Must-Read Tips for Big Travel Savings

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You love exploring new places with your family. There definitely are those favorite places you love to return to over and over again. Unfortunately, money can be a major barrier to traveling as much as you would like. What if there were ways to save money on travel even if you have a big family? You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

Planning

You don’t always have to plan in advance to save money. Hotels often offer last minute deals to fill up unsold rooms. On the flip side of that, the earlier you book your flight the more you are likely to save on it. Also, it can be worth it to drive a little further to an airport with cheaper flights, depending on your options. This all boils down to knowing the best timing for deals before you start planning. In addition to the tips above, don’t forget that going in the off-season for an area will also help save you a bundle. Do some research and find out when the off-season is for your vacation destination.

 

You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

Free Rewards

Another tip worth taking advantage of is free rewards programs. When you sign up for loyalty programs for free, you can reap the benefits on purchases you already make. Hotels offer perks like free internet and breakfast or even points towards a free stay! Another rewards program type to look into is gas station rewards programs. You can earn discounts on fuel, free coffees, and more through these rewards. Again, they are totally free for you to sign up for and they are an excellent way to save even more on trips!

 

You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

Save on Flights

If it is an option at an airport near you, fly with an airline that has no bag fees. Unfortunately this isn’t available in all areas. That doesn’t mean you can’t still save some dough. Here are other tips that will help you save:

  • Pack Efficiently – If you can fit everything in a carry-on you will pay a lot less on baggage fees. As a bonus, you won’t have to worry about the airline losing your luggage.
  • Purses – Purses and similar sized bags always fly free. Get more free luggage on by having every member of your family bring a bag on board.
  • Be Flexible – Book your flight first and be flexible in your dates. Once you find flight dates in your price range, book the rest of your trip around them.

Save with Lodging

When booking a place to stay, don’t only focus on saving on lodging. You also want to keep in mind how your lodging can save you on your vacation. Food is a major expense when you travel so try to book lodging with a kitchen. If you are staying 5+ days it is worth it to look at condo rentals. If it will be a shorter trip, try to find a hotel room with a refrigerator and microwave at the very least. This will allow you to visit a grocery store and eat some meals in your hotel room. Another way to save is to share one room with your kids (especially when they are younger). Not only will you save money, you will get some quality bonding time in such close quarters.

 

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Drive

You can save hundreds or more if you drive instead of fly, even if you rent a car. Yes, the trip might take longer but it also makes the trip a fun family adventure. The journey can be just as exciting as the destination. Here’s how you can save even more on vacation by driving:

 

You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

Get Your Money Back

When you book your vacation, save even more by earning cash back for free (and no, I’m not talking about a credit card). You are booking all of your travel online anyway so use Ebates and earn cash back on all of it. You will be able to earn cash back on your arrangements whether you book through the direct sites or not. Simply make sure that you have the web browser plugin installed and it will alert you whenever cash back is available for the site you’re on. If you want to save even more, book your entire trip through a site like Hotwire. This will find great deals for you and it earns you cash back through Ebates. Perfect way to get the most bang for your buck.

 

You can create big memories on a small budget! These tips for big travel savings will help make more family adventures possible.

When you use these tips it’s not a question of if you will save but how much more will you save on travel. You will even save on last minute travel arrangements. Plus, the more you use these tips the quicker they will become second-nature for you helping you save all of the time. When you use Ebates every time you book, you can just sit back and watch the cash back stack up. You’ll be the go-to travel guru in the family! Where will your family go this year? I’d love to hear about your adventure plans in the comments!

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Healthy Raspberry Pops

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It’s no secret that grandparents love spoiling their grandchildren. You may even look at your parents sometimes and think, “Where was this when I was a kid?” However, some of their indulgences may be ruining your waistline. For example, in our house, the grandparents are always sending treats and candies home with us for the kids. It is a super sweet gesture that is greatly appreciated by the kiddos. On the other hand, I regulate how many sweets our kids get so hubs usually eats a good chunk of the sweets sent home. Grandma recently sent a box of push-pops home with us and, of course, the kids loved them! These were the top request whenever allowed to have a treat or dessert. With summer coming up I wanted to come up with a cool treat that I wouldn’t feel guilty about letting them have (or about indulging in myself) so I came up with these ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops. These seriously take 2 ingredients, freeze, and you’re done!

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

Here is a cool treat that you won't feel guilty about eating! These ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops are the perfect sweet-tooth indulgence.

Also, you don’t have to have any fancy appliances to do this.  I don’t own an electric mixer of any kind (this is not true anymore since I received a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas! Yay!) or a food processor.  I do have ice pop molds, but you don’t even have to have those.  You can use paper cups, ice cube trays, or whatever you have handy.  Don’t let a lack of modern conveniences keep you from making this delicious treat.

