Save Money While Saving Vacation Memories
Do you need ideas for saving money while saving your vacation memories?
My children work hard for their money so when they decided they needed souvenirs I did NOT want them spending money on something we could make memories doing ourselves!
Each morning we walked on the beach looking for the perfect shells- no cracks, the right shape, and right color. Our walking and gathering time was quality time talking about the activities for the day as well as whatever the children wanted to discuss! Once we had found the right shells we cleaned them up and brought them home. At home, I simply used a Sharpie permanent marker to write the date and vacation spot on the inside or back of the shell. This sounds so simple but can cost $5 or more at the various souvenir shops found in tourist locations.
I love to take pictures and thus took many while on these souvenir shell searching walks. My problem comes when I get home. I never have enough time to scrapbook- digital or paper. Sometimes I download the pictures onto a cd and mark the date and or outing on the cd. More often than not I just download the pictures when I need the camera memory for another memory shot I want to take–right now! As you can see in the picture with the grey souvenir (dried sponge?) the dates on my camera are rarely right!? Then when I go back through my pictures looking for a specific picture I have a horrible time figuring out what year that was, where was that…how old were the children then…I can be heard saying “Oh, that was when we went to that place , um, how long ago, um honey!?”
So, now I have decided that each occasion I will somehow note the date and occasion at the beginning of the camera shoot or “roll’ of shots. For example, for my children’s birthday they can hold up a birthday card “Happy 4th Birthday”. For our vacation we took a shell and wrote in the sand the details we need to remember. Writing with a finger is not as clear. You can see the difference in the picture. The 2013 was written with a shell, the names are written with a finger. If you aren’t at the beach, use a sharp stone in the dirt, or a piece of paper from the hotel business center.
Next time you are on vacation remember these few tips to help save money while saving your vacation memories!
A Special Thanks to Rachel C. for this wonderful article.
Topic: Vacation Memories