Travel insurance for our October cabin: did we buy it?
Our cabin near Boone cost $612 for three nights. Weighing a $48 policy against the cabin's own refund rules, and what we chose.…
A car repair fund, separate from the trip fund
The wheel bearing taught us a lesson. Why car money now lives apart from trip money, and how we built it to $1,000 by the start of…
What our credit card and car policy covered on a rental
Before picking up the rental I called both. What each one covered, the counter add-on we turned down and the one gap we found.…
Getting sick three hours from home on our health plan
Wes's sinus infection hit on our Smokies trip. Urgent care in Tennessee, the $175 bill and what our plan actually ended up coverin…
Our car insurance renewal and the miles question
The renewal asked how many miles we drive a year. Why road trips nudge that number, what our premium did and what I asked our agen…
Our first year of trips in one spreadsheet
Twelve trips, about 5,900 miles and $2,968 from March to December. What each trip cost, ranked from cheapest to most expensive.…
The Outer Banks storm claim: how we got $780 back
A tropical storm cancelled our cottage trip. The $57 policy we nearly skipped, the paperwork and five weeks of waiting for the che…
Reading a beach cottage's hurricane policy before we paid
We booked three nights on the Outer Banks for late September. What the rental company's cancellation and storm rules really said.…
Using cash-back on gas without chasing rewards
One no-annual-fee card, paid in full every month, used for gas and groceries. What it earned us and the rules we keep about it.…
Do we need travel insurance for a $300 weekend?
For most of our short trips, no. The few times it might make sense, what a policy would cost and what our own coverage already han…
Why our trip money lives in its own bank account
A separate savings account, $250 a month on the first, and one rule about never borrowing from it. How our trip fund is set up.…