An Easy-To-Use Budgeting Template
Posted by: smilinglight on: January 17, 2010
- In: Finance| Tools| money
- 2 Comments
The first step in taking charge of your finances is to make a budget. It gives you a clear idea of how much of you income is going where and what you need to cut down on. Only then can you think about saving money. Given that it is such a simple and important step, here is an excel template that makes it even easier.
This excel sheet was created by me based on another budgeting template available online the author of which is unfortunately not known.
Features of this budgeting spreadsheet:
Budgeting Template
1. Track your budget every month – There are 12 sheets for each month of the year and you can track the budget for the whole of 2010 in just one workbook. Also, it’s easier to refer to the previous months when you need to.
2. It is customizable – You can enter your checking account, savings account and credit card account names. You can add your own budget categories and their amounts.
3. Displays the amount budgeted and spent in each category – For every category you name and set a budget for, you can track your progress.
Click to enlarge
4. Summary graph of your spending – A graph in the summary page shows how your spending varies in each category every month
5. Shows your net worth – Once you enter all your accounts and their initial balances in the first month, the spreadsheet displays your net worth every month
6. Tracks your savings each month – Every dollar you enter as “Savings” in the category column is kept track of by the worksheet and is displayed at the top left corner of the page.
Click to enlarge
7. View all your account balances in one page – You don’t have to log into multiple accounts everyday. Once you have entered the initial balances, the spreadsheet automatically calculates the balances and you can see them all in one sweeping view.
8. Alerts you when you are exceeding your budget – A red box on that category immediately warns you that you are exceeding your budget allotted in this category.
Download this spreadsheet:
1. Download the spreadsheet in xlsx(Office 2007) format
OR
Download the spreadsheet in xls(Office 2003) format
How to use this spreadsheet:
Step 1: Use the categories given or add your own in the drop-down box.
You can do this using Data Validation. Also update it in the budget section.
Step 2: Add your own accounts in the Account Summary section. Also add them to the drop-down box
Step 3:. Update the initial balances. You need to do it only once. The spreadsheet will keep track of it for the rest of the months.
That’s it. You’re good to go. Start tracking your spending.
More cool features:
1. Enter the initial balances only once – Once you do it, for the rest of the year, the worksheet will work out your balances for you.
2. Change the budget amounts whenever you like – When you do, the rest of the months will reflect the changed budget.
3. There’s place to figure out your budget – There is one sheet dedicated to planning your budget where you can enter your income, see how much you need for paying bills, how much you can spend in other categories etc.
4. Formulas are protected from accidental changes- Just to prevent accidental clicking and changing of formulas, the sheets are protected. You can nevertheless type in the fields which require you to. If you however need to make some changes, you can always go to Review -> Unprotect Sheet and make them.
Hope this proves to be a useful tool. If there are any bugs or questions, please do let me know. I will address them immediately.
Other articles you might be interested in:
15 Simple tweaks to save money without sweat
Earn some pocket money in your free time
Other downloads you might be interested in:
Organize with a Master Grocery List and Weekly Menu planner
Posted by: smilinglight on: January 7, 2010
I hate running to the grocery store in the middle of the week. It’s both a waste of time and money. Every time we go to a store, we buy at least a couple of items not originally in the plan. So for the most part, I try to hit the stores just once a month and maybe once in between for milk and other perishable items.
Last year I decided to follow a few steps to be more organized and also save money in the process.
Two of those were to make a monthly grocery list and a weekly menu.
I have been following these two rules quite consistently for over a year and two templates have helped me tremendously in this:
Since I shop for groceries only once a month, I have to make sure I don’t forget something that might be over in a month’s time. So i rummaged through the entire kitchen and conjured a list of all the items that I had. This is my Master Grocery List. All I have to do is go over the list and check the items I need. My husband and I love it now and can’t go shopping without it. Over the year, I improved upon the list and added a few other items that I seemed to use. Feel free to download it. Since I’m Indian and I’m vegetarian, the list is customized for my needs. However, you can edit it according to your requirements and print it out.
