A few weeks ago, I watched the protests around the Olympic torch  with quite a bit of interest. You see, I had already booked and paid for a family trip to Beijing to see the Olympics  this August!

This is something that we had planned on for some time, and we had saved up for this trip over the last couple of years. We even cut back on vacation plans in 2007 to make sure we had enough money set aside for the trip. Generally I am very careful with my money, but I knew that for a once-in-a-lifetime experience like this, I would find a way to make it work!

Before I leave for China, there is one important thing I will do: I will call my credit card issuer and let them know that I am traveling overseas. Credit card companies monitor cardholders' transactions for suspicious activity — this way, they can detect any fraudulent card usage quickly and protect their cardholders by shutting down their card. Transactions in a foreign country are sometimes a red flag for this monitoring, so I will let them know not to shut down my card due to purchases being made in China.

So, barring any unforeseen circumstances, my family and I will be cheering on Team USA  in person this August!

Anyone out there planning to join us?