My Frugal Year

I can’t help it. I suppose that’s fair considering it’s our first family vacation. Circumstances over the years just haven’t allowed it before, but that’s all over and here we are a few months out from our fabulous Disney World vacation. I did get a great discount – 40% off the hotel room and picked the best time to go – when I’d already be in Orlando for a business conference so my airfare was covered.

SO…with summer coming up, I figured I’d go looking for some ways to save money for vacations and good vacation discounts out there to share with you!

First of all, I’m a fan of online surveys. As I’ve said before, you won’t get rich doing it, but every little bit helps, right? For over a year now I admit I’ve been horribly lazy about completing surveys, so the income isn’t what it could be. Still, last year I earned over $500 and so far this year close to $200. Here are some of my favorites:

Those are my favorites and ones I get checks from regularly. Now of course, there is MyPoints. While they don’t pay cash, you can trade in points for great vacation stuff like airline miles, Marriott certificates, restaurant gift cards and all sorts of wonderful things. You earn points by clicking on links from emails and shopping through the links on the site if you choose.

Now for some travel savings:

Expedia is a great place to shop for flights, hotels and such:

Priceline lets you set the price you’ll pay:

Southwest is running some great deals right now!

So there are some vacation savings ideas for you. I’m already throwing my spare change in a jar to plan for a real vacation next year too!

So no, didn’t get done what I wanted to get done today. I spent most of the day working on homework and catching up on laundry, so my basement project was yet again delayed. No biggie – I’ll get to it. That makes me laugh because I have about four years worth of “I’ll get to it” down there. I just don’t want so much time to go by that I suddenly have twenty years of “I’ll get to it” down there.

I did take a little trip to the thrift store today and got an adorable pair of jeans for six bucks and a couple of shirts for my son. My son is growing out of things faster than I can keep up. And me…well, I needed an extra pair of jeans that actually fit until I lose this spare holiday weight.

Speaking of holiday weight…in case you didn’t gain enough, Hickory Farms is having a killer sale. I mean RIDICULOUS prices on some seriously yummy stuff. Very well worth checking out. That is some serious savings – like 75% off. Can’t go wrong with summer sausage and cheese!