Photograph Credit: Fotolia

With so many vacation savings options, I love sharing the strategies we used for our trip down to Florida.

Having generous family members scattered throughout Florida, who graciously allow us to stay and visit with them, I know our situation is rare.

But in working with our situation, we chose options that fit our budget and enjoyed a great time together while stretching our dollars.

In this 5-part series, we started with the cost breakdown of our two-week vacation where we spent less than $1,000. Then in Part 2, I shared the benefits of our zoo membership, followed by Part 3’s science membership and Part 4’s botanical gardens membership. In this last segment, I highlight guess passes.

Part 5: Guest Passes – Free

When purchasing annual memberships, some establishments offer guest passes with your membership. With our current memberships, we have guest passes with our zoo membership.

Our science and gardens membership are only for our family. With these two memberships, we had the option of selecting a level with guest passes. In finding the prices better through daily deal sites for my parents’ admission, we bypassed the upgraded membership prices.

Having grown up in Florida, I have lots of friends and family in the area. On a previous visit, we were given passes to an amusement park from my mom’s generous neighbor, who had extra tickets through his business.

On this visit, another friend graciously granted our family admission to an aquarium. With a $6 parking fee, our family enjoyed a morning walking through the aquarium, touching the sting rays, watching the sea creatures, and racing the river otters, which seem to have boundless energy.

In accepting guess passes from generous friends, our family enjoyed an additional experience for a minimal cost of $6 while stretching our dollars. As this series comes to an end, I trust by showing you how we maximized our savings that you can go forth and prosper.

While planning your next vacation, use savings strategies, like memberships and guest passes, to save money and stretch your dollars. In using time wisely, start early and enjoy planning. Happy savings!

Question: How do you plan to stretch your dollars on your next vacation?

Photograph Credit: Fotolia

In going down to Florida for our family vacations, we repeat some of the same activities and then branch out to try new places.

In this 5-part series, I am sharing how our family stretched our dollars during our two-week vacation spending less than $1,000.

In Part 1, I gave our cost breakdown; in Part 2, I explained our zoo membership; and in Part 3, I shared the benefits of our science membership. In Part 4, I present a new-to-us gardens membership.

Part 4: Botanical Gardens Membership – $25

Researching the Information

While checking my junk e-mail account to peruse the daily deals to which I subscribe, I found an interesting Groupon – an annual membership to a botanical garden in Florida for $25. In researching the address, I found these gardens next to the Children’s museum we visit.

In addition to the close proximity to the museum, this garden has reciprocal benefits. The American Horticultural Society reciprocal list offers free admission to numerous other gardens with this one membership.

Evaluating the Information

Having never visited a botanical garden and not knowing how our young children would react to the flora, we weighed the cost vs. the benefits. Though the adventure might lack activity, our children would enjoy seeing the plants, flowers, and waterfalls while walking the paths.

Choosing an Option

Taking a chance that one or more of our family members would enjoy the visit, I checked the expiration date on the Groupon to verify we could activate our membership within the time frame. Upon confirmation, I purchased the voucher for the botanical gardens annual membership for $25.

Using our Membership

In planning our vacation day, we chose to visit the gardens before heading to the Children’s museum. When we arrived at the location, the admission counters for both the gardens and the museum were in the same place.

The admission process for the gardens took longer as the cashier verified the Groupon voucher and then activated our annual membership. I had also purchased two additional admissions from Groupon for $10 to admit my parents.

When getting our membership cards, we learned that for the month of August, membership at this garden granted us access into a unique aquarium nearby. We did take a trip over to that location on another day and enjoyed the free admission from our garden membership.

Though the day was very hot and we hurried through the last portion, the adults enjoyed the scenery more than the kids. Thankfully, we saw the garden first as we ended up staying at the museum until it closed for the day. 🙂

In researching, evaluating, choosing, and using our botanical garden membership, this purchase was worth the money. Just giving our children a different perspective was worth the investment. Had we needed to save that money, then this membership would not have been purchased.

By subscribing to daily deal sites, I snagged this garden membership deal with all the reciprocal benefits and paid half price. In stretching our dollars, we saved on the full price and gained at least two new adventures while using time wisely.

If you know your next destination, then subscribe to daily deal sites, check your e-mail, and verify expiration dates before purchasing. In using time wisely, you can plan a fun vacation while stretching your dollars. Happy savings!

Question: What does your family enjoy doing on vacation?