Budget Explorations

Places to go, people to see, things to do… all for pennies

We go a lot of places. Every once in a while, someone will make the comment, “I wish we could afford to do that.” Well, actually, we’re not rolling in cash. Phillip has a ministry job (code for “not a high-paying career choice”).  Aside from occasional side gigs, no one pays me at all for all my hard work.  We spend relatively little on all of our explorations. Let me share a few starter tips that have helped us.

1. The library.

Granted, this is only within your county or surrounding areas, but did you know that you can borrow passes to national museums, arboretums, symphonies, historical landmarks, zoos, and whatever other cool places you have near you?  This is my go-to for weeks we can’t get away but still have a day or two to explore.

3. Be aware of your standing discounts.

A lot of places offer discounts for AAA, military, disabled, and fourth graders (is that just PA??). When we visit most U.S. cities, we get $2 admission to a lot of major attractions because of Jaden’s disability. He also has a free lifetime pass to all national parks, which covers everyone in his vehicle. Check out more disability discounts here.

4. Check Groupon first. Did you know Groupon offers travel deals? We did a Niagra Falls package a couple of years ago. For just over $30 a night, we had a hotel within walking distance of the falls, $10 per person breakfast and dinner dining vouchers, a $25 casino voucher, and passes for the family for free mini golf, arcade games, a haunted house, and a mirror maze.  WOW.  I just looked this week for trips for the family, and there are some good offers up now for a couple of different countries. Their customer service can be horrible, so make sure you know what you’re getting before you pay.

4. Use credit cards.  

I realize this goes against everything Dave Ramsey taught me; but, when used with intention and responsibility, credit cards can be really useful.  If this is a danger zone for you, please skip it!  Credit cards are only beneficial if you can use them like cash: meaning you can pay it off immediately.  In fact, I have a store credit card that I use and then pay the card off in cash while I’m still in the store.  If you can’t pay it off each month, the interest is NEVER worth it.  That being said, I have a Marriott card that came with a sign-on bonus of eight free nights if we charged $3,000 in the first month.  We were in the process of adopting Jaden, so the $3,000 was being spent, anyway, and it saved us on booking a room in China for the bulk of our stay.  Hilton runs a similar offer.  If you stay in hotels often, these are worth it.  When we went to Disney, we signed up for a Disney credit card.  In addition to discounts throughout the park, it had a sign on bonus of $250 in Disney gift cards after spending $500 in the first three months.  We used the card on groceries for three months (something we would have been paying for, anyway) and it got us our Ohana breakfast and candlelight processional meal – two things that we wouldn’t have splurged on, otherwise.  I imagine that if you open and close accounts all the time it could destroy your credit.  We do this every year or two and we both have credit scores in the very high 700’s.

If you’re looking to make it even farther, I detail more on credit carding and budget planning here.