16′ Sectional and Belize tips

My client picked up these used sectionals from KSL.com (online classifieds) for next to nothing. They came out of a Marriott hotel. She originally only bought 2 pieces, then got the fabulous idea to buy 2 more pieces months later and was lucky enough to find the exact same ones (mirror image) that someone else bought and changed their minds to make this massive sectional for her long, narrow family room. Essentially it’s a 4 piece sectional. 1 armed piece on each end and two armless loveseats in the middle. Sectional–BEFORE Sectional–AFTER This couch was massive! It ended up being 16′ long with 20 cushions and it needed 50 yds of fabric (I was scrimping at the end, but it all worked out) She already had some throw pillows on hand that pulled it all together for now.   I love getting to meet other girls that are a lot like me…love to decorate, save money, and shop second hand–After I put the sectional on, my client showed me her room she just finished! HOLY MOLY!!! It was beautiful–here are a few pics! How beautiful is that Chandelier?? She picked it up for $25 with a few other light fixtures! It makes the room! She had a great story about the card catalogue! She won the bid on an online auction after the first bidder fell through. Her awesome husband flew to LA walked to the U-haul store, rented a truck and drove halfway through the night to get it home to Utah. It’s pretty amazing and makes for a great story!

SIDE NOTE–MY trip to BELIZE!

Well you all know by now I love to plan and go on trips! I love the game of trying to figure out how to do it for a great price. Our favorite tours were the Mayan Ruins, fishing, and riding bikes into town. Total trip for Heber and I cost $1850! This included airfare, car rental, gas, tours, food, souvenirs, etc.

How we saved $

-We flew into Cancun and drove to Belize (9 hours with border crossing). Saved $900 on flights. Flights to Belize were $8-900. Flight to Cancun were about $430-$460.

-We booked flights with our Chase Sapphire miles. When you book through their travel site you use 20% less miles than normal. We had enough miles to book both our flights for free! Saved $920!

-We traveled with 2 other couples–so we split the rental car, gas, and 1 night in Tuluum

-Booked the Jaquar reef resort on a Living Social deal–so it only cost $480 for six nights including the $100 resort tax. Normally their rooms are $275/night. Saved $1,170

-Packed a suitcase with snacks and granola bars for breakfast and also some PB&J. We only had to buy bread when we got to the resort. This was the plan –take a suitcase of food and eat breakfast and lunch on our own then go out for dinner. We stuck to the plan most of the days. Then we’d have an empty suitcase for souvenirs for the way home.

 

Here’s my rundown of the costs

$0-flights

$345–rental car/airport parking/room in Tuluum-

We rented a car in Cancun, drove 2 hours to Tuluum and stayed the night in a house we found on TripAdvisor. Then woke up early and headed to the Tuluum ruins before we embarked on our 7 hour drive to Belize. There are only 2 car rental companies that let you take their cars over the border to Belize. We went with http://www.america-carrental.com . Our flights were direct from SLC to Cancun (4-5 hour flights) with no layovers. If we would have flown directly to Belize instead, with layovers we were only about an hour longer driving. My thoughts–I’d rather see the country side for 7 hours than sit in an airport. The drive was amazing–so cool to drive through all the villages and see the culture.

$150-kitty for gas and tips (all the couples chipped into the kitty–then we used it for gas, parking, tour tips,etc)

$90–exit taxes- we had to pay exit taxes to leave Mexico on our drive to Belize, then exit taxes to leave Belize

$400–tours (fishing, cave tubing, Mayan ruins). This price was total for both of us! I was most proud of the Mayan ruin tour–at the resort they offered this tour for $120/person. We all wanted to do it, so we were planning on it. Then I started thinking about it. The Tuluum ruins only cost $8 for entrance. So I researched to see if we got ourselves there how much it cost to get in? $5!!!! The reason it was so much was it’s 2.5hrs from the resort–well we had our own rental car, no reason we couldn’t drive ourselves there and save $220/ couple after we all chipped in for gas.

$480–Jaquar reef lodge 6 nights

$385–food, souvenirs, and fruit punch poolside.

$1850 total  Here are all of us at the Xunantunich mayan ruins–these were AMAZING! There were only 3 other people there when we arrived in the late afternoon. It was crazy quiet, and they allow you to climb on them (only allowed at these ruins).  Here’s another shot of the ruins. To get to the ruins you have to drive your car onto a hand cranked ferry to cross the river. Minivans are the way to go with 3 couples! Plenty of room! We all packed light in one carry on bag each–we learned after our trip to Costa Rica last year… when we had to strap two large bags on the roof and we had no where to sit because of all the suitcases. The drive was crazy–lots of speed bumps throughout  the whole country. We did feel safe the whole way, even though the police men stationed at check points carry large guns strapped over the backs. My favorite was riding bikes into down and seeing the culture. We were staying in Hopkins Village. The resort had complimentary bikes and kayaks! Got to go fishing for my first time ever! It was pretty cool. Between the six of us we caught 20 fish! The guide brought us back and cut them up for us and put them in a large baggie to take to the resort kitchen. They cooked them for dinner for us! Fishing tour only cost $100 each–totally worth it! Here are the 20 fish we caught! We kept about 8 and let the guide give the rest away. The fish platter was amazing with flowers and all. They served it family style!