I love credit cards so much! v2.0 (see first page for add'l details)

[elgerber]

Personal I'm assuming? And from gold? I had to give up the personal spot for the biz...damn amex only allowing 5. Might be worth grabbing a plat at some point going back to a personal gold for upgrade chances.

Yes personal (the biz upgrade offers I have received are a joke), both from Gold and Blue.

 

[wendow]

@orangecuse We are homeschoolers too! I've homeschooled my kids from the beginning and my oldest is 19yo now and a sophomore in college. I am still actively schooling three but once mine hit high school, I farm a lot out to co-ops or community college. It has been a beautiful thing, not just for our family, but certainly a benefit in traveling when the masses are in school. It's hard now with older kids who are in college and work. I miss the old days of just little ones with very few commitments.

Feel free to pm me if you ever have questions. There are lots of us just here on this thread which just shows you how many people are doing this now! We have more social opportunities than we can possibly fit in a day so my kids have never struggled with social skills or learning how to function in society

 

[DisneyMandC]

I've found all the luggage talk around here to be so interesting. I've never paid close attention to anything luggage-related or the craze about packing cubes. I see so many of you say how it saves so much room, etc., but I never feel like I've run out of room when packing. I would definitely not classify myself as an overpacker, so maybe that's why? I've had friends before who have gone over the checked bag weight limit which is BAFFLING to me. Even when packing cowboy boots and 5-6 pairs of jeans for horse shows, on top of regular clothing items, I've never even come close to the weight limit.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Well I guess the "good" thing is, I wouldn't trade down my XS for the 11. And my XS is gold (looks more rose gold) and in a purple sparkly case anyways. My phone no matter the color is in a purple case. The purple phone would be in a purple case, LOL. I used to upgrade only on the number years. I had the OG then then 4, 5, 6, 7 (only because it was free from ATT) and I rode that until I finally did the XS, which was spawned by my daughter needing a phone.

Anyone w/ ATT, I've got the number on the $400 off any phone......They don't like to advertise it, but we used it last fall to get my XS, my DD's 8 Plus and my son a 7 (his was only $.99). I'll be sitting this round out, unless something happens to my phone. We only have 1 "slot" left that we can get the $400 discount on for the next year, LOL.

I’d like it please!

 

[gottalovepluto]

Someone I know posted a fake news story on Facebook the other day. Directly underneath the Facebook post, the Facebook filter came up for all to see letting you know that it was a hoax and was not true. Someone commented on the post and let her know that it was a fake story, as evidence by the filter results. The original poster went OFF and was furious at commenter for saying that! There was a huge argument on her post and then she was posting all night about how she was deleting rude people from her Facebook...

Zero regrets about going cold turkey on FB during the 2016 elections and not looking back! I go on like once every 6 months (because I want to read something linked to FB from another place on the web) so I didn’t go 100% off- but darn close and have been SO much happier for it. That said I don’t have kids or grandkids I’m trying to keep up with (aren’t they on Instagram yet instead? Kids these days need to get with it!).

 

[Andysol]

There are lots of us just here on this thread which just shows you how many people are doing this now! We have more social opportunities than we can possibly fit in a day so my kids have never struggled with social skills or learning how to function in society

I had a homeschooling "mentor" in my office that I talked to beforehand (homeschooled 3 great kids all the way through graduation). She brought up a good point. The crux of it was "If you're a social parent, your kids will likely be social. If you're an anti-social parent, your kids will likely be anti-social." She's not all that wrong. Thinking about when I was in public school, there were social and anti-social kids. Being in school didn't create or ruin that. Same with homeschool kids- there are those that are outgoing and talkative and there are those that keep to themselves. More often than not, she's right, they're emulating their parents.

Not that it isn't important to force social skills and interaction. The benefits of unsupervised free play is massive and we're very conscious of it.

