Busy Mommy Media » Frugal Entertainment

Planning a Frugal Vacation

Lorie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:38:48 +0000

It’s that time of year when many families take a vacation and, all too often, end up spending a fortune. Well, it does not have to be that way. With a little planning, your family can have a fun filled and relaxing vacation. Here are a few tips to help you have that vacation without having to sacrifice your life’s savings.

Go With-In Driving Distance

Look around the area you live in and see what’s close to you that could be a fun location to visit. You can save on car rental and pricy airline tickets. I have a large family and it could easily cost us $300 a person for air travel. There are usually tons of things with-in driving distance to go visit and skip the extra costs.

Choose Hotels with Free Activities

Always plan ahead and make a reservation for the hotel you will be staying. Ask about discounts while reserving. Many times you will get a discount just by asking. Also, ask about what kind of free activities your hotel has available. Many times hotels will have a pool, game room, fitness center, free movies, free breakfast or even kids eat free. My family could easily spend a day at the hotel pool and have fun. We are already paying for this luxury so why not use it.

Look for All-Day Passes

Looking for something to do for the whole day? Look for places that have all-day passes. You will get to spend all day there and not have to worry about finding something else to do. Many times places like amusement parks, museums and other fun places have these.

Get a Room with a Kitchen

Don’t plan on eating every meal out. This could easily cost a large family hundreds of dollars. Get a room with a kitchen and prepare easy foods right in your room. Bring plenty of snacks for the kids, so you don’t have to stop to spend money on them, especially at convenience stores where everything is more expensive. Also, bring a cooler, most hotels offer free ice, so take advantage of it. Fill your cooler before leaving and pack a lunch or even a dinner to eat while out. There are usually lots of great parks and other neat places to stop and have a picnic.

Bring Your Own Kid Gear

Bring your own stroller. This might be a hassle but you could easily pay up to $30 a day to rent one. Also, don’t forget the car seat if you will be renting a car. Why pay for something if you already have it? Use this money for something else, or just save it.

Take a “Staycation”

My family has decided to take a “staycation” this year. A staycation is where you stay at your own home and plan to visit things that are close to you so you don’t have to pay for a hotel. This requires a little planning. There are probably lots of free places right where you live that you may not have visited. Look online and see what you can find. See if you can find some hiking trails, state parks, or other places you have never visited. We are also going to take advantage of our yearly family pass for a local pool. Make sure you pack a cooler before leaving each day and go out and enjoy the day. It has been reported that these types of vacation are becoming the norm for a lot of families. Who says you can’t have a relaxing, fun-filled vacation while staying at home? Decide on a start and an end time for your staycation. Make this a chore free time. Don’t make your bed, vacuum, clean out closet, or pull weeds. Don’t invite people over this is your vacation time and you are not available. Many people report coming away a lot more rested after these types of vacations because there is less stress and worry.

Use Cash

I think this is one of the greatest tips. Don’t take a vacation you will be paying on for years to come. Save up for it. Vacations are not a need. You can still have fun and make priceless lifetime memories that won’t take you a lifetime to pay off.

Frugal 4th of July Cookout

Lorie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:04:58 +0000

The 4^th of July is right around the corner and many families like to celebrate by having cookouts. However, cookouts can get quite expensive. There are ways though that you can save money on this special, once a year event. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Use Dollar Stores for Decorations and Paper Goods

If you look around your local Dollar Stores, you will find lots of really cool decorations just perfect for your event. I have especially found great decorations at the “everything is a dollar” type dollar stores. They seem to have a great selection. You can also save a ton on paper goods and flatware at these types of stores if you choose to use these items. So give the Dollar Stores a chance to save you lots of money on your event.

Ditch the Paper Goods

This is a personal choice as paper plates and cup save so much time, but you could save even more money by choosing to use plates, cups, etc from your house. This could save you as much as $20. That could be worth the effort it take s to clean-up and better yet you are saving the environment.

Buy Cheaper Cuts of Meat

Looking for cheaper cuts of meat can really save you money. You can also usually find lots of these kinds of meats on sale during this time. Some include hot dogs, ground beef, and chicken. Try to avoid more expensive cuts of meat like shrimp, steaks, and ham, unless you can find a sale on these items.

Go Potluck

There is nothing wrong with asking your guest to bring a dish. You will have lots more food and a lot less work for yourself. Most people love to bring a dish, so don’t think twice about asking them. Just make sure you let them know what the main dish is going to be so they can plan around that.

