Hope this helps you brave the cold this week.

Lands’ End would like to make planning family holiday get togethers a whole lot easier this year by giving a chance to win a great family get together for 7 nights for up to 12 people at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana! Hurry because Lands’ End will accept entries at this website through noon October 30, 2008.  Prizes include:

Grand Prize:  A get together for 7 nights for up to 12 people at The Resort at Paws Up in Montana, which includes round-trip airfare, meals and four half-day wilderness adventures per person and also includes a new waterproof Windfall outerwear …read more

I’ve lived in North Carolina for most of my life. I know that there are a lot of beautiful places to see. Here are a few inexpensive places to visit in Western North Carolina.
Hendersonville:

Take a stroll through downtown Hendersonville. There are some nice shops and antique stores. I’m sure the old soda shop is still there too. They also have a general store.
Visit the Carl Sandburg home. I’ve been there several times and always enjoy the tour. A guided tour is only $5.
Stop for a show at the Flat Rock Playhouse.
Take a drive …read more

Kate over at Babylune has a great writing project going on that I wanted to let you know about.  So let us know about your favorite family vacation as a parent or as a kid and get in on the prize money.
I can sadly say that we don’t take family vacations.  Or at least not since we have been married.  I also didn’t grow up with family vacations.  I hope to give that to our kids though.  We are actually planning on my husband’s side of the family going to the beach every year starting next year so I hope …read more

Every once in a while,  you get a great deal on a long weekend at the beach towards the last part of the summer.  One way to save money when you are there is to get a room with a kitchen and make a bunch of frozen meals to take with you.  Freeze them, load them in a cooler, put them in the freezer when you get there.  That way there is not any prep work.  Just stick them in the oven when you want to cook them.  No extra time needed.

Washington DC is a great place to visit.  There is so much to do that we can’t do at home.  My family is here for a business trip.  But let me tell you what I have found to be my favorite things to do so far.

We are staying at my BIL’s house so watching my little girl play with her cousin that she doesn’t get to see very often has lifted my heart.
Sidewalks!  We live on the side of a mountain so walking on a somewhat flat surface with sidewalks has been awesome.
Hanging out with my daughter.  I don’t have …read more

I love it when a great article is written to point out the advantages of sky-rocketing gas prices since the goods side is usually hard to find. TulsaWorld.com has a great article on how they expect people to stay closer to home and tour Oklahoma instead of traveling any distance.  Makes good sense to me.  My home state of Virginia has a ton of great vacation spots within a couple of hours from us.  Just a thrifty idea for summer vacation.

Anybody looking for a great deal without looking for one?  Confused? So was I until I stumbled across a hidden deal on airline tickets.  Do you ever actually go through your junk mail?  You know what I am talking about – all those flyers you get with all kinds of coupons for stuff you will never use like gutter cleaning or electric toothpicks.  I get what is called Val-Paks all the time.  I usually thumb through them in case I can get a Chick-fil-a coupon or something like it that I can use and then throw the rest away.  Well …read more

I love going home to visit the folks and grandparents.  Unfortunately, nobody lives near anybody.  So we fly to wherever we go.  This gets expensive for just my DH and I but next year, we will have to start paying for my DD as well.  Lucky for me I found Travelocity.  For the last few years, I have signed up for their travel alerts.  This means that I set certain destinations and they notify me when the price of airline tickets drop by whatever price I set.  I love it.  This way, I don’t have to keep checking and I …read more

If you travel a lot and both fly and rent cars, then Thrifty has a great deal for you. From March 1 – May 31, 2006. Thrifty Car rental is offering you triple miles with Delta Airlines when you make a reservation online for a minimum 2 day rental and use the referred code. Why would I post this on a thrifty mommy site? Because we parents get homesick for our mommies just like our little ones get clingy to us (Daddies not excluded). Any why not enjoy a little bonus if we have to …read more