This has been a year of low funds for us. My hubby only works part time (in retail,
that’s generally all you get unless you’re management), and we haven’t been
able to set aside money for vacation like we want due to high gasoline and food
prices. We reserved our
hotel back in February when I got my bonus, however, so the hotel room is already paid
for.
This year, we’re really going to
be penny pinching. Some would say, “Why
even go on vacation if you don’t have a lot of money to spend?” If you’ve ever been to Branson, you
know the sense of peace that comes from visiting the Ozarks. As soon as I see that first bald (right
before you get to Eureka), my spirits start to lift and the tenseness that I’ve
been feeling starts to dissipate. Branson
is my happy place, and I need that feeling of serenity this year more than
ever. So I thought I’d pass along some tips to vacation on the ultra cheap.
Road trippin’
One
of our biggest expenses will be gasoline.
We live in Illinois, which is one of the most expensive places to buy
gas in the country. We are going to put
just enough in the tank to get us over the state line into Missouri and to a
gas station off of Hwy. 44, then fill our tank for the rest of the trip. Gas is .20 a gallon cheaper in Missouri. We also drive a 4 cylinder vehicle, so we
have great highway gas mileage. We will
probably top off the tank in Ozark, which is about halfway down Hwy. 65 from
Springfield, and that will give us enough gas until we leave to go home. We
will also use the air conditioning at highway speeds, since that’s more gas
efficient than opening the windows. Gasbuddy.com is a great place to look to see who has the cheapest prices on gas.
We
will bring snacks, soda and water in a soft sided cooler for the road
trip. Snacks and sodas at rest stops or
gas stations are expensive. We will use
fast food coupons for lunch and refill our sodas before we leave the
restaurant.
Shows
Another
big expense is going to shows. I found a
great deal for Jim Stafford for $16.00 a ticket on bigriverbargains.com. Big
River Bargains also has ticket deals right now for most of the shows at
Grand Country Music Hall as well as Kirby Van Burch and Doug Gabriel. When you have vouchers from Big River Bargains, radio stations or HalfOffDeals.com,
you purchase the voucher, then call the theater to make your reservation. You have to tell them that you have radio
station vouchers. You then exchange the
vouchers at the ticket office for your tickets. For the other shows we want to see, we will go
to Branson 2 for 1 Tickets. You can purchase 2 tickets for the price of 1. Since we will need 3 tickets, they will give
us the third ticket for half price. We
will have to wait until we get to Branson to purchase our tickets, since they
don’t do business over the phone or on the Internet. You can view the available shows on their web
site, however.
Some
shows offer a family pass, which allows 2 adults and all or a certain number of
children under age 18 for one price.
Check the web site of the show you want to attend to see if they offer
this discount. This is a great discount
if you have more than one child in your family.
There are good show discounts in the Branson VIP coupon book and the
Branson Guest Card as well.
Some
theaters will you give you discounts to another show at the same theater with
your ticket stub. They will announce
this from the stage either before or after the show or during intermission.
Some ticket stubs have discounts on the back, so take a look before you throw
it away. Save money by not purchasing snacks or souvenirs at the show, no
matter how much your kids beg you.
Food,
glorious food
Food
is another big expense. We are staying
in a motel with a breakfast buffet, so that meal is covered. We are saving up all of our fast food coupons
to take with us, since Branson has a variety of fast food restaurants. Our hotel room has a refrigerator, so we will
bring lunch meat, cheese and buns to make sandwiches for lunch. We will also bring a bag of chips. For a special treat, we will probably
purchase a $20.00 voucher (which will get us $40.00 of food) from
HalfOffDeals.com for Montana Mike’s or Hard Luck Diner. Another tip – when
visiting restaurants, get only water.
Some restaurants will charge up to $2.00 for a soda or tea. If the water needs a kick, ask for a slice of
lemon or lime. Water is better for you anyway. If you must have soda, keep some
in the refrigerator in your hotel room.
ChC
Cheap fun in the summertime (or anytime)
I found activities for the daytime that are super cheap or free. We will spend one day looking at the shops on
Branson Landing. We will then walk
through old downtown Branson and look at all the stores. The Branson Centennial Museum has free
admission. Another day will be the great
outdoors day. We will visit the new
Dewey Short Visitors’ Center and the Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery (the
only cost there is to feed the fish), then maybe hike at Table Rock State Park
and visit the Henning Scenic Overlook. We will take a drive down Indian Point
Road to see Table Rock Lake.
Miscellaneous
tips
The
AquaPlex at the Branson RecPlex is a cheaper alternative to White Water. There may not be any water slides, but
there’s lots of water and you can bring your own food. Check out the racks in the lobby of your
hotels for books such as the Sunny Day Guide, Best Read Guide, Travelhost and
Taste of Branson. Taste of Branson has
some nice coupons for local restaurants.
Make sure you check the expiration dates of the coupons.
Some
of you are thinking, why go to all this trouble just to go on vacation? To some people (like me), it’s a necessity to
cut corners in order to go at all. To
some people, it’s a challenge to see how much money they can save. But I think everyone needs that refreshing
once-a-year break from our everyday activities.
Diane
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