Serve Cheaper Drinks

You can spend a lot of money on drinks if you are not careful. Your guests would probably be happy with just lemonade and water instead of pop and harder drinks. Lemonade and water are also very refreshing and cheaper for you. You can even make homemade lemonade to make it look fancier.

Look For Sales

At this time of year, you can find great sales on cook out type foods, especially side items like ketchup, mustard, pickles, mayonnaise, and barbeque sauce. I recently purchased a brand name mustard for only 50 cents! What a great deal! I did this by matching a coupon with a sale. What a great time to stock up on these items! So take advantage of this time of year sales to make your cook out more frugal.

Make It Yourself

You can save lots of money by making your own breads and desserts. There are a ton of great summer dessert recipe ideas online. So, choose something you think your guests will like and make it yourself. You can also make your own hamburger and hot dog buns with a little practice. I have also found in season fruit to be on sale during this time of year, so you could just make your dessert around those types of fruit or the fruit itself.

Wishing you and your family and friends a happy and frugal 4^th of July!

Frugal Summer Family Fun

Lorie — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:55:09 +0000

It’s that time of year when again. The kids are home and, as busy moms, we have to find something for them to do. As you well know, some of those activities can cost a lot of money. But, with a little planning, your family can have fun this summer while spending little money. In my family, we get together and make a list of ideas the kids have that they want to do in the summer. They come up with lots of ideas that really do not cost a lot. Here are a few ideas to help you plan some fun, and frugal, summer activities.

Public Library

The first thing I do when I move to a new place is seek out the Public Library. This place is great any time of the year, but in the summertime most libraries have summer reading programs geared at youth while they are out of school. They have special events and incentives for children to read during the summer. At my library, we have activities for the kids Monday thru Thursday. They have story/craft day, Fun with 4-H, Movie Day, Wii Gaming, and Painting with a professional painter. My kids have really enjoyed these events and it really makes the summer go fast. My kids also get a t-shirt if they read a certain number of books. So, go check out your library and see what they are doing.

Family Memberships

Last year we went to the swimming pool only a couple of times because it cost so much for my family of 6. This year we checked out the family pass cost. With the pass, we could go whenever we wanted during the summer and the cost was much less than if we would have taken the family several times. So, check out places around you. This includes museums, pools, parks, etc. You will get more for your money with the family pass, and with a large family, that’s a must for me.

Movie Nights at Home

My family loves to have movie night. I usually make homemade pizza and a special dessert for dinner. This saves a ton of money instead of ordering delivery. We also save money on our movie. We get movies at the public library. They usually have all the new movies and we can even reserve the movie at our library. Since a lot of people seem to use this service, I would highly recommend reserving if your library offers it. We also get movies from the Redbox. They are usually $1.00 a night; very frugal! My kids also love to watch movies we already own, ones they have watched a hundred times, so we never spend much money on the movie either. I also like to get my air popper out and pop our own popcorn for the movie. We have also bought the movie box candies at Dollar Stores, like The Dollar Tree for $1.00. I love family home movie nights and I also love that they are fun and frugal.

Use Nature For Fun

We plan a lot of free activities by using nature. My kids love catching lightening bugs or fireflies. They could spend a whole evening out doing that. There are also lots of trails that you could pack a lunch and take your family on a hike. Most of these trails are free. You could also just go to the park and take a walk with your family. We have a trail at our local park and our kids love to walk or ride their scoters. We also stop at a place where you can skip rocks across the pond. I have made lots of special memories with my kids during these times. Many families also go biking together. These kinds of activities are mostly free and you get to take advantage of the nature around you.

Free Movies

During the summer, many theaters will have a special matinee that you can go to for free. We don’t have any of those close to me, but you should check this out because for the price of your snacks, you could take in a movie with your child. Where I live, we have movies in the park every Friday night. All you have to do is bring a blanket and your own snacks and you are all set. I even know of a park that has the summer theaters for free, like Hamlet. So, look around for free movies in your area and have lots of frugal fun.

Whatever you plan to do this summer, try to make it fun and frugal.

Free Redbox Movie

Lorie — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:12:00 +0000

Redbox wants to celebrate summer so its offering a free movie on June 21st. Go to Facebook now to get your free code. All you have to do is click like on the Redbox Facebook page and get your freebie! Here’s the facebook page link for Redbox. Hope you enjoy the summer and a free movie.