Traveling fosters independence and offers so many learning opportunities. I've shared this before about flying with my kids and letting them fly in their own rows by themselves and paying them ($5 and $2) if they don't talk to us/need us for the 2-4hr flight.
It's not that I don't want them "bothering" us (maybe a little), but it's about them creating a sense of independence. Being able to go to the bathroom, connect to wifi, handle their drinks, etc without needing our input or permission. Or even helping hand a drink to the person at the window seat or looking at the flight attendant and telling them thanks and using eye contact. It's a tiny "nothing" of a thing. But it's a small thing we intentionally choose to turn into a learning and developmental opportunity.
And when you travel, there are loads and loads and loads of those if you keep yourself mindful to it and make it a priority.

I've never paid close attention to anything luggage-related or the craze about packing cubes. I see so many of you say how it saves so much room, etc., but I never feel like I've run out of room when packing.

If you're checking bags, it's not nearly as important. It might be nice for organization (This person is this color, etc), but in terms of cramming stuff in, it's not as important.

But for carry-ons, it's a game changer.

 

[platamama]

My first statement from my Citi Biz AA posted and I got the 75K bonus miles! In the interest of discretion, I shared more details over on DISchurners. So excited, that I applied for DH too and he got instant approval. Woot!

 

[Haley R]

I remember when I was little everyone always thought the homeschooled kids were "weird," but things have really changed a lot. By the time I hit high school, I knew a lot of kids my age who were homeschooled because we were all showing horses together. The kids who really did it big time usually did school through online academies. My mom just pulled me out of public school whenever I had a show lol. We still don't want kids, but I would probably want to homeschool too... moreso to facilitate the full time horse showing

I know a family that does rodeos and they homeschool for that same reason: so their boys can go to shows and not worry about missing school.

One big question I have about homeschooling is where do you get the curriculum? I wouldn’t want to spend a ton of money on anything like that and I’m sure there are resources out there.

 

[Andysol]

One big question I have about homeschooling is where do you get the curriculum? I wouldn’t want to spend a ton of money on anything like that and I’m sure there are resources out there.

There are so many options it can be overwhelming, honestly. Different states are also more friendly than others. Luckily for us, Texas is one of the best.

As an example, Houston ISD has a program that allows for "home-schooling". It's through Houston ISD, you have a dedicated teacher that helps, you do STARS testing (state mandatory testing), they provide all books and supplies, its Texas board of education designed curriculum, you take attendance but can do school for anywhere. Free.

And we don't even use that one! Hah

 

[Haley R]

Oh and on the haircut discussion....since we’ve moved here I haven’t gotten one haircut. I used to get one every month at great clips but I now cut my own hair. I watched them closely for awhile and realized the main thing with my hair is the thinning, layers, and bangs. I just cut my hair today and it looks the same as when I paid to get it cut. I use the selfie mode on my phone to see the back of my hair because that’s the hardest part to get

 

[Haley R]

There are so many options it can be overwhelming, honestly. Different states are also more friendly than others. Luckily for us, Texas is one of the best.

As an example, Houston ISD has a program that allows for "home-schooling". It's through Houston ISD, you have a dedicated teacher that helps, you do STARS testing (state mandatory testing), they provide all books and supplies, its Texas board of education designed curriculum, you take attendance but can do school for anywhere, etc. Free.

And we don't even use that one! Hah

See I’m a little worried about using anything from the Florida department of Ed

It has been 2-3 months and they still haven’t gotten me started with subbing. It’s getting a tad ridiculous if you ask me. They have no sense of urgency around here.

If I could get the books and stuff for free to teach I would for sure homeschool. It would be easy enough for me to work off of those and make it more fun and individualized

 

[amalone1013]

AofA still had the individual bottles this past week and I came home with 6 each of conditioner and shampoo!

When we were there I kept putting the bottles away every day... like the first day I hadn't used them yet and DH doesn't use the conditioner so I put it in my bag. Came back to 2 new bottles, put those away. Next day... came back to 1 new conditioner, and they'd tossed the bottles that were in the shower even though they weren't close to empty yet I've never had anywhere throw out the bottles in the shower mid trip like that.

