I'm baaaack.....

I know I said I would be checking in but we had a terrible internet connection while we were gone. And we were super busy. And I actually slept past 9am. WooHoo! We had such a great time. We did go out to eat one time but it was after we had to leave the theme park b/c of rain. Every ride was shut down, not to mention it was cold and wet. So we saved the ticket money, and went to lunch and to ride go-carts and play mini-golf.

My vacation tips for anyone planning a frugal vacation
1. Go somewhere close enough to drive in one day. Duh.

2. Stay somewhere with a full kitchen. I know, it costs more. But not that much more. And trust me, it is worth having enough space for everyone to spread out and you can COOK!
3. Prepare your meal plan before you leave home. Prepare and freeze meals, like lasagna. You can pack it in an ice chest. If you have a good ice chest, it will still be frozen, even 8 hours later. Make sure you plan breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If you don't bring enough food you may as well not bring any at all.
4. If you must eat out, go get ice cream! This saved us every night. Most tourists towns have a mom and pop ice cream shop. The nostalgia of an old time soda fountain is not lost on children. We went to a different one each night and only spent around $10 each time. MUCH cheaper than feeding a family of four, 3 meals a day.
5. Look and ASK for coupons. I incorporated our back to school shopping into this trip since the town had an outlet mall. We had gotten a travel guide at the gas station, free. Inside there was a coupon for a free coupon book, regularly $5, to the outlet mall. When I got Peyton's clothes, I asked the cashier if they had any coupons in the book. They didn't. So I asked if she had any coupons laying around. She said "Well, I have a 15% off. Would that be okay?" OKAY? That would be so awesome!! Just by asking, I saved over $20. With the coupon book I saved $10 off $50 when I bought Madison's clothes, 10% off hubby's clothes. Just by paying attention to the free travel guide I saved almost $50 on stuff I was going to buy anyway.
Then when we went to play mini-golf, in small type at the bottom of the score card was a coupon for free ice cream to the winner of the round. Savings: $4.75!

That's all the tips I have for now. I hope it helps some of you. I know it is late in the season for summer vacations but these are good tips for any season of travel. What tips do you have for a frugal vacation?