Review: Lewis N. Clark Travel Products

I found out earlier this year, around March, that we would be given the opportunity to live in Europe because of my career. My wife and I were so excited to hear this. Initially I was told we would be going to Italy and would need to arrive there within the first 2 weeks of November. That was a long way off but it did give plenty of time to prepare.

My wife and I aren’t necessarily new to traveling, as we have been through almost every state in the Continental US. We are, though, new to overseas travel. Neither of us had been out of the country before other than when Jackie was a few months old when her father was stationed in Germany. She was too young to remember any of it.

So neither of us were quite sure what we were in for. I can confidently say that if it weren’t for some of the products offered by Lewis N. Clark, we would have been in some serious trouble.

The last time we flew was from PIT (Pittsburgh, PA) to SFO (San Francisco, CA) 2011. At the time we only had one child who was around 18 months old. The flight was only a few hours total and we were only going through a 3 hour time change.

This time we had a 6 year old, a 14 month old, and way more bags than we had hands to carry. The flight would be roughly 8.5 hours and making a total time change of 9 hours. I am sure you can understand the overwhelming feeling of anxiety my wife and I both felt. It’s one thing to make a flight on your own but to add kids into the mix, including one that can’t take care of herself, and way too many bags, I thought my world was ending.

Like I said, Lewis N Clark proved to really help out. One of the most useful products I was able to try was their Folding Luggage Cart ($37.49). 

I have to admit that I was a little annoyed at first by the weight limit of 55 pounds. Any more it’s difficult to find a bag that doesn’t already have built in wheels, so I wasn't sure what I could haul with this. Then I realized just what I needed a cart like this for! My daughter’s car seat!!

Without the cart, we would have likely lost something along the way or even just abandoned something out of sheer frustration. This thing really was a lifesaver.

The only thing that I didn’t like about it was that the bungees used to secure the load were not quite strong enough. Using a heavier bungee would allow a more stable load. There were more than a few times in which I would have to stop our luggage train to adjust. But even with that one problem it still saved us a HUGE headache, and it may have been because of the unwieldy shape of the carseat itself.

We were also offered a little more peace of mind with the luggage locks that were provided. The No-Fuss Keycard Lock ($12.49) seemed like a really cool idea.  The lock operated very smoothly though with a nice spring action to the shackle when the card was inserted accompanied by a satisfying click to know you did it right. That said, I honestly found it more frustrating to have to dig out my keys or my wallet to get the card out to unlock it.

The second lock was the Large-Dial Cable Lock ($13.99). I honestly loved this one. It took a bit to figure out how to set the combination but a few sore fingers later the code was set and I was ready to roll. I even reset the code a few different times when I couldn’t decide on a number.

The dials are nice and chunky with a smooth operation. They, as well, had that satisfying click to know that the digit was locked in. The flexible cable shackle made it easy to twist the lock into whatever position I needed to fit the angle at which I was working from. I am confident that the lock is well built and will likely last us the rest of my Army career.

The next piece was something that I had specifically requested. It’s not from their travel line but it seemed like a great idea. The ElectrolightBackpack ($31.49) is able to be stuffed into a very tiny sack that is permanently attached to the bag so it can’t be lost. It folds up into a tiny little ball that’s about half the size of a baseball. I thought this would be great for carrying whatever snacks and such we picked up at the airport while we waiting for our boarding call.

After opening the bag up I realized that I was mistake. The bag is very tiny and would not have suited our needs. We did, however, take the bag with us on a beach trip shortly before we left sunny California. We used it to carry some of my daughter’s sand toys.

The material on the bag was very easy to clean but due to the thickness of the material used I don’t think it would last very long. And I wouldn't try carrying any real weight in it. But for a lightweight, compact backpack that you carry with you in your pocket? It was great. I am sure that I can find more uses for it. But it just didn’t work out for what we needed at the airport.

Next up, we have the Electrolight Large Expandable PackingCube ($24.99). This is a great organizer to throw into your bag to keep small items from being lost in a sea of socks and t-shirts. 

I wouldn’t, however, use this for toiletry items unless you put them into a separate plastic zipper bag. The mesh material on the cube would let your deodorant, cologne, and body wash mingle with your clothes. No one likes to open their bag to find their pants dripping wet with Old Spice and tiny white specs on their underwear from their de-stinker stick.

Lastly, the Microbead Neck Pillow ($17.49) proved to be invaluable on a red-eye flight when you are stuck in the middle row with 2 children sleeping peacefully on either side of you (or so you might think because you slept most of the flight).

All of these products and many, MANY more can be found at their website listed below. Don’t forget to check out their social media pages to stay connected and get the most up to date information on all their new products.

Thanks, Lewis N. Clark, for making our trip go more smoothly!

You can also check out the review my fellow RCHReview writer, Aurora, did for their Outdoor Gear line of products.



http://www.lewisnclark.com/
Lewis N. Clark on Facebook
https://twitter.com/LewisNClarkGear
http://www.pinterest.com/lewisnclarkgear/

Review/Giveaway- You Need A Budget Software

I find it a little difficult to review something that no words could do justice. That’s exactly how I feel about the You Need a Budget program. It’s definitely the kind of thing you need to experience to fully understand the amazing need for it — but I’ll try my best!