 

[havaneselover]

Zero regrets about going cold turkey on FB during the 2016 elections and not looking back! I go on like once every 6 months (because I want to read something linked to FB from another place on the web) so I didn’t go 100% off- but darn close and have been SO much happier for it. That said I don’t have kids or grandkids I’m trying to keep up with (aren’t they on Instagram yet instead? Kids these days need to get with it!).

This is me. The 2016 election did me in. I only want to see cute photos of kids and dogs. I occasionally go on for Disney Cruise information but otherwise it's just too much.

 

[havaneselover]

See I’m a little worried about using anything from the Florida department of Ed

It has been 2-3 months and they still haven’t gotten me started with subbing. It’s getting a tad ridiculous if you ask me. They have no sense of urgency around here.

If I could get the books and stuff for free to teach I would for sure homeschool. It would be easy enough for me to work off of those and make it more fun and individualized

Can you tutor? I can't tell you how much I love my son's tutors. And we pay them $40 - $60/hour.

 

[snugglebug]

we have two motherload junior (wife and 10), a prof slim (that’s mine) and a prof slim jr (6).

I needed a cushioned laptop section as I work here and there when we travel (the only way I can travel ~100 days a year).


Mother-lode would not fit under seat. We have two Juniors and they just barely do. Because of that, they count as a personal item.
Although my wife almost always puts hers in overhead (if room). 10 year old doesn’t because she doesn’t need the leg room.

So technically when we fly it’s 2 Carry-ons; which are the “bigger carry-on” from Away. Note: we’ve never had to check them even flying Asian airlines. And 4 personal items. So we could still bring two more things.

Carry-on is easy for me w/ packing cubes and tight packing, even with my bigger clothes.
I end up carrying the “just in case” medicines: Laxative, Pepto, Tylenol, Dramamine, Benadryl, etc. Both adult and kids versions as well as the toiletries (we use this).
Kids are also fine as they just have their clothes in cubes. Shoes are the crux for them. They wear tennis shoes on plane and only have saltwater sandals which are necessities. Side note: If you have kids and you don’t have these shoes (or something similar), you’re missing out. Waterproof, go with anything, and dry out immediately. Even for my cheap self, spending $30 on toddler shoes is worth it.
My wife was the hard one originally, but she has gotten it down to a science. I’ll attach a couple pics. But take note that she’s a typical Texas girl- big hair and makeup always. So her makeup set is very small and specific for traveling. Likewise, she only brings black/white/grey bottoms and interchanges her tops for outfits, which can be colors or whites/greys. Everything can be worn with everything. She usually brings 1 pair of jeans and one sundress (or 2, if light). Her crux is the shoes, which I usually end up having one shoe or a pair in my carry-on.

Small dress:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Neutral bottoms:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

We’re flying out tomorrow and packing tonight, so I’ll take a pic of our medicine bag, wife’s makeup and our toiletries if anyone cares.
It’s just an Orlando/Vero Beach/Bahamas trip, but I’ll post clothes too if anyone cares there either.
I’ll do the same for clothes for Peru next month as it will be more hiking and require a layer or two. So more complex than a simple beach/Orlando trip.

I put my ML Jr under the seat and it fits fine, I've only flown SW. Bonus I then have a footrest. Do you find the laptop section not sufficient enough on it? I think it's ok, but I'm considering a sleeve for my Macbook as well. I went back and forth between the two and ultimately decided the ML Jr. I always travel with my laptop. I'm a one woman business so even on vacation there are emails to answer and tech support to provide.

 

[WVMomof3]

Can you tutor? I can't tell you how much I love my son's tutors. And we pay them $40 - $60/hour.

Did you ever get your son's schooling figured out?

 

[Nuggies]

I'm sure someone said this to you earlier in the thread but if not - I would gently advise you to avoid signing up for more store cards. And remember do not add your spouse as an AU or vice versa as that counts toward 5/24.

Yes, message received and appreciated. I don't regret the Costco card, but the other two are just silly.

