Ten Bucks a Week

Cost of 3 Weeks in Hawaii

We are heading back to Hawaii. I’m pretty excited about it and decided to write an article while I’m paying for stuff rather than after the trip. The plan is to go to Kauai first and then to the Big Island. We really liked Kauai last time, but only had 4 nights there. This time we are spending 2 weeks. The last week we will stay in Kona.

Flights

We live in Austin and so you can get a roundtrip for around $500. A couple years ago Hawaiian Airlines introduced a direct flight from Austin and we managed to get first class seats for 40K each way which was a great deal as it is around $1500 for the seat. Currently I have a companion pass, so it was tough to justify buying two tickets when I could buy one. So one way we are flying Southwest and the other Hawaiian first class.

Southwest: $300

Hawaiian: $240 + 25K points to upgrade

Flight between islands: $60

Per person this comes out to $600 + 25K points for an upgrade.

Housing

Hawaii is expensive. Last time we rented an Airbnb for a month and that cost $5,000. This time I used a TON of Wyndham points to stay. I got the credit card and purchased the maximum number of points and my wife did the same. You can use Wyndham points on Vacasa if the price isn’t too high (around $300 or less). Normally it is 15K points per bedroom per night, but you get 10% off if you are a cardholder. So 21 nights cost 283,500 points. That’s equal to 2 60K signup bonuses plus purchasing 163,500 points. I purchased that amount of points for around $1600. Altogether that comes out to around $77 a night which is amazing. The actual rates of the stay would be around $8000 since there are a lot of fees like cleaning, booking, and taxes which you avoid with points.

Transportation

We are going to rent cars in both places. That is $1200 plus gas. I don’t buy the insurance because my credit card covers it. In fact, in Maui the roads were so narrow that my rental got a tiny scratch and we were charged $150 for it. But my Chase card reimbursed me. Meanwhile, in Costa Rica we were forced to pay $40 a day for insurance because they said that is the country law. That was more than the cost of the rental!

Food and Activities

Currently unknown, but I wrote about them last year here if you want to check it out.

Conclusion

Before even setting foot on a plane, we have spent $4600, 75K airline points, and 120K hotel points. Going on a trip to Hawaii isn’t a cheap proposition, but I’m doing my best to mitigate the costs. There are people paying $5000 for a week at a resort, so I feel pretty good about this cost given what we are getting in return.

Cost of a Birthday Party

A few months ago I had a birthday party. It seemed simple enough, but it ended up costing $450. Did I go overboard or can I blame inflation? Let’s find out.

First, we played pickleball. I rented one court for two hours which cost $80. After that, I went to a fast food restaurant and picked up food for 10 which was $120. I took the food to a backyard with a pool that I rented on Swimply which cost $250 for 2 hours (I had to pay extra to heat it). I think everything went great, but $450 seems like a lot and maybe it would have been better to simply rent a boat!

Where could I have saved money if I wanted to same experience? Pickleball could have been done on a public court. The experience wouldn’t have been much different. The food is probably as budget as it is going to get unless I cooked it myself. I did have leftovers, so it probably could have been $80. And for the swimming pool, I could have gone to my neighborhood pool for $3 a guest, so $30. That comes to $110 total. It would have been a less private experience for sure, but still lots of fun. I was in a position to spend more and dI think it turned out great!

Automation, Should We Be Scared?

In recent years, there has been much talk of job automation. With the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning, it seems only natural that these technological advances would eventually lead to the replacement of human workers with machines. This fear has caused a great deal of anxiety among workers, particularly those in low-skill occupations who are most at risk of being replaced by automation. But is this fear warranted? To what extent will job automation actually impact the workforce?

The Rise of Job Automation

Job automation is not a new phenomenon. It has been occurring for centuries, ever since the industrial revolution when machines began to replace human labor in factories. In recent years, however, the pace of automation has accelerated due to advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. These technologies have made it possible to automate tasks that were previously only able to be done by human workers, such as data entry, customer service, and even some forms of manual labor.

