Frugal Travel. We're Going to Branson!

This weekend will be the start of our family's very first family vacation. I feel a little embarrassed to say that because Briana is 7 and we still haven't really been anywhere. Honestly, we can't truly afford to go on this vacation either but it's been planned already, and I can't let the kids down. So for five days we're going to pretend we don't have any money problems and just have fun.

If you've been around me the last few months you know I've turned into a crazy coupon lady. I've started a stockpile and I am trying to be more frugal. I've tried to think of ways to save money on this vacation. I tried to find coupons for Branson attractions and I scored a few second-hand coupon books but after a lot of searching I realized that was not the area in which we would save money. Food is what we can control. I decided it would be great if we could replace one meal a day instead of having to buy all three, and if we could bring our own snacks. Breakfast will be an easy meal because we can eat it before we head out for the day. It was difficult to think of how to accomplish this because we won't have a way to cook food, or a fridge. We will need to bring a cooler with ice and settle for room-temp food or small items we can fit in the cooler. So I went to Sam's Club and bought powedered donuts, honey buns, fruit cups, and colby jack cheese sticks. I know...I know. Powdered donuts and honey buns...not the healthiest breakfast. But that's why I complimented it with the fruit cups and cheese. It's the best I could come up with in the circumstances.

For snacks we've got some fruit snacks, gold fish, cereal, and nuts. Also, I bought these craft boxes at Walmart and filled them with small amounts of different snacks for the kids on the way there and back. They are crazy snackers! We will probably try to buy cheaper lunches and then have a nicer dinner each night. And of course, I'll be bringing all my restaurant coupons to help out. Oh and don't forget the water. We all know buying a bottle of water anywhere besides the store costs $2 each or up. I just bought 40 bottles at Sams for $3.98.

So that's my frugal traveling advice: bring a meal, bring your snacks, bring your coupons, and bring your water!

Watch out for my Back-from-Branson post :)

 

This is my water/snacks/breakfast pile. 

This is a picture of the stockpile I mentioned. It was bigger but I'm putting my couponing to good use and making beauty baskets for Christmas. Shhhh!

And this is the cute craft box made into snack holder I was telling you about. I got this idea on pinterest.