You Need a  Budget (YNAB, for short) is a computer application, with a syncing phone app, that helps you manage your money. A few months ago a friend of mine, who always seems to have her stuff together in my mind, was talking about YNAB on Facebook, and how if she didn’t have this ‘crutch’ she would be lost. A perfect recommendation, as far as I’m concerned!

Let me back up a bit. My husband and I have been together 10 whole years, married for 5. Somehow in that vast span of time, we have managed to learn JACK CRAP about organizing our finances. Yup. There has been a constant battle for control, large purchases and many little ones made without thinking to consult the other; frequent over-drafting in our bank account, and next to never having a buck left by the time the next paycheck hits. It’s been our downfall all along, and has caused a huge strain in our relationship.

I felt like we’d tried everything. I've tried using physical envelopes, dealing with only cash, read the Financial Peace books, given up complete control, and then gone the other way and micromanaged which only succeeded in driving my husband insane.

All of those are a thing of the past, and we have never been happier about our financial state!  And we owe that entirely to YNAB.

When setting up YNAB, I sat and read every word on their site, watched numerous YouTube videos put out by them, and was just getting more and more excited. I wanted to ‘feel like we got a raise’ as they tout. I wanted to end the arguments, and stop living beyond our means. I wanted to KNOW where my money was.

There is so much information, but don’t let that intimidate you - this is seriously a fool proof, simple method to regain and maintain control of your finances. AS LONG AS YOU FOLLOW THE RULES:

RULE ONE:

Give every dollar a job. When you input an income, even if it's just 5 dollars for selling something at a pawn shop, give it a job. Tell your money what it is doing. It’s not allowed to just sit there doing nothing. You have to budget it into one of your categories.

RULE TWO:

Save for a rainy day. Anticipate those larger expenses down the road, and start saving for them now. Stop being surprised by the less frequent bills (or as their video jokingly suggests - your anniversary - who saw that coming!?) or having to pay a large sum all at once. Have a category for your twice-a-year car insurance, or what have you, and just put a smaller amount out of each pay in there, and you won’t even feel it!

RULE THREE:

Roll with the punches. You aren’t perfect, and YNAB doesn’t expect you to be. When you sit down and dole out your budget, its basically inevitable that you will forget something, or just simply predict what you’ll need, incorrectly. That’s ok. There is no fault in having to rearrange things throughout as needed. (and It WILL be needed!)

RULE FOUR:

Live on last month's income. Spend this month, what you earned last month. If you've had bad habits like we have, this takes a bit of time to achieve (and a bit more diligence and willpower!). But, it’s simple math. If you make $5k a month, your goal is to have 5k in your BUFFER so you are always a month ahead. When the paycheck is late, for whatever reason, there is no need to stress. To accomplish this, you have to spend less for a few months, so that you have that extra to add to the buffer. If following rules 1-3, this shouldn’t be hard.

All of that sounded pretty straight forward, but I was, of course, skeptical that we'd actually manage to put it to use.

It was time to download the computer program! There were a few prompts to go through. I had to tell it I was creating a new budget rather than importing an older budget. I was also asked if it is for personal finances, or small business. How this is answered changes the pre-filled categories it starts you with.

It took a while to figure out the mentality of only budgeting what you currently have. Of course, I wanted to start right away, but pay day was the NEXT day. Initially, since we could see the LES (military paystub) we thought lets just put it in now! This was two days before January.

My thought process was that, it was technically Feb 1st’s paycheck, and we just happen to get paid early thanks for our bank, so I’m going to put in Feb. Because of the way the program works, that messed us up, because that left it unavailable to budget for another 3 days.

We were having trouble wrapping our head around the concepts, and what would happen in a few days when it BECAME February?

We were definitely making it harder than it actually is.

Just budget what money you actually have, when you actually have it. That’s it’s. The end. TRUST THE PROGRAM! We had so much fun filling in all the fields and deciding where the money would go.

We did away with many of the pre-filled categories as they simple don’t apply to us. We don’t have a rent to worry about, for example, because we're a military family living on-base. We added many categories that do pertain to our lives including personal spending money. You can create Master Categories, and sub categories within those.

I did that for my personal spending, so I could have a sub-category for Starbucks. Yup. I wanted to stick to my other New Years Resolution of only 2 Starbucks trips a week. So each paycheck that comes to about $20. It helped me keep accountability.

YNAB also has a syncing phone application for both android and iPhone,  which helps you keep track as you go, and see where you stand at all times.

Throughout those first two weeks we did hit a few snags - to be expected when you're learning a new way of doing things:

• We underestimated our groceries. 
• We had a New Year's Eve party. 
• Also, once we thought everything was good, we then realized a few essential things we forgot - like dog food. 

So A LOT of finagling occurred. It came out of the areas like personal spending, and sadly, the buffer.

We also needed to add other ‘rainy day’ categories such as birthdays and Christmas.

