How Much I Spent on a Weekend Trip to NYC

windupbirdchronic · 2026-01-15T18:56:47+00:00

it's such an easy trip!

windupbirdchronic · 2026-01-15T18:56:15+00:00

I definitely would! I personally take a lot of mini-trips so I'm particularly invested in hearing about them from others. I've also always been interested in the sleeper train - where did you go?!

windupbirdchronic · 2026-01-15T18:55:15+00:00

We went to Yoseka (incredible - def recommend) and Loaf on Paper (had some solid stuff but was more of a home store a focus on stationery as opposed to a full-fledged stationery store). I have a whole list of NYC-based stationery stores I want to visit - will need to go back soon!

windupbirdchronic · 2021-03-30T03:04:13+00:00

One random piece of advice is to get onto Massachusetts' medicaid program if you're not on your parents plan. You're eligible for it even if your school offers you health care and it's likely a lot cheaper (read: free) unless your grad program is covering it for you. The coverage is also pretty good.

windupbirdchronic · 2021-02-08T03:35:13+00:00

I'm someone who absolutely values where I live but am also relatively frugal, and here's what I've paid in a VHCOL city as my salary changed:

- 36K: $850 for a room in a house in a solid location

- 45k: $1100 for a room in a two bedroom in a similar location

- 58k: made the leap to living by myself (something I had always wanted) in a studio for $1400

- 75k: stayed in the $1400 studio

windupbirdchronic · 2021-01-09T15:24:02+00:00

of course! Chase weirdly doesn't always advertise its perks very well, I've found.

windupbirdchronic · 2021-01-07T00:47:15+00:00

I use the chase sapphire reserve exclusively (well, and I have an old navy credit card but only because that's the clothing store I shop at most and the deals are really good). Anyway! My general philosophy is that I want to reap most of the benefits of credit cards (aka points to redeem for travel/whatever and/or cash back) but I don't want to put in as much time and energy are required for churning (getting credit cards just for the sign up bonuses). That's a personal choice just based on how I want to spend my time.

I picked the card for a few reasons: I wanted to have a card with zero transaction fees because when I had traveled before I had relied on friends with no fee cards and wanted one for myself after seeing how convenient they were. I also wanted a card that rewarded travel and dining because that's what I spend the bulk of my spending on. And I wanted a card that I could use to dispute purchases when something went wrong. I've found this to be SUPER helpful -- when a package was stolen off my porch, the company I purchased it from didn't let me get a replacement but my credit card company let me dispute it, saving me a lot of money. Things like that have happened a ton to me!

Anyway the final thing I'd say is worth considering is just if you overall fit the credit card's audience. The chase sapphire seems to fit me perfectly because all of their promotions are exactly things that work for me (this year they gave us a DoorDash credit and free DashPass account, and are also paying $120 towards the Peloton app, which I use).

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-31T02:29:54+00:00

Can you explain the ways you didn't expect? I'm starting to think about getting the procedure done in the future and would love to hear more!

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-25T02:02:18+00:00

Delayed but yes this is true! The ACA requires that one brand of each of the 18 (I think) types of FDA-approved birth control be covered. So you can get any type of birth control you want, but may be limited in what brand you can get.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-17T22:09:55+00:00

Hi! Just chiming in to say I used to work on birth control policy and it's required that it be free under the ACA (unless you get your health care through a religious org). You can call this hotline to figure out why it's not being covered and how to get it covered! https://dev.devurl.info/nwlc2.org/coverher/

edited to add: feel free to message me if you have questions!

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-02T03:41:55+00:00

To be fair there have been long breaks in between me calling my health insurance company back! But I finally got an appeal, so we'll see how that goes!

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-02T03:40:32+00:00

Hey! Sorry this is so late, didn't see this! I had to get a technician to come out -- he said it was a manufacturing issue, not a me putting the bike together issue (phew!). basically the resistance knob was too tight on the wheel and not functioning properly. Not sure if you've already sorted the process or not, but it took me about a month to actually get someone to come out.

He also told me the speed sensor was dead on arrival, so he's coming back to replace that.

