This week I
booked up my skiing break for next January. Two mums, three kids, ten days. And more snowy mountains than I can count.
Why
now? Because Aer Lingus are offering to
fly me to Munich for €10 and fares won’t go lower than that. And why the second week in January? Because that’s ‘free ski pass’ week in our
delightful little Austrian resort still unspoilt by tour operators and
faux-Irish pubs. And that alone saves
us around – gulp - € 700.
Oh, I love
a bargain. And far from believing that
makes me a cheapskate, if what I read is true, I reckon that gives me a
millionaire mindset.
According
to Sharon Maxwell Magnus in “Think Yourself Rich”, the UK millionaires she
profiled are “far more careful with their money than the average person…They
haggle over purchases, only buy what they consider good value and are very
careful over little things”.
That’s why
on our first ski trip last year we didn’t consider buying a package. With a bit of research on the internet, we
found cheap flights to Munich and worked out that if we jumped on the Milan
train, we could hop out just across the Austrian border at Kufstein, with
Walchsee just a short bus ride from there.
It was much
more fun than being herded around with lots of other bleating sheep. This way we got to meet the locals, who fell
over themselves - and our luggage - to help us and by the time we went back
three weeks later, minus kids, we knew exactly what to do.
It turned
out, by the way, we’d booked accommodation with the village witch. But not being on a package, we simply
checked ourselves right back out (with her shouting behind us she was off to
call the police, a small act of kindness really as the cells would have been warmer
and more inviting than her guesthouse) and went looking for the best hotel
where of course we asked what their best deal was, then inched them a few quid
lower still.
Likewise,
simply by asking the question at the ski lift (and getting friendly with
Martina on the cash desk), we got a discount on our ski passes.
So what
does SMM have to say about the holidays millionaires take. They work hard and they play hard too, with
almost two-thirds of them taking at least three holidays a year and 20%
managing six breaks or more. Yes, I am
definitely developing a millionaire mind-set.
Unsurprisingly,
“they are not great fans of roughing it. You don’t work hard to huddle round the calor gas stove in a leaking
tent in the freezing rain. They love
their deluxe villas and, for the ultra-rich, five-star hotels complete with
room service, health spa and marble atriums.”
And neither
do I intend to save money by camping on the slopes of the Zahmer Kaiser
mountains or piloting one-legged skiing with the sister-in-law and one
pair of skis.
As I said,
I’m not a penny pinching cheapskate. I’m a trainee millionaire. With
the money saved on flights and ski passes, I’ve not only been able to extend a
one week holiday into ten days, I’ve also been able to book into the
‘penthouse’ apartment with its huge bright living room, deluxe bathroom,
panoramic balcony and lake view. There
is certainly a health spa on site and if I knew what a marble atrium was, I’d
insist they throw that in too.
Saving
money is such fun. Why throw it down
the ski slopes when you can use it yourself – either investing it for the
long-term or simply, like me, to buy extra luxuries along the way and develop
the mindset – and net worth - of a millionaire.
Recent Comments