How To Afford Vacation When You Can't Afford A Vacation

Since getting serious about paying off debt the hubby and I decided to stop putting money toward vacations for a while. I know, I know. Crazy, right? We just figured that since we're young and don't have any kids we could live without expensive vacations.

Besides, we had squirreled away some money into a vacation fund which we decided to keep on hand in case either one of us was ever in danger of internally combusting without some kind of a vacation. Fortunately that hasn't happened.

In fact, fortunately, we have been blessed with many astoundingly affordable vacation opportunities in the last year or so, which can only attribute to God's grace. We got to go to Boston for a night; enjoyed a weekend at Old Orchard Beach, ME; and, of course, our infamous trip to NYC to be on the Katie Couric show (which you can read about here if you're awesome). And all of these vacations cost us little to nothing.

Now, granted, life isn't always so cooperative. Some people really struggle to find vacation time. In fact, we have some friends who went through our Financial Peace University class this spring who live for vacations. Cruise ships. Beach resorts. They look forward to it every year. It was a huge sacrifice for them when they cut back on some of their vacation expenses.

Jake and I know how hard it can be to make such sacrifices. When it comes to vacations though, there are lots of affordable alternatives that can do the trick until you've paid off enough debt to be able to afford that luxury cruise.

For this summer, my original idea was to camp out in our back yard, make the house off limits—except to use the bathroom—and cook all our meals over an open fire. Romantic nights under the stars. Just me and the hubby in a tent in the backyard. Close to nature. Deer. Bears. Ticks. Oddly enough, he wasn't thrilled about this idea, but I have no idea why ;-)

We considered staying at home for a week, making a plan to do some kind of activity every day—hiking, biking, kayaking, or some other free activity in the area. This idea was more palatable, because, honestly, sometimes after a vacation you come home and are just as tired from all the traveling and busy activities as you were when you left. So the idea of staying home and just relaxing was rather appealing.

The other idea was to do something with my family. In the past they have rented a cabin on a lake in Vermont, and so we talked with them about possibly renting something together.

All of us talked about a bunch of ideas, but nothing seemed to solidify.

And summer was upon us!

I needed a vacation. I didn't need to go anywhere or do anything special, but I needed some time off. Jake, ever the odd one—I love you, honey!—doesn't ever seem to need a vacation. I think before we were married it had been two years since he last took one.

Anyway, time was running short.

My dad—ever my hero!—happened to do some work on a camp at a lake in Groton, VT, and in exchange negotiated a week of vacation there. Ironically, the camp was right next to the one that he spent time at as a boy. Small world.

My parents are awesome, and whenever they get the opportunity to do something like this they never hesitate to get the rest of the family involved. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents... even my oldest sister from Florida, along with her husband and brand new baby girl—who is sure to be the hit of the week—are coming up from Florida.

And I. Can't. Wait!

I know getting a free week at a lake isn't an option for everyone, but my point here—as it has been in previous blog posts—is that there is almost always some alternative available if you take the time to look. I have a friend who recently camped-out in the backyard of a friend who lived a few miles from Hampton Beach. Not only did she get to catch up with some friends, but they also got a free vacation!

Maybe there is something you could do for someone else in exchange for a discount on a campsite, cabin, or other vacation spot. Maybe you have friends who would be willing to join you in sharing the expense of a vacation.

This may not be ideal, but, again, it's not forever. These are alternatives to help get you through these penny pinching years. The bottom line is that even if you have little to no money in the budget it doesn't mean you can't have a fun and memorable vacation. What it all comes down to is: how creative can you be?

Let us know some of the great things you have done on a staycation or awesome free vacation spots you have been blessed with.

Keep pinchin' :-)

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Months ago I wanted to try making my own dishwasher detergent because I knew it would be a lot cheaper to make it than it would be to buy it, and... well, I just love DIY projects! So when I ran out of my last bit of store-bought soap last week I decided it was now or never.