Having a school aged child means the last minute birthday parties flood in. Which usually means scrambling for a last minute birthday GIFT. We are trying to eliminate that so we're ready instead of surprised.

Likewise, we have never ‘had the means’ (or so we thought!) to save for Christmas. It usually just comes out of the last paycheck or two leading up to the holiday. That is a huge burden and we definitely want that to change.


As we made these adjustments, we found that when you overspend in a category, the app will initially deduct it from next month's budget, unless you go in and wiggle it around yourself.

Toward the end of that first pay period, I decided to check our bank to see how well it matched. There was a $15 discrepancy. That is to say, YNAB said we had $15 more than what we actually did. UGH!

It took a while to track down, and ended up being an automatic thing Ebay did. Easy enough to fix!  By checking the bank account against the program budget, you can keep account of whatever automatic purchases you've lost track of, so you're not bleeding money.

The second pay period went a lot smoother. We held our‘budget meeting’ in bed with a bag of chips, as we have done every time a paycheck hits, since.

There were a handful of instances where at the end of the day, we’d have to check in with each other, “Hey, did you log that soda you got earlier?” but we have gotten so used to always keeping receipts now that even that is an easy fix.

Problems definitely have the potential of arising when you don’t log. The program can’t do its job if you don’t let it, which means logging every penny. It becomes almost second nature.

Also, by the second pay period, we got a lot smarter about how we used the program. Throughout the first two weeks, we only had one ‘account’ up. Our checking account.

Even if we got cash back, we would just log as is, and everything was still ok. Theoretically, as long as you are logging, it doesn’t matter what form it is it. But it can get confusing!

So we created a Cash account, and a Danny’s Paypal account. It is super easy to transfer between the three from both computer and phone.


There have been times while out that I wish I could rearrange the budget from phone, but I do understand why that isn't a feature of the phone app. I think if it was that easy, you’d never stick to what you originally planned. However, that is easily my husband's biggest pet peeve about the system. If we happen to get money while out of the house, it sits dormant in ‘Available to Budget’ until we can get home to a computer to assign its job.

From the phone, you can view what is currently remaining in each category, as well as past transactions when you click on one.

We love You Need a Budget.

We are normal family, that has struggled for years on how to work together with out money.

I never knew it could be this easy, and neither of us can imagine living without it. We felt the raise in the first pay period.

Recently we received out tax return and it was such a (fun) breeze budgeting for all the big expenses we had been discussing, pay off bills, put some into savings, and have money to play with. In the past it would have just been a series of checking the bank repeatedly and trying (and failing!) to keep track in our heads.

Another few amazing things to mention:

You can sign up for a nine day email course for free! 
I enjoyed it. It was 9 themed emails, one a day. Each went further in depth as to some financial myths, and just plain and simple why YOU NEED A BUDGET. These email tidbits kept me highly motivated in the first week of figuring this stuff out.

They also have FREE online courses.
Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to ‘attend’ any, but they sound very worthwhile. Each is taught by a YNAB success story client. So they have ‘been there’.

Class options include ‘Getting Started With YNAB’ , ‘Budget Workshop’, ‘Handling Credit Cards’, ‘and ‘Improving Workflow’ These are live webinars, and so far they just haven't fit into my crazy life. However I love the idea, and plan to try one out soon!

Seriously though, where is the 2.0 version that helps me budget time?! (Can you imagine watching your sleep hours you didn’t get last night, just keep rolling over and stocking up for a rainy day?)

As I was writing this, I just now realized that if you sign up for a class and are unable to attend, they will email you a recording of it! At the end of every class, they give away one free copy of YNAB so go sign up!


One of my favorite features was the online discussion forum for the program. It is filled with other user’s questions, which also matched specifics I wanted to know.

And of course, they have their customer service representatives at the ready waiting and willing to help!

You Need a Budget costs a one time fee of $60. I remember thinking that was very expensive, now I can tell you it's worth so much more! If you are still on the fence, YNAB offers a hassle free 34 day full featured demo of the program. If you decide to buy after, you just maintain the same budget. This should get most people through multiple pay periods which is certainly enough to experience the magic.

Also, it should be pointed out that 'one time fee' means exactly that - you can put the program on every machine you own, and you get free upgrades for life!

YNAB is free for college students as long as they are enrolled, and $20 off for military members.

The creater recently posted on Facebook that when people ask him ‘what he does’ he never knows how to respond. The comments were all spot on. Everything from ‘financial empowerment creator’, to ‘saving marriages’ was said. I agree with it all.

You Need a Budget on Facebook
You Need a Budget Website






We've been allowed to host a giveaway of one copy of You Need a Budget 4  for PC or Mac ($60 value) for one of our readers!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment in this entry as instructed by the Rafflecopter, then leave the name you commented under and your email in the box in the Rafflecopter entry. (This allows us to contact you if you win!)  This will open up additional optional entries to increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE
and will end just before midnight ET on 2-23-15. 

The winner will be notified by email within 24 hours after the end of the giveaway.  In order to claim the giveaway prize, the winner will need to respond within 24 hours of notification, or an alternate winner will be selected.

Good luck everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway