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Seven Ways to Save on Vacations

Consumer Queen — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 17:04:57 +0000

Vacations are a wonderful way to escape the mundane routine of everyday life. People try to plan all year long for these activities. If you are trying to save for vacation, you may feel there is never enough money. You might also have the impression that you must spend every cent in order to have a successful trip. These are severe misconceptions. Vacations do not have to wipe you out financially. There are smart ways you can save on such adventures. The following tips can help you to maximize your vacation funds.

1. The Off-Season
There are certain times of the year when a vacation is simply too expensive. You will have as much fun going to an exotic island in the fall, as you will in the summer time. Check hotels where you want to go and review the prices for rooms throughout the seasons. Book your trip at the time of the year when rooms are cheapest.

2. Utilize Discounts
Hotels, airplanes, and car rental businesses always offer discounts to certain groups of people. Carefully study the discounts you can get. If you have AAA coverage, you can save big on these things. Students can receive special discounts as well. Make sure you check with the company you are dealing with and ask about special discounts.

3. Use Coupons
Certain websites will have coupons and codes for all areas of vacationing. You might be able to get a two for one deal on a restaurant meal, 50% percent off on a plane ticket, or 20% percent off items at a nearby gift shop. The internet has a plethora of coupons for you. All you have to do is research.

4. Buy Packages
If you are going to a famous tourist attraction area, you may be able to save money by ordering a package. Some packages include hotel room stays, car rentals, drinks, amusement park tickets, and plane tickets. These packages can save you hundreds of dollars.

5. Book in Advance
Timing is everything when it comes to a vacation. The earlier you get your reservations in, the cheaper your tickets will be. This includes train tickets, plane tickets, and hotel rooms. The prices of plane tickets can change drastically from one day to the next, so you have to get a jump on your reservations.

6. Travel by Automobile
Even though fuel prices are painstakingly high these days, driving is still the cheapest way to go. If you can stand to put the mileage on your own vehicle, this would be your best option. However, a rental car is the next best choice. Try your hardest to reserve an economy vehicle so you can save on gas. Reserve the smallest and least expensive car. In addition, you should reserve it for an entire week instead of by the day.

7. Opt for Motels Over Hotels
Many people make the mistake of reserving rooms in extravagant hotels. There is no reason for this as the only thing you will do in your hotel is sleep. All you need is a bed, shower, refrigerator, and microwave. Most motels offer these accessories. Motels are fifty percent cheaper than hotels. If you opt to choose a motel over a hotel, you can spend that money on the fun parts of your trip.

If you follow these tips appropriately, you will have more money in your pocket to enjoy your vacation. You could also put the extra cash back into your savings account for other things. Plan your trip carefully and make wise decisions with every move you make.

Guest Post by: Amy Ecker loves to write about fine dining, travel the world & work on improving her credit score.

Get MORE out of Family Fun- Tips for Summer

Consumer Queen — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:00:33 +0000

As you know I have been working with Tony's Pizza in their "99 Days of More " program. This will be my final post in the campaign with them. Today we are going to talk about how to Get MORE out of Family Fun. Basically tips on how you can spend time with your family and not spend a lot of cash. When I stayed at home, during the summer the kids and I always found plenty of things to. We got a calendar at the dollar store and planned out activities every week. At least 1 day a week we would play "Destination Unknown " with the kids. (click the link to read a past post on explaining Destination Unknown). This was my kids favorite things to do during the summer. Below are a list of summer time activities that you can do with your kids and I have broken them out into categories.

The local zoo- Check to see if your local zoo has a pass that you can buy for the whole year which will save you a ton of money.
The park
The lake
The local pool
$1 Movies
Drive In Theater
The Dollar Tree ( or local dollar store)- Each child got $5 to spend which = 5 toys
Nature Walk - Make an "I Spy" Bingo Card and the kids have to mark off their card. If they marked off their whole list they got a prize which I bought at the dollar store.
National Parks- If you have a National Park in your area you can usually find plenty of things to do here and the cost is minimal and sometimes free. (April 16-24 is National Park Week.
What other "Destination Unknown" places can you think of.

Tips anyone can do:

Sidewalk Chalk Day
Bike Ride
Water Balloon Fight
Making Homemade Bubbles
Scrapbooking
Duct Tape Art
Lego Building Contest
Sprinkler Relays
Melt old crayons to make new ones
Baking Cookies
Plant a Garden
Cheap things to do with your kids this summer
Make Homemade playdough
What other things can you think of? Do you have a homemade recipe you would like to share with our readers? Maybe you have a great craft idea? Please send your recipe and craft ideas and include photos and will put them on the blog and give you credit.