 

[PolyRob]

I used to feel the same way about pricey luggage. After going through several sets of checked luggage that wore out due to baggage handler abuse and carry ons with poor wheel design that made it harder and harder to drag around with use I changed my mind. After a ton of research and not wanting to spend the money for a Briggs & Riley CX I settle on the Travel Pro Platinum Magna 2 international sized spinner.

https://www.ebags.com/product/trave...-expandable-spinner/299555?productid=10377646
I have dragged that thing all over the place over the last 2 years and it is awesome. It still rolls like it was brand new and is super sturdy and holds quite a lot. I also wound up getting the domestic sized carry on and checked 25 inch too.

On out trip to Scotland over the summer my mom brought her carry on and I realized how spoiled we'd become with our Travel Pro bags excellent design and maneuverability. Keep in mind we were changing locations every night for over a week. I kept fantasizing of what I wanted to do with my mom's bag once we got home ... throw darts at it, then use it for archery practice, drop it from the tallest building in Miami, run it over with a truck, set it on fire etc. This all amused my mother of course. She asked about our luggage since it was so easy to roll around with just a finger but we all decided it wasn't practical price-wise for her since she doesn't travel nearly as much as we do. Well her birthday was last weekend and we bought her a new carry on from the Travel Pro family and it spins just as easily as ours, is designed very well and costs much less than ours. She absolutely loved it and said she loves how it just dances with the push of a finger. It is a Travel Pro Maxlite spinner.

https://www.ebags.com/product/trave...al-carry-on-spinner/365104?productid=10700184

Hope this helps others who are looking for luggage. Most of you know how much PlanePrincess and I travel beyond just our trips to WDW nearly every month or more. I love our Travel Pro bag and think the Maxlite we got my mom is perfect for someone who travels less than we do and wants a bag that will last and is easy to roll around.

Those bags do look nice! The Maxlite would probably be more my speed. I do get the eBags offers now that I have an Amex so it is something to consider. I remember there were great deals and tons of cash back around the holidays!

we have two motherload junior (wife and 10), a prof slim (that’s mine) and a prof slim jr (6).

I needed a cushioned laptop section as I work here and there when we travel (the only way I can travel ~100 days a year).


Mother-lode would not fit under seat. We have two Juniors and they just barely do. Because of that, they count as a personal item.
Although my wife almost always puts hers in overhead (if room). 10 year old doesn’t because she doesn’t need the leg room.

So technically when we fly it’s 2 Carry-ons; which are the “bigger carry-on” from Away. Note: we’ve never had to check them even flying Asian airlines. And 4 personal items. So we could still bring two more things.

I have actually really wanted a backpack that attaches to my carry-on like that so I do not have to lug it around with me. I always bring my laptop and am overprotective of it. It would probably be a lot safer than the JanSport I got back in 2008

 

[amalone1013]

99% sure BIL and his partner are booking the Four Seasons by Disney with their MRs through the AMEX portal...


.6cpp

 

[PolyRob]

It got really long...

Spoiler: Off Topic Work Rant

Have I told you all everything going on at work? Ya know, because things haven't been crazy enough in the past.

Last April, our department had 22 positions, with 2 of them open at the time. Now we are down to 17 positions, with one of those people out for a long term illness. Another person has bid out to the production department, and just waiting until they let them move over. Then someone quit last month. So we were informed that instead of backfilling 2 positions (the quitter and the person going to production), that 3 of our positions and their associated duties are being moved over to the packing department. So the 2 people left would be training the packing employees and then the last person left would become a floater position for the department.

Then we had a plant wide meeting on a Tuesday. We already have plans to run every other weekend through the end of the year; that's what we've been doing all year currently. They said sales are up, up, up! This is pretty ridiculous, they are 15-20% higher than sales last year. Why?? The holidays are already the busy season for the company and we haven't even seen that spike in sales yet. So corporate is asking the plants to try and add a third weekend to the schedules. "We don't know how we would even do that, there's not really a way"

Then Thursday rolls around. "WE'RE DOING IT AND WE'RE DOING IT THIS WAY."

