Wandering Money Pig - A journey of early retirement and FIRE (financial independence retire early)

Sycuan Casino Resort (hotel lobby) During the planning phase of my wife and myself’s cross country road trip going from North Carolina to California, one of the stops we added to our itinerary was Los Angeles.  My wife’s friend from college lives there, and it made sense to stop by to say hello. It was while we were planning that trip to Los Angeles that we thought of spending 2 days nearby, in San Diego.  I found out MyVegas Rewards has in its list of companies Sycuan Casino Resort , offering 2 free nights during the midweek. I researched the distance from Sycuan Casino Resort to Los Angeles, and it was definitely a doable distance at around 2 hours.  I went ahead and reserved the 2 free nights from 1/15 - 1/17, thrilled that we got free stays using MyVegas Rewards ! *** Click here if you’re interested in reading about MyVegas Rewards.   Long story short, we didn’t get to visit Los Angeles this time around.  We had spent 4 days in bustling Las Vegas just pri...

We got this room at Sycuan Casino Resort for free using MyVegas Rewards! Like most people, I’m always looking for bargains and deals when it comes to hotels.  Because of that, I usually search multiple websites like Booking.com , Expedia.com, Priceline.com , as well as hotel chain websites like Choice Hotels , owners of hotels like Sleep Inn, Quality Inn , and Comfort Inn . During my wife and myself’s 2 1/2 month long cross country trip going from North Carolina to California from November 2022 through February 2023, we really maximized our use of these resources to book our stays.  I found out through trial & error that when booking a  Choice Hotels  offerings for example, it is usually better to book directly through their website vs. booking through a third party travel site aforementioned.   I also use multiple apps to save money on meals at places like  Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, Subway , etc.  The main goal of using these apps is to earn loyalty ...

  Joshua Tree National Park, CA Growing up on the East Coast of the United States, the state of California , all the way on the West Coast, always held a mystical and magical qualities about the place.  Maybe it was the popular culture and media that turned us on to the California mindset, from the beach culture of Venice Beach , the surfing culture ala The Beach Boys , or to the filming location for hundreds of television and movies, but whatever it was, I was certainly sold on the idea. I mean, who could resist Disneyland , the “ happiest place on Earth ”, Santa Monica (or any number of famous beaches), or many wonderful, world famous national parks like Yosemite or Redwoods ?  I grew up enamored of the state, just like many of my friends, who wanted to either visit or move to the state… Joshua Tree National Park,  was one of those magical and mystical places in the state of California that I always dreamed of visiting someday.   And luckily, my wife and I w...

  London Bridge, Lake Havasu, AZ Growing up, I had heard of Lake Havasu City in Arizona, from watching MTV (Music Television) and various travel related shows that featured the city.  It was, and still is, a popular spring break destination for hormone-rich youngsters out to let loose for few days. The thought of visiting the city never crossed my mind, as I didn’t think I would visit the city that was way out on the west coast, away from all the usual touristy places like Grand Canyon National Park , Los Angeles , Las Vegas , etc.  I honestly didn’t think we would go out of our way to visit the city unless we were close enough to it to visit it.   When my wife and I were visiting the nearby Laughlin in southern Nevada, I knew the time was right to finally visit Lake Havasu City as it would only be about 60 miles away.  On the second day of our stay in Laughlin, we decided to do a day trip to the city to check it out! We left our hotel ( Avi Resort ) in Laugh...