Minimizing Costs

The effects of inflation are felt by most families as the costs of living continues to increase year-after-year. For example, $100 worth of groceries in November of 2020 will now cost you $125. Similarly, the average rent for Florida has increased by 45.7%. This means that if you were paying $1,459.73 per month in 2020 you are now paying $2,127.86 per month. This drastically and negatively impacts most family’s ability to set aside disposable income. While most people would agree to the mental and physical benefits of a vacation, many are no longer able to afford such a luxury. If you and your family fall into this category, don’t dismay. Below, I am going to share some of the cost saving tips I have employed over the years.

1. Southern Savers. Southern Savers is one of my favorite websites for couponing suggestions and ideas. Not only does Jenny, the website creator, breakdown the upcoming sales ads for Target, Publix and CVS, she also pairs every sale item with a coupon and money saving strategy. If you think this sounds too good to be true, I literally just purchased five Bahama Breeze Car Jar Ultimates from Yankee candle for a grand total of $13.00 shipped to my house. The sweaty car smell in Florida is real thing.

2. ICFlorida.Com. Did you know that Orlando was a site dedicated to educating the community on current and upcoming events? On this site, you can also learn about Florida resident offers that can save you up to 20% on hotels, food and activities. You will also learn about free events in the community.

3. Retailmenot. There are many sites online that claim to offer online coupons. I can say from personal experience that not all created equal. Retailmenot is one of the more reputable sites that I have discovered and their coupons tend to work.

4. Groupon. I’ve purchased several groupons over the years for activities ranging from rock mining to mini golf. The great thing about Groupon is that it is a national website and shows coupon deals for major cities across the US making it possible to groupon your way through vacation.

5. Regal Cinemas. Regal cinemas has a summer movie pass that allows you access to unlimited movies for one monthly rate of $21.99. This can be a cheap and effective solution for boredom.

6. Resort Pass. Orlando offers many day rates for local resorts. For example, you can buy a day pass to Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort for $45.00. This gives you access to all of the pools and amenities on property. Other resorts usually charge $30.00 for the daily pass.

7. Entertainment.com. When I first started using Entertainment, it was only available in a book and the cost was $20.00 a year. While that was still a great deal for the potential savings, it is now available for $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year. They offer coupons specific to restaurants, hotels and activities in your area. The annual membership comes with a 14 day trail which can be cancelled penalty free.

8. Facebook Marketplace. There is zero shame in buying slightly used. It just makes good financial sense when you consider the mark up on items that you will likely use for a short period of time (i.e. kids toys or furniture). If you have never considered Facebook Marketplace, I highly recommend it for a variety of items. I have personally purchased a Cricket, nursery furniture, living room furniture and a generator.

Recap of Topic: Minimizing Costs

There are several ways to save money on everyday and nice to have items. An exhaustive list of my many tips and tricks was not covered today, but the suggested list will give you a great start to the world of couponing if you are a beginner. Overall, when couponing consider planning ahead with a strategy, looking for a deal online, waiting until your desired object goes on sale, price comparing across multiple websites, stacking coupons, and buying gently used.

Engaging Meaningfully

As parents, some times we forget that meaningful engagement does not have to cost money. While you can create memorable moments with your children through vacations, the same could be said with simple everyday activities or at-home experiences. Below is a list of some of the memorable moments I have created with my children that were nearly free or free.

1. Driving. My kids and I have certainly accrued some miles over the years. We have passed the time through a variety of activities between telling jokes or riddles, taking turns as DJ, and sharing a snack. Just this last weekend, I loaded them all up in the car, drove to the office to check the mail, ran through a car wash, vacuumed the car, and stopped by Dunkin Donuts. At the end of the trip, we all agreed that it was fun and pleasant time. This was accomplished with a $25.00 car wash and $14.00 in donuts.

2. Family Movie Night. This one can range from free to several hundreds of dollars depending on how big you want to go. Several years ago, I invested in a projector and inflatable mattresses. When I am feeling particularly brave enough to take on the mosquitos, I set up the blowup mattresses outside with the projector to watch a movie. For an outdoor movie night, I would recommend looking at Facebook Marketplace or Amazon’s returned items for supplies.

3. Co-op video games. There are many co-op video games that you can play with your children some even from different computers, consoles or phones. Co-op video games are a fun and engaging way to laugh and pass the time.

4. Family project. A family project can range from redoing someone’s bedroom to starting a garden. Family projects require cooperation and communication to meet a commonly agreed on goal. For a low budget project, consider buying seeds, soil, and a pot from your local garden store. Many plants and vegetables can be grown from a pot. It is a great experiment and teaches children about gardening, plants and plant diseases, and responsibility.