 

[bctt tweet=”These healthy raspberry pops are a cool treat that you won’t feel guilty about eating! #healthy” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Here is a cool treat that you won't feel guilty about eating! These ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops are the perfect sweet-tooth indulgence.

Ingredients

Step 1

Blend all of the raspberries in your blender until liquefied. I used the smoothie setting on mine.

Note:

  • If you don’t have a blender you can totally mash up the raspberries by hand using a ladle and a bowl. You won’t get as smooth of a consistency but the pops will still be super tasty!

Step 2

Add your yogurt to the blender and continue to pulse until well mixed.

Note:

  • Again, if you don’t have a blender, no worries! Simply mix well in a bowl using a wooden spoon.

 

Here is a cool treat that you won't feel guilty about eating! These ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops are the perfect sweet-tooth indulgence.

Step 3

Pour into ice pop molds and freeze overnight.

Tip:

  • If you’d like to sweeten these up more, add 1 cup of sugar during step 2.  I didn’t and the kids still loved them but they do have a slightly more tart taste because of the raspberries. Also, keep in mind that adding sugar diminishes how healthy the pops are.

 

Here is a cool treat that you won't feel guilty about eating! These ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops are the perfect sweet-tooth indulgence.

Here is a cool treat that you won't feel guilty about eating! These ridiculously easy healthy raspberry pops are the perfect sweet-tooth indulgence.

Recipe Makes

Roughly 10 pops depending on the size of your molds. If using small paper cups for this recipe you will have more.

Now you have a delicious and healthy treat to satisfy your sweet tooth without blowing your calories. You can also let kiddos indulge. This is so much healthier than anything you get off the ice cream truck! (Although, those sno-cones are super yummy!) Feel free to mix up the flavors too! Use different fruits and yogurts to make some custom flavors your family will love. You could even have a taste competition to see who invents the best pops! Looking for more guilt-free recipes? Try these Lemon-Dill Cucumber Chips!

 

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Organizing Gifts and Wrapping

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You have a ton of options when it comes to organizing your gifts and wrapping. Some lucky ladies have the space for an entire gift wrap station! If you are anything like me, you simply don’t have that kind of space available to you. Don’t let that keep you from keeping your gifts and wrapping organized. There are plenty of space-saving products you can buy or DIY’s you can make that will help you. Stay on top of organizing gifts and wrapping to make last minute gifts for birthdays, holidays, and hostesses.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money. Find out why and how to do it here!

 

[bctt tweet=”Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money! #organize #savemoney #gifts” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Wrapping

We save gift bags in our house because, frankly, the idea of getting rid of something used so briefly seems wasteful to me. The caveat is to make sure you use them. Don’t let them take up precious storage space if you are still going to go out and buy new each time you need one. Only you know yourself well enough to make this decision but if you don’t keep them, consider donating them to a store like Goodwill instead of trashing them.

Wrapping is a trickier one. Unless you buy enough gifts for every occasion to use an entire roll of wrapping paper, you will need to create a system for storing the leftovers. Having an organizational system in place also saves you money by allowing you to stock up when gift wrap is on sale (like the paper used to cover these storage boxes). There are a lot of options for this so I’m only going to share my favorite store-bought options and the system that we use.

I have personally used, or have family that uses, the above organizers for gift wrap. However, currently we use the closet side of an antique armoire my Papa gave us. This allows everything to be stored without fear of damage and also as the one-stop party supplies station. This will be shared in a later post.

 

Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money. Find out why and how to do it here!

Supplies

When creating a space for organizing gift wrap, don’t forget to have an area for supplies as well. A hanging organizer is great for this if you are going the DIY route for your wrapping. Another option is to place supplies in a Ziplock bag and poke a metal hanger through the top for easy hanging. Supplies to remember to include with your gift wrap is:

 

Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money. Find out why and how to do it here!

Gifts

This is an organizational area that many people don’t consider. However, if you are looking to save money, I highly recommend having a system for storing gift deals you find all year long. We use a large plastic storage container for this (the lid broke but I didn’t want to throw out the container since it was still usable). You can start saving money on your gifts by following these three easy steps:

  1. Find an area safe from the prying fingers and eyes of your family (namely, the tiny humans that live with you).
  2. Throughout the year, as you find incredible deals on gifts and toys, you can purchase them and store them for later.
  3. Pull these out if you need a gift for an unexpected birthday party, a hostess gift, or knock out Christmas gifts early to decrease the monetary burden around the holidays.

Not only will this system save you time, it will also save you money. If you choose to use your gift organizing system for Christmas gifts, make sure you keep a list that allows you to keep track of what you have bought and for whom.

Organizing gifts and wrapping is one of the best organizing features for saving money. You will see a huge savings if you are able to set up a system for organizing gifts throughout the year. Once you are done with this area, be sure to come back and get ideas for organizing your life from A to Z.

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