So it might not be anything like those Outer Banks vacation homes, but I like to believe Mr. Shatner did his best.  My only regret is not really studying the areas in DC before I started picking hotel areas on Priceline’s “Name Your Own Price.”  I originally asked for a 4.5 star property at 75 bucks (bite me, I’m cheap) but they denied me.  Much as it hurt me to click on the 3.5 star property option, I did anyways and hit the enter button too fast without even thinking to lower my price.  Was hoping they’d reject me again because 75 bucks for 3.5 stars?  Uh uh.  Shatner probably realized what a dingaling I was to even offer 75 bucks (I should have bid 50 bucks, LOL!) but what do you know, they give me what they call a “4 star hotel.”  Riiiiight.  I’ll have to see about that.

Still, I’m thankful.  I was crazy enough to pay rack rate for another hotel in downtown DC so imagine the savings (now we’ll actually be able to eat instead of starve for 3 days).  Plus I hear they have some of the most fabulous beds and an excellent coffee shop to start our day.

I was in the middle of researching the best web directory for my blogs when I came across such a useful article from babycenter.com.  I just had to post it here — who knows, maybe the one or two people who read this blog can use a few of these tips.

Look for hidden waste
Can you find a cheaper cell-phone plan, long-distance phone service, or Internet service provider? Is it time to refinance your mortgage or car payments? Can you raise your insurance deductibles, which lowers your premiums? What about canceling your long distance and purchasing budget phone cards — or using a cell phone (with free long distance included) in off-peak hours? Are you getting your money’s worth from your gym membership, or could you walk, jog, or play basketball in the park instead? You may want to consider becoming a one-car family — you’ll save on gas, insurance, and car maintenance. And ask your utililty company how you can lower your payments. Even simple changes, like turning down the temperature on your water heater or installing energy-saving showerheads, can bring your monthly bills down.

Watch those credit cards
If credit card charges are eating up a big chunk of your monthly budget, look into consolidating your balances or getting a lower interest rate. Examine your credit card statements: Are there automatic charges — subscriptions or monthly fees — that could be canceled? (Get more tips on easy ways to lower your credit card debt.)

Plan low-cost family vacations
Instead of staying in hotels, consider traveling with friends and renting a house together. This is usually cheaper than hotel rooms, and it allows you to cook meals instead of going to restaurants. Other ideas: Travel locally so you can drive rather than fly. Carry a cooler full of snacks and sandwich ingredients so you don’t have to eat out for every meal. Pack up the tent and go camping. (Get more tips on saving big on family travel.)

Go co-op crazy
Form a meal co-op with friends and neighbors — each family takes a night to make dinner for everyone. This saves time, builds community, introduces children to a broader variety of foods, and saves money by allowing participants to buy food in bulk (without having to eat the same food for weeks straight).

A babysitting co-op may also be a good idea. By trading babysitting duties with other families you’re close to, you can save money on childcare and know you’re leaving your child with people you trust.

Avoid restaurants
The average American family eats out four times a week, which takes a big bite out of their budget, says Jonni McCoy, a mom and founder of the Miserly Moms Web site. You can save a lot by making relatively painless adjustments to your dining habits. On date night, leave the kids with friends and prepare a candlelight dinner at home instead of going out to eat. On workdays, bring your lunch to the office. On weekends, make a picnic and take your family to the park or the beach. Take snacks to the playground, zoo, or movie theater instead of visiting the snack bar. You can also save money by making coffee at home — those fancy coffee drinks really add up. Splurge on your favorite beans and a travel mug and take yours to go. (One Baby Center reader figured that by breaking their specialty coffee habit, she and her husband could shave $2,000 a year off their budget!)

Find cheaper entertainment
Go to matinees or rent movies instead of heading to the theater, and try borrowing videos and DVDs from your local library rather than paying for rentals. And do you really need cable television when you can rent DVDs of your favorite premium channel shows?

You can also get creative about finding ways to cut costs and create family time. Organize a family game night instead of going out, or make holiday presents together to save on gift-giving.

Become a smart shopper
Start with the food bill, McCoy advises. “This is usually the largest category of spending, and there are so many ways to whittle it down,” she says. Buy in bulk, clip coupons, and mail in rebates. (You can trade coupons with other parents on our trading post forum.) Generics and store-brand products are almost always cheaper than name brands. (Get more tips on trimming the fat from your food budget.)

For clothes, baby gear, furniture, and similar items, secondhand stores and resale shops have bargains galore, as do sites such as eBay and Craigslist. Or, if you’re buying new, purchase clothing for next year during end-of-season sales. For furniture or appliances, ask for floor models — you probably won’t notice a scratch on your new bed, but it could bring down the price significantly.

And finally, skip the pricey salon and become a beauty school drop-in. Beauty schools offer discounts on services such as haircuts, facials, and mani-pedis.

