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Frugal Tips for Summer Activities

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Summer vacation is a great time for families to go out and do things together. Visiting amusement parks, dining out, and staying in hotels can end up costing a lot of money. Travel expenses can quickly add up, too. Here are some frugal tips that will help your family enjoy summer vacation without having to go into a lot of debt. Pack some snacks. Make use of your child’s lunchbox this summer. It is the perfect container for easy to eat snacks that your family can bring along on car trips. Instead of stopping the car at the nearest fast … Continue reading →

Shortening Summer Vacation

Know how to shut down an unruly kid in record time? Tell him that his school is shortening summer vacation. I’ve never seen a mouthy child go silent as quickly as I did last week while watching the evening news at our neighbor’s house.  Education leaders recently began serious talks about lengthening the academic year here. Of course, all my neighbor’s rowdy kid heard was:  “Next year, public school kids across the state could be dealing with a much shorter summer vacation.” The news reporter’s last three words nearly triggered an aneurysm in my neighbor’s kid. My child attends parochial … Continue reading →

Save Now for Summer

It may be hard to think about summer when there is snow in the forecast and we haven’t even hit January. Even so, I suggest that you do think of summer, because if you plan ahead now, you will save later. Swimwear Believe it or not, some stores will start putting their swimwear out on the floor as soon as the Christmas season is over. In fact, we haven’t even hit Christmas, and I’ve already seen bikinis in department stores. Take advantage of this to get some advanced sales on brand new swimwear. After Christmas, use those gift cards you … Continue reading →

Are You Afraid of Summer?

It’s the end of June. For many people, school is ending. Whatever your pattern, it’s likely that if you’re involved in extracurricular activities or summer vacations at all, your patterns will change during the summer months. While this is lovely and can lead to restful times, exciting times at camps, and happy family days together, the summer can also bring stress. In recent years, I’ve realized that June is another early December. Many years ago, I started to clear out December. It had become a month of intensive family activity, and it didn’t need to be. Yes, Christmas is a … Continue reading →

Dog Days of Summer: Pets on Vacation

Pet owners face a unique situation when making our summer travel plans: we have to worry about our pets. Do we only go places where we can take our pets, or do we try to find care for them while we’re away? Website Pet Relocation released its third annual Summer Pet Travel Survey. They found that 70% of the people questioned plan to travel with their pets. If you want to take your animals along with you on vacation this summer, there are a few things you have to consider. Make sure you can bring your animal with you where … Continue reading →

Early Summer Deals at Disneyland

Summer might not be officially here yet, but for all purposes it is. That means Disneyland’s finally updated its special offers page to include new deals for the summer. Southern California residents/Disneyland annual pass holders make out the best, but there are still tempting deals for anyone looking to make a Disneyland trip in the next few months. Any Southern California residents out there? You’ve probably all been to Disneyland before, but I highly recommend going in the next week. Purchase a 2-Day 1-Park per-day ticket between now and June 1, and that ticket will only cost you $99. The … Continue reading →

Beat the Disney Crowds with TouringPlans.com

It’s actually possible to visit a Disney park and not have to wait in extremely long lines. Depending on the time of year you make your trip, the park isn’t that crowded. However, if you want to take your kids to Disney World and don’t want to pull them out of school in order to do so, you’re looking at visiting during one of the busy seasons: the summer, or around a big holiday. Even if you have to travel to Disney during a crowded time you still have some options for reducing time spent in lines. There is an … Continue reading →

Cheap and Easy Summer Fun with Kids

As I mentioned in a previous blog, you don’t have to fly to Disney or rent an expensive RV and hit the road on a two-week vay-cay to make lasting summer memories with your kids. If the struggling economy has you scaling back on your summer vacation plans, then consider sticking closer to home and bonding with your children while taking part in the following activities: Berry Picking Strawberry picking is a summertime tradition in our family. Each June, we drive to a nearby farm and pick pounds and pounds of fresh, juicy berries. The family-friendly activity is geared towards … Continue reading →

Take Time Out for Yourself This Summer

One of the things that can be easy to do when you work from home is to put in more time than perhaps you really should. You can get very easily get caught up in the whole workaholic syndrome. For some people with home businesses, they find summertime to be the perfect opportunity to take time off. But for other people (myself included) it actually becomes a perfect opportunity to do more. Since my children are now teens and have their own plans going on almost everyday, it actually leaves me more time to do more things throughout the day. … Continue reading →

Before You Leave for Summer Vacation 2

Your summer vacation can be even more relaxing when you know that everything is well at home. Yesterday, I wrote about how to prepare your home for vacation, and now I’d like to continue that list of things that you need to do before you leave. Take a good look at everything in your home that is plugged in. Unplug small appliances, decorative lamps and fountains and anything that does not need electricity while you are gone. This will cut down on the risk of an electrical fire and save you money on electricity costs while you are gone. In … Continue reading →