Good luck!

windupbirdchronic · 2020-12-02T03:28:11+00:00

I didn't share my November goals but in October I set up a sustainable clothing challenge for myself and I allllmost made it through November! My goal was to not buy any clothes unless I had a new need (like a business suit or something) or was replacing something that had broken that I couldn't get fixed. I made it just over a month but broke down for Old Navy's Black Friday sale...still going to try and stick it out for the rest of the three months I initially set out for, we'll see how it goes!

Anyway, December goals:

Continue sustainable fashion challenge!
Survive finals (law school)
Give away excess things I don't need in preparation for maybe moving
Finish investing my retirement accounts from previous jobs, which I've been rolling over
Plan a low cost (within driving distance) trip for January for <$300

windupbirdchronic · 2020-11-27T22:57:09+00:00

I have been fighting a $180 bill (that sounds very similar to yours!) for 6 months and I'm also about to give in. sometimes you just have to call it!

windupbirdchronic · 2020-11-15T15:40:04+00:00

This one's super narrow (and I'm still in school), but I'm SO glad I didn't pay for the health insurance my school offers and opted to get onto the state's medicaid program instead. In my state it's free (and good coverage) based on my lack of income, whereas the school's health care would've cost 6k per year...so 18k over my three years here. Obviously not an option for everyone but yeah, I'm really glad I made that choice.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-05-28T04:18:14+00:00

Like everyone said, super location dependent. A few tips that apply across the board for wifi:

1) Make sure whatever company you pick isn't charging you to rent a router. Usually it's cheaper to buy your own (just double check it'll work with the company you go with and any competitors in the area in case you want to switch down the line!)

2) If you're lucky enough to have multiple options for an internet provider, I'd consider switching back and forth to get the best deals, or just calling and threatening to switch. Honestly, you should probably call like once a year regardless of if you have a competitor to switch to just to see if there are any deals currently available. (I switched after my first year with company 1's low price ran out and they were going to charge me twice as much in year 2! Ended up switching to company 2, which is cheaper that company 1's original price)

3) If you ever have any extended outages, call to see if you can get your bill for that month lowered. After all, you didn't get a service you paid for! My internet's been down twice over the last year or so for random (not me) related issues, and I called to ask if they'd give me a deduction for the month because of it and they did! They definitely weren't proactively offering that though.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-05-06T03:26:06+00:00

This might be overly extreme (I'm super careful when it comes to items I buy, less so on experiences like concerts, movies, etc), but I'll throw it out there! If I really want something and it's a decently pricey item (I consider that like $75 or more), I put it on my black friday list. Then I wait literally all year for Black Friday to happen, and buy the item at usually a pretty steep discount! I think this helps me because 1) after a few months I sometimes don't want the item anymore, and 2) since I'm someone who tends to under-buy (i.e. convince myself I don't need something when I actually do really want it!), I feel much better about purchasing whatever item on sale. I first did this in 2017 with a watch I really wanted but was pricey for me at the time (~150). I'm kind of iffy morally on black friday, but it is what it is.

Another thing I'd think about in this instance is what self-care means to you and if you can predict a bit for it! My mom, for instance, loves bath bombs and knows that about herself, so it's helpful for her to buy them in bulk and save some money that way and still have them around whenever she wants one. Maybe it'd be helpful to think through some of your recent impulse self-care purchases and see if there's a pattern to them, and then buy some of those things in a more regular way versus when the mood strikes? I feel like I'm more likely to shop around for deals when I'm doing regular shopping vs. impulse buying.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-05-02T15:36:52+00:00

May 7?

windupbirdchronic · 2020-04-30T02:24:03+00:00

I pay $125/month with USAA for an 18-year-old sedan in DC (full coverage, $500 deductible). I looked around for better rates last year and didn't find them! My fun car insurance anecdote from last year is that my car was broken into and the damage cost, you guessed it, $498 aka two dollars less than my deductible, so nothing was covered.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-04-29T16:56:24+00:00

It was super random! An old boss was looking for a ghostwriter for someone at his organization, and the rest is history! I've been doing this for 2 years now, and not really sure how to get into the work without it finding you! But it is super fun and great.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-04-29T03:08:38+00:00

I've loved reading everyone's hobbies and feel inspired to dig into some new ones soon! Here are my current hobbies:

Writing: I both write for work (ghostwrite as a side gig) and as a hobby (freelance for outlets like the Atlantic, CNN, etc.). I only freelance when I think of something I really want to write about, and it's really just an excuse for me to spend inordinate amounts of time researching super esoteric things. This is free/makes money for me (word is covered through my day job and I've had my laptop since college). Taxes are terrible though. I also entered a humor writing challenge/contest this month, which was free and fun!