Keep a tight rein on your budget
Stay-at-home mom Heather DeGeorge uses a simple envelope system: Every two weeks she takes the cash from her husband’s paycheck and divvies it up into envelopes marked for specific expenses. So if she has budgeted $400 a month for groceries, she puts $200 into the grocery envelope every two weeks. Then she knows she’ll have the money when it’s time to go to the store. DeGeorge has envelopes for other fixed costs, as well as for luxuries. “We budget a certain amount for eating out,” she says. “If there’s no money in the ‘eating out’ envelope, we go to the pantry.”

Similarly, you can use a separate bank account to make sure you have all the money you need tucked safely away for certain fixed monthly or yearly expenses. Add up the yearly total of all your fixed expenses, divide it by 12, and deposit that amount every month in your separate bill-paying account. Once you get going with this system, you’ll never have to scramble to pay your property taxes or any other regular expense.

Put in the time
It’s time-consuming to develop and maintain a budget, find the lowest prices, collect coupons, and shop for the best deals. It takes still more time to shop and cook in bulk, and to make presents instead of buying them. McCoy figures that she devotes seven hours a week to keeping her household costs low. “That includes everything: meal planning, shopping, making meals from scratch, and keeping track of spending,” she says. “When you consider the rewards, it really isn’t that much.”

It’s Friday night and I’m waiting for E to come out of our room so we can get started on a movie (The Taking of Pelham 123, have you seen it?) .  The little girl still sleeps in our room and isn’t used to sleeping on her own yet — I should have known leaving her by herself wasn’t going to work.  Daddy to the rescue… and it’s been more than 30 minutes already.

It is unbelievably quiet right now as I speak type.  So not used to it, it’s almost scary.   Just glanced at my lovely moleskin and whatdayaknow.  I have essays due the night before our trip to DC and an exam before our flight.  Niiice.  And then sometime when we return, I have a research paper due shortly thereafter.  Which reminds me, I’d better contact my Mary Kay lady and see what she has for acne treatments — bet I’ll need it!

I hear footsteps.  Finally.  Popcorn, anyone?

Happy anniversary to my mom and dad.  They’re celebrating their thirty five years of marriage today.  I remember less than a year ago, I was discussing plans with Cecil about organizing a renewal of vows for them in Manila.  Obviously, it never pushed through (because my mom would prefer waiting for the big 50).  It would have been a fun reunion for the family and well, another reason to work side by side with Cecil again (because God knows I could never get enough of him or his staff).

Many more anniversaries to come!  Or in my mom’s case, here’s to more bottles of wrinkle cream!

And I shall be here for the first time:

My friend O informed hubby a few weeks back of a DC career fair/conference at the end of the month.  The next day, I received a notice in my email box that Northwest Airlines had just slashed seats from San Francisco to DC to only $159RT — all taxes included!  Naturally, I took that as a sign — not only should he go, but the wifey as well.  Besides, my mom insisted I go; afterall, when would I ever have a reason to visit DC again?  Add to that, O was attending the same conference so it was perfect.  Except one part:  we’re missing out on Halloween with the little girl.   I know, I’m such a bad mommy.  I wouldn’t have minded taking her but the mere fact that it’ll be a short 3-day trip (2 days actually since one day is pretty much shot at the career fair), the travel time from one coast to the next, relying simply on public transportation and our legs (no need to pack a fat burner!) and disrupting her school schedule (my big girl attends every day now) — I have more reason to keep her safe at home with my mom.  Plus, as selfish as this might sound to some, I need me some good quality adult time.

One of the things I hate about traveling is the amount of germs you pick up along the way.  Luggages?  Uh, yeah.  Hotel rooms?  Most certainly.  I was never obsessed about using bed bug products until recently.  I have these zippered bags that I use that stores all our stuff when we travel.  Yes, zippered — and oh, how I love it so.  They fit the exact dimensions of our luggage so it’s perfect when I have to rummage through our stuff.  Back in the day, before reading that you should never put away stuff straight from the luggage so as not to bring bed bugs into your home, I’d just make it a practice of taking even the cleanest of clothes straight from the luggage and throwing them straight into the washer upon return from vacation.  Hubby always thought this was a weird practice, especially if our clothes had been laundered the night before.  But uh-uh, I knew better.  So now, with our zippered travel bags, however, I won’t be such a weirdo in his eyes.  And really, can I just say that it never occurred to me that even the most beautiful hotel rooms would have bed bugs?  Seriously, I was that naive.  And then you think about it and well, you do share even that gorgeous, plush bed with a million other strangers.  And ewww, hotel carpet rooms?  Thank you to Kate Gosselin for that idea.  (Double eww that I’m even thanking her for anything!).  Anyways, bottomline:  don’t bring the bed bugs home!

I can’t fight it anymore.  I’m getting old and with that comes lovely lines otherwise known as wrinkles.  I have lines on my forehead and I notice when I frown or squint, there are very pronounced lines (more like indentations!) in that top part of space between my two eyes.  Add to that the  lines I’m seeing especially underneath my right eye.  The left eye is going to start catching up soon, I’m sure — it doesn’t help that I wear contacts; you can’t avoid some tugging at some point!  Time to invest in a really good anti wrinkle cream.  And soon.