I gathered the required ingredients: Borax, Washing Soda, Epsom Salt and Lemon Juice. Fortunately I already had most of the ingredients, which I had bought previously to make my own laundry detergent, or to cook with, except for the Epsom Salt, but I had been meaning to buy that anyway.

I measured out:

—1 Cup Borax
—1 Cup Washing Soda
—1/4 Cup Epsom Salt

into a large bowl and mixed it up really well, making sure there weren't any clumps.

Then I took 1 cup of the mixture and put it into another bowl and added

—4 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

and a tad bit more after mixing it together in order to get a sticky, but not sopping wet mixture.

When you add the Lemon Juice it makes it all fizzy, which is fun to watch :-)

I then placed the mixed-up goop into little silicone baking cups (you can also use ice cube trays, I just didn't have any), which I had lined with plastic wrap to protect.

I repeated the process with the second cup, making about 22 little cubes of Dishwasher Soap and placed them into the window to dry over night.

I popped them out the next morning and used my first one. The dishes all came out clean! All in all it probably took me maybe 10 minutes from start to finish, including clean up, but minus all the lovely photos I took for you all.

Hope you enjoy, and if you are leery of using the Borax you can still make this up, just omit it and either double up on the Washing Soda and Epsom Salt or make less and use less Lemon Juice.

Keep pinchin' :-)

The New Normal

It's funny how easily one can adapt so well to change when you put your mind to it. Three years ago I would have found many of the things that the hubster and I do to save money today to be an inconvenience, but now they have instead become second nature.

I was thinking about this today as I was getting "free" heat—AKA opening up all the doors in my house to let the warm air in so that when it gets cold tonight I won't have to turn up the thermostat to make it warm. Growing up I never would have thought of doing something like that, but I've learned to see the value in some of these small money-saving matters and nowadays I do them without really thinking about it.

And it's also sort of a game to me—I always check the thermostat before I open up the house to see how many degrees it goes up. Today it went for 65 to 68! Which is pretty good in my opinion :-)

Here are a few other things that have become my new normal:

• Hanging the laundry up to dry instead of using the dryer.


• Planning trips into town in order to save on gas.


• Baking bread.


• Making my own laundry soap.


• Unplugging appliances and electronics when not in use.


• Driving a little bit slower on the interstate to save gas. (My husband discovered that if he goes 60mph as opposed 70 he can get about 20 MORE miles per tank.)

When you start on the journey to debt free living it might feel uncomfortable, inconvenient, or just plain annoying, but if you stick with it, over time, it can become your new normal, and that new normal will thank you when you are finally debt free!

Keep pinchin' ;-)

Birthday Week Celebrations!

Before we were married the hubby and I decided to make it a tradition for our family to celebrate a "birthday week." Neither of us had grown up with this concept, but some friends of mine celebrated birthdays this way and I always liked it. Birthdays are so special, and they're hard to celebrate in just one day. I mean, it's a celebration of a whole year of life, a year past, and a future one to come. Birthday weeks are far more interesting.

Here are some ways we celebrate birthday weeks on a budget.

• Cards/Notes. Throughout the week place little notes or cards in different places for the birthday boy/girl to find. Maybe in their lunch box one day, on their nightstand the next, or in a purse or bag. This year the hubby went so far as to line up dear friends and family to send me notes on each day of my birthday week—some came on Facebook, through the mail, and some via text message.
• Time: This birthday my husband took over ALL the chores, as in cooking, cleaning, laundry, EVERYTHING! Which enabled me to have more free time to read, play online, and relax.
• Favorites: Purchase or make little favorites throughout the week, such as a favorite candy bar, favorite meal, play a favorite game etc.
• Gifts: Instead of opening up all the gifts on one day consider spreading them out so they can be enjoyed throughout the week.
• Servitude: Maybe your spouse or child likes to have their nails done or receive a massages. That is something you could easily do for them during their birthday week. My hubby gave me a wonderful pedicure which included a foot soak, scrub, massage and finished off with painting the little piggies pink with white polka dots.

