Cash Management: Adventures in Being Frugal

January 19, 2011

For those of you that already know me, you know I’m a pretty frugal guy.  But the story I’m about to tell you is going to make you cringe.

I’ve told you before about how I like to use Hotwire.com for booking hotel rooms.  I get to stay at nice places for much less than retail.  However, I don’t get to choose the location.  You also know I like to pay cash for things, so I take out what I think I need, and only spend what I have.

Well, on a recent trip to the home office, I booked a room that had a restaurant, courtesy shuttle, business suite, exercise room, the whole nine yards.  The problem was it was located on the wrong side of the airport—a couple miles from the office.  I took out enough cash to pay for cab rides, but after the fourth day of a five day trip I was running low.

Now most normal people are going to just go to the ATM in the hotel lobby and bite the bullet of paying a few dollars in ATM fees to get the cash they need to pay for one more cab ride.  But I am NOT a normal person.  I’m going to beat the system.

Here’s my plan:

I’ll take the courtesy shuttle to the airport, and then pick up another courtesy shuttle that takes me to a hotel only a few blocks from the office.  I’ll tip the drivers a few bucks each (hey, I’m not a freeloader).  It will cost me a little more time, but I won’t have to buckle.  It’s foolproof!

So early Friday morning I hop on the shuttle to the airport.  So far, so good.  The departure area is bustling (this is going to be a piece of cake).  I walk downstairs to the arrival area, where the shuttles and buses pick you up—it’s a ghost town.  It didn’t dawn on me that most hotel shuttles would be dropping off departing guests but probably would not pick up arriving guests until much later in the day.

That’s okay.  I have plenty of time to get to the office; eventually a shuttle will arrive, right?  Five minutes later, no shuttle.  Ten minutes later, no shuttle.  Fifteen minutes—oh wait, there goes one flying by me at 20 M.P.H.—just missed it *snap*.  After thirty minutes I start to think maybe I made a mistake…maybe.

At this moment I start to contemplate my options.  I could start walking to the office, but anyone familiar with LAX can probably appreciate why I would not choose this option.  I could go inside the terminal and look for an ATM, pay the ATM fee and hail a cab, but that would be too easy, and defeat the purpose.  No!  I had to find another way.  And then I saw the light…of a shuttle to the municipal bus station.  YES!  That’s it.  Public transportation is the answer.

I hopped on the shuttle and took a quick trip to the local metro bus station.  Without going into any detail, let me just say I was thankful that the bus I needed to take was waiting for me when I got off the shuttle.  As much as I would have enjoyed spending some time at the bus station at 7 AM on a Friday morning, I really needed to get to the office.

Fifteen minutes and a buck twenty-five later I was at the office.  Total cost:  $2.25, sixty minutes, and a new appreciation for ATM fees.

What did I learn in all of this?  That there truly is no such thing as a free ride.