Family Movie Night On NBC

Lorie — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:47:41 +0000

A great family movie night opportunity is coming up. On Friday April 16^th at 8 pm, you can watch the movie, Secrets of the Mountain, on NBC. I watched the trailer and it looks like a really great movie. So, get your family together and pop some popcorn and enjoy some time with your family.

Here’s what the movie is all about: “Somewhere between the demands of her career, her ex’s wedding and her kids’ busy schedules, Dana James is noticing her tight-knit family starting to unravel. An unexpected offer to purchase her family’s mountain property sets up a weekend road trip, which she hopes will bring her family back together. But when they arrive, they quickly learn that the mountain is much more than it seems. An ancient secret and a treacherous quest will test the family like never before. It’s an edge-of-the seat thriller that reminds us that when times are tough, families don’t run away from problems – they run back to each other”

Reading: A Frugal Hobby?

Lorie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 22:47:46 +0000

I never really started to enjoy reading as a hobby until I was a young adult. I had different authors and I had to go out and buy their newest books. I also put a lot of money into my reading hobby. After I had the kids and became a stay at home mom, there really was not enough money for me to give to my reading hobby, so I had to look for other ways to enjoy reading because I was not willing to give the hobby up.

The Local Library

One of the best discoveries of my life was finding my local library. They have a lot of the magazines I love to read and I can just go in there and read them for free. They also get my favorite authors newest books. If they don’t have a book I want, I usually just ask them to order it and I have never been turned down. I have even used interlibrary loan to find books that I wanted to read. The library also has books that my kids love to read. They also have programs for the kids throughout the year that are free. My library also sells used books that are donated to the library. I have found several that I love on those shelves. They charge $0.10 for paperbacks and $0.25 for hardbacks and you get a free book after you buy 10. I think that is a pretty good deal. So, the library is probably my best source for feeding my reading hobby.

Sharing Books with Friends

I have lots of friends who love to read and love to share their books. So, we exchange books we have read and save money that way. When I worked in an office, we all brought in several books we were finished reading and then made a mini library that we could check each others library books out. Some people worry that they will never get their books back this way, but I have never had a problem with it and have saved lots of money by sharing books with friends.

Book Exchanges

There are lots of book exchange clubs out there. One of the best known ones on the web is the PaperBackSwap. This service allows readers to swap books for almost free. You list the books you want to sell and get credits to get free books yourself. You do have to pay postage, so it is not free, but the cost is greatly reduced. They have millions of books to choose from, so why not check it out and see if they have something you would like.

Reviewing Books Online

If you have a blog, there are lots of opportunities to review books. Most of the time, you are sent a book to read and then have a set time to complete it. Then you just write a review on your blog. Some companies do pay reviewers, but most just give you the book for free. At Busy Mommy Media, you can review books and get them for free. There are certain guidelines, so make sure you know what you are signing up for.

Reading Books Online

There are lots of websites online that provide entire books for you to read. I have found a lot of classic books this way. It is kind of different reading them online and you might have to get used to that, but for me it has been a great way to read some of the classics. Some websites that have free books are Classic Reader and Full Books. Here’s a whole list of some more sites that might interest you.

So as you can see, you really don’t have to spend much money on the hobby of reading. There are so many ways to get books for free or lots cheaper. So, next time instead of buying a new book think about some of the more frugal ways to get books. And, yes, reading can be frugal.

Eating Well Magazine: $5 For 1 Year

Lorie — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:41:06 +0000

Are you trying to get fit and eat better this year. Here’s a little something to help you and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Get Eating Well Magazine for $5 a year from Amazon. You can even give it as a gift, but hurry this only last one week.

Watch Holiday Movies Online

Lorie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:20:07 +0000

During this time of year, I love to watch made for tv movies on my home television. Well, if you are trying to save money and don’t have all of the channels, or if you don’t have cable or satellite you can still watch some of these movies for free online. Many network websites have video players of full movies. You can even watch full episodes of some of your favorite show. This is a nice feature even if you do have access to the channel because you can watch the movie when you have time. Here are a few networks and the holiday movies they have on there right now. So, take some time and enjoy some movies for free on your computer.

Hallmark Channel

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year- I loved this movie. It’s about a woman who is kind of a Scrooge when it comes to Christmas and then her Uncle comes for Christmas and brings a stranger who teaches her about Christmas. This is a really cute movie.

Moonlight and Mistletoe- This is a movie about a woman who comes home to help her dad save his beloved Santaville business. I really enjoyed this movie too.

The Christmas Choir- I have not watched this one but it is about a workaholic who leads a chior of men living at a shelter.

