Friday, January 11, 2008

My Not So Frugal Mistake

It is Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood and I am writing today about a mistake I made that was not so frugal!
Right now I am traveling. As you can tell from previous posts, I was given a trip to NC and Maine to see my kids that are there. I planned the trip and thought I had cared for everything.
All was fine for the first leg of the journey, to NC. From NC to Maine I was traveling with Continental airlines. I have not had good experience with them and tried to plan accordingly. Last year I had to make this trip with them and sat for 4 hours in one airport because the pilot fell out of the plane when he was boarding. Yes, you read that right! They had to fly in a pilot from somewhere else and all of us sat for the 4 hours. On the way home they left me stranded in Newark NJ airport for 18 hours. I had to sleep in the airport, between floor and seats and it was pretty miserable.
So, this year I made sure I had a blanket and pillow in my carry on and at the airport realized I did not have a book along. I went to the bookstore in the airport and bought two books. Now I usually get my books from such luxurious places as paperbackswap or half price books or ebay. Now I was faced with retail, and at an airport as well. I decided to bite the bullet and get them so I had something with me anyway, but it hurt big time.
So, my frugal Friday advice is to put a book or two on the top of your traveling list. It sure hurts when you are used to being frugal and have your set places that you go and then get stuck with retail. OHHH The pain!!!
For more frugal ideas head over to Biblical Womanhood!

2 comments:

NeedANap2 said...

great advice, thanks!!

Kara S. said...

Oh, I feel your pain! I've been stranded overnight in a deserted Atlanta airport and all I had was a very lumpy carry-on bag for a pillow. Then there was the time in Tampa when our flight crew came in on another flight. When they went to sign in for our flight, the FAA (or whoever) wouldn't let them fly - the crew would exceed the 8 hour limit in the air without a mandatory rest of 4 hours. So, we got to sit while they all checked into a hotel to 'rest.' Then when they came back, something was wrong with the plane!!!! Argh!!! Thankfully that time I had papers to grade, a book, and a pillow! :)