Download the Master Grocery List
I love going to the Farmer’s market to buy vegetables. They are so fresh, plus there’s a lot of variety. Yes, they are less expensive too. Initially we had no idea of how much to buy and we’d end up wasting a few by the end of the week. Also, we would buy the same set of vegetables all the time. So I started pouring some time into making a menu for the entire week before buying the vegetables. That way, both my problems were solved. Even now, there’s a dramatic difference in the food we eat when there’s a menu and when there isn’t. I visit the farmer’s market about once every 15 days, so my weekly menu planner is good for two weeks.
I’d love your feedback on these two lists. Do let me know if you find them useful and if you think any other items need to be added.
Happy Organizing!
First Resolution for 2010
Posted by: smilinglight on: January 5, 2010
Make My Husband Exercise
Courtesy: Dr JimiGlide
I know, it sounds funny. All resolutions are about the self. And here I am, going easy on myself and making my husband exercise instead!
No, he is not overweight and fitness is not his problem. What he needs to do are arm exercises. This is a highly personal resolution.
Some background. He fractured his shoulder about 2 months ago and it took about 6 weeks for the bone to heal. Because of the restriction in movement, the muscles have become stiff and physiotherapy should bring back the range of motion. But the physical therapist cannot do it alone. We need to be exercising regularly at home too. Which is what we don’t.
Getting his arm movement back to normal is my priority now and that is why I decided to make this my resolution.
In keeping with the guidelines I posted in my previous entry about resolution making, here’s my plan to make this work.
Analyzing the reason behind failure -Thinking about why this hasn’t been working so far is important to find a workaround. In out case, we were not exercising simply because we forgot. It was new and not part of our daily routine. So it was easy to slip out of our mind.
Action Plan
1. One at a time – One resolution is the optimal number and I am going to concentrate on nothing but this. Since it’s the beginning of the year, my temporary enthusiasm will tempt me into trying many things at once. But by now, I know better. I will resist the temptation and focus on just this goal.
2. Choosing an indivisible goal – My ultimate goal is to make his left arm move just like the right arm. This is the most basic step for that to happen. And since the time frame is about a month or two, it is perfect to qualify for a resolution.
3. Making it fun – We have decided to play a ’simulation game’ to make him exercise. I pretend to be the physical therapist and we work just like in the actual physical therapy session. The room has all the props we have resourcefully added with everything available at home. I have a timer for the exercises(my mobile) and an ice pack to relax the sore muscles afterwards. He needs to take an appointment just like the real one. I even have a log sheet where he needs to sign in and sign out. I also record the progress in the same form. He needs to make new appointments after each session and when he misses an appointment, I charge him a penalty. If I miss the appointment, he charges me a penalty.
You can download the exercise log sheet here. It is a basic log and can be used by anybody.
4. Making it convenient – He needs to be exercising twice a day and so the best times would be right before going to bed and right after getting up. That is why, ‘my setup’ is in the bedroom itself. And we came up with the appointments to get around the problem of forgetting. Each time when we decide a convenient time, we are going to set reminders and make ourselves available at that time.
5. Laying the groundwork – Before starting, we always need to pre-prepare so that we do not have unavailability of resources as an excuse. By simulating the physical therapy environment, I have made sure that all the necessary items are in the room when we need them. I also have printed the log sheet and filed it along with a pen and have it in an easily accessible place. So, the groundwork is laid. We only need to follow it from now.
What if we fail?
We do excpect to fail at this at times. But I think it is going to be minimal because of our ‘penalty’ system. Each time he misses an appointment, I will sleep on the couch and every time I miss it, he would be sleeping on the couch. Since we both do not want the other to be uncomfortable, we sure will try our best not to miss it.
So, this is my plan and I hope we follow it. Will post the updates to this entry.
All the best for yours too and have a happy New Year!
An analysis of New Year resolutions
Posted by: smilinglight on: December 29, 2009
Another year is going by and we are all making preparations for the next. This time of the year is always filled with resolutions and new found confidence that you will follow them come what may. In general, this year and every year, you plan to become more disciplined and more awesome!
But … How many have honestly followed a resolution? Well, truth is bitter.