5. Family bike rides. Central Florida has several paved bike trails that run for miles. My favorite trail runs through Sanford, Lake Mary and Altamonte Springs. You will pass several places to stop and eat and enjoy the outside breeze. The perk of a trail is that you can avoid interacting with cars for most of the trip.

6. Beaches. As Floridians, we are fortunate enough to live in close proximity to beautiful beaches. You and your family can make a summer bucket list of beaches that you want to visit. Pro tip, some beaches in Florida have what I call dirty sand while others have white powdery sand. Further, the water on the eastern coast is the color blue-brown while the water on the western coast has some beaches with turquoise, translucent waters. Don’t assume that if you have seen one beach in Florida, you have seen them all.

7. House cleaning, organizing, purging. Summer time can be the perfect occasion to bring everyone together to clean, purge and organize the house. You can increase buy-in for participation by offering pizza and a movie night. You can also empower children to tell you what they would like to see for their space and shared spaces in the house.

8. Volunteer. There are an endless number of ways to volunteer in your local community. If you are interested in taking this on as a family project, I suggest a discussion of causes that the family thinks are worthy of donating to and why. From there, you can research local outreach organizations and offer your family’s support.

Recap of Topic: Engaging Meaningfully

While a vacation is a way to create meaningful engagement, there are lots of other free or low cost options for achieving the same thing. The important thing to remember about engagement, is that we are striving to create moments of laughter, connection and joy. Even on vacation, you are likely not connecting and laughing non-stop. With intentionality, you can create a fun experience with the family inside your home or in your local community.

Incorporating Self-Care

I have seen many couples in my practice who discuss the distress vacations cause for the relationship and family from beginning to end. I have even had emergency sessions requested following a chaotic vacation that left both partners raw and angry. The following are some suggestions for how to incorporate self-care to minimize or eliminate common stressors of the summertime season.

1. Opt for a staycation. Staycations eliminate a great many stressors between packing, arranging for pet care, traveling, and sleeping in an unfamiliar location, to name a few. If you are like me and intend to staycation this year, I offer the following suggestions.

   • Set boundaries around use of your computer or phone. Consider computer hours like checking your email at 10 AM and 5 PM. You may even want to remove your work emails from your phone for the week.

   • Pre-determine how much productivity you want to accomplish. Completing household projects and chores daily is not likely to feel like a relaxing vacation.

   • Identify ways to relax and unwind. I have often weighed the pros and cons of a pool but always come to the same conclusion that I don’t want to spend the time cleaning or maintaining it. For my staycation this year, I purchased a tub raft. Yes, a raft that allows you to tan whilst resting comfortably within 3 inches of water. It even has drink holders on either side.

   • Create time for reflection. Owning my own company, working full-time, parenting three children, showing up in my marriage and attending to my health, leaves next to no time for self-reflection. As you go into your staycation ask yourself if there is anything that you want to spend time thinking about. I suggest topics such as time management, work-life balance and personal development.

2. Say no. It’s perfectly acceptable and healthy to say no. You don’t have to put one more project, event, or party into your schedule. If you are someone who frequently stays on the go, you may want to consider what you get out of this behavior and how you would like your time to flow. Moreover, you can say no to lengthy car rides to attend family vacations or reunions. I recently had a client share her story of a 6 hour car ride she endured with her 7 month old infant. Suffice it to say, there was next to no ROI for her in that vacation.

3. Streamline and minimize. Fun fact about me, I love to decorate. I take great lengths to ensure that a room or space looks just how I want it to before I leave it alone. When I moved into my home some years ago, I purchased several very large and very pretty rugs. I knew it was a risk with our four-legged children but I convinced myself it would be okay and I would clean them. To mine and my husband’s credit, we did clean them. We steam cleaned them, spot cleaned them, and even pressure washed them. It was after my son’s second bout of impetigo that I released the dream of having these pretty rugs and threw them out. While it pained my heart, the relief of no longer having to be responsible for their cleanliness was extreme. Are there opportunities in your life to release or purge something that does not serve you? Would doing this lighten your load and give you space to breathe?

4. Create a routine. Just because time no longer has the same structure for the kids, doesn’t mean that one can’t be created. Consider making a daily routine that creates consistency and reliability for everyone. This could address things like meal time, play time, and free time.

5. Get organized. Use the time to create a chore chart with the family. There are lots of incentives to offer for chores and money doesn’t have to be one of them. Privileges such as time on the computer, going out with friends and earning points for a family adventure can all work as incentives.

Recap of Topic: Incorporating Self-Care

Self-care is a staple for life; however, during times of busyness and stress it can be overlooked or de-prioritized. Self-care should be considered positively correlated to your stress level. As stress goes up, so must self-care. Specific suggestions for self-care over the summer include, but are not limited to, taking a staycation, saying no, streamlining, creating a routine, and getting organized.

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