The Impact of Job Automation on the Workforce

While it is true that job automation will result in the loss of some jobs, it is also important to remember that automation can also create new jobs. For every worker who is replaced by a machine, there is likely to be another worker who is needed to operate and maintain that machine. Moreover, while some jobs may disappear entirely, others will simply change as a result of automation. For example, taxi drivers may be replaced by self-driving cars, but there will still be a need for people to design and build those cars. In other words, while job automation will undoubtedly have an impact on the workforce, it is not likely to result in mass unemployment. Instead, it will lead to a shift in the types of jobs that are available and a change in the skills that workers need to succeed.

The Impact of COVID-19

The pandemic has only accelerated these trends; since March 2020, over 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits due to job loss as a result of COVID-19. Many experts believe that we are currently witnessing a “jobs apocalypse”— one where millions of jobs are permanently lost with no clear replacement in sight. And while some workers have been able to find new jobs in different sectors (such as delivery drivers or Amazon warehouse workers), many others have been forced into lower-paying jobs with little room for advancement.

What does the future hold?

So what does the future hold for employment in an increasingly automated world? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer; while it is possible that automating certain tasks or jobs could lead to higher efficiency and productivity levels, it is also possible that this could lead to mass unemployment on a scale never seen before. Only time will tell how this issue will ultimately play out; however, one thing is certain: the way we think about employment is likely to change drastically in the years ahead.

Conclusion

As automation continues to increase in both scope and sophistication, its impact on employment will only become more pronounced. While it is impossible to predict exactly how much unemployment will increase as a result of automation, one thing is certain: we are facing a major turning point in human history— one that could potentially redefine what it means to be employed.

My Conclusion

Everything written above is from an AI. Every. Single. Word. I had been hearing about how good AI writing had become and decided to test jasper.ai to see. I’d say it did a great job. Personally I do believe that automation is getting to the point where it will wipe out tons of jobs. So best of luck to all us humans and I hope we can figure out a long term plan.

Do It Right the First Time

I recently expanded my side yard which was full of weeds and never used. Building the fence took two weekends and went pretty well. However, getting rid of the weeds and making the space more useable has been a challenge. The first thing I did was to remove all the plants, bushes, and weeds. But of course the weeds came back. So the next step was to install weed blocker. I didn’t have that many weeds so I figured I’d get the medium grade one. I spent hours laying it out and hammering stakes into it and then covering it with mulch. But a couple weeks later the weeks had grown through the weed blocker. So I thought, time for another layer. Hours later I had moved the mulch put another layer and then put the mulch back. Well even two layers didn’t stop them. I realized I needed to step it up to the extra strong weed blocker. I repeated the process and it looks like the only place weeds are getting through now is at the edges of the tarp.

I share this story as an example of how I wasted time and money by trying to be frugal. If I had gone with the strong weed blocker the first time I would’ve saved $100 and many hours. So, in this article I will explore what other areas you could apply this lesson to.

Buying

Buying the lowest priced item can be tempting. If we are only going to use something infrequently then it could make sense that we just need the item and don’t care about the quality. However, sometimes that backfires. Perhaps you love to bake and really want a cake stand. If you buy the cheapest one it will probably do the job. Yet, later you realize there is one that also rotates and would make your cakes look a lot better and is way more stable and you don’t have to worry about tipping. TVs are another one. It kills me when someone spends $100 a month on cable/streaming and then has a low quality TV. You pay so much and you may not be enjoying as much as you could. You don’t need an 8K TV, but not Michael Scott’s either. I recently joined a pickleball league and it being my first time bought the cheapest paddle at the sporting goods store. After a few weeks the handle broke off. I borrowed someone else’s paddle and woah the game was so much easier. Apple products are another area which are more expensive but will likely be cheaper over the long run. I even took this to another level by upgrading my own. As you can see being cheap can sometimes end up costing more. So when going for the cheapest item really think whether that is the best decision.

And sometimes buying isn’t even the right choice. You can rent some high quality products. For instance, if you are going to need a pressure washer or a shampoo vacuum just once, rent it!