Why do resolutions fail?
1. There are too many – Seriously, our small brain cannot hold those many at once and follow all of them. We are bound to sideline some of them. The optimal number, I would think is just one at a time.
2. Self talk does not work – Can you keep saying to yourself that you will do a task regularly? It is not long before my own mind starts to ignore me. How consistently can I keep writing to myself that I am going to follow my resolution and put them where I can see them? Before long, I will walk right past it without even noticing. Such measures honestly don’t work.
3. The problem always lies elsewhere – There are so many steps to a goal and the reason for failure is always a basic problem lurking somewhere in the process.
For example, if my resolution is not to eat out often and I fail to do it, it is mostly because I would have come home tired and not found anything ready to eat. Being too lazy to cook then, I’d have opted to eat out.
I’d do better by deciding my resolution to be “to cook in advance” than not to eat out. The least indivisible the step is, the better is the probability that it’ll succeed.
4. It is too much of a deviation from our usual self – You are a night owl and suddenly from tomorrow, are you going to become an early riser? Is that realistic? Of course, even before you decide that, I can state you will fail. Inertia sets in and the body will resist it with all its might. We never make it easy for us to follow!
So how do we make them work?
1. Keep one resolution at a time – Enough said. That is indeed the best number. You will fare better deciding on one resolution a month than 12 all at once.
2. Make it as indivisible as possible – The ultimate goal should only be a consequence of doing something else, not a resolution by itself. Your resolution should lead to it.
For example, if I want to lose weight, a better resolution would be to go swimming. As a result of this I will lose weight. The fewer the steps involved in achieving it, the better.
3. Make it the most convenient thing for you to do – The best way to follow a resolution is to arrange everything else so that it is the next natural step to take. It will not take as much effort as required then.
For example, if I plan to journal at the end of the day, do you think I’d follow it if I keep the journal in my study room?
Instead, picture this. I keep the journal on the bedside table next to where I sleep with a working pen next to it and a bedside lamp which I can switch off right there. How much of an effort is it then to write a line before going to sleep?
4. Pre-prepare: Have everything ready – When you plan to kick off something by January 1st, decide the steps you are going to take beforehand. If you wait until the D-day and you are clueless about what to do, you are going to lose the enthusiasm. Instead use the energy to catapult yourself by keeping all the required resources ready. Have an action plan ready, gather all the materials necessary, keep them in strategic locations, all before January 1st. That way, when you wake up to the New Year, you have everything you need to carry out your resolution.
5. Excite the inner child in you – Remember the school days when we would be excited to start school again when we bought the new books, uniforms and pens? Remember the days in kindergarten when they would make our days exciting by fun things to do like coloring, painting etc? The child still lives in us; excite it by adding fun elements into your steps to keep you going. These fun little steps should make you want to follow your goal.
If I want to lose weight, I would have a colorful chart stuck to the door with a nice felt pen beside it to chart my progress. Seeing my weight go down and down, I would definitely want to do more of it.
I would buy pretty little inexpensive boxes to make frozen dinners that would make me want to use them. Each of us will have something that will make us happy in a childlike way. Recognize it and use it.
6. Make a specific list of steps you will take – Keeping all the above factors in mind, write out a detailed plan of what actions you will take to achieve your goal, how you are going to make it easy for yourself, what materials you require, what obstacles may creep in and how you will get around them. The clearer you are, the better you will succeed.
That being said, are you going to expect a 100% success? Of course not, there will be times when we stumble, but the most important rule is to get up soon before it is out of your mind. Reading anything remotely related to your resolution and talking about it helps you not forget your goal altogether and keeps you motivated.
I hope these ideas help you. A detailed plan about my resolutions will follow soon.
Sri Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada
Posted by: smilinglight on: November 9, 2009
- In: Worship
- 2 Comments
The Hanuman Chalisa is a collection of 40 Dohas written by Tulsidas.
Chanting this is believed to ward off danger and fill us with strength.
The original Hanuman chalisa is in a dialect of Hindi and many of us find it difficult to recite. Although the script is available in Kannada, the language is still hard to follow.
