Thinking of where to go on vacation in 2009.......

When January rolls around, me and dh's thoughts turn to where should we go on vacation this year?

This will be the fourth year in a row we have been on vacation, prior to that we rarely went on vacation. I remember we took the kids to Myrtle Beach when they were in their mid teens. However other than that we never really went on vacation. It was never a priority and we couldn't really afford it.

When the kids left home, we decided to make it more of a priority and although we still don't have a lot of money, with doing a couple of things we make sure we get away.

Here are a few things that save us money when going on vacation.

1. We prefer to stay in a condo or a house, as that way we can come and go as we please. I tend to get up early, so like to go and read or go on the Internet, which is a lot easier to do in a condo/house than a hotel room.

2. With staying a house/condo we eat breakfast in the house, and we either eat lunch or dinner in the house. This saves us money and also saves our stomach's. We find that eating out both at lunch and at dinner kills our stomach. We also eat out a lot at lunch time, as it tends to be a little cheaper and we don't like having heavy meals late at night.

3. Once we know where we are staying I check out on the Internet what grocery stores are in the place where we are staying and go on the Internet to see what they have on sale. Also I check to see if they have loyalty cards, which give us better savings.

4. As we have no young children or school age children, we tend to go on vacation when the school children are in school and it's a bit cheaper.

5. I check on the Internet for the tourist information for the area where we are staying, and request brochures and coupons for the area.

6. I put money away each week, year round towards the vacation, that way we are not scrambling to come up with money for it. As an example if you decide to go away Labour Day weekend (September 5th), and you put $20 a week away every Friday starting January 9th, you will have $700 saved up before you go away.

7. We drive to our vacation destination as it gives us more flexibility and it means we don't have to hire a car at the other end.

8. If we have to stay overnight at a hotel on our way to our vacation destination, I cash in my air miles for a hotel gift cards, so again it doesn't cost us any money. There are other ways of getting cheap hotel stays.

9. I research the area where we are staying and what attractions we would like to see, then go on their websites to see if they offer discounts. We bought a multi-attraction pass this summer when we were in Charleston and it was so worth while, it saved us a lot of money.

10. Booking last minute can save you money, however we like to plan ahead. Mind you, I discovered that they had reduced the rental fee on our condo in Charleston when we were there, so I asked them about reducing our fee and giving us a refund, and guess what they gave it to us, so it pays to ask!!!

I am sure there are many more ways on saving money when going on vacation and would love to hear your tips.

So I am sure you are dying to know where we are going this year..............NO IDEA!!!! Dh is favouring Tennessee again, we love the Smoky Mountains. I am thinking Virginia, Ohio or Pennsylvania, that area, but the mountains are calling us!!!! We tend to stick to the eastern side of the States, as we live in Southern Ontario.

So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also where are you planning on going on vacation this year?

***Don't forget your 25 cents today, if you are participating in the Daily Savings Club***

***Coming Wednesday 50 + 1 Recipes on Fruits, and so far there are some yummy recipes there, this week it will be Apples***

Today's Flower

My lovely neighbour gave us a beautiful bunch of flowers on Monday (29th), I wonder how long they will last? I love the reflection in the mirror.





For more Today's Flower photos, please click on the link.

Follow up to yesterday's post...........

What you all had to say got me thinking. I do believe if I had seen the show Mama Mia at the theatre, as a live performance I think it would probably have been more enjoyable. Going from a live show to a movie, it may have lost that "something."

I have also found that when books are made into movies I find there is a 50/50 chance you will either be pleased with the movie or just plain hate it. One example of this "Angela's Ashes," by Frank McCourt. The book was super, but the movie was just missing something.

I am sure you know of many more examples, and would love to hear all your thoughts on this?

Also as you may or may not know I am a Bzz Agent, one of the sites they are featuring which I found interesting is this site: Free Rice It makes you think, and is worth a visit. If anyone is familiar with this site, how do you know if they actually give rice?

