Playing For Pennies On The Dollar 4.16.11

Saving for vacation isn’t always fun, but you know that you’re going to do something fun with the money, so you do it. (You do, don’t you?) As you know, my hope is to always be able to stretch a budget as far as it can go, so you can do more. Just because you have a set spending limit for your whole vacation, doesn’t mean that you are stuck doing 5 things and then just wandering around the city the whole rest of the time you’re away…or have to hang out on the beach, because you can’t afford to do anything else. I know, heartbreak. There are a lot of people who choose to go on vacation, just so they can lie around and do nothing. Change of scenery and all that. I look at it this way: I spent all that money to get there and stay there, I should take some time to experience it, otherwise I’ve just spent way too much money to do something I can do at home. Not that I’m not going to take the time to enjoy the beach and the water, but that’s not all I’m going to do. If so, I could have saved a bundle and driven to the coast and brought my own sandwiches.

 

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Activities are what fill your itinerary. While I understand that not everyone has their vacation planning down to a science, like I do, you still want to plan to do something, right? Of course you do! If you miss out on the biggest things wherever you go, you’ll be sad…or at least I hope you will. Knowing when attractions are open and having a prior reservation for many things is the first step in doing them and also getting a great deal. Now, this post is called Playing for Pennies on the Dollar, so cutting costs is priority. You may not be paying just 2-3 pennies for each dollar and more like 60-70, but that’s still 30-40% off original cost, and in some cases you’ll see and even bigger reductions, which means that extra money is money you can spend elsewhere, like on your dining expenses, or you can keep it in your pocket to help you take the most affordable vacation you can.

Let’s first start by making a list of all the things you want to do in your destination. I search tourism websites for my particular destination like VisitNassau.com or something to that effect. Google will be your best friend in this task, since if you have no idea what there is to do somewhere, you can type in something like “Fun things to do in Oahu” and get a million websites that can help you out. I visit the first 5 or 6 and make a list. If they happen to have websites next to each thing, even better, but if not don’t worry. Write down the exact name of the attraction, show, shop, etc. and you can look it up later. Once you’ve made your list, you can go back and fill in the blanks: how much it costs, opening hours or show times and where it’s located. I like to put an asterisk on things I ABSOLUTELY have to do. This way I know what my base cost could be.

Now, don’t cry when you look at your total just yet. Look to see if there are certain days it is cheaper or even free and if there is, create a daily calendar for the days you’ll be gone and post those things on the correct days and times to work around. You’ll want to do the same thing for activities or shows that will only be available during limited times.

Okay, so that was the fun part. Step 2, find discounts on things you want to do by searching the web. Very rarely do you get the best deal on tickets and entrance fees by booking directly through that company’s website, buying at the gate or calling to purchase. Sometimes it’s true, like with Universal Studios and The Dungeons, where they offer almost the only discounts by buying tickets ahead of time off their websites. This is probably also true, because they have limited tickets available each day, so knowing people who already have tickets won’t be turned away, while others in the middle of the day might be or have to wait in super long lines to get their tickets and have an unpleasant experience is something they’re willing to reward with a few dollars off. Universal has the market on discounting their own tickets, unless you are going to visit for several days, in which case you can buy cheaper tickets through your local AAA travel store.

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So, how else can you get discounted tickets to things? The easiest way is to search “discount tickets (insert your activity/theme park/etc here)” and see what comes up. In my opinion, a dollar or two off is better than nothing. I write down those prices and where I found them – and any fine print, in case printing and shipping fees end up costing you MORE than box office – and then continue with my search. As you find better deals, replace your top choice, so you know who has the best price and where you should buy when you’re ready. Cross out the “retail” price on your original cost list and put the new price next to it. This way you can see how much you’re saving as you go along! (I like this method, because as I find more savings, I add more things from my “maybe” list to my list of things I will do.

Do you find that there are a lot of things on your list that seem like traditional touristy activities? Search for a city pass! These handy cards can save you up to 60% on things you want to do. They can include anywhere from 5 major tourist attractions to almost 100 included attractions and discounts on dining, shopping and transportations. Most major cities that have any kind of tourism have a city pass, whether you’re going to London, Boston or Berlin. These cards have several benefits: you pay one price all at once, it pays for itself by just doing a fraction of the activities included, you can skip the ticket queues and go right to the gate, some include public transportation (eliminating another possibly costly trip expense), and you’ve already paid your admission fees, so the money in your pocket, stays in your pocket.