I have uploaded the Hanuman Chalisa given to me by my mother-in-law. This is an adaptation of the Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada. It’s not just a translation but the language itself is Kannada, the meaning and the power I’m sure, being preserved.
Download Hanuman Chalisa in Kannada
I hope many of you find this useful. If there are any corrections that are required, please feel free to let me know.
Jai Hanuman!
Hot Jalebis
Posted by: smilinglight on: December 29, 2008
A lovely Indian dish that makes your mouth water every time you think of it, Jalebi is surprisingly very easy to make. This recipe was taught to me by my friend Manisha and i’d like to share it with all. The key is to ferment the batter for at least 36 hours and you will have jalebis as good as they come in the stores.
Ingredients:
For the Jalebis:
3/4 cup All Purpose flour
1/4 cup Besan
1 tbsp Yogurt
1 cup warm water
3 cups oil
Orange food color (optional)
A pinch of Baking Soda
For the Sugar Syrup:
1 cup water
1 3/4 cup sugar
A pinch of cardamom powder
Method:
1. Add all purpose flour and besan to a bowl.
2. To this add a tbsp of yogurt and a little bit of warm water and mix thoroughly to form a thick batter. Make sure you do not add too much water. The jalebi will disintegrate if you do so.
3. Allow this mixture to ferment over a period of at least 36 hours. So if you are planning to make the Jalebi on a rainy Sunday evening, prepare the batter on Friday.
4. After 36 hours, add a pinch of baking soda, a little bit of water if required, just a pinch of food color and mix well. If the batter is too thin, you can add some more All Purpose flour.
5. Pour this onto a sauce bottle.
6. For the sugar syrup, pour 1 cup water into a pan and add sugar and cardamom powder. Heat this until all the sugar melts. The sugar syrup is ready.
6. Meanwhile heat oil on a low-medium flame and squeeze the sauce bottle in a clockwise manner to make the jalebis. Remember the wrong shape is the right shape.
7. Fry this until it is crisp. Take care not to let it brown.
8. Drain the excess oil and add this jalebi to the sugar syrup. Dip it in the sugar syrup for not more than 10 seconds and immediately transfer it to a plate. Do not place a paper towel underneath the jalebis. It will absorb the sweetness from the jalebis
9. Continue this process for the whole of the batter and serve the hot jalebis with some ice cream and there you go! This quantity makes around 15 jalebis.
How to choose your partner for life
Posted by: smilinglight on: December 24, 2008
My friends will soon be starting guy-hunting and they wanted to know how to choose the person who will be right for you in an arranged marriage. There is no fixed formula for this and I say it is always an experiment of probability (I’m studying probability and I just had to bring this in!) where you don’t know what the outcome is until after the experiment is conducted. You will either be happy that you have met your perfect match or realize that you have made an error in judgment. This is true both in the cases of arranged and love marriages, because you never get to know a person until you live with him or her. (There are many who will disagree with me saying that you never get to know them even after that, but they will at least agree with my former sentence!).
But, don’t be discouraged. There are a few things which when realized will make one take sensible decisions and increase the odds of having a happy married life. I am no relationship expert, but I have learned a lot along the way and I’m happy to share hoping it helps.
What makes a good relationship?
1. Love is not enough – Love is the most important ingredient in a relationship. But, remember it is not the only aspect that is required. During the first period, love is all one can see and all one needs. But as you progress, it becomes a process running silently in the background. Love must be a strong foundation, but it takes other things to raise the building.
2. The other elements – A marriage, for it to sustain, requires trust, respect for each other’s views, friendship, freedom and above all the following one:
3. Match your values - A good relationship requires as few adjustments as possible. It lasts only when you can be yourself in the relationship. For this to happen, it is necessary that what is important to you should be important for the other person. If these values are conflicting, you can’t expect a happy marriage.
Remember, I am not saying all your interests should match. It would be too boring if it was so. What should be the same are your ethics. There are a few things you absolutely can’t compromise on and if these are the same in your partner, that’s when both of you can be happy.