If you consider making this a tradition in your family be sure to plan ahead to make it a lot easier on yourself. It'll give you more time to implement your ideas, come up with alternatives if something doesn't work out, and involve friends and family if that's what you decide to do. Enjoy your birthday week!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Pinwheels For Spring!

Recently we had a bit of a warm spell, so I felt the need to transition our home from Winter to Spring. Unfortunately I don't have many Spring decorations, but I figured I could come up with something. I decided to make pinwheels in fun spring colors to decorate the mantle in our living room and the wreath on our door. I had made pinwheels before as part of the grand send-off at our wedding, so after a quick refresher I was on my way.

To make pinwheels you will need colored paper, scissors, a ruler, pins and tape. First I cut out different size squares, for some of them I used scissors that cut with designs to add to a little fun.

Then you need to cut a diagonal line from each of the 4 corners toward the middle, but don't cut all the way through!

Then fold the left corner into the middle and continue until you have 4 corners in the middle. I then placed a pin through the center of the pinwheel and, with a pair of needle-nosed pliers, bent the pin in the back 90 degrees to hold it in place. For some of my pinwheels I layered two different size pinwheels on top of each other to create some texture—if you choose to do this be sure to put the pin through both pinwheels and then bend it.

I taped the bent pin down in the back to secure it and then used a piece of florist wire to attach my pinwheel to my burlap wreath.

For the garland I taped the pin down in the back and then punched a hole through the tips of two of the petals on the pinwheel to feed the yarn through.

I made too many and so I ended up attaching some of them to craft sticks to display in a vase on top of the mantel and the rest I propped up against picture frames. 

The whole project took me a little over an hour from start to finish and it added a nice splash of Spring to the house! Here's to hoping Spring isn't too far off!

Keep pinchin' :-)

A Valentine's Day Suprise

Two years ago the hubby and I were engaged when we celebrated our first Valentine's Day together. Not only was it a special day because we were engaged, it was also the very first Valentine's Day that I had ever celebrated in a relationship with a guy. So Jake knew it had to be good.

He told me he was going to plan everything, and talked it up for weeks. He would drop lines like, "I know the chef at the exclusive restaurant we are going to, and he's really great." All along I kept telling friends that I wished we could just make dinner and stay in because we were getting ready to have a wedding and were considering buying a house, but I was prepared to accept whatever special thing he did for me.

When the night arrived, I got all dressed up and drove over to his grandparents house where he was living at the time. I walked in, talked to his Grandma who was making Chicken Parmesan, and then Jake came downstairs and we set off. We hopped in the car and then prepared to drive to this "exclusive restaurant," so exclusive, he said, that you needed to know the owners to get in. I was a little bummed that we would be spending all this money on a dinner for one night, but I wasn't about to say anything because I didn't want to spoil it for us.

About halfway down the driveway, Jake stopped the car right next to his grandparent's front porch. He pretended like he had forgotten something and jumped out to go back inside. Instead he walked around to my side of the car and opened the door. "I didn't know they had valet service here," he said in a surprised tone.

He took me inside and upstairs to the apartment area where he was living, a space he had transformed into a dining area for two. "See," he said, "I told you: a restaurant so exclusive you need to know the owners to get in."

The room was filled with candles, a table for two, a dozen roses, and romantic music. His grandmother wasn't the one making Chicken Parmesan. It was him. He had cooked for all four of us, and though his grandparents enjoyed their Valentine's Day meal downstairs, Jake and I enjoyed our "exclusive restaurant" treatment upstairs.

