Penny For My Thoughts

Mystic, CT was fun, if not an absolute budget trip. We ended up not eating at either Restaurant.com restaurant, so we lost out on the $3 or so I paid for the gift certificates (though we could always stop there enroute between Boston and NYC some time this summer). However, at one restaurant we ate at, I noticed a bunch of postcards on the podium for $5 off of lunch…and we were there for lunch. I asked, and sure enough we could use it. Yay! We also used our gift card from our AAA package for Mystic Pizza, which is not worth the hype, but at least we didn’t pay out of pocket for it.

However, I was a bad personal finance blogger on this trip. Ironically, it happened at Mohegan Sun, but was not related to gambling (gambling wise, I spent the $20 I’d budgeted (and planned on losing) on penny and nickel slot and video poker). See, I’ve wanted a Northface Denali jacket for about a year, but being the cheap soul (I mean, responsible personal finance blogger) I am, I wanted to not pay retail for it. So I checked the Northface Outlet, LL Bean’s clearance store, end of season sales at Macy’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and REI. None fit and were in colors I could deal with. Sure enough, at the outdoors store at Mohegan Sun, they had a black one in my size. I decided I’d hunted long enough for a good buy, and decided to bite. Of course, then while checking out I remembered that CT charges sales tax on clothes. Grr. Oh well, my old coat lasted three seasons, so I’ll get my money’s worth-I hope!

We did however, skip over both the Mystic Aquarium and the Mystic Seaport due to cost, so I guess you win some, you lose some.