My $70 lesson... and how you can learn from it

At the time of writing this post, I’m still buried up to my neck in boxes from my recent cross-country move. We moved from Connecticut to San Antonio, Texas and I am having so much fun getting to know the area! I’m mostly looking forward to the fantastic Mexican food.

Our long trek across the 1,900+ miles between our old home and our new home went pretty smoothly. That is, until the very last leg of it (🎶 cue the dramatic music 🎶)

We needed to stop for the night around Little Rock and I thought, “hmmm… maybe this last overnight stay is an opportunity for me to teach my son a little lesson about resilience.”

A few days ago, we had been talking about the differences between hotels and motels, and he had informed me that motels “suck” and he didn’t ever want to stay in one.

I will admit that I’m not a *huge* fan of motels myself, but I have stayed in some nicer ones. But either way, I really wanted to teach Lennon that sometimes it’s okay to go with the second best option. I want him to be okay not having his way all the time, especially if it’s just for a short amount of time. It’s not that big of a deal. We can be resilient.

So, I booked us a room at a Motel 6. I specifically chose this one because I stayed in one in Atlanta that was pretty nice and didn’t have the doors that faced out into the street. Those always creep me out, especially when I’m traveling alone or with my kid. 

You can probably guess how this story plays out. We got there and it wasn’t “just okay.” It was pretty bad. The rooms faced the street (nope, nope, nope) and my first impressions of the staff and the neighborhood were not the best. I could see on Lennon’s face that he agreed.

We spent about two minutes in our room before I pulled the plug on the whole operation. I got on my phone and booked us a room at a hotel across town for about $50 more.

I soooo wanted to have this amazing parenting moment, but this just wasn’t going to be the time. On top of that, I ended up losing out on $70 because the room was non-refundable. But you know what? I learned a valuable lesson out of it: a good night’s sleep where I feel safe is worth more than $70 to me.

It’s the same way with anything! Paying a little extra to get what you really want usually ends up being the right choice. I know for my business, every time I’ve tried to scrimp and save, I have regrets. I always wish I would have just saved a little more to get the tool or coach or course I really wanted instead of the cheaper option.

You can always find someone on Fiverr willing to make you a logo on Canva for $5 but trust me, you are going to be able to tell it’s a $5 logo. Always. Saving up for a brand identity package or even a professionally designed logo is always worth it, and it will communicate so much to your potential clients and customers!

I’m curious to hear what would you have done if you were in my shoes at the Motel 6 in Little Rock… would you have toughed it out for the night to teach your kid a lesson? Or would you have bailed like I did? Let me know in the comments!
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Another perk of staying in nicer hotels is their beautiful aesthetics! I loved this mural!