Tips for Oklahoma:

Martin Nature Park - (Free)
Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum
Harn Homestead (Tours $5)
Oklahoma Railway Museum (Free)
Oklahoma City Zoo- $7 and they have a zoo pass for $65 which includes 2 adults and 5 children.(save $5 if you buy by April 30th)
Arbuckle Wilderness- Adults $16.99 Children $14.99 (this was usually a one time things since it was a little more expensive)
Turner Falls Adults $12 Children $6
Great Salt Plains - (Free)
Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks- $13.95 adults and $9.95 kids
Natural History Museum in Norman - $5 adults $3 kids
Winchester Drive In Theater - $5 Adults $3 Children
There are many more places I haven't listed. Do you have a favorite to share?

Also check out Exploring Oklahoma with Children from Metro Family Magazine!

This is a sponsored post through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club member program.

Branson: A holiday get-away

Consumer Queen — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:20:08 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hilton Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

When someone mentions Branson, what comes to mind? The beautiful trees in the fall? How about Silver Dollar City? What about spending the holidays there? You heard me right, Branson offers so much that it makes a great get-away for the holidays.

Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is located in the heart of downtown Branson. It has dining, entertainment and a shopping district with over 100 speciality stores to choose from! With room rates starting at $89.00 it is an affordable option for your family. Speaking of family. How about planning your family reunion around the holidays. Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel has family reunion rooms available also.

Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing is another great option for your holiday retreat. With it sitting on the shores of Lake Taneycomo, it will make all your worries just melt away. It also has dining, entertainment and shopping located within walking distance. With room rates starting at $109 you will have plenty of money to spend at any of the 49 live shows.

If you decide to spend your Christmas at the Hilton hotels in Branson you can enjoy a breakfast with Santa Claus and story time with Mrs. Claus! Your family will never forget their Christmas experience at Branson.

The Great Cookie Exchange At Hershey!

Queen Mum — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:55:19 +0000

This week I'm in Hershey PA for the Hershey Cookie Exchange Event.
No, I haven't turned into the cafeteria lady lol! I'm at Chocolate
World creating my very own chocolate bar in the Hershey mini factory!

Designing my candy wrapper!

Joyful Almond Cookies - Yummy!
Get this Hershey Recipe below:

JOYFUL ALMOND COOKIES
Courtesy of Hershey Pastry Chef Thomas Pratt

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

2.25 ounces almond paste
8 ounces of butter, unsalted
4.75 ounces granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of almond extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 egg
3 ounces coconut, sweet flakes
10 ounces all-purpose flour

Glaze:

6 ounces Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 ounce butter, unsalted
1.4 ounces light corn syrup

Garnish:

5 ounces smokehouse almonds, whole

DIRECTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

To make the dough: Cream the almond paste and butter. Add the sugar, salt and extracts. Add the egg, then the coconut and
flour, just until mixed.

Scoop with a small scoop and bake, approximately 14 minutes, until lightly browned on the edges.

Place cookies on a rack with parchment underneath.

To make the glaze: Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler, add the butter and corn syrup. Whisk until smooth.

Pour the chocolate glaze over the cookies and allow to set up.

To garnish: Chop almonds into small pieces and add to the top of each cookie while the glaze is still warm.

Tip: Be careful not to get your chocolate to0 hot and stir until melted to prevent the chocolate from seizing up:

The chocolate on the left is what the chocolate should look like.
The chocolate on the right is what happens when it gets too hot.

These were really delish!
When you try these let us know what you think!

Lesson 3 – How To Shop With Coupons

Queen Mum — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:12:59 +0000

It's friday and time for another lesson in couponing!

You've now got your coupons all organized in your binder and your ready to shop! The following tips help you get the most for your money using coupons:

If your store has a loyalty card sign up for it! Many stores will only allow you to get their sale prices if you have a store card.

Check your stores weekly ads for sales and match up your coupons or visit ConsumerQueen.com and check the blog or forums for deals at your store. We post the weekly deals and where to find the coupons to use for them. All the work is done for you!

Make a list before you shop: I always make a list of what I'm going to buy and which coupons coupons I'm going to use. This keeps me from forgetting anything or buying something don't need.

Keep the coupons for your shopping trip together: When I plan a shopping trip I place all the coupons I'm going to use at the store for that day together in an extra pocket of my binder. That way when I get to the store with my list I don't have to search through my binder to find them.

Buy multiples: If you can get 5 tubes of toothpaste for free or really cheap, get them! By the time you go through those 5 tubes of toothpaste they'll probably be on sale again. If it's something you don't use, buy it and donate!!

Always check the clearance section for really cheap items you can use your coupons on.

Check the meat department: Most stores will discount meat that is getting close to it's "sell by" date. I get a lot of really cheap packs of meat that I freeze and use later. You can always check the ConsumerQueen.com coupon data base for meat coupons.

Price match: Walmart and other stores will price match competitor's ad sale prices. The items must be identical to get the price match. In other words, if Target has Crest Pro-Health 4.0-oz. mint flavored toothpaste on sale for $2.00 then you can get Crest pro-Health 4.0-oz. mint flavored toothpaste at Walmart if you show them your Target ad.

