{"id":3131,"date":"2023-06-05T23:49:27","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T06:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shirscribe.com\/?p=3131"},"modified":"2023-06-06T00:14:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T07:14:03","slug":"story-time-my-san-francisco-trip-baby-i-deserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/05\/story-time-my-san-francisco-trip-baby-i-deserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Time: My San Francisco Trip, Baby I Deserve…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019ve always kinda prided myself on being cheap \u2013 on knowing how to get things done with such little money. Sometimes I study the habits of rich people, and I\u2019ve taken pride in the fact that I have in common with many of them is that they too are cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember working at an old job where this guy came in looking like shit\u2026okay maybe he didn\u2019t completely look like shit, but there was nothing special about the way he looked \u2013 a total average Joe.  And when I tell you he tried to get every discount out of me that we did not offer before plopping down a black American Express card \u2013 if you know you know. I thought to myself, really dude?<\/em> If you got enough money to have a black American Express card, why waste your time trying to haggle for a discount that would be like pennies to your bank account? Who knows. Maybe he just wanted to spend a little more time talking to me\u2014allow me to humor myself if you will. Or maybe he\u2019s just so used to negotiating and haggling for deals that he doesn\u2019t know when to turn it off, even when it doesn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like I said, I\u2019ve prided myself on knowing that me and rich folks (I know that\u2019s improper English, but it just flows better to me for this entry, so again, humor me) have that in common. The difference is when I\u2019m trying to haggle a price down from say  $100 to $75, it\u2019s because I only have $75 to spend. While when rich folks do it, it\u2019s because they want to invest the other $25 in something else that will end up netting them another $100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That, and like a single mom with a gaggle of kids, I\u2019ve learned how to go without. I don\u2019t get my hair done. I don\u2019t get my nails done. Most of my clothes are old as fuck. I paid off my used car six years ago, without any plans to buy another one anytime soon. Oh, and I\u2019m pretty good at saving. Oh, oh, and let me not fail to mention I will hunt for a deal like nobody\u2019s business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not that any of that is bad, after all, it has served me well for the last, almost 30 years. But it\u2019s not exactly good either. It never feels good to go without. While sacrifice is necessary, I think it should also be temporary. It\u2019s so you can work towards something you can obtain so you no longer have to sacrifice in that area anymore. But I think I kinda got caught up in a culture of sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like that man who was wasting his time asking for a discount he wasn\u2019t going to get, time he took that was more valuable than any discount he would have gotten on something so cheap anyway, I too have wasted a lot of time trying to make the most out of a little, when I should be spending more time figuring out how to turn my little into a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to start thinking in abundance rather than scarcity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to stay at the cheap hotel, unless I want to stay at the cheap hotel. Like if the Motel 6 is fine with me, so be it \u2013 I\u2019ll book the Motel 6. But I don\u2019t want to be staying in the Motel 6 secretly coveting the Ritz. Instead, I need to figure out a way to get my ass into the Ritz. Haven\u2019t figured that out yet, but hey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, I said all that to say, I realized I was approaching my San Francisco\/Sacramento trip with a scarcity mentality. I saw those hotel prices and was floored, even though I started searching months and months in advance. Those prices where more than I wanted to spend, so I put off booking for a while, only to see the prices rise. That led me to search for hotels in cities on the outskirts, like Emeryville and ones near the airport.  But a quick virtual tour of the surrounding area discouraged that option. Like, Ariel I want to be where the people are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when I had to stop and ask myself what did I really want. The hotel that I really wanted was completely out of my price-range. And that\u2019s okay \u2013 something to work towards. But by taking a closer look, and not just trying to save a dollar, I realized my price-range was more than I thought it could be. As a matter-of-fact, I could use those habits I talked about earlier like saving and sacrificing to expand my price-range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to come to the realization that it\u2019s okay to spend my hard-earned money on myself, what\u2019s more, I could afford it\u2026you know, if I budget properly and all. Even though the cost of this trip was adding up for these two short nights, I had to think with an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity one.  I had to start to believe that I didn\u2019t have to hold on to these dollars so tightly because no matter what happens, I have the ability to make more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so, with that, one by one I began to cancel my hotel reservations until I was left with the one that I wanted. The first hotel to go was Hotel Nikko. They seemed like they had great hospitality\u2026actually they did have great hospitality. I\u2019ve never had someone be so nice about a canceled reservation. It\u2019s like they definitely want you to keep them in mind for your next visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next one to go was Hotel Zelos. It was the cheapest, but it was also close to Union Square, and I made up my mind that I didn\u2019t want to stay there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally I was left with the Stanford Court Hotel and The Clancy. It was a hard decision that came down to the wire, but what really tipped me in the Clancy\u2019s direction is how unknowledgeable and rude the phone people were at the Stanford Court Hotel. I thought, if this is how they act on the phone, that’s not a good sign of how it’s going to be in person, so I cancelled. They made the decision easy for me…well, easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there was The Clancy. It was the most expensive, but I was learning to tell myself that I deserve it and I can afford it. And with that, I booked a third night, because realistically, I was not about to do everything in two days. That third night ended up costing me  $318 and some change, for a grand total of almost $960 for three nights. Gasp, that\u2019s like rent (well, not California rent, but somebody\u2019s rent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s okay \u2013 I deserve it and I can afford it. I deserve it and i can afford it\u2026on repeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Be Continued\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve always kinda prided myself on being cheap \u2013 on knowing how to get things done with such little money. Sometimes I study the habits of rich people, and I\u2019ve taken pride in the fact that I have in common…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[359,248],"tags":[650,649,644,59,648,101,41,647],"class_list":{"0":"post-3131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-enjoying-life","7":"category-getting-out-the-house","8":"tag-affordability","9":"tag-budget","10":"tag-hotels","11":"tag-money","12":"tag-sand-franciso","13":"tag-saving-money","14":"tag-spending-money","15":"tag-story-time","16":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nStory Time: My San Francisco Trip, Baby I Deserve... - Shirscribe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/06\/05\/story-time-my-san-francisco-trip-baby-i-deserve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Story Time: My San Francisco Trip, Baby I Deserve... - Shirscribe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve always kinda prided myself on being cheap \u2013 on knowing how to get things done with such little money. 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