Look for activities that are not necessarily on every traveler’s list. This is a great way to travel if you’ve already been to a place before. Say you’ve been to Paris before and already done the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Maybe check out the Dali exhibition and take a walk through Pere Lechaise Cimetiere instead. Both are much less expensive and have smaller crowds, plus they are things not everyone gets a chance to do on their trip to Paris. You’ll see a different side of the city and also be able to tell others about things they maybe haven’t heard of, giving them new ideas for their own future trip.

Sign up for daily deal emails, like Groupon and KGBDeals. Many of these sites offer deals worldwide. If you don’t want to get a million emails for places you’re visiting only once, another awesome website just started called YipIt.com. It sends you a single email each day with the deals for all the daily deal sites for the destination you’ve chosen. So easy! (A big thank you to Nancy who found this and told me about it. Saves SO much time!)

Did you remember seeing something in your email for a daily deal site and then missed out on the deal? No problem! Lifesta.com and CoupRecoup.com are both reseller sites of daily deals! It’s like eBay and Craigslist for bargains! Sometimes you buy things and then realize you won’t/can’t use them. Well, with these new websites, you can resell them! This is good news for you and other travelers, too! Browse within your destination – they have over 150 daily deal sites – to find amazing deals at 50% off or more and save a bunch of money on your vacation by paying with certificates of every kind: dining, shopping, beauty, tours, activities, theater tickets, etc.

Did you know you can subscribe to the Shereen Travels Cheap blog on your Kindle? No? Well, you can! Take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you go, get real-time updates when new posts are published, so you can read and enjoy STC at home, at work, on the train, in France! Don’t have a Kindle? You can still use that fancy Kindle reading app, which is FREE, by the way, to read on your other web-enabled devices (iPad, Blackberry, Android, etc.).

Are you planning a trip to the theater wherever you go? Check out Broadway Box for discount codes on shows in London, New York, Orlando and Las Vegas. Sometimes you can even get dinner thrown in with your show for less than the cost of the full-price ticket! For other locations, look at StubHub for folks reselling tickets at a lower price. If you find that prices are still too high, go to the box office on the day of show and see if they have any tickets left. If they do, they are generally 50% off, which is a huge savings.

With these tips in mind, don’t be afraid of how small your budget might be. Work around it by using some or all of these techniques and do more than you thought and have an awesome time while you’re away. Remember, there are always free things to do in most cities, too. Mix some of these things into your day and make your budget stretch just a bit further. Sometimes these are the most fun things you end up doing.

Do you have more tips for my readers or questions for me? Feel free to post a comment below. I love feedback.

I am entered into a competition to win $500 for the most liked blog on the site BlogSynergy. If you could take a moment to go THERE and click the “like” button, I would be forever grateful. I’ll thank you in advance, because I know you guys are awesome! (You don’t have to be a member of the BlogSynergy site, but you do have to be a member of Facebook. If you don’t already like me there, too, just pop on over and do it now…then you can get back to reading.)

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Let’s make it to 50 readers on this blog!

Shereen Travels Cheap has several fantastic and fun prizes to give away, but I’d like to make them goal-oriented. I know there are a lot of readers that come by each week to read the new content here, which is great! What would be even better is if you guys would also subscribe to the blog – either on Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs – so I know how many of you are repeat customers. Once the total between the two reaches 50 readers, I’ll be giving away some great wine-related travel products. Being able to ship back or bring back your favorite wines from your travels in your checked luggage make a nice souvenir for yourself and others that weren’t lucky enough to go on your trip with you. This giveaway will be a perfect solution to that! The faster we get to 50, the faster we can start giving away prizes! We will do another one at 100, 150 and so on.

Join me on Facebook! We just started a new giveaway for a prize pack with 2 Knock! Knock! travel products in it: A Bon Voyage packing list tablet and reusable airplane bingo to keep you busy on your flights. Enter by becoming a Fan on Facebook and filling out the form. Get an extra entry by following me on Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs and leaving me a comment to that effect on this post.