So my manager writes this really bad chaotic schedule through mid-October. Like, I looked at this thing and thought, you've never written a schedule before. We're also told that basically they're now afraid to give the packing department the news about taking over those positions and duties, so it's being put on the back burner and we have to cover. Then the next Tuesday comes. We're still doing it, but we're doing it this way instead (which honestly makes a million times more sense than the first way but still sucks). So she tries to redo it. I go down and express my extreme displeasure with the schedule. Major beef is why do we have 2 floater positions already, who were supposed to help with coverage in the department, working 40hrs/5 days a week while the rest of us are on here 60-72hrs and 12 days in a row, etc. Manager adds floaters in a bit to 'help' but also makes things even more weird/chaotic and overall it's not a huge change for the entire 6ish week period.

So then manager wants us to do the schedule the rest of the year, together. Honestly I am all gung ho to take a crack at it, because at this point I am 99% sure I am the only one in the department who's had to write a schedule before. So I did this past weekend... knocked out like 80% of it in an hour. Looked at the big picture, started with everyone's normal hours and only moved them to cover PTO. What's left is making sure people stay under the max hours/days rules, and some days where several people could cover and I feel like they should work out between themselves who's doing it to make it fair. I know some people want lots of these hours, and some don't (like me - I have no desire to work over 60 hours a week, let's be honest, I'd like to work 40... but can understand the need if we are very thin due to people's PTO, and that's how everyone in my boat feels). And we've basically got 7, 8hr shifts, work every day the plant runs positions to fill, plus the floaters 'also have other duties now' so we'll say 2, 8hr 5 day work week positions to fill. That's a total of 472 hours a week when the plant runs the weekend, and we have 8 people to cover them.

I skipped the first two weeks of that schedule period, because someone had tried to start it... it's going to be crazy no matter what because we have someone out on paternity leave.

Yesterday I sent an email asking some questions like how many hours people want, and what is the max they'd like stay under, that kind of thing. I wanted everyone to have input because that is NOT what happened the first time around with our manager. The schedule I had started was public, and I had seen that someone had kept going after the first two crazy weeks, and at a quick glance it looked like they mainly moved what I had in there.

But apparently, no, I got an email back from this person that the mysterious 'majority' had agreed on it and feels they are more reasonable hours, no one feels overworked, etc...

EXCEPT THAT 1. THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO SINCE THE WEEKEND DID NOT KNOW THIS EXISTED, AND 2. THERE ARE MULTIPLE INSTANCES OF PEOPLE BREAKING THE MAX HOURS/DAYS RULE AND ALSO PEOPLE STILL ON THE SCHEDULE WHO HAVE APPROVED PTO THOSE DAYS

So I don't know who this mysterious majority consists of... and this person did put themselves on there for 72hrs most of the time, because they are one of the people wanting them... well, bully for them, I didn't really want all of the hours I had for myself so far on what I'd done, and they gave me more. I just don't see a reason that the people who feel as I do have to work 200 hours more than the 'floaters' over the period, when they are available to chip in.

And at the very end of the day, this whole thing is a giant house of cards. The department really can't handle another person leaving right now, especially in my area with the crazy schedule.

So not only is this why I worked on my resume/linkedin all weekend, and am writing cover letters today... (and yes, I care about this even though I am also job hunting, because it's currently just an added stress and if I'm not pushing to finalize they'll wait/be changing things up into the first week of the period it covers)

And last night I told DH that, I may not be the first person to quit, but I **** well sure will be the second, because I'm not hanging around to deal with that nonsense.

ETA: And I forgot to write in there, that this magically approved schedule is very messy, which is what we have now and what I was trying to avoid... You don't move people unnecessarily!! Or move them off their normal hours without prior approval!!

WOW, WOW, WOW! I am not telling you to quit your job today, but I am going to mention that I had a job that was mentally draining with a horrible director that really wanted her unit to fail. It was a long commute and crappy pay. I was just hanging in to finish my masters which it helped cover. As soon as I was done I quit with NO other job in sight. It was so liberating and I got a new job within 3-months that was much closer, better pay, and offered flexibility.

If the job is really taxing on you, it may not be worth it!