For example, if you are a person who stands for independence and the other person likes to dominate, one of them has to compromise. This is possible but only to a certain extent. You cannot change your basic values too much. So the perfect match here would be for the independent person to find a person who respects independence and for the control loving person to find someone who prefers to be controlled. All kinds of persons are out there and all you have to do is to find the best fit.
Finding what you want
But how do you know who fits you? There are ways to find out:
1. Know yourself – Unless you know yourself, you can never know who you want. Block some time for yourself. Be relaxed, take some coffee or your favorite beverage (just don’t get drunk!), have a paper and clipboard with you and meet yourself.
2. Find out who you stand for - Think about who you are as a person. If this feels too vague, let me explain. Think on these lines.
- Are you a free bird or do you feel better when you are told what to do?
- Are you an introvert or extrovert?
- Do you think men and women or equal or that there are certain jobs for each of them and one cannot do the other?
- Are you possessive? Do you like it when your partner is possessive or do you feel it inhibiting?
- If you don’t like possessiveness, will you be willing to be as tolerant of your partner as well or will you be jealous?
- Are you rational or emotional?
- Are you diplomatic or are you straight forward?
- Are you family oriented or want to live on your own?
Answer all these questions honestly and also explore other things that are not mentioned here. Write down what qualities you like, what you don’t like, what you can get along with and what you can’t. This step will go a long way in getting to know what kind of a person you want to marry. You should choose the one who thinks like you do
3. Learn from people around you – You would have met a lot of persons in your life and you can draw a lot from the experience of being with them. These people can be your parents, siblings, friends, or just acquaintances. What they have in common is that, each of them has qualities you like and dislike. Think about each person and list what you like and don’t like. If these same qualities were in your partner, would you like it? This gives an important insight into how far you can tolerate in a relationship.
Finding out if the person is the one for you
This is the most difficult part. You can never know a person fully well, especially in a short span of time. These are what you can do.
1. Ask to spend time getting to know each other – Tell them that you do not like to decide in a meeting or two and that you would like some time. Chances are that the other person will agree too.
2. Get comfortable – The first few meetings will always be to strike a good impression. So you will never know the real person. Use this time to just make the other person comfortable with you. If you start having tests for him, chances are that it might make him nervous and he may be too scared to reveal his true self. Enjoy each other’s company and get to know your common interests.
3. See through pretensions – A person can never pretend for a long time consistently. Try to spot the pretensions. Many times, his words will be very different from his actions. Know if the person is just being charming to win you over. Don’t be floored.
4. Ask what he wants in his mate - Usually when anybody is asked this, they give you vague general answers like having a good education, being caring etc. The reason could be that they might not have thought a lot about it. Try to get specific answers like the answers you gave yourself. You will get a vague idea about whether you fit it or not.
5. Now ask the questions you asked yourself – Once you are comfortable talking to each other, ask to see if he fits you. Don’t be judgmental. For if you are, chances are that the person will not answer correctly or he will answer what you like to hear. Make it fun and ask him to be as honest as possible. See if he has what you are looking for.
These are not fool proof, but provide a basic guideline. There will also be your family to help you with it. So have fun and enjoy the process. All the best!
Earn some pocket money in your free time
Posted by: smilinglight on: December 9, 2008
- In: Finance| money
- 4 Comments
Finding GPT Sites and what they are
I stumbled upon these out of sheer boredom. Sitting at home all day, i wondered if i could at least use some of the time to make a little money. And i entered a world of GPT sites. Well, GPT means “Get Paid To”. You earn money for doing simple things like click on ads, or taking surveys or signing up for an offer. I was cautious. I knew not all of them are legitimate. And of those that were, i liked some and disliked a few others. And what i like, i always like to share it with others.
How much can you earn?
These sites which i have listed below are GPT sites which give you half a dollar or a dollar or so for an offer you complete. Don’t be discouraged thinking that amount is insignificant. Remember, small things add up. And add up they do. Remember all the small amounts on your credit card which now have become too much to handle? Anyways, below is the list of sites that i continually visit and make quite some amount of money. You can, on an average earn around 30$ a month on each of these sites. It is not much, but do it on three sites and you already have $100. All of them are 100 percent free. You don’t need to spend money everywhere. There are a few offers which require credit card. But you need not do them. You can always do the free offers.
