Section One: Bio

Age: 33

Occupation: Senior Manager (Individual contributor, no direct reports) at a Fortune 500 company; my husband works in IT

Geographic location: Northeast, USA

PTO accrual: I get 16 days + 3 floating holidays each year. This year, I also rolled over 40 hours from 2025, which is the most I can carry forward.

Section Two: Assets + Debt

Retirement Balance: ~$686,000 between both of our 401ks and a Roth IRA

Home equity: ~$420,000

Savings account balance: $60,971

Checking account balance: $3,602

Credit card debt: $0, we put everything on cards but pay the statement amount each cycle

Student loan debt: $8,265.64 at roughly 3.5%

Car loan debt: $8,862 at 3.99% 

Section Three: Income

Main Job Monthly Take Home: $12,738 between both jobs

Section Four: Travel Expenses

Pre-Vacation Spending: None, I tried finding one of those suitcases kids can ride on last-minute but struck out. So everything we brought we already owned.

Transportation: $224.53

Accommodations: $823.99 for 2 nights at the Ameritania Hotel at Times Square

Food: $393.06

Shopping: $259.17

Entertainment: $87

Total: $1,787.75 

Affording this trip: I do have a savings bucket set up for travel but I only started it a few months ago so it won’t cover the entire thing. Between my bi-weekly contributions to it and a small chunk I added from my bonus in April, there’s $1,127 available. The other $660 I will just pull from my Eating Out and Family buckets, which is where I pull from for things like museum tickets, kid activities, toys, clothes, etc. The hotel was also paid for when I booked last month, so the costs got split up into two credit card statement cycles which is nice.

Section Five: Travel Diary

My 5-year-old son, D, has been enthralled with NYC since he learned that Spiderman, the Ghostbusters, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all live there. He’s off to kindergarten this fall, so I decided to take him for a little spring getaway, just the two of us. It was a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure for him, with me saying Yes to most things (within reason). He has dairy, egg and peanut allergies and eating out can be tough, so we were especially excited to explore the various vegan offerings the city is home to.

 Day 1

11:30 - Today is the day we’ve been counting down to for weeks! Our plan is to drop little sister at preschool and make our way to the train station an hour away. Getting out the door is more hectic than usual, so while the kids have had their breakfast, I have not. I put in a mobile Starbucks order for a bacon gouda sandwich, a grande Pike Place roast, and a cheese Danish to eat on the train. I won a gift card in a raffle last month, so I use that to pay. When we’re about 10 minutes from the station, I realize I should get my son some lunch since it will be a 2-hour ride. We hit the McDonald’s drive through for a Happy Meal for him and some fries for me ($9.21). Finding parking in the garage is harrowing but we persevere! I purchase our tickets and we get settled into the train with plenty of time ($20.25 – kids can be added on to adult tickets for only $1!). I think he may be just as excited for the train as he is for the city.

 1:30 – we’ve arrived at Grand Central Station! We marvel at the constellation ceiling and take a picture in front of the clock. I’ve planned our first stop to be the dining concourse for vegan donuts, which are very difficult to find in our neck of the woods for reasons that are unclear to me. At Doughnut Plant, he picks a double chocolate and I also order a strawberry for him because I have a hunch he’ll like it. I get myself a non-vegan Brooklyn blackout, which is divine ($17.70). We head outside, ooh and ahh at some sky scrapers, scare some pigeons, and plan our next move. We can’t check-in yet, so we head to another food bucket list spot: a slice of pizza at a real pizza shop. Navigating an excited little kid, our suitcase, and my backpack is a bit much so I call for a taxi on the curb app ($23.10). We head to Vinny’s Gluten Free Kitchen and get a slice of vegan cheese for the little guy and non-vegan buffalo chicken for me ($14.43). Then it’s off to the hotel to settle in before hitting the streets!

 4:00 – we’re staying close to Central Park, so we go to hit up the closest playground, Heckscher. It is 100% anxiety-provoking as a parent but my son loves it instantly. We see a Vermont maple syrup lemonade stand and decide to split a mango one, since we agree that’s the best popsicle flavor at home ($7.62). It’s delicious and we both wish we’d ordered 2.

