Travel & Transportation

36 Fun, Free Printable Travel Games to Entertain the Kids on Your Next Trip

October 7, 2011

Traveling with kids. It can be trying.  And hilarious. (Here we are on our last trip to Italy.) I know how it feels, so I rounded up as many games as I could — from paper dolls to pinwheels, mazes to maps. You can see them all at Parentables: 36 Fun, Free Printable Travel Games [...]

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The Real Cost of Buying a New Car

September 9, 2011

The average car payment is $500 per month. Most people live with a car payment their whole lives, and besides housing, it’s their largest expense. A Multi-Millionaire or a New-Car Owner? If you invested $500 per month from age 25 to age 65 in a mutual fund averaging 12 percent (the eighty-year stock market average), [...]

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How to Wash Your Clothes on Vacation

July 28, 2011

Unfortunately I now know a lot about this topic. While I would take a coin-op laundromat any day, that wasn’t possible on our recent trip to Italy, so I saved even more money by washing our clothes the old-fashioned way. I have some tips on how exactly to hand-wash your clothes while traveling at Parentables, [...]

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Frugal Mama Splurges: an Italian Beach Vacation

July 12, 2011

After 24 hours of travel which included: 2 car trips 3 shuttle buses 1 airport tram 3 flights (2 nearly missed) 1 hunormous French airport 3 security check-ins 1 lost (and found) suitcase 7 carry-ons 1 stroller, and a 6-hour layover in Milan, in which we managed to find an airport hotel and get 2 hours [...]

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Plan a Weekend Getaway with the Girls — You Won’t Regret It

June 2, 2011

It all started five years ago when some friends and I met up at our 15th college reunion. Every year since then we have managed to get away for a few days, and here we are at our 20th reunion last weekend. This article I wrote for Parentables tells about our experience and gives some [...]

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Avoid These Nasty Surprises When Booking Hotels

May 20, 2011

Please head on over to Parentables to read the full text of this article I wrote about my funny, and not so funny, recent experiences with lodging. When was the last time you stayed in a dive motel? For me, it was just three weeks ago, and I’m still grossed out. I had gone down [...]

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How a Family of Four Can Enjoy a Spa-Like Vacation in Niagara Falls for Under $200 a Day

May 10, 2011

What is it about water that melts away stress? We just moved to a city just three hours away from Niagara Falls, and after seeing it for the first time in a quick day trip, I knew I had to come back. Yes, water is soothing, but there was something about the power of those [...]

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A Family Road Trip Packing List to Make Everyone Happy

April 5, 2011

We’ve just returned from another seven-hour road trip with four kids ranging from nine months to nine years. Car trips can be a surprisingly fun routine-buster, especially if you have all your traveling supplies. More at Parentables… More at Parentables…

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Prepare for a Family Vacation with this Pre-Trip Checklist

March 29, 2011

I often feel like I earn a vacation in the few days leading up to one. Tying up loose ends and packing for a whole family can be a Wonder Womanly task. Then there’s worrying about the empty house. Believe me, I’ve had my share of homecomings with newspaper landslides, crackly plants, and overstuffed mailboxes. [...]

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Guide to New York City on a Budget, with Kids

March 24, 2011

New York is the kind of place where just walking around is a cultural adventure. Sure, you’ll want to splurge on a few tourist attractions, but to keep costs down, just pretend you’re a New Yorker. I’ve lived in New York for nine years (and with three children and no money). Here is how we [...]

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Looking for a Hotel Discount? Try These 5 Useful Tricks

March 22, 2011

In See How Easily You Can Find the Best Deals on Hotels, I talked about why I love Hotels.com. Yes, Hotels.com has a low price guarantee, but can you make the deal even sweeter? I tried out some of these tricks and found the answer was — yes.  More at Parentables… More at Parentables…

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How I Saved $11,000 on My New Car (and You Can, Too)

March 22, 2011

Used, new, or leased? That was the question my husband and I wrangled with when we moved from New York City, where we had zero cars, to upstate New York, where we needed two. Even though we had bought used before, I was dazzled by shimmery new crossovers like the Chevy Traverse. Hubby was tempted [...]

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See How Easily You Can Find the Best Deals on Hotels

March 21, 2011

With four children, we have officially outgrown couch-surfing and even guest-room sojourning. Luckily I discovered that life is not over when you need a suite. Read more at Parentables… Read more at Parentables…

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10 Tips for Planning Plane Trips with Kids

March 16, 2011

Flying can wreak havoc on your budget, but sometimes it’s necessary. Maybe you’ve got a can’t-miss wedding. Maybe your love of traveling is why you scrimp and save. Whatever the reason you choose to wing it rather than wheel it, there are ways to keep expenses from exploding. We’ve always lived far from our parents, [...]

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5 Ways to Rack up Frequent Flyer Miles–Without Buying a Ticket

March 11, 2011

It’s hard to be a frugal mama while married to an Italian guy. Especially when it comes to travel. Going back to see the in-laws is a required pilgrimage every one to two years, and while Italy is certainly no second-rate destination, my measly 401K sometimes wishes that summer vacations were more the minivan-and-cooler variety. [...]

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NYC with Kids on the Cheap (Downtown & Beyond)

July 14, 2010

This article is the final part in a series about visiting New York with children: Part 1 | General Travel Guide Part 2 | Uptown & Midtown Here are our family’s favorite wallet-friendly destinations below 42nd Street and beyond the island of Manhattan. West Village The charming, Euro-flair West Village has a special place in [...]

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