How do they pay you?
The legitimate ones either pay you by check or by paypal. This is by far, the safest option. You don’t have to give your card information or bank account information anywhere.
Which are the good ones?
1. CashCrate
This is one of the simplest sites I’ve come across. There are no frills to it. You can go there and start earning money. As simple as that.
Features of this site:
1. Lots of offers to choose from. No fee for anything. You can always ignore the credit card offers
2. They have a minimum payout of $20 in a month. Meaning, you will have to make a minimum of 20 dollars for them to pay you. If you do not make $20 in that month, it’ll be carried over to the next month.
Pros:
1. It’s very reliable. If they say the payment comes on a certain date, it will definitely come to you that day.
2. There are quite a lot of offers to do and they pay well.
Cons:
1. They pay only by check. This could be an advantage or a disadvantage depending upon you.
2. The payment will be only in the later half of the next month. For example, if you earn $20 in December, they will process your check on the 15th of January and you will get the amount only on 21st of January. This is not so bad, you only have to be a little patient. It is well worth the wait.
2. Treasure Trooper
This site has similar offers and is much more fun. Along with cash earned in offers, there are also chances of winning gold coins, pearl and platinum coins. You can buy fun stuff with them or trade one for another.
Features:
1. It is similar to CashCrate. The minimum payout is $20.
2. Payment method is by check or paypal if you have a paypal account
Pros:
1. The additional earnings in kind are good and makes it more fun
2. Paypal account makes it easier, at least for me.
Cons:
1. Like cashcrate, the payment is processed only in the last half of the next month.
3. PaidTheFastest
This has become my favorite website. The offers are good, they credit soon and the payment is under 24 hours. The payout is also very low. Just $3.
Features:
1. Minimum payout of $3. 2. Payment is via paypal.
Pros:
1. Low payout and they pay within a day. You don’t have to wait for one and a half months.
2. There are a couple of games where you can make extra money
3. There are a number of contests going on which keeps you motivated to earn more and more
Cons:
1. None that i can think of.
So that was my list. If i find myself consistently attracted to something else, i’ll definitely add it to the list. All the above websites also give you a 20% commission for getting referrals. So go ahead, have fun and maybe you can afford that Wii you wanted all along. 
How well do you know the US – quiz
Posted by: smilinglight on: October 31, 2008
A Blissful Getaway to Heavenly Colors
Posted by: smilinglight on: October 24, 2008
- In: Travel
- 2 Comments
The journey on the road yonder
Nature is beautiful as is, but it is only in fall that there is a competition even among its own members. It is during this brief period in the year that leaves change to splendid colors proving that they are no less attractive than the flowers! Perhaps the flowers grew so jealous of the shift in attention that they wished it wouldn’t last. Or the leaves had a last wish of soaring to the peak of beauty just before they dry and fall. Whatever the reason, God blessed them with but a short span of glory.
However, the trees everywhere in the world are not this lucky (or the people I should say). So you can imagine the fervor with which we newbies in the U.S were waiting to catch hold of this sight. And what better place to experience this in than Vermont, the crowning beauty of autumn. With detailed plans made and all fingers crossed, the week of travel finally arrived. Being a large group of eight with four official cooks, the early days of the week were spent in making grocery purchases and preparing handy meals for the tour. Come Thursday night and we were all geared up to roll.
The back of the car was full and looked like our entire household was in it! Wouldn’t it be nice to add a bit of spice to mundane decisions? So we did, in deciding who’ll drive when. We drew lots and had the wives decide their husbands’ luck! The journey was smooth and comfortable though quite a bit long (It was a 16 hour drive from our place!) Initially everybody was enthusiastic and kept the spirits up with games like dumb charades. But gradually, or should I say after dinner, majority succumbed to the joy of sleep. A couple of us though had a temporary bout of insomnia and stayed awake. Other than us, the driver had only an endless list of songs to keep him awake and keep us alive. But it wasn’t as bad as it sounds because of the short frequent breaks we had and constant rotation of drivers.
