Why We Never Do This Sort of Thing
I have become the sort of person, it seems, who, given time, can talk himself out of purchasing or doing almost anything. The more I think about spending the money or the time, the more likely it is that neither will ever get spent.
It's a little odd, really. Typically I have very little problem suggesting to The Wife, spur-of-the-moment-like, on Friday afternoon that we should pack up a few things and head somewhere for the weekend. Like Dallas.
Pre-planning a weekend mini-trip like this, on the other hand? Say, a week or more in advance? Nope. Darn near impossible for me. By the time the weekend rolls around, I will have given myself roughly 114 reasons why we shouldn't go, and my brain will be plowing around for even more.
When it comes to vacations, in My Weird Brain, spur-of-the-moment = good. Planned and contemplated over days/weeks/months? Bad.
Speaking of bad, let's talk hotels for a moment. Just because I want to.
Priceline Ain't All That
Let's start by noting that I reserved our hotel rooms roughly 5 hours before we were to arrive in Ft. Worth. And I did so directly through the hotel chain itself, because it was easy.
Done this way, our two-bed, nonsmoking room cost us $139 per night ($155 after taxes), for a total outlay of $310 for our weekend lodging. That $310 constituted roughly 59% of our total getaway cost.
Just out of curiosity, I checked what those same accomodations would've cost me if I'd set them up thru Priceline a week in advance:
Wow. Just not that much difference. I thought Priceline and Travelocity and all the rest were supposed to be Tremendous Vacation Money-Savers? Does Priceline (or do any of those services) work better if you need something last-minute?
Am I missing something here?
(Other than the fact that I should probably be more open to vacations. And planning.)
Labels: Spending