See a great deal on chips but the expiration date is tommorrow? Not to worry, Cheetos, Fritos, Sun Chips, Tostitos, Doritos and most snack crackers can be frozen. What's really great is you can eat them right out of the freezer- no thawing! The items never freeze hard and stay fresh forever! Other items you can freeze are saltines, bread, coffee, tea bags and shredded cheese. You can also freeze milk but you know the expression "don't try this at home"? Well, take my word for it, don't try freezing skim milk or sour cream!

Stockpiling:

The number one reason most people don't coupon (or don't for very long) is they don't understand the concept of stockpiling. I hear statements all the time like " I used to take coupons to the store but I just didn't save enough to make it worthwhile" or " It's not worth all the trouble to coupon if I'm only going to save a few dollars here and there" If all you're doing is cutting out coupons for your regular weekly shopping trips then both of those statements are probably true. In order to save BIG bucks you need to learn the art of stockpiling.

This the number 1 reason you need to have several copies of the Sunday paper coupon inserts! When you find dish soap on sale for cheap or free buy 5 of them, when you find 5 cans of SpaghettiO's for $.25 each, buy 5 of them. Pretty soon you'll have a stockpile of items that cost you very little. The more you have in your stockpile the less you'll have to buy on your weekly shopping trips. After awhile you'll find you're buying very little regular priced items and saving a bundle on your grocery bill! Stores put things on sale in cyles so buy the time you've used up your stockpile on something it will be on sale again!

What does your family use the most? If you only use mustard every once in awhile then just buy 2 instead of 5. Your stockpile will depend on you and your family's wants and likes.

Designate a closet or cabinet for your stockpiled items. If you don't have enough room to keep it all in one place, split it up. Put your stockpile of toilet paper, toothpaste etc. in the linen closet or extra shelf in your bathroom. Put extra canned goods in your pantry if you have room.

Now you're ready to hit the store and shop!! Next week we'll discuss some advanced ways to use coupons to save even more money. Check back next Friday for Lesson 4 - Coupon Money Makers!

If you missed our previous lesson just click on the ones you like to read from the list below:

Lesson 1- Coupons: Where to find them
Lesson 2- Organizing & Storing Coupons

Thanks to some of my BlogHer Sponsors @Trichology @MabelHood @TinyPrints

Consumer Queen — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 19:40:10 +0000

I wanted to thank Tiny Prints for sponsoring my BlogHer10 business cards. They saved my hiney. I had ordered 1,000 Business Cards and they got ruined in the flood. Tiny Prints put in a last minute order and will hand deliver to me at BlogHer! Thanks Guys

Mabels Labels is sending me Bag Tags for my luggage as well as someother labels to keep me organized. Thanks @MabelHood

Walmart for Sponsoring my trip! (MUAH)

Last but not least thanks to @Trichology Salon for sponsoring my cut, color & eyebrow wax for BlogHer10. They did an amazing job and the offer free Brow Wax every Friday. Check out their website for specials.

Have a safe Memorial weekend/Holiday Road Trip

Consumer Queen — Sat, 29 May 2010 05:19:18 +0000

The family and I are taking a break from blogging during the holiday weekend. You can follow along with us on our trip by clicking on the Whrrl Story below. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.

More check-ins at Holiday Road trip With The Royal Dogs

Saving at National Parks-Access Pass

Consumer Queen — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:47:04 +0000

Last year we took the kids to Mount Rushmore and we found out about some great deals.With summer approaching I thought it would be a great time to talk about some travel savings.In this post we will cover National Parks.

April 17th -25th is National Park week ! Get in free at over 392 National Parks.

Access Pass: Because of Daniel's disease we found out that he qualifies for an Access Pass.

A free, lifetime pass - available to U.S. citizens or permanent residents of the United States that have been medically determined to have a permanent disability - that provides access to recreation areas managed by five Federal agencies.

The Access Pass admits pass owner/s and passengers in a non-commercial vehicle at per-vehicle fee areas and pass owner + 3 adults, not to exceed 4 adults, where per-person fees are charged. (Children under 16 are always admitted free.) Note: Photo identification will be requested to verify pass ownership.

The Access Pass also provides the pass owner a discount on some Expanded Amenity Fees (see question #1 in Access Pass Benefits section).

Lifetime Senior Pass: Any U.S. citizen or permanent resident age 62 or older can qualify for a lifetime pass for only $10 that provides access to, and use of, Federal recreation sites that charge an Entrance or Standard Amenity. The pass admits the pass holder and passengers in a non-commercial vehicle at per vehicle fee areas and pass holder + 3 adults, not to exceed 4 adults, at per person fee areas (children under 16 are admitted free). The pass can only be obtained in person at the park. The Senior Pass provides a 50 percent discount on some Expanded Amenity Fees charged for facilities and services such as camping, swimming, boat launch, and specialized interpretive services. In some cases where Expanded Amenity Fees are charged, only the pass holder will be given the 50 percent price reduction. The pass is non-transferable and generally does NOT cover or reduce special recreation permit fees or fees charged by concessionaires.

