I put $35 even in the gas tank, DH spent another $10.84 in a convenience store, and we bought lunch at Whataburger for $13.13. Sunday weighed in at $58.97.
So, our grand totals for a family of five for Father's Day weekend at the beach:
$170 for two rooms, two nights
$133.09 for gas, groceries, and dinner out on Friday
$152.97 for dinner out and a trip to the souvenir shop
$58.97 for gas, drinks and lunch for the trip home
Grand total: $515.03
Over budget: $15.03 which equals almost the exact amount DH paid in convenience stores or four cents more than my mom's turtle wind chime. So, I guess my mission was accomplished! I know we had a great time and the only out of pocket expense that isn't listed is the gas we used in my Mom's big red truck. I shall declare it a success.

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