 6:00 – it’s time for dinner and the boy wants wings. I decide to be brave and navigate the subway system (thank you, Google Maps). I honestly wasn’t planning on subway-ing much and did zero research, so I don’t realize at first that he still counts as free and pay for both of us ($6). We go to Dan and John’s Wings but when my son hears they have dino nuggets, he wants those instead. He gets a kid’s meal of the nuggets, fries, and a juice box; I get garlic parm boneless wings, fries, and a coke ($30.83). We play Connect 4 and UNO while we wait. I let him try his first ever sip of soda, which he hates. The picture I snapped makes me laugh and laugh. Next up, we want ice cream! I’m feeling overly confident and try to navigate public transit again. We hop on the subway ($6) then off for a transfer but after some aimless wandering, I realize that Google Maps wants us to take a bus next, not another train. I feel too overwhelmed at the prospect, so I call us another cab ($21.40). We get dropped off at 16 Handles, a froyo chain. I LOVED froyo in college and my 20’s but it has completely died out at home! I text my husband and college roommate about how it feels like 2013 and I’m in heaven. My son has several oat milk flavors to choose from and goes with chocolate, so I follow his lead with chocolate for myself, too. The topping stand has lots of options for him, including some cookie dough and Oreos, but he opts to keep it simple with just gummy bears. I go balls to the wall with Oreo pieces, cheesecake cubes, and cookie dough. Froyo Yolo, amirite? We want to see Times Square next but are farther than I thought and it’s late, so we hop on the subway. Someone holds the accessibility gate open for us, which feels like the universe repaying me for overpaying on the last ride. We walk around a bit and I start feeling stressed about my phone battery. I paid it off last month, so of course it’s dying so quickly now. I went from fully charged to 13% in just 3 hours and it’s making me itchy. I stop at CVS to buy a power bank and we grab some gummy bears and gummy snakes for good measure ($33.76). Finally, we head to the hotel for showers, tv, and bed.

 Day 1 total: $190.30

Day 2

8:00 – our only full day of this trip! My son has literally never woken up and gotten himself ready for the day so quickly. I grab a free coffee from the hotel lobby and we head back to the Heckscher playground at Central Park. After about an hour, I start getting hangry so we set out to find me a bagel. We head into the first café we stumble upon where I order a caramel iced coffee and an everything with chive cream cheese for myself, plus a side of bacon and sausage to accompany the Abe’s mini chocolate chip muffins I brought for D from home ($25).

9:00 - We set off for our big stop of the day and one of the main reasons for this trip, the Museum of Natural History. It’s a long walk for a 5-year-old but it’s beautiful out and I spent soooo much on cabs yesterday that I want to make it work. I bribe him with a spiderman popsicle from an ice cream truck ($6.54) and the promise of a visit to a new playground. It takes a while and involves a lot of negotiating, piggyback rides, carrying him, and sweating but we make it. He doesn’t like the Diana Ross playground as much as the other one we’ve been visiting, so we don’t stay long. I pay for our admission to the museum and add on a tickets to the Impact exhibit since he loves dinosaurs ($69). We visit that, the dinosaur wing (the T. Rex was our #1 must see), the whale room, the African mammals, and pay a visit to “DumDum” as my son calls him (the Easter Island head from Night at the Museum). By now, it’s lunch and we’re tired and hungry. We go to a sit-down restaurant but the kid’s menu is very small. He wants the chicken tenders but they’re coated in egg, so we leave and go to the food court instead. He picks out more dino nuggets, which feels appropriate given the venue, and some fries. I get a very random assortment of a Thai grilled chicken thigh, one buffalo wing, a can of Coke, and a Jamaican beef patty – idk, I was in a daze and grabbed whatever ($37.89). My food is just ok so I pick at his nuggets and fries. Then, I almost choke on one when I review the receipt and realize how much those grifters are charging for them. $11 for the dino nuggets when $4 more would buy me a 5lb bag at Costco!!! Sigh. When in Manhattan, as they say.

1:00 – we’ve hit the spots we really wanted to in the museum so we move onto the shopping portion of our day. I’ve wizened up and only swipe myself for the transit to Rockefeller Center ($3). I text my parents about it (NYC natives themselves) and they are so proud. We head to FAO Schwarz which I think looks really cute, but its toy selection is actually a bit dull. Everything is themed rooms - like Barbie, Funko, Build-A-Bear, Strawberry Shortcake - none of which are themes my son is really into, so we head to the Disney Store in Times Square instead. Now this is 100% his speed! He takes his time going through the Star Wars and Marvel rooms and has a hard time deciding, so we shop for his sister while he mulls over his options. He wants me to go broke buying things for “the little one” as he calls her, picking out Elsa and Anna wigs, a Snow White costume, a Belle doll, and more. In the end, I reign him in and we settle on a stuffed Cinderella so she can snuggle with it in bed and some Elsa shoes for the dress up box. For himself, he lands on an Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber and a Mandalorian action figure ($159.46). We’re both tired and he wants to test the toys out, so we head to the hotel for some chill time. I stop at a bakery on the way and grab myself a tiramisu and an iced latte ($16.22).

3:30 – we’re rested and ready to get back at it! I give a list of ideas of where we can head to next and D picks the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. Google says it’s another long walk so I call a cab ($23.01). This museum is in a reciprocal network of a museum we’re members of at home, so we get 50% off admission ($18). I end up being very glad for this because it seems to be geared more at younger kids, so we don’t spend much time there. On the ride here, I’d spotted that one of the vegan bakeries I researched, Peacefood, is around the corner. We head there to check the next item off our food list: chocolate cake. We are immediately greeted by a display case with the biggest, chocolate-iest cake we’ve ever seen, real Matilda style, so I order a slice and a massive chocolate chip cookie. They are both DIVINE. D inhales the cookie so quickly that I order 2 more to take with us ($19.60). We take a taxi back to the hotel ($27.42). 