The Forest Service, the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation honor the Senior Pass at sites where Entrance or Standard Amenity Fees are charged.

In addition, the Corps of Engineers and Tennessee Valley Authority may honor the Senior Pass. (Visitors are always encouraged to call any park/site before visiting for pass acceptance info.)

You can also visit or call your local travel & tourism for brochures coupons and more. You can usually get a great package deal including hotels and more. Once you get to your hotel look for discount coupons in the hotel lobby.

For my local Oklahomans you can visit TravelOK.com for great travel spots here in Oklahoma.You can also enter to win 1 of 6 trips they are giving away.

Some of my favorite Oklahoma Travel spots are:

Also check out Exploring Oklahoma with Children from Metro Family Magazine!

Brain Farts, Disney & Hanes

Consumer Queen — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:25:40 +0000

Judging by the title of this post I am sure you all are thinking.... "what the heck is she posting?". Well, I am raising my hand right now and admitting I had a huge mommy blogging brain fart! If you haven't heard by now Daniel and I will be attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration conference in Feb! While getting ready for this conference I wanted to reference back to my Hanes/ Disney post but when I went to pull it up I could not find it! DUH! I had finished this blog post back in May and thought I hit submit but apparently it did not go through! I can't believe I did that!

So bear with me, I am posting this now. For those who have never been to Disney this may give you a sneak peak! Enjoy!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had so much fun in Disney and learned a lot from the Hanes Group! It was great... they really took the time to listen to us! It wasn't just a vacation , they really wanted to hear what we had to say. We have always used Hanes products so it was great to be able to give feedback. I must say Hanes really knows how to put together a sponsored trip and they spoiled us and treated us like royalty! Some how I lost some of my pics and I wish I could have shown you what was waiting for us in our rooms! The kids went NUTS! They brought a great group of bloggers and it was so nice to meet everyone in person!

We had a guide who's name was Noah that spent time with us at Animal Kingdom. The kids absolutely adored him! He was great. Little did we know that when we went to American Idol that night that he would be the MC! While we were at Epcot this guy came around with his guitar .... he would ask you a couple of questions and then make a song about you. We had fun sending him around to sing for people. It was late at night but he actually made up a Consumer Queen Song!

I would love to say a special thank you to Hanes and Gillian for putting this event together. They did an awesome job.

Video when we told the kids !

Kissimmee Florida Vacations

Consumer Queen — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:43:51 +0000

I absolutely love Florida ! Has anyone ever been to Kissimmee Florida? I have been seeing the vacation videos on TV and lots of talk about this place on the internet and decided to check it out. We try to do a family vacation every year and although we are going to Florida this year we won't get the chance to visit Kissimmee this time so I am just going to have to plan another trip back. There is something for everyone to do in Kissimmee no matter how old you are! There is old town historic shopping and if you are a car buff you just might see some exotic cars in the evening.

Kissimmee for Kids:

Want to bring the kids along? Check out all these fun ideas you can do with your kids!

Gatorland: Gatorland is a unique 110-acre theme park and wildlife preserve, you can see many animals here such as alligators,crocodiles, snakes and native birds all in there natural surroundings. They also feature animal encounters, live alligator wrestling,alligator shows and more, as well as a petting zoo and a miniature water park play area for children. It is a few miles north of the city of Kissimmee, beside the Hunter Creek Golf Course. ( For prices and park hours visit gatorland.com )

Seaworld : If you are staying in Kissimmee, Seaworld is not to far away. My kids loved Seaworld! They have animal attractions, shows and rides.You will also want to check out Discovery Cove while you are there. For more information check Seaworld's website.

Of course Disney World is not to far away either!

Lets just call this next group "Kids at Heart"

There are lots of other fun things for you "Kids at heart" to do as well.

Osceola Heritage Park: Covers 120 acres of fun. The training ground of the Houston Astros,Silver Spurs Arena and Rodeo, and is also the place where the hold the Annual County Fair in Februrary.

Kissimme Air Museum: Here you will be able to see a variety of aircraft produces in the early 20th century. They also do restorations here as well.If you are feeling adventurous you can climb aboard and actually take flight in one their historical aircrafts. they also display several military and antique items as well. For more information please visit the Kissimmee Air Museum website.

They also have many other activities such as Golf courses, fishing,wildlife,airboat riding,aerial zip line safari,water parks,mini golf, hiking and more! Don't forget all the wonderful restaurants that Kissimmee has to offer such as the Columbia Restaurant.