Skills

Another area where doing something right the first time could really help you is learning new skills. You may be good at entering data really fast into excel. That’s great, but perhaps there is a better way like using formulas or learning VBA to automate things. This will take some time up front to learn, but in the long run it will save time. If I have to do a task 5 times or more I try to automate it. Furthermore, by learning new skills you are able to increase your value to employers and hopefully your long term income.

Conclusion

Going cheap can end up costing you more in the long run. I think there is often a time component that you end up paying for when using cheaper products, but if you have to redo it pretty soon then it is also about money. I’m not saying to go replace all your belongings with the best, most expensive stuff out there. However, I’m saying be cognizant of your choices. Don’t throw things into your shopping cart because it’s $10 so why not. That’s how you end up with a garage full of junk. So take a look at what you have and what you plan on purchasing so that you don’t end up wasting your precious time and money.

Cost To Be In A Wedding

I have written before about the cost of a wedding and used mine as an example. It’s been years and recently I had the opportunity to be a groomsman in a friend’s wedding. I said yes right away, but if you were tight on money you may want to really think about it because the costs do add up.

Bachelor party

We went to Mexico City, which wasn’t that far a flight, but it did cost $250. We shared hotel rooms, so that was around $100 a night per person for four nights. Food was at really fancy restaurants and that ended up being around $400 for the trip.

Wedding

The wedding required a flight, so $300 roundtrip. Fortunately I stayed with my parents, so that was free. You have to match for a wedding, so that was a $200 suit rental. Other than that is was just the duties of being there and not much cost (for me).

If you weren’t in the party, then you could skip the suit rental, but you’d still need a flight and probably hotel.

Conclusion

$1150 to be in the wedding. I didn’t feel like anything we did was extreme and I know for sure others must spend upwards of $2000 to be in a wedding. I was happy to take part and glad that money was no issue for me. I once heard a horror story of someone who did a destination wedding in Mexico and all their guests had to pay $800 a night to stay at the resort. So, I’m pretty happy with the cards I was dealt.

Missed Opportunity: EV Credit

In case you don’t follow the news, the US government past the Inflation Reduction Act last month and one of the laws was a change to electric vehicle credits. You can still get it, but there are a lot more stipulations. Previously, they offered up to $7,500 depending on the type of car you got, plug-in hybrids and full electric were eligible with caps at the manufacturer level. Now I love Volvo and I think plug-in hybrids are more practical than full EV. However, I had my eye out for a plug-in hybrid and Volvo had a package to make it even better.

Volvo Overseas Delivery

For many years Volvo has run a program that allows you to pick up your car at the factory in Gothenburg. However, it gets better because they pay for your two roundtrip tickets, a factory tour, car insurance, and hotel stay. But wait, there’s more. They were also providing 6% discount for 2022 model and maybe a couple percent higher in previous years. However, for 2023 there is no discount.

The plan

Getting 6% off a car is fine, but you’ll still lose money when you drive it off the lot. This is where the tax credits come in. Volvo’s plug in hybrid had a $5500 credit federally. Then in 2022 they had an “extended range” model that qualified for the full $7500. Texas also has a program that offers $2,500 on certain vehicles. If one could max it out, there would be the possibility of getting $10,000 off plus 6%. On the $50,000 car that is 26% off which is amazing, plus the free trip! The plan was to do this every year and then sell at the end of the year. I calculated it would probably cover the depreciation.

Bye bye EV Credit

The plan was sadly only hypothetical as the new laws have changed the EV credit. Now cars have to be manufactured in the US, so the models I’m interested in don’t qualify. Furthermore, Texas ran out of credits for 2022, so you have to wait to see if they renew the program. Third, there is no discount on the overseas program. Finally, the trade-in value for used cars is going down. Quadruple whamy. As a result I’ll have to keep driving my car which is a good financial choice.

The Cost of a Month in Hawaii

It is pretty unbelievable, but we spent six weeks in Hawaii. Working remotely means as long as there is internet, I can do my job. However, we didn’t go to Hawaii just to sit behind a computer all day. We spent the first and last weeks on vacation in Maui and Kauai and working remote for the month in the middle. Without remote work it would have taken years of accumulated PTO to accomplish such a long trip.

