Something "borrowed"

Friday, March 13, 2009

This is a list of things I have been "borrowing" from the hotel this week.

1.Milk
The LG needs a cup of milk at night and one in the morning and there is no refrigerator in our room. What to do? Well, they have free breakfast every morning including those little 8 oz individual cartons of milk. His morning cup of milk comes fresh from the breakfast line and another unopened carton goes back up to the room with me. Then the little guy and I take a fun trip to the ice machine and I "hide" the unopened carton of milk in the ice bucket during the day to serve as his cup of milk at night.

2. Peanut Butter
This is another treat snatched from the breakfast bar. Near the bagels and toast there are baskets for different condiments such as jelly, butter, cream cheese and peanut butter. Each in little individual containers usually just enough to spread on one slice of bread. Well, since the LG loves peanut butter and could care less whether it is spread of a slice of bread or not, I grab a few of these individual containers each morning along with a spoon to serve as little snacks throughout the day. He likes that he has his own little thing of peanut butter that he can carry around with him. Obviously eating the same snack every day doesn't promote variety but most toddlers don't care and when you are not at home but trying to live cheap this is one corner I am willing to cut for the week.

3. Coffee
You know those coffee packets that come with all hotels rooms? The ones they replace everyday like the shampoo and conditioner? Ok if you use those, great but if you don't, take them home. I take mine home, open them up and bump them into my coffee canister at home. If you are a coffee nut who has to drink such-n-such brand or you will die then this will not work for you because what you end up with is a jumble of different kinds of coffee for a while after you return from a vacation but if you collect two - four packets per day for the length of the vacation and every packet will make 2 - 4 cups of coffee then you are saving a weeks worth of coffee money. I usually only drink coffee in the morning so I put the coffee packet from my room in my bag (letting the maid replace the ones in my room) and grab a cup downstairs in the lobby with my free breakfast. Plus, if you really want to save money and don't mind the some decaf jumbled in with your regular at home then grab those packets too and save more.

4. Shampoo, Conditioner, Lotion and Mouthwash
This is the no brainer one, everyone does it and if they don't do it they think about it and if they didn't think about it, they probably just forgot. Take it home and dump it into your big bottles or if you hit the gym then these little hotel bottles are perfect to throw into your gym bag for after workout showers. Also, they are great for camping, hiking or boating adventures or even foreign travel to areas where you aren't sure these types of things will be provided. Another great thing about the lotion and mouth wash is they are usually under 3oz which means they are the perfect size to throw in your clear plastic bag and take on the plane with anytime you fly.