Cozy little place
At daybreak we were almost across Albany when we began to spot a color here and there. Soon the cameras too had to wake up from their sleep. Nobody entertained the thought that we will be seeing more of the scenery and began flashing the cameras in quick succession. After crossing four states, as we reached the Bennington border we could notice the presence of the distinct architecture of New England counties. From here on, the journey was an absolute pleasure throughout. It was the quintessential country side with quaint little houses and neat gardens in front of them, a sale on every road invariably having bright Halloween pumpkins. Oh, the sight was so lovely. Ask anybody to sleep now! Well, somebody did.
We reached West Dover to our cute cottage styled house on Shady Lane. There was nothing shady about the lane except for a lot of shade! After congratulating one another on making it on time, we ran into the house and quickly surveyed what was to be our home for the next couple of days with the delight of a five year old. We were a tad disappointed to find a room short, but we planned to make adjustments (which though went awry!). We decided to have a couple of hours to rest and get refreshed. Guess what was the first thing to be switched on in the house? The TV. Some were active enough to have a bath and get ready while the rest of us just gathered around the TV. It doesn’t matter how we rest as long as we do, right? Finally all of us were ready to hit the road again.
Scenic drives through majestic hills
Our first visit was to the five covered bridges of Bennington. These were built way back in the early 19th century and all are in close proximity. Due to lack of time, we could cover but a few of them. As we moved, we were amused by the roads. Each town was small and filled with people walking. And almost every little town had a Main Street which was like the commercial hub. There were statues on roads which exactly looked like people too! Next we saw the Bennington Battle Monument where some of the Brigadiers defeated a part of the British Army. Boy is the monument high! We were all peanuts by comparison! We then began our circular scenic route from there all the way up to Ludlow and back. It was past sunset when we reached Ludlow. Since I hadn’t slept in 48 hours, I fought and failed to keep my eyes open. I was awakened in between whenever there was a scenic sight not to be missed. We stopped for some good photographs and were back home for dinner.
Day two was to begin very early, so the lazy bunch (or the wise bunch) including me finished bath the very previous night! This strategy was also to avoid traffic bottleneck near the bathroom! Soon after a round of the adorable ‘Uno’ cards, all of us were fast asleep. The next day began with alarms going off in everybody’s cell phones and there was a lot scurrying back and forth while getting ready. We patted ourselves again for maintaining time and looked forward to the long day ahead.
Day Two
We first stopped by Mt. Snow region which was the closest to our place. The mountain was bright with vivid colors and divided by skiing routes. To be clichéd, it was a sight for the sore eyes! The mountain in the background and each couple in front of it has brought us all pictures waiting to be framed. We stopped at other scenic locations en route. Being with Mother Nature in the morning when you could still find dew hugging the leaves of the grass does wonders to your mood. The whole place seemed so quiet and serene. Our next stop was at Hildene, Lincoln’s family home in Manchester. It pays to be President after all. Imagine having a lovely house in a pristine location like that with the hills and woods in your backyard! The house was well maintained with organized self guided tours for visitors. They played the 1000 pipe organ each time a group of curious visitors hopped in. It is in this house that Abraham Lincoln drafted the plan for Civil War. Some interesting things in the house were a cute egg stand, a huge library where apparently nobody could enter, a large story board for the kids in the house. It was full of pictures of different tales from various lands. The kids would point out the picture of the story they wanted and grandpa would narrate it to them. The heart of the place was the view from the windows. All they had to do was lift the screens and they would have canvases like no man can paint.