Housing

For the vacation parts I used points. I cleared out my Marriott balance since they are going to greatly devalue their points at the start of 2023. I used 240K points + $600 for a room that would have been $6000. I’m amazed how many people are willing to spend that much for a hotel room with nice pools, but I was happy with what I paid. Next year I would not be surprised if the stay costs a million points. The other stay was a timeshare-like property booked using Wyndam points. In between we were in Honolulu and stayed in an Airbnb. When first searching, the rate display was $100 a day, but after fees and taxes that came out to around $150 which means we paid a little over $5,000. That’s definitely a lot, but for the space we desired (two bedroom, entire place, great location) it was the best deal we could find.

Food

A ton of money was spent on food. I’m going to say something like $60 a day. This was because we ate out daily trying all sorts of food that we don’t have available in Austin. If you wanted to save money you could definitely cook, but groceries are more expensive there. I’d say you’d probably spend 30% more, but some items are comically different. I saw a granola that I buy for $5 that was $18 here.

Some of the best items were acai bowl and shave ice. Those cost around $10 and $5, respectively. As far as dining, there were lots of Asian options which we lack in Austin and plenty of seafood choices. No doubt, we ate well and for three of us that came out to $1,800.

Transportation

There were three islands and that meant three rental cars. I used a my work’s corporate rate which allowed me to pay $1,500 for the entire trip. After gas, the total was around $1,800. Parking gets expensive downtown, so keep that in mind if you do rent a car. We stayed closer to Diamond Head and had a parking spot.

The bus is a good option if you will be staying in Honolulu. It costs $2.75 a trip and can even get you to the North Shore. There is also Uber which could be useful if you don’t plan to drive much.

For us a car is definitely useful to save time and not haul around a car seat.

Conclusion

Our month totaled $8,600. Definitely one of the most expensive places we’ve stayed. That means if we lived there we would need a portfolio of $2.6M using the 4% rule. I’m sure if we found a long-term rental the housing cost would be cheaper, but on a short-ish stay this worked for us. And being there for six weeks means We got to do everything we wanted and don’t really need to go back.

Can Skiing Be Affordable?

No.

In fact, golf is another expensive sport, but I’ve heard of programs for underserved youth to get to participate in golf, but never for skiing. (Apparently there is)

But I’ve tried my best to minimize the expenses. Let’s break it down.

Step 1: Get to the mountains

If you are like me, then you don’t live within driving distance of a mountain. As a result it will require flying and then renting a car. During ski season a lot of people have the same idea and so demand goes up and so will prices.

Step 2: Stay somewhere

The best is to stay so close to the mountain you can walk to the lifts, but that is expensive. Like >$350 a night. If you stay further, then you will need to wake up earlier to get parking and sometimes you have to pay for the parking.

Step 3: Ski – equipment

Since skiing is done on a snowy mountain you need warm clothes and hopefully waterproof ones. The cheapest outfit you could get would probably be $150, but they go into the thousands. Look up Moncler if you’re curious. Now that you have the clothes you’ll also need the skis/board and boots. Renting is convenient because you don’t have to carry your gear on the plane, but it will cost anywhere from $35 to $75 a day. If you do choose to buy, I got some used skis for $350 and my used boots were $400. There are cheaper options, but you absolutely want your boots to feel good.

Step 4: Ski – tickets

Ski resorts aren’t a public park, more like an amusement park with a high entry fee. Expect a day to cost from $100 to $250. If you are a frequent skier then you may be better off with a season pass. The two big ones are Epic and Ikon. I paid $1000 for mine and skied 10 days. It “saved” money, but still averaged at $100 a day.

Adding it up

Let’s say you do a week at one resort. You spend $600 on flights, $500 on car rental, $700 on lift tickets, $350 on equipment rental, $2500 on a hotel and borrow the clothes. That $4600. But that just one, and you are a family of four, and the kids need lessons that cost an additional $200 a day. Well, now your ski week is over $12,000. And just like an amusement park, food and other activities aren’t cheap.

