I checked in and expected a regular room like everyone else and was told my room was on the 26th floor. Thinking nothing of it, I went on my journey to the third set of elevators to the top floors. After walking past rows upon rows of slot machines (one-arm bandits), I had to ask someone working the floor where the “hidden” elevators were.

Finally I found the elevators and I had to swipe my key in order for the elevator to let me up to my floor. (It still hadn’t hit me yet!) Going that many floors up quickly was a little disheartening since it had a glass front and OH do I love heights! I got off the elevator, went to my room and had a shocking discovery…

It was a Suite! It had a Hot Tub, Huge Comfy Bed, Marble Bathroom and more. The Hot Tub was big and looked like it could fit two people comfortably. The hot water and bubbles can really relax you after a long day. The white robes with slippers were great. I almost thought of keeping one, but there was a little note that said they were available for purchase in the Logo shop.

The dark wood bed had about 10 pillows, some of them traditional white ones and other big black soft ones. The bed was comfortable and the black blanket was soft. The spindles on this bed were artistic. It was great.

The bathroom had white marble (probably Carrara marble). The shower was spacious and the double sinks really gave a lot of room to put your toiletries. There was two types of soap, both hand (milk and honey) and body soaps. I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom. In the morning I noticed that the windows of my room were pink (look at the picture above and see the pink window areas).

I also used the internet there which was only $9.99 per day. It was a small price to pay for getting a lot done. Overall it was a great stay. Oh! I forgot about eating breakfast there. Toucan Charlie’s Buffet and Grille was delicious. I love food and could have gone for multiple trips, but I was trying to be good.

I started with orange juice and water to drink. When I headed for the buffet, I expected breakfast only food. I ended up getting- eggs, corned beef hash, a taco, an enchilada and more. They also had omelets, a Mongolian Grill, fruits, and lots of other yummies. On the way out I almost got a few treats from their bakery because they looked so good. I think I need to exercise more so I can indulge on some more treats.

There were also spa treatments, a beautiful pool and many other well done services that I would have taken advantage of if I had more time.

What a great stay, Thank You Atlantis!

Living It Up,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

Upgrade your grill- Grill to the Max at:GrillAce.com

Copyright by Sam Carrara’s Marketing Education

I know I need to eat and it can be less expensive in the long run to cook my own food, rather than going to a restaurant. So if you must buy at the supermarket, buy smart! Just an example of one item that we like to eat is Kashi Go Lean Cereal. Each box is 14.1 ounces, has 13 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiber and only 1 gram of fat (or as they say “1g of lowfat”).

I like the cereal and decided to do a price comparison between different places selling the cereal. I looked at Target, Lowes Foods and Bloom (Food Lion offshoot). I could have also included Harris Teeter, BiLo and a few more in the area (Charlotte, NC). The results are:

Target- $3.34 per box

Lowes- $3.69 per box

Bloom- $3.71 per box

The clear winner is Target that is 35 to 37 cents lower than the other two. Is this a good metric to decide all of my food buying? I would say not. This Target is farther away than the other supermarkets, so there is a gas cost. (Soon I’ll have a Super Target near me )

Here’s my plan and homework-

1. I am putting all of my food receipts on top of my microwave for a month.
2. Then I will determine the top 20-30 items my family buys during the month. Milk, orange juice, eggs, cereals, pasta, etc.
3. I will do a total price comparison with this frequently bought list to figure out where to but our groceries. In it I will include mileage to determine that cost.
4. I’ll post the results here. If there is enough interest I’ll create a spreadsheet to help you save money on your grocery shopping.

Supermarket Savings,
Sam Carrara

Disclaimer: I was not paid to promote this cereal or any of the companies listed, nor do I earn any affiliate commissions off this post.

SC Marketing Education

Upgrade your grill- Grill to the Max at:GrillAce.com

Copyright by Sam Carrara’s Marketing Education

Let me paint a picture of how this all happened. Both Melissa (my wife) and I graduated college and become officers in the U.S. Army. Starting out as Second Lieutenants wasn’t alot of money (it is now), but we had little bills and a steady income. About 18 to 24 months later we both became First Lieutenants with some nice pay jumps. Sounds good so far right?

Well we loved going out to eat, didn’t save a penny and then decided to buy a house. Not too bad, I’ll give you more details:

1. Going Out To Eat
We love food and going out to eat was easier than making it at home. No cleanup, no cooking and then enjoy the rest of the evening. We spent so much on our credit cards just for this it was amazing. If your credit card does the end of the year rollup by category on what you spent, get it. I don’t remember the dollar figure, but it was large. BUT, we could afford it. Yet it affected #2 below…

I’m not saying going out to eat is bad, we still do it, just not as much. (Sometimes I need to remember this lesson myself.) We just have to remember moderation. Sometimes the spaghetti at home is just as good or better than having it out and less expensive. One thing my mother has taught me is to make more than you need for the meal. You can use the leftovers as lunch for the next day instead of going out to eat.

2. Saving Money
At the time the military didn’t have 401k type accounts that encouraged savings. It is not the military’s fault, we were adults (by age, not by maturity). So we maybe had a few dollars in a plain jane savings account for emergencies, but little else. If you think about the compound interest on just a few dollars for later home purchases or retirement. But you say to yourself those are so far away, they come before you know it.

Start now with 1-2% savings per month into your companies 401k type account. Many companies have a matching policy that contributes more money to encourage savings. Other good accounts to contribute to are ROTH IRAs and educational savings accounts for your present or future kids. Don’t go overboard and save all your paycheck to leave nothing for today. Also don’t forget to save. Again the word is moderation. The savings could be used for a house like #3 below…

3. Buy a House
Most duty assignments we expected to stay at from three to five years. Our first year we rented an apartment (this was after four months of career specific training). So we are about one and a half to two years into our first assignment and we decided to buy a house. We had no money to buy a house… But we could do that by getting a VA backed loan (no down payment and no private mortgage insurance-PMI). Good and bad! Higher monthly payment because of no down payment and less invested.

Well we stayed in the house for about two years, probably overpaid a little bit when we bought it. When we sold the house we had to contribute about $3,000 – $5,000 just to close the deal. (Some of my figures and months are a little fuzzy.) It was just the two of us and two cats. We didn’t need the house, we wanted the house! We could have easier stayed in the apartment and saved or more wisely used that money. If you only plan to stay in the house less than three years (maybe even five years), don’t buy. Also be smart about your needs, don’t feel you have to have the appearance of success. What’s the word… Moderation!

I plan on passing on more financial tips, drop a comment if there is a specific area you would like covered.

Was I Dumb, I Hope I Learned,
Sam Carrara

SC Marketing Education

Upgrade your grill- Grill to the Max at:GrillAce.com

Copyright by Sam Carrara’s Marketing Education