Also here is a how too site that is interesting: Instructables

Did you remember to put your 25 cents into your pot today? You have already saved $1, just like that!

Am I the only one who didn't like this.......

Dh bought me the Mama Mia dvd for Christmas. I have heard nothing but good things about the movie. So we sit down on New Years Day to watch it. Now I have to say I didn't know anything about it, other than it includes Abba's music, and is about a girl getting married in the Greek Isles and she has a possible three choices of who her father could be, that she has invited to the wedding.

I started watching the dvd and it was weird, they just kept bursting out in song??? I just don't know, it wasn't unpleasant, just unusual. It was an easy enough movie to watch, it didn't need a lot of thought. I do have one question though....who told Pierce Brosnan that he can sing? He was painful to watch singing.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Will say thought I did enjoy the last scenes where they sing songs in "ABBA type" costumes.

So now it's your turn to yell at me and tell me how much you enjoyed this movie and I have no taste.....LOL

don't forget your quarter today for your pot!!

Recycling your Christmas cards

As mentioned in this post back in December, I asked you not to throw out your Christmas cards as I wanted to show you some ways of recycling them.

The one thing I do is cut them out to make gift tags. I use pinking shears which are scissors with zig-zag blades to cut out the tags on front of the cards. I punch a hole in them to tie them onto the presents using curling ribbon. I haven't had to buy gift tags in years and they are always unique.

Before:



After:



Another way of reusing them, is to make Christmas cards with them. Here is a link showing you how. Now you're saying to yourself what about the envelopes, well if you go to your local Hallmark or card store, they have surplus envelopes, and all you have to do is ask nicely. They generally get more envelopes than cards, and are generally more than willing to part with a bundle. That way you can make the cards to fit the envelopes. One cheap way of getting card stock paper, is buying Bristol Board the type of paper the kids buy at the dollar store to use for projects in school.

Another idea is to make a box so you can put a gift in it for next Christmas, here is the link to that.

Of course there are the usual, place mats, coasters, use for scrap booking, use as postcards and make a Christmas ball. Here is a link explaining how to do those crafts. Here is a how to on how to make the Christmas card ball.

You could also donate your used cards to local charities, where they recycle them. Check out your local charities for more information.

I hope this has given you some ideas? Also make sure you write down who you got Christmas Cards from so you know who to send to next year. If you can, buy your cards and wrapping paper in the sales, so you are all set for next year. Got no room to store them, place them in a garbage/bin bag and put them under the bed. Write down on your 2009 calendar that you have bought them so you won't forget.

Don't forget that 25 cents for your pot today!

Skywatch Friday........

I took these photos on Monday December, 29th. The sun was rising and it was such a brilliant sunrise. (If you click on the third one, you will see a plane)









For more Skywatch Friday photos please click on this link.

Happy New Year, should I die quietly or go out with a bang.......

I am sick, I have a terrible cold. Its one of those colds where you have to sit with your mouth open as you can't breathe through your nose............you know the one where you wake up in a morning and your throat and mouth feel like sandpaper, that sort of cold. Now I am beginning to look like Rudolph as I have to keep blowing my nose, and it is so red and sore. Oh and as I can't breathe thorough my nose, dh is telling me I am snoring like mad in bed.....personally I think he is exagerating, me snore, I don't think so!!!

So a Happy New Year to you all. We had a quiet New Years Eve, as I am sick. We normally go out for a meal, but I am just not up to that. This cold has really thrown me for a loop, I am so tired. So I said to dh we would wait until I was feeling better. Of course I was in bed early as I am so tired, but that's no change, as I can't remember when we did see the New Year in.

I have to say 2008 wasn't a bad year, it was full of ups and downs, but overall it wasn't bad. Lets hope 2009 is a happy, healthy and positive year for all of us.

Also don't forget to put your first 25 cents into your savings pot, if you are particpating in the Daily Savings Club.