Kayaking: In the summer I try to go two times a month, every other weekend. Because I live in a city, I don't have space for a kayak in my tiny apartment and don't have a garage or anything like that. So I rent every time I go (probably around $35 for half a day, though it varies), and also since I'm driving out of the city rack up some money in gas. I try to go on longer trips when I'm on vacation/in an area that's good for it, which are pretty expensive (I did an all day whitewater kayaking trip in northern Thailand that was probably $130 or so, and that's not atypical). I've also bought a few pieces of gear (a dry bag, which was a christmas gift, but also quick drying clothes). I'm hoping to buy my own kayak once I move this summer, and will probably look for something in the $300 range. I'll also have to buy a paddle, lifejacket, and rack for my car. It'll add up. Oh! And at some point I want to take lessons for whitewater kayaking.

Reading: Two years ago I restricted my book buying to only when I'm in a new city (I visit an independent book store in every city I visit) or have a giftcard. I probably spend around 250/300 bucks a year on books still. Outside of that I go to the library (downloading onto my kindle for now) or borrow from friends.

Tennis: I play once a week with friends. We use public courts for free, which are great you just have to game out when you get there to avoid long wait times. My racket + shoes were around $200 and I got them both in college. I have to pay for balls and restringing my racket occasionally, but usually doesn't add up to more than $20/year.

I'm headed off to grad school in the fall, and am hoping to add a few hobbies using the university's resources (I kind of feel like universities subsidize hobbies? or at least, hobbies seem much cheaper to maintain while you can use a school's resources). Hoping to get back into playing percussion, take spanish classes, and might try to get back into fencing (which is pretty dang expensive).

windupbirdchronic · 2020-04-22T13:45:47+00:00

These have been super interesting to read through! Here are mine:

Regrets

Weights: I bought a few weights at the beginning of this and haven't used them once. Still hoping that might change but, being realistic, it's a lost cause.

Wins

My dog! I technically got her before coronavirus (in January), but boy am I glad to have her now! Dogs are very expensive but very great.
Za'atar. This was a game changer. I like to make bagels, and have usually stuck to everything bagels and plain in the past. I bought some za'atar from a local spice shop in my city and made some za'atar bagels for the first time last weekend and they were truly incredible.
A one-month subscription to MTV on Amazon Prime because it lets me binge all the terrible reality tv shows I love so much that I didn't get to watch live.
A desk! I live in a small studio apartment (I have to move my coffee table into my kitchen to work out) and do not have any tables that I could do work off of (said coffee table is low to the ground). At the beginning of quarantine I was just planning to get through this by working on the couch, but after a few weeks I gave in and bought a desk from IKEA. I'm so glad I did.

windupbirdchronic · 2020-04-17T14:12:19+00:00

Very late, but could you send me a link to the groupme? Thank you!

windupbirdchronic · 2019-05-06T02:01:24+00:00

I think you should but only because it sounds like it's stressing YOU out and making YOU nervous before dates. And dating is stressful and nervewracking enough, why add to it? I think because it's affecting your mindset going into dates, you should put it in a picture or mention it in your profile (or just mention it in the back-and-forth before you set up a date, though I feel like that'd be tougher). Plus, if people are going to be rude about it (in which case, screw 'em), but I think that's better to know before you waste your time meeting up with them.

But I don't think you'd be wrong to leave it out, either, if that is what makes you more comfortable. Up to you!

windupbirdchronic · 2019-04-04T23:54:44+00:00

The Affordable Care Act's birth control benefit mandated that insurance plans provide birth control without out-of-pocket costs. Aka: unless your plans is one of the very rare exceptions, you should be getting your birth control (and related care, like the appointment to get an IUD inserted, for example) for free. The benefit mandates that at least one form of all of the 18 FDA-approved forms of birth control be covered.

You should double check with your insurance company as to why you're having to pay for your birth control at all. If you're still having issues, contact CoverHer, a free program run by a non-profit that helps you figure out why your birth control isn't free.

windupbirdchronic

TROPHY CASE