How I make it cheaper, but still not cheap

We ended up doing Big Sky and some Colorado resorts. I used Marriott and Wyndam points for all the 13 nights. The flights were on Southwest which we have a companion pass so that cut cost, but didn’t eliminate it. I own equipment, but still spent money on a travel tube to protect the skis. In the end it was probably around $5,000 for 10 days of skiing across 13 nights. It was fun, but exhausting and I think I’ll take a few years off before I go again.

Wyndam Card, An Absolute Winner

Visit Account summary for Wyndham Rewards Earner<sup>®</sup> Plus Card. One of my rules is I don’t sign up for a credit card unless I expect to get at least $500 in value from it. Perhaps it is time to increase that amount because I have had some excellent luck with the Wyndam card.

You might be thinking, Wyndam, isn’t that the Days Inn and Super 8. Yes, but they also have properties everywhere and properties at really nice places. Aspen? Hawaii? I just completed trips there on points and saved a bunch.

The card

There are actually two versions of the card, the Earner and Earner Plus. The Earner card has 2/3 the bonus but carries no annual fee and earns 2x on dining and groceries and 5x on gas. The Plus version earns 4x on dining and groceries, 6x on gas, and has a $95 annual fee but you will get 7,500 points each anniversary. Personally I find it worth it to get the Plus.

Using the points

Hotel redemptions are 7.5K, 15K, or 30K depending on how nice it is. But the best value is for Vacasa rentals. The price is 15K per bedroom. A rental can be priced very differently, so you can get great value for a pricy one bedroom. You have to call to book, but here is a great guide for that.

Since these are often timeshares they have more amenities than a hotel. Two of the three we stayed in had kitchens. Also there were a minimum number of nights you had to stay, often 2 or 3.

I booked a one bedroom with a loft that was $260 a night, but after fees and taxes came to over $400. It only cost 15K points. And it gets better. When you have the card you receive 10% off redemptions, so only 13.5K.

If I am redeeming for 3 cents a point, how much am I earning? Gas is 6x so that is 18% back! Dining and grocery are 4x so 12%! With the 90K signup bonus I was able to get nearly $3000 in value.

Conclusion

I would browse Vacasa’s website and see if anything would be of interest to you. If so, then wait until the bonus reaches 90K again and then apply. This card is not on the big websites radar, but it can provide incredible value.

How Much Do My “Free” Hotel Nights Cost?

I prefer hotels to Airbnb. Hotels are also great to “hack” as there are loyalty programs and credit cards which earn points which can be redeemed for stays. Unfortunately, programs continue to devalue their programs in order to make more money. I have been a Marriott loyalist for the past 5 years, but this year I starting doing more with Hyatt and with Marriott’s most recent changes this week I will stick with Hyatt.

My favorite use of points is when I can get the biggest bang per point. This is often on fancy hotels or when rates are high. Some places we’ve stayed in the past where the St. Regis Aspen, Park Hyatt Paris, Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, and many more. I would not have paid $800 a night for any of those, but with points sure thing. I would rather spend 50,000 points for an $800 room than 25,000 points for a $200 room. However, everyone is different. The same logic applies for my flights. I prefer to save points for business class, while other may prefer to take twice as many trips in economy.

Here are recent and upcoming trips I have, how much they cost, and how much I will spend on them. I am flying Southwest on all of these since we have the Companion Pass.

Big Sky – $3000

I booked this with points for 100,000 Marriott Points before the price went up 140,000. Buy 4 nights get one free with a Marriott redemption. I had the points from various activities.

Steamboat – $900

I used 2 free night certificates that you get for keeping your credit card. There is a $95 annual fee, so that $190. The third night was a certificate I got from earning Titanium status with Marriott.

Park City – $4400

I used a 7 night package for this stay. I got the package for 390,000 points, but I didn’t have enough so I had to buy some. The package include 110,000 United miles which is worth almost 4 economy flights to Europe. I’d value United miles worth 2 Marriott points, so let’s says the hotel cost 390,000 – 220,000 = 170,000 points. The hotel would have been 240,000 points, so it is like saving 70,000 points. Since I had to buy points for around 1 cent each, we’ll say this stay cost me $1700.

