Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Living Like A King

Being cheap is not always bad. There is a way to get away for a weekend vacation to a fancy resort and spend next to nothing.
Take this weekend for instance, being that we are not cooking anywhere and with the serious problems that came up here at the mini farm, we were going to spend all weekend sitting around the house.
On top of that, it's the wife's birthday weekend and we had nothing planned.

This is coming off of last week where we had to make the decision to sell all the animals and start saving as much money as possible just hoping to be able to come up with $4500 by March. All the little things like cooking chili and starting to finally enjoying life a little has caught up to us.
I let my belt loose just a little and my pants fell down. It's alright though, we will make it.

I was really wanting to do something for the wife this weekend, but under the circumstances I could not justify it, then I remembered an email I got earlier in the week.
There is this resort not far from here, about 30 minutes, and they wanted us to come up for the weekend, so I called them and asked for the details. Yea, we will have to sit through a 45 minutes presentation on their vacation package they want us to buy, but what we get in return is worth it.
For me, a free round of golf on their championship course including cart. For the wife, a day at the spa including massages and relaxation room. Plus four meals free, free 2 night stay in the villa, A forty dollar gift card to use at the resort and they are throwing in another room and spa package for the oldest girl because she had already planned on coming up for the weekend. All this for about an hour of my time. I went on their website and priced it all out, I will be getting around $1500 worth of fun for that one hour. Not bad.

Alright, I know what you all are thinking and it's okay. I do these kinda deals often so I know what they are doing and I know the scams behind it. This kinda thing is how I got all the tickets for the five of us to get into Disney Word one year. Saved me big bucks for and hour of my time. Over the years I have stayed in some really nice places and received some really nice gifts by taking vacation tours. It is one way to vacation like a King on a Squires budget. I always tell them up front on the phone that I am not interested and cannot afford it and they don't care. They just want me there so they can try to prove me wrong.

As most of you long time readers know, I can sell a ice to an Eskimo and I am always bartering and looking for deals. Does taking the wife on her birthday weekend to a resort where she will be papered like a Queen for free make me cheap? Well sure it does and I'm okay with that. I get to play golf, the wife and the daughter get to spend a day at the spa, all for one hour of my time. I have done worse for less, life is good. 

See ya down the road,
MDR, the cheapskate      

16 comments:

  1. Go for it, they will make their money on the suckers they manage to ensnare that weekend :)

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  2. Happy B-Day to Mrs MDR. We went to a time share place the year before we moved to Fla. The salesman was pissed when we didn't buy. Too bad dude. I got Disney Tickets for all 7 of us, for 5 days.The money we saved, $500.00 was the cost for the youngest 5 day tickets. So I paid for 6 people instead of 7.

    Almost every large none Disney Hotel offers time share visits. Oh we even had free breakfast. All you can eat buffet. My 3 sons pigged out. You can find deals everywhere if you know where to look. Just don't by used tickets. That is a big no no. You will be out your cash.

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  3. dreamer put it perfectly. Everyone wins - whichever way you look at it :)

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  4. Happy Birthday to you wife!!!! You guys enjoy your weekend! It sounds like a pretty good deal!
    I loosened my belt for my little ones birthday WEEK and boy it's hard to tighten it back up. My kids think I have a money tree growing in the backyard :/

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    1. Thanks Kelly, I will tell her.
      The good news is this weekend will only cost the gas money to get there and back, about 20 bucks.

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  5. MDR,

    Happy Birthday to Mrs. MDR!!!!
    You're not a cheapskate at all, you're trying to live frugally. You have a plan and you're sticking to it. I commend you for sticking to your plan. By the way, when I can get a free trip I'll sit for 45 minutes and listen to someone speak about their time share.

    Go enjoy your weekend trip!

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  6. Happy Birthday Mrs. Lovely!!! You are lucky your man can withstand their strong-arm selling tactics. We tried that. Joe bought the time share. (he wasn't supposed to. We had agreed ahead of time. He folded like a cheap suit) Our next happiest day was the day we GAVE IT back to them!!! No money went in OUR direction. It's a non-ending money grabber. So ENJOY yourselves!

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    1. Thanks LJ,
      We have done this many times before. Only once did I almost cave but the wife was there stomping my foot to remind me.

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  7. Lots of belt tightening coming for everyone down the road, at least we have had practice at it!

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    1. That's right SBF, I only let mine out a notch and look what happen.

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  8. These people have quotas to meet. You are helping them. If I had a husband...lol...and he got this free, I would be tickled pink and never think of him as cheap, just smart and secure in his manhood. Guys don't have to spend money to prove they are worthy of a woman. Oh, Happy Birthday to her.

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    1. That's true PP,
      She is tickled pink about this.
      I will tell her you wished her a happy Bday

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