• Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Work With Me
      • Disclosure and Privacy Policy
    • My Favorites
      • Beauty
      • Giving Back
      • How to Start a Blog
  • Easy Recipes
    • Appetizer Recipes
    • Main Dish
    • Side Dish Recipes
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Drink Recipes
  • Family Life
    • Pregnancy
      • Preemies
  • Travel
    • Alaska
    • Disney
    • Las Vegas
    • Seattle
    • Texas
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Live Love Texas: Austin Texas Mom Blogger. Easy Recipes, Family Travel, Beauty, and Lifestyle.

Austin Texas Mom Blogger: Easy Recipes, Family Travel, Beauty, and Lifestyle.

Home » Travel » 5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation and Lower Your Car Insurance

Post may contain affiliate links. Live Love Texas is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation and Lower Your Car Insurance

0shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Pin
  • Yum
  • Mix

Family Walking on the Gulf Coast #Compare2Win #shop
It's been a crazy year so far! Our year is flying by and has been jam packed with lots of fun (and sometimes not so fun) work and personal stuff. Since Spring Break two months ago, it doesn't feel like our schedule has let up at all. We've gone from entertaining friends, to family visits out of state, to an epic blog conference, and finally the vacation I've been planning since last year is finally here!

Since we started the family beach vacation tradition, we've come up with some ways to save once we're at the beach. Things like visiting the store immediately when we arrive for groceries and beach supplies is such a big help in ensuring we save as much as possible. We love enjoying the local restaurants, but by planning ahead and buying drinks, breakfast items, lunch fixings, and snacks we're able to dine out more often without blowing our budget.

Making the yearly trek to the beach for vacation and relaxing with my family in paradise is definitely one of the highlights of my year. The price of vacations can quickly add up, so while we make efforts to stay within our budget once we've arrived, we have to be mindful of our spending leading up to our trip as well. I have to research home rentals to find something that meets our needs – large dog friendly and with room for each girl to have their own bed. Since we always drive to Florida so that Dude, our bulldog, can go with us we have the added expenses of gas and a full day of driving each direction, expenses can rack up.

5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation #Compare2Win #shop
To help make the time with my family (and your time with yours) as enjoyable as possible, I've come up with 5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation. These are things you can do to stretch your budget before you arrive so you can concentrate on having fun and staying stress-free once you've arrived!

Ford-F150-Platinum-Car-Insurance-Savings #Compare2Win #shop
1.  Compare Car Insurance Rates. Periodically review your car insurance rate to make sure you're not spending more than you need to for auto insurance. Quickly and easily enter in your current coverage and start saving!

The website is so easy to use! I brought up my current insurance coverage in another window and was able to put in the info as the website asked for it. There were a few times when the wording was confusing or wasn't the same on my current policy and on the AutoInsurance.com, but by clicking the question mark icon I was able to get a little more information and ensure I was inputting the correct values.

I've been with my current carrier since I got my learner's permit, so was curious to see what kind of savings I might find. I was impressed after plugging in info about our vehicle, my husband and my driving records, and our current coverage that with www.autoinsurance.com we could expect savings of $14/month or $168/year!

2. Make your own coffee.  It sounds simple enough but taking the extra few minutes to brew a pot of coffee can add up exponentially. Not only are you saving money on the cost of your drink but also time by avoiding the long drive-thru line.

3. Cancel your cable TV subscription.  We haven't had cable since 2008 and honestly do not miss it. With services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu you don't need to spend an arm and a leg on cable to see your favorite shows. By choosing to not subscribe to cable, it makes you more mindful of your TV viewing habits. We no longer just turn on the TV and aimlessly channel surf, we're intentional and limit ourselves so we can spend more time living life.

4. Review your cell phone plan.  If you're not under contract, call your carrier and inquire about lower rate alternatives. But don't stop there, check out switching carriers to see if you can receive a more competitive plan for less money. Just as you reviewed your car insurance rates, review the services you receive and drop any unnecessary features. In this day and age, if you have a cell phone it's a pretty safe bet you don't need home telephone service.