Aspen – $1700

This was booked with 90,000 Wyndam points which was the amount of points received from the Wyndam card sign up bonus. It’s not a Days Inn, it should be pretty nice. Annual fee of $95.

Nashville – $700

Booked with some of the signup bonus from the IHG card. Still have 50,000 points left. IHG has buy 3 get one free when using points.

New Orleans – $800

This was an earned Hyatt free night and a credit card night. That is a $95 annual fee.

Conclusion

$2,080 and 100,000 points I earned paid for $11,500 worth of hotels. I find paying less than 1/3 of the price a steal. The prices for the first four are so much because it is near ski resorts and during ski season prices are really high. If we did the cheapest places in all these locations it probably could have been around $5,000 for the 25 nights. However, you can see I’m paying even less and getting to stay at nicer places. Another thing to note is that even though the credit card hobby saves a lot of money, it is by no means free. $2,080 is still a lot of money.

Mac Repairman

Over the holidays I did some tinkering. I bought two 2019 iMacs, took them apart, replaced their two hard drives, CPUs, and RAM and then put them back together for resale. How’d I do?

Purchase

First, someone sold a 2017 as a 2019 and I had to return that. I purchased two 2019s on eBay for a total of $2900. One was a deal at $1300 and then other had a better GPU and was $1600. Then, I purchased top of the line parts to upgrade. i9, WD Black 2TB NVME, WD Black 8TB, and 128GB of RAM. I learned that this may have been overkill. The hard drives are expensive and I don’t know if anyone really needed that pricy 8TB one. And maxing out the RAM would probably only be needed just a handful of people and they would probably be going for a higher end machine. So I ended up selling some of the RAM I bought.

iMac x2 = $2900

i9 x2 = $700

2TB SDD x2 = $650

8TB HDD x2 = $500

64GB RAM = $220

Tools = $100

Total cost of parts = $5070

Continue reading “Mac Repairman”

Saving a ton with Southwest

From May to October we will go on 5 trips with Southwest. This is due to being able to get a great deal using the Companion Pass. You may have heard of this before and I wrote about it previously as a powerful combo. Back then it was 110,000 points, but it has since been raised to 125,000. However, due to COVID they reduced it to 100,000 this year which made me think I could do it and since it is valid for the year earned plus the following I figured I would be traveling again.

Earning

I needed 100,000 miles, so of course a credit card was involved. I got the Southwest Priority card with the 60,000 bonus on $2k spend and an additional 20,000 on $10k total. After completing that spend I had 90,000 miles, so I needed 10,000 more within 15 days as I had already booked a trip and figured if I could get the points in time I could cancel one ticket and save the money.

So I went to the Rapid Rewards shopping portal and found things offering lots of points. Normally it is 1 to 4 points per dollar spent, so that would involve spending $2500+ which wouldn’t be a great deal. However, there are several subscriptions that offer over 1,000 points when you sign up. One was Motley Fool which offered 10,700, however that one often takes a month to post. I signed up for several food delivery boxes, a magazine subscription, and a wine club. Those all put me within 50 miles of getting the pass, so then I also signed up for the survey platform and did one survey which put me over the top! Then I canceled my flight and saved $200 and added myself as a companion to my wife. It was actually her that earned it.

Booking

Booking is straightforward. Go to the website, buy a ticket. Then once you have it you can add your companion. Our deal is even better since we have a child under 2 which means a lap infant, so buy one get two free! Since Southwest doesn’t have assigned seating, our child often gets a seat as well.

I made this deal even better by using Southwest free change policy. Yes, regularly you can change your flight and just pay the difference in price. This along with 2 free bags makes Southwest one of the most generous airlines. However, during various periods this year they were even allowing free flight changes within 30 days of your original one for NO FEE. It was even crazier because they would allow any airport in the zone. So what we did was find a cheap ticket within 30 days and then use the free change to the flight we wanted. For instance, you could book LAX to BWI for $99 and then change it to LGB to DCA for free even if that would have cost $300.

As a result, we’ve probably received $1500 in flights for 40,000 points, then received $1500 free via the companion pass. Over $3,000 in sign up bonus is phenomenal, and we still have points to spare.