Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for June 2015.

Hotel Review: Radisson Blu, Limerick

June 22, 2015 by Harlan 3 Comments

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After an underwhelming experience at the Radisson Blu in Galway, we hopped in our rental car and drove the ~2 hours to Limerick.

Through Shannon to Limerick

It was a pretty easy drive, except for the zillion confusing roundabouts. And the fact that I don’t really know how I got to the Radisson Blu in Limerick other than dumb luck and some hairpin turns.

It’s literally one weird turn off the highway and then a narrow road into a parking lot that also randomly has a hotel in it. There seemed to be nothing around, but apparently it was only 15 minutes into downtown Limerick.

We didn’t end up going into the city because there was a marathon going on that day. Traffic was terrible and there was no parking. Instead, we drove to Killarney National Park for a day trip (though I could’ve spent several days there).

In a forest in Killarney #Ireland

A photo posted by Harlan Vaughn (@harlanvaughn) on May 3, 2015 at 2:31pm PDT

Anyway, we got to the Radisson Blu in Limerick and had a bite to eat and put our things down before we left again. But it was a fine crash pad.

Irish beers at the bar

Arrival and check-in

In Praise of Humble Beginnings

June 15, 2015 by Harlan 10 Comments

I was reading an article called “How to invest even if you’re treading water financially” via Get Rich Slowly and a certain part jumped out at me (bolding and links mine):

“Don’t despise small beginnings.
The first steps in any endeavor are humble. Gustave Eiffel, famous today for his tower in Paris and the Statue of Liberty, started as an unpaid assistant in a foundry. Setting aside $10 a month might feel meaningless: “What difference can that ever make?” That’s wrong. It makes a difference in many ways:

It breaks the ice. You’ll never again wrestle with the question: Should I start?
It forms a base: It is easier to add a dollar to an existing savings account than it is to start with just one dollar.
It creates a habit.
And best of all, it sets in motion the power of compound interest.”

Start somewhere

Getting FIREd Up

June 14, 2015 by Harlan 9 Comments

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This is an out-of-control flaming emergency, according to Mr. Money Mustache

I have an out-of-control flaming emergency, according to Mr. Money Mustache

I recently wrote about life changes that I thought might happen… soon.

Well, even though Mercury was retrograde, nothing stopped chugging along. In fact, everything got a swift kick in the butt. And now life is different.

I’ve been getting used to the new rhythm. It feels so different. And it’s given me a chance to review where I’m at and how I want to move forward.

What is FIRE?

Use Avios for Connecting Flights to Save Money

June 7, 2015 by Harlan Leave A Comment

I’ve been thinking about taking a trip down to New Mexico recently and it got me thinking about fare constructions and how to get to regional airports as cheaply as possible.

There’s still lots of value to be had from Avios

The idea here is to fly on Oneworld into a hub city or cheap destination, and then use Avios for the (usually) more expensive, shorter leg of the itinerary.

LGA-DFW-ABQ

Ibotta: Get Cash Back When You Shop

June 4, 2015 by Harlan 4 Comments

So… I’ve been getting into coupons lately. And ways to get cashback or maximize my spend as much as possible. I recently wrote about Paribus, which has already saved me some money on Amazon purchases.

And today, in my internet wanderings, I kept seeing this app mentioned over and over: Ibotta.

Loving Ibotta

I’ve already added it to the Services I Like page, but wanted to do a quick article about it, too.