Ballin on a Budget: Weekend in Memphis

I believe when you work hard you should be able to reward yourself every now and then. My biggest reward is seeing the smile on my daughter's face. She said she wanted to go out of town for her 5th birthday (Feb. 5), but I hosted the prom fashion show for Classy Threads that weekend. So, I decided to take her to Memphis this weekend.... On very little money. Here's how I did it.

For starters, I called one of my creditors and got an extension. (You did see "on a budget," right? Hey, I gotta do what I've gotta do too!)  When you have an installment line of credit, or a line of credit that has a fixed number of payments (land loan, construction loan, mortgage, automobile loan, student loan, etc.), you're often allowed to miss a payment(s) to be added to the end of the loan. This means you pay off your loan a month later than it would have previously ended, and you MIGHT still incur interest charges, depending on the company's policies, but it will not count as a missed payment. This is especially important if you're working to rebuild your credit.

After getting the extension, I then went online to find a good deal on a hotel room. I like staying near the activities I choose to enjoy. My daughter wanted to go to Incredible Pizza, and I knew I wanted to go to Wolfchase Galleria. So, I looked for a hotel near this area. Besides affordability, the things I looked for were a continental breakfast and an indoor pool. The Gardentree Hotel fit the bill! It was only a 10-minute drive to the mall and less than 10 minutes to the pizza place. If that wasn't enough, for two nights, I paid a good bit less than $200. Because I had someone else to travel with me, we split the cost!

Mind you right now, if you don't mind driving, traveling can be very affordable. I had around a 1/4 tank before fueling up for my trip. I paid $15 and sat on full! (My 2012 Ford Fusion gets 30+ highway miles per gallon. Do I like luxury? Yes. But I also like practicality.)
When I got to the Gardentree Hotel, their computer system wasn't working as well as usual, but they still got me and others checked in without fault. KeMiracle and Martin (those on duty) were courteous and very professional. I was tired from a full day AND travel, but I'd been on the other end of malfunctioning computers before. So, I was very understanding yet impressed with how calmly they managed.

I got my bags to my room and set out to do a little exploring. Yes, this did include the purchasing of a Powerball ticket. Got back to the room and realized I'd accidentally left behind all of my daughter's swimming necessities. HOWEVER, guess what was less than 10 minutes away.... WALMART! (I'm clearly winning here!) So, I made plans to go to the store the next morning.

I'm an early riser. So, I took advantage of a quiet moment to shoot a little video.  Am I aware that I look a mess?  Yep. But I bet you I wasn't once the puff went down in my face!

I got back to the room and went to wake my daughter. She and I enjoyed our breakfast. We had pancakes, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. As we ate, Kevin (a gentleman in the restaurant) brought us a plate of gourmet eggs, complete with a "Happy Valentine's Day!"

I was a bit apprehensive about trying them, but the term "gourmet" made me feel like I could be a little bougie if I ate some. So, I did..... Ummm.... I wasn't a fan. I added a little salt and pepper, and while I still didn't like them, I knew that I needed the protein with such a carb-heavy meal. So, I ate them.

We then went back to the room to get dressed for our day when this happened!

She was too excited and pleased that it didn't hurt. Seeing her joy made me happy until she informed me that the tooth fairy now gives out gold coins. (Wait.... WHAT?) Cool. Mommy has to make that happen.

We got dressed.  I stopped by the front desk to make some other arrangements, and Kim was extremely helpful in getting what I needed. We then headed to the store.

At Walmart, like most people, I spent much more than I planned. I'm talking about I got stuff like tissue! I knew I needed some at home, and since it's nonperishable, why not make that trip count? I also got Jireh something to swim in and some floaties among other items.

We left the store and went to the mall. I only got as far as the food court because of THIS:

She had a ball. No retail therapy necessary. Off to Incredible Pizza we went. My sister, our friend, our mom, and our aunt met us (Jireh and me as well as my brother and his family) there. I couldn't take many pictures because my daughter had been watching YouTube in the car. So, my battery was low on my phone. But this will give you a general idea:

We ate and then went to play games. One of our first stops was the 4D movie. Inside this little theater, you put on glasses and watch a movie while your seat moves, wind blows, etc. It was quite fun. (My mom screamed like she was on a real rollercoaster. Don't tell her I told you, though.) After that, we played more games and just had a good time. My brother and his family did mini bowling. We were supposed to go and drive the bumper cars, but the feature was closed for maintenance, and we didn't want to wait the few minutes. We had a pool to which we had to return. But here's the great thing about Incredible Pizza. You can make it an all day event. Go early, and you can eat and then play, and then go back and eat more and go play more, and so on. It's a pizza buffet, but they also have other items like hot dogs, tacos, some soul food, a salad bar, and desserts. In addition, accumulated points for prizes don't have to be spent on the same trip. I'll just keep my playing card, and on our next trip, Jireh will be able to spend all of the points we already have in addition to those we collect the next time.

We got back to the hotel, and the girls could hardly wait to get into the pool. The water was warm, but being the divas they are, they opted for the hot tub.

While they played, I went to the front desk of the hotel, where I had a very good conversation with Mr. Martin. We discussed parenthood, work, and just life. I got the shower cap-- the reason I went there in the first place --and made my way back. We hung out a little bit and went to bed.

The next morning, we went down for breakfast. This time, Mr. Kevin wasn't passing out eggs. But I went to him and asked if they'd have any, and he cooked some just for me. He cooked the gourmet kind as well as a regular scrambled egg for Jireh. When I tell you that the staff at the Gardentree Hotel CANNOT be beat....

After breakfast, we went to pack our things and prepare for our trip home. My daughter and niece wanted to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. So, I drove downtown, parked, and took them to see the ducks.

From there, we began our journey home. We made it back just in time to see the magnificent rainbow!

After taking my two-part photo because I couldn't get it all in one shot, I thanked God for His reminder as well as a safe and fun trip and drove on home.