Then there were two choices of places to go. A one hour ferry in Lake Champlain or a 10 minute ropeway glide. Both were almost the same distance from Manchester but it was not viable to cover both the rides because of their early closure times. So we unanimously voted for the ropeway tour and off we went way up north to Jay Town. This was a 3 hour ride during a time when you have had lunch and the wind is blowing gently against you as you drive along with the sunlight on your face keeping you warm. As expected, half the people were asleep. The others were constantly thinking of interesting games to cover the journey. Finally a game started off with asking everybody’s favorite actors and went on to some questions involving deep thought like what is the one other thing you would have wanted to be if you were not a human and so. We had to give a good reason for our answers and it all set us thinking. We thoroughly enjoyed those rounds and within no time we were near Jay Peak Arial Tramway. We drove 3 hours for a 7 minute tram ride and were just in time for the last one. As we went higher and higher, we realized every minute of the drive was worth it. We could see the miles and miles of land from there; watch the clouds and even their shadow replicas on the hills. Since it was the peak north, we could see a part of Canada from there. Though the ride is short, they do allow you a 15 minute stay on the hill top. From there it was back home after sipping coffee in a country shop which had a few whacky statements on plates such as “Welcome to Jay Town, but please remember to leave”!! Another one saying “I feel so miserable without you, it’s like having you here”!!! It did bring a few laughs.
Now for some fun and frolic
The plan for Sunday was a trip to Boston before heading back home. Again we were to leave early although nobody had the energy to bathe the previous day this time. For one last time we took a look at the house and off we went from there. Nobody wanted to keep their eyes shut for we wanted to capture the last sights of Vermont with our eyes. The three hour journey seemed quick with rounds of dumb charades. We reached Waltham, a suburb of Boston around noon. The place had so many Indian restaurants and clothes stores with Ghaghara and saris that we felt we were in a market place in India. Though fall was prevalent here too, the number of red trees had visibly dwindled.
After a lunch there, we left to Harvard. It was hot and the traffic was so heavy. Parking was so tough to find. This was our first such experience here in the US. After some struggle, we found a good parking place on the road near Porter Square. We photographed the lane names so that we would remember where we had to come back! We then walked back to the 375 year old university. Along the way, we enjoyed a road festival that was going on at that time. There were people with 6 feet long shoes walking as though they were born with them. There was music and dance. The Harvard campus was buzzing with people, more visitors than students. There was no missing Mr. John Harvard who was there sitting majestically. We also took a look at the Memorial Church , the Harry Elkins library and the Harvard Book Store before taking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority(MBTA also called the T) subway to downtown.
The rails were named red line, orange line and green line depending on the routes. The subway station had interesting questions to ponder over while waiting for the train. We took the red line to Boston downtown. This part was different altogether. While Vermont was peaceful and tranquil, this was bustling with activity. There were downtown maps along the way and we first went to the bay area. The walk was very intriguing with all the tall buildings, the horse carriages with couples and families in them, etc. It was evening and we enjoyed the cool sea breeze for a while. There were telescopes to see the other side where planes were continuously landing. There was also a wedding going on with gorgeous bride and bridesmaids and their gowns. We walked around to the three old markets – North Market, Quincy Market and the South Market. These were full of shops both big and small selling an array of interesting stuff. There were also funny street performances here and there that we stopped by to watch.
Before we knew, it was already time to go back! We took the red line again to Porter Square and had dinner at Pizzeria Uno. Ordering food, all of us began to share experiences and it provided for good conversation. It marked a nice ending to our trip and renewed our friendships. We stayed at Homestead hotels in Waltham, the girls in one room and the guys in the other. It was like a college-girls’ sleepover for us, taking some silly revenges on the guys and reveling in them. We slept quite late after some candid discussions. The guys supposedly slept two minutes after settling in the room.
Bye-Bye Wonderland
We were to start our journey back home early next morning. We were on time again and after a quick breakfast and coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, it was a long, long journey from there. We couldn’t believe five days of vacation were already coming to an end. The drive was smooth again with frequent breaks and rounds of dumb charades which were getting more difficult and more fun by the hour. By evening, all were tired of using their minds, so it was time for a round of Uno again. We also watched a couple of movies, had dinner at a Chinese restaurant located by the GPS. It was a godsend and we now can’t imagine travel without it.
It was just past midnight when we reached home. From five days of togetherness, fun and enjoyable moments, it was going to be back to our own separate lives and everyday tasks. We all parted promising to have another trip together soon, but this one will always remain in our hearts as the one most cherished.
