7 Ways I Saved in June
Summer was in full swing for these two teachers and their son this month! Even with traveling, we found ways to save on vacation and at home. Here are seven ways we saved in June.
1. We drove to our vacation. Sometimes, you can get a great deal on flights. Most times, it is cheaper to drive your family. The larger your family gets, the more true this is. Thankfully, I come from a family of 6 where we drove thousands of miles every summer on vacation. That’s what happens when you live in Texas and your nearest family is 12 hours away. I’m fortunate to have married a husband who loves to drive and travel. The driving is part of the adventure!
2. We used gas rebate cards as we drove to our vacation. One of our two credit cards is a Marathon Visa credit card. We use this credit card because when we purchase gas at Marathon gas stations, it gives us $0.07 off instantly and then an additional rebate for so much spent. Once or twice a month, we earn a $25 Marathon gift card to spend on gas. Every time one arrived in the mail this year, I put the gift card aside for our vacation. Thanks to this, we only had to pay for one tank of gas on our whole trip when we couldn’t find a nearby Marathon. That saved us substantially on gas money…and we still have more gas gift cards left!
3. We packed snacks, drinks and food for our week long stay in North Carolina. When we travel, we do a combination of eating what I’ve brought and stopping to eat out. We ate out several times on our vacation because that’s part of the excitement of vacation. My husband had never tasted Cincinnati style chili so we stopped at Skyline so I could reminisce over my years spent living and teaching in Cincinnati. We saved a lot by taking turns cooking evening meals for the rest of the family during our time in North Carolina. That money came out of our normal grocery budget and still allowed us to save on our vacation budget. We never lacked for delicious foods to eat!
4. We booked our site seeing tickets ahead of time. During our time in North Carolina, we had two big adventures. We toured the Biltmore mansions and rode on the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad. Both of these were pricer excursions, costing around $50 a ticket. However, we looked for discounts and found some on the websites. We saved $10 on each ticket simply by purchasing our tickets in advance. We saved further because children were free at both these destinations.
5. I stocked my freezer with marked down chicken. Twice, I stumbled upon boneless skinless chicken breasts marked down to $1.49/lb at Meijer. Granted, the chicken had a sell-by date of the next day but that doesn’t bother me. I took the chicken home, repackaged it and put it straight in the freezer. I love surprise deals, especially on meat!
6. Andy used his teacher pass to take Nathan to the zoo. Every year, he takes his 8th graders to the zoo in the fall. He decided to use his free teacher pass (that comes in the mail from the zoo) to plan ahead for the field trip and took Nathan along as well. My two guys went to the zoo for free and I enjoyed a quiet morning at home to bake and work. It was a win-win!
7. We used gift cards and bonus certificates to eat out. Like I said earlier, we did eat out some this month. However, we used a couple gift cards and stretched them even further by redeeming a free appetizer and a free dessert at two separate restaraunts. I don’t mind being on email lists when it gives me perks like free food!
What did you do to save this month?
That gas credit card is such a great deal! I have seen pictures of Skyline’s food, and it looks good especially with all of the cheese! We bought hair clippers last month so that we can save money by me giving my husband haircuts.
The gas credit card is great, just for those gas rebates. The rest of the time we tend to use Discover for the cash back bonus awards, but the gas makes our Marathon card a no-brainer. Skyline is a unique taste, with cinnamon and a touch of chocolate in it, but I do enjoy it on occasion. Lots of cheese never hurts anything, either! And look at you, Emily, giving your whole family haircuts. I’m impressed!
Whew! You did a lot of saving last month, very impressive. We like to make the most out of eating out the same way that you do: use a gift card when possible, and take advantage of any freebies. My husband was born in July, so we’ll be taking advantage of lots of free birthday eating this month.
Oh, birthday freebies are the best! My husband and I do the same and try to maximize those freebies. Stacking gift cards and freebies make the treat of eating out all the more enjoyable. Thanks for stopping by Janeen!
I love that you set aside those gas gift cards for your trip. Way to plan ahead! I love packing snacks and food for a road trip, and it really saves a ton of money. Stopping at restaurants or a gas station for food can increase the costs of a road trip substantially! Thanks for sharing your saving adventures!
Thanks, Charlee. The gas gift cards were really a blessing, knowing that our gas was already covered for the trip. Packing food, snacks and drinks, really do help you save on vacation expenses.
Nice deal on the chicken breasts! I can usually find those deals at Kroger, but not so lucky at Meijer. Looks like you had a great time on vacation.
Thanks, Julie! I agree that the markdowns at Kroger are usually way better than Meijer, so I was pleasantly surprised to find chicken marked down so low. Of course, I snapped it up. And yes, vacation was wonderful…as it always is.