ABC Family

Special Delivery

A Holiday For Love

Christmas Romance

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Snowglobe

A Holiday to Remember

Cranberry Christmas

And three other ABC Family original movies, but you can’t watch those until later in the month after they show on television You can go to ABC Familyand scoll to the bottom to see all the video player movies and when they show. I have not watched any of these yet, so I have lots to watch when I am ready!

Lifetime

12 Men of Christmas

The Family Holiday

Lost Holiday

Do you know of any other movies playing online? Share them with us in the comment section. If you have watched any of these give, us a brief review.

Save Money on Restaurants, Trips, and Other Family Fun

Carly — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:20:13 +0000

Today, families more than ever are looking to save money. However, having fun with your family is still a priority and something that all parents want to give to their children, but at a good price. No one can fully enjoy going out to restaurants or taking a vacation if they’re spending outside of what they can truly afford. Every family wants to live their lives to the fullest! Find out how to save on any activity your family wants to participate in.

Saving Money at Restaurants

A great way to save money at restaurants is to take advantage of promotional deals. KidsMealDeals.com and MyKidsEatFree.com are two great online sources for finding discounted or free meals for your children at local restaurants. Another source of savings are coupons in both large and smaller, independent newspapers. In my area, the smaller publications are placed in businesses all over the city and are free to take. They offer locally owned business coupons for bakeries, restaurants, shops, etc. This is one way to support local business and save money while doing something special with your family. It is also a great way to discover new or more ‘underground’ places. Some of what you find may turn into a family favorite!

Saving Money on Family Vacations and Trips

Vacations are one of the most memorable parts of growing up. It can be expensive to pay for accommodations and food for your family. WeJustGotBack.com is an excellent source for planning an economically friendly trip, and also for ideas and tips for taking vacations from other families. In addition, visiting hotel websites or calling the hotels in the city you’re considering staying in can net you a bargain as well. On top of promotions for kids staying or eating free, speaking to a manager directly can save you money. For a weekend trip, I found a room on a discount travel website, called the hotel, and the manager offered, without me even asking, to discount the room an additional 25% a night if I booked directly through them! Even if you do have to ask for an additional incentive to give a hotel your business, the worst that they can do is say no.

Saving Money on Everything Else, Every Time You Leave the House

Before we leave the house to buy anything out of the ordinary, I do a quick search to see if there are printable coupons out there for what we are about to do. One site that I can generally rely on is RetailMeNot.com. They offer printable coupons as well as promotional codes that can be used for online shopping discounts. I find myself going back to them again and again whether I’m buying clothing in the store or online, paint at a home improvement store, or looking to save money when we’re going out to have ice cream as a treat. Signing up at store and restaurant websites is also a great way to receive coupons directly in your inbox!
There is absolutely no reason to pay full price for anything in a market like the one we’re currently in. Business owners are fighting for your business. Take advantage of all of the free ways you can save money while still enjoying quality time with your family.

Frugal Dining with Discount Gift Certificates

Rachel — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:10:45 +0000

Being frugal does not mean you have to do without things that you enjoy. A little bit of advanced planning can often help you to enjoy a dinner out at your favorite restaurant for a fraction of what it would usually cost you. Discount gift certificates are available for many popular restaurant chains. You can often buy a $50 gift certificate for $20, which allows you to get a nice meal for not much more than it would cost for fast food.

Restaurant.com – This is a great resource for low cost gift certificates. You can find a great variety of restaurants that offer $10 gift certificates for $3, $25 gift certificates for $10, $50 gift certificates for $20, $75 gift certificate for $30, or a $100 gift certificate for $40. The more you spend, the better deal you get and there is nothing stopping you from using your gift certificate in multiple visits to the restaurant.

CityDeals.com – City Deals has a wider variety of discount gift certificates but some deals are better than others. The discounts range from a 3% discount to 50% discount and not only can you find restaurants, but many local attractions as well.

Get the Most for Your Money

MyKidsEatFree.com – Even if you have a great discount gift certificate to use, you want to get the most for your money. MyKidsEatFree.com will tell you all the restaurants in your area that offer discount kids meals on certain nights of the week.

Ordering water instead of soda or specialty drinks can save you quite a bit of money at a restaurant and they can be enjoyed for a fraction of the cost at home. Visit your favorite restaurants for lunch instead of dinner. They often serve the same meals and portions for a fraction of the cost. You don’t have to give up your favorite restaurants in an effort to live a more frugal lifestyle. A little advanced planning can help you enjoy the same things while being gentle on your budget.