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Come over to the Frugal Living Community and join in money-saving discussions with me and my other frugal friends. You can join other discussions, too, and learn how to save money on fashion, groceries, travel and more! Blog Frog is a fantastic site that is comprised of bloggers and blog readers who share the same interests. In addition to joining different communities (Frugal Living is NOT the only one, just the one where I am a community leader and share most of my money-saving ideas), you can find other blogs that interest you, interact with other bloggers/readers and make new friends.

Get Free Future Travel by Postponing Current Travel 4.13.11

Free and Travel are not often two words one can put together. It’s like the Holy Grail for vacationers, though almost none of us seem to know how to achieve such a thing – besides have a job that involves traveling that your company pays for, though that doesn’t usually involve actual “vacationing”. I came across an article the other day that was written by a frequent flyer that is lucky enough to have the funds to fly a couple of times a month just to rack up frequent flyer miles. While I surely can’t follow in his footsteps, and you probably can’t either, I learned a few things about how I do travel and what I can do in order to score some free airfare, hotel and dining vouchers. These can be used on your current trip to save you money now or on a future trip to save you money in the later. It involves a fairly simple technique, too.

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Everyone has heard the term “bumped”. If you haven’t – or if you have and are not sure what it means – it is the term given to a person who has the misfortune to get to the airport too late (read: after almost all the other passengers) to check in for their overbooked flight and loses their seat. They are “bumped” from the flight. With the amount of overall flights being reduced, there are now more people who want to fly on those that are available most days. There are a certain number of no-shows or ticketed passengers that miss their flights each day. The airlines have always planned for this, but in these tough economic times they also want to fill their seats on the limited flights they have, so they overbook. (This was always a common thing on their most popular flights before the recession.) Sometimes everyone shows up and that leaves around 3-5 people without an actual seat. The airlines will rebook them on the next available flight, but will also always ask if others are willing to be bumped instead. This is how you get comped free travel/hotel/food.

Tip: Ask for a credit voucher instead of a free flight voucher. This works like a gift certificate for the airline and allows you more freedom when booking your flight with it (i.e. you can use it for international airfare if you wish or to buy more than one cheap ticket).

When you get to the gate, you will normally see on the monitor at the check-in desk if there is a list of passengers. These people are already on the “waiting” list. They may have checked in after everyone else or were able to be put on stand-by. If someone else doesn’t show up, or someone gives up their seat willingly, they get to board that flight. If you aren’t in a hurry to get to your destination, then maybe you wouldn’t mind volunteering to hang out until the next flight. The more people on the list, the more willing the airline will be to work with you in giving up your seat. Go up to the airline employee and ask if they need volunteers to be bumped. If so, ask what you will be compensated. Usually, because you have been helpful and friendly (this is certainly key in any customer/customer service conversation), they will give you a voucher for a free flight or credit to use at a later date. You’ll, of course, not have to pay extra for being rebooked on a new flight.

Want more deals and tips everyday? “Like” Shereen Travels Cheap on Facebook and follow me onTwitter. You never know what great deal will pop up! Keep up with current sales, new products and websites and get more awesome tips in between blog posts!

Depending on how long of a wait it will be until your next flight, you might also be able to negotiate a free hotel room and/or dining vouchers for the airport while you hang around and wait for the next flight to come in. While you end up with a free flight (and probably more), the airline doesn’t really lose any money by giving you these things in exchange for your seat. They will be flying that future flight anyway and your seat was already paid for by the passenger who will be filling your seat when they purposely oversold the flight. You get all the perks for just being nice (even if it was selfish) and you might have made someone’s day by letting them take your place. This is a great way to be able to stretch your dollars and be able to vacation more throughout the year. You’ll also get more frequent flyer miles added to your account (if you are compensated with a voucher for a dollar figure and not a free flight)!

Tip: If the airline pays for you to stay in a hotel overnight, they must also pay for your transportation to that accommodation.

Want to avoid getting bumped? Make sure you get to the airport early instead of the last minute. It just takes that one person