5. Be mindful of your utility usage.  Unplug appliances and electronics when they're not in use. While this doesn't work very often in Texas, before turning on the air conditioner, try turning fans or opening the windows first. When you do turn your air conditioner on, turn it up higher when you're not at home. Use your slow cooker or grill during warm months to avoid heating up your house unnecessarily.

Panama City Beach Sunset: 5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Next Vacation #Compare2Win #shop
These 5 Easy Ways to Save for Your Summer Vacation are just the start of simple ways you can free of money in your budget. Try them out and let me know how much you save!

What are ways you use to save for your summer vacation?

0shares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Pin
  • Yum
  • Mix
« Best Dog Treats for Furbabies
Pool Party on a Budget + Pool Bag Checklist »

Comments

  1. Robin (Masshole Mommy) says

    May 13, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    You had to go and tell me to cut down on my trips to Dunkin Donuts, huh? I suppose I could make coffee at home, but the ones I get at the store are so much better 😉

  2. Nichol says

    May 13, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    Great tips! I’m already doing many of these. I just called and saved over $80 on my cell phone bill and always make coffee at home except on Friday’s when I treat myself. We’ve been talking about getting rid of cable but still undecided.

  3. Rachel says

    May 14, 2014 at 12:05 am

    Great tips! I think looking at things like car insurance and even cell phone bills are things we don’t think of when trying to save money.

  4. Tammy Litke (@threedifferent) says

    May 15, 2014 at 7:37 pm

    Those are really good tips! We know we probably pay too much for our car insurance, but we are really happy with the company and the service we get from them, so we stay.

    We’ve never really intentionally saved for a vacation, we just watch our budget all year long and then when we find that we have a ‘surplus’ in our bank account, then we book one 🙂 The home we just purchased though, is taking a little bit more of our cash flow than we had anticipated when we bought it, so this year a vacation just might not happen 😉

  5. Heather {Brie Brie Blooms} says

    May 16, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    Great list of tips to help save! We have already removed cable from our monthly expenses but I need to get on board with checking out alternative insurance rates and cell phone plans.

  6. HilLesha says

    May 16, 2014 at 11:55 pm

    Thankfully, my car insurance isn’t too bad.

  7. Chelle @ Oh Just Stop Already says

    May 17, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    Great tips. I always put our Dish on hold when we’re going to be gone for a week or longer. To some people it’s pointless but that couple of dollars helps out in the long run.

  8. LyndaS says

    May 18, 2014 at 8:37 am

    Those are good tips. I would much rather spend money on vacation than anything else.

  9. Singapore Mum Blog says

    May 18, 2014 at 8:57 am

    making your own coffee is a super saver!!

  10. Katie says

    May 18, 2014 at 2:22 pm

    i really need to cut back heading thru the drive thru in the morning for caffeine. Luckily our insurance rates are as good as they could be.

  11. Jennifer H says

    May 18, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    These are great tips. I’ve done a few of these recently to lower bills for us.

  12. debra p says

    May 18, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    Those are some great tips. Thanks! Ever since I’ve been making my own coffee and cutting out the coffee shops, I’m surprised at how much I’ve saved.

  13. Elaina- A Time Out for Mommy says

    May 18, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    These are great tips! Thanks for sharing!

  14. Amy says

    May 25, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    I’ve been thinking about canceling my cable for a while now. I just can’t pull the plug! When this site is active in North Carolina I’ll be checking my rates, too! I think I have a good one, but who knows?

    #client

  15. Stephanie Person says

    May 30, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    We have been thinking about cancelling our cable, but we wouldn’t do it for long.. my husband is thinking in a few months.. football season LOL! Go Bears! 🙂

Trackbacks

  1. Easy No Cook S'mores Parfait Recipe: No Fire & Only 4 Ingredients! says:
    March 31, 2020 at 11:42 am

    […] a teenager, summer vacation always included one thing…camping. We lived in Colorado at the time and the weather was perfect […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Hey Y’all

Kelly here - product of the 80s, lover of queso, former Air Force brat, football fan (Hook 'em Horns!), dog lover, chicken farmer, wife, and girl mom living in Austin, Texas!

Email me: [email protected] Read More…

Popular Posts

Categories

Copyright © 2021 · Restored 316

· Disclosure & Privacy Policy