After dinner we enjoyed attempting to learn how to dance for our wedding to an instructional DVD that Jake had bought, and then we spent lots of time cuddling. It was the perfect first Valentine's Day. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Penny Pinchers!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Free Family Fun Date - Winter Olympics

The other day a Mom, who is going through Financial Peace University with us, made a comment about how hard it is to cut back on spending when it influences your kids so much. When it comes to things like going to the movies, theme parks, sporting events, restaurants, it can be quite hard to convince your children that it's worthwhile to let go of these things—even if just for a period of time.

Not having kids of our own I don't know what it's like to be in this position, but as I was doing the dishes today I was thinking about the "Free Date Nights" I've been doing for my husband and wondered, "Why not come up with a bunch of 'Free Family Dates?'" So, I'm going to try to post at least one idea for a family fun night every month for all those parents out there who need some affordable entertainment alternatives to enjoy with their kids.

Since we're in the middle of winter at the moment, I thought it would be fun to kick things off with some Winter Olympics. This family fun date can be just for your family, or you can invite a few other families to join you, or even host it at your church. The idea is to create easy games to compete in, with possible prizes or medals, with the ultimate aim of simply having tons of fun.

Game Ideas:

• Sled Race - Time each member of the family coming down the same sledding hill.


• Obstacle Course - Create some sort of course that would involve jumping over things, crawling under things, and winding your way through things. Again, time each participant to see who can do it the fastest. This could also be done as a relay pairing older children with younger ones to even out skill levels.


• Long Jump - Mark a spot in the snow for each participant to jump from to see how far they can leap. Measure each jump to see who is the longest.


• Speed Skating - If you have access to an outdoor free rink or a body of water you can have skating races, all members could skate at the same time so you wouldn't have to time it.


• Target Practice - Line up cans or bottles and give each member the same amount of snowballs to knock them down. You can change the distance based on the age or ability of each member.


• Snow Sculpture Competition - So long as the snow is conducive to sculpture making, divide your family up however you see fit and see who can make the most impressive snow sculpture. Set a time limit to keep things exciting. Have grandparents or neighbors be the judges. Or you could simply give each sculpture an award based on the funniest, most original, scariest, etc. 

Those are just some ideas to get the creative juices flower. You can always take to Google to find activities that are more suited to your family.

If you decide to have a Winter Olympics with other families some additional ideas could be:

• Cardboard Sled Race - Have each family build their own cardboard sled using only duct-tape and cardboard. They could either construct their sled at the event or do it at home as a family project. Time them down the same hill and see whose design is the fastest.


• Family Flag - Have each participating family bring a "family flag," which they can create to represent their family at the games.


• Have an Awards Ceremony - Acknowledge each athlete or the winners of each game, and present them with a medal, which can be as simple as string with a round piece of construction paper with 1st, 2nd, 3rd place on it, or as elaborate as you want it to be.

To end your games consider serving hot cocoa and cookies or have a bonfire and make s'mores. If you decide to host a Family Winter Olympics tell us all about the fun you had doing them!

Keep pinchin' :-)

Valentine's Day Heart Garland

Last week I watched my friend's little 4 1/2 year old daughter. She is adorable, and she loves projects and keeping busy. So I figured it would be the perfect day to make a "heart garland" for the living room mantle. I'll do my best to explain the process below, but for some really good, clear directions check out this post at strumpetscrumpets.blogspot.com.

First we gathered some red and white paper. My mistake here was that I did not have white cardstock, only red, and flimsy copy paper does not hold a shape when hanging, so definitely use card stock. Then we cut out all the strips of paper. Having a paper trimmer would have saved a ton of time—mine was missing the blade—but using scissors was great cutting practice for the little one. She cut two sheets of paper into a bunch of 1-inch strips.

Then I started stapling the strips together to create hearts. I decided to vary the size of the hearts on my garland, which just meant cutting some of the strips in half.

Our finished project. She was so excited about our garlands, and couldn't wait to take hers home to hang up!

Do you have any fun, cheap Valentine's Day crafts that you've done recently or want to do? Add a link in the comments below!

Keep Pinchin' :-)