5:00 – we want to check out another of Central Park’s offerings, so we head to Adventure Playground. Obi-Wan brings his new lightsaber, obv, and enjoys battling Sith all through the park. After an hour or so, I can tell he’s exhausted and I have to pee so we head to the nearest bathrooms. They’re connected to the fancy Tavern on the Green restaurant and Mr. Money Bags announces he thinks we should eat there for dinner. I feel doubtful they’d take walk-ins at 6PM on a spring Friday but I’m pleasantly surprised that they seat us right away! I feel like we stick out in our jeans/tank top (me) and Sonic sweater/lightsaber (him) but whatever. He wants noodles and I noticed there’s a vegan eggplant parm on the adults menu, so I order him bowtie pasta with olive oil and vegan cheese, plus a side of fries even more expensive than the museum dino nuggets. I order myself glass of Sauvignon Blanc and a sirloin with broccoli rabe and potatoes. Everything is expensive, delicious, and fancy. We have a marvelous time playing iSpy while we dine ($132.83).

Day 2 total: $537.97 

Day 3

8:00 – To no one’s surprise, D wants to head back to Central Park this morning before we leave. I grab lobby coffee and we start making our way there when our noses are enticed by something that “smells really, really, REALLY good.” We head into a little grocery store/market thing as they’re putting out their hot buffet bar. Breakfast is officially sorted! I grab sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, fried plantains, strawberries, a hash brown, and ½ an avocado with a mango salsa relish ($18.38). We scale some boulders so we can eat our breakfast with a skyscraper view and it is so, so lovely! Until I realize I don’t have my phone. And my watch says it’s too far away to ping and I need to connect to WiFi to use Find My iPhone. FUUUUUUCK. We retrace our steps and I actually spot it within just a few minutes, huzzah! It clearly fell out of my pocket on the ascent and is in between two rocks. D is much more agile and into climbing all over these rocks than I am, so he happily scrambles over to grab it for me, my hero :)

11:00 - We hang at the playground until 10, then go back to the hotel to pack up and check out. I leave a tip of all the cash I brought with me ($5). My husband is the cash carrier in the relationship and I never think to have any, oops. D struggles with fun things ending – a trait he gets from me – and is very tearful. We’re not on a strict timeframe since the train runs every 30 minutes, so I tell him we can stick around a bit longer and have lunch in the city. I like to get a tree ornament and/or magnet when I take a trip, so we set off to find one at a Christmas Cottage shop. D can’t read, so he goes based on vibes with the magnet, which is how we come to choose one that says “New York City – the city that never shuts up”. My whole family is filled with yappers, so it feels like a good fit. We also get a subway car ornament and each pick a pair of funky, NYC-themed socks ($65.95). We walk around Times Square a bit but it’s very busy and we’re kind of over window shopping, so decide it’s time for lunch. He wants pasta again and I start googling nearby places. Suddenly, I look across the street and realize we’re near the famous Times Square Olive Garden and figure Why not? It’s a safe bet and it’s not busy, so it's perfect. We get seated on the third floor (?!?!?) and have to take an escalator up. I order plain pasta and fries for the boy, chicken alfredo for myself, plus salad and breadsticks of course ($45.05).

1:00 - We grab our bags from the hotel and taxi to Grand Central ($23.10). I purchase our tickets home ($20.25) but we have some time to kill so I grab a cold brew with vanilla sweet cream foam. At the register, I see they have vegan chocolate chip cookies, so I order one so we can do a taste comparison between this one and the ones we got yesterday ($11.76). They’re very different cookies but both tasty in their own right!

3:30 – we’ve made it back to the car! I pay for parking ($51) and we start our journey home. I’m sleepy – my watch says I’ve walked over 20 miles this trip, sometimes carrying around an extra 40lbs – but I’m glad we did this. It was so special and nice to have some one-on-one time with my son before he’s off into the “real world”. Can you tell I’m a little emo about him starting school?? He’s already planning our return trip since we didn’t see the Statue of Liberty or the NY Public Library lions. I told him that perhaps the whole family will make the journey around Christmas so we can see the lights and tree, too. He's also shared that 3 days was NOT LONG ENOUGH and we must go for 5 or 6 next time.

Day 3 total: $240.49

Total: $1,787.75

Edit: I’m not redoing all the math and can’t edit the title, but I forgot the froyo cost! It was $14.08. Also, the fancy dinner at Tavern on the Green was still pending when I wrote this and didn’t include tip apparently, so that total was actually $162.83. Sorry!!