Once again, the Smithsonian is offering free admission to various museums this Fall. There is a limit of one pass (good for two people) per household, and you must request your tickets in advance. More information is available here: http://microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/
This is going to make a great cheap homeschool field trip! There are quite a few participating museums within driving distance of my house!
Do you have children 12 or under who like to read? Head over to Borders.com and print out this form to earn a free book this summer. Offer ends 8/26/10, so get busy reading!
Also, many public libraries also offer summer reading programs with rewards. Last year, my children were able to earn free kids’ meals, zoo passes, and museum passes through our library’s program. Make sure to check out your local library too!
You can create three free 5 x 7 photo cards at Shutterfly and just pay shipping with code CARD4GRAD. Shipping was $1.05 total for me, which is pretty awesome for three nice, customized cards. Dad and both Grandpas are going to enjoy these Father’s Day cards! This offer ends May 19, but make sure to check out their special offers page for other deals on customized photo gifts!
Fisher Price offered this earlier in the summer, but now they have another free DVD offer! Just go here and click on the Free DVD offer in the bottom right hand corner. This does take 12-16 weeks to deliver, so just when you have forgotten about it, boom — stocking stuffer!
Summer is well underway, and with it comes the urge to experience some adventure or just get away for a break from the mundane before we head back into Fall, school, and winter drear. However, who can enjoy getting away when you end up spending your life savings? With a little bit of planning and packing, your vacation can stay within your budget.
As far as destinations, the good news is that many popular sites are offering substantial discounts this year due to a lack of travellers. Six Flags is offering reduced tickets at most of their locations, and they aren’t alone! If a theme park is in your plans, do your homework, look for promotional codes online, and see if you save by buying tickets in advance. Don’t rule out the freebies, either! Free-attractions.com has a list for every state. National parks and state parks generally have lots going on in the summer for minimal expense as well. Check their websites for their calendar of events if you have flexibility with regard to the dates for your vacation.
Ordering an Entertainment book for the area you will be visiting can be a big saver as well. You can preview most books on the web, and decide if there are enough coupons for things you will be doing so that it will pay off. The good news is that the books are substantially discounted this late in the year because some of the coupons are expired. Just do your homework and decide if it will work for you. What we save on a hotel room generally more than pays for the book, so it’s a good value for our family.
Food and lodging are the two biggest expenses, but with the Entertainment coupons and other offers, they can be minimized. Pack a cooler with snacks and drinks, and replenish it from a regular grocery store. You’ll pay double for those items at convenience marts if you stop along the way! Mykidseatfree has lists of deals for every state so you can plan where you will eat on which nights. For example, Texas Roadhouse has .99 kids’ meals on Mondays, and Fazolis and Dennys have free kids’ meals on Tuesdays.
Finally, if you are really strapped for cash this summer, consider a “staycation.” It’s amazing how we often miss the fun stuff close to home just because “we live there.” Pack up the cooler and check out a new place nearby!
While fixing a thermos of coffee for my husband to tote to work one morning, the seal snapped. A thermos without a rubber seal isn’t much good, but there wasn’t time to run out and slap down $25 for another Stanley, much less order a new seal. He needed the thermos now! In desperation, I remembered the broccoli I had purchased the day before, snagged the thick rubber band from it, folded it over, and presto! The improvised seal has now lasted longer that the original seal which came with the thermos, and when it does go, we will just have broccoli again. If we hadn’t been in such a hurry, I probably would have plunked down the cash for a new seal or thermos. Since buying new wasn’t an option, I was forced to think outside the box, with frugal results.
How many times do we throw away items which aren’t so very difficult to fix? Just by keeping a basic supply of glues (super glue, wood glue, epoxy, gorilla glue), stain removers, touch up paints, and approaching the problem from the standpoint of “I can’t buy a new one, so how do I make this work?” you might be surprised to find just how much creativity you posess. Some of our favorite fixes include a 50 cent cabinet handle on a crockpot lid, vaseline to hide scratches in an LCD monitor (that solution was found in a Google search), WD 40 to remove melted crayon from clothes, and mini blind brackets screwed into a plastic toy rifle to hold the barrel on.
In my less frugal days, I once purchased a new coffee pot, then discovered that the old one only needed a more thorough cleaning. What a waste of $45! Are you ready to take the fix it challenge? After all, if it’s already broken, what do you have to lose by doing a little experimentation?
When faced with the prospect of having two children in diapers again, suddenly the coupons and sales just weren’t cutting it anymore. The thought of $80 per month going straight to city dump was downright depressing, so I began to investigate my options. After all, disposable diapers are relatively new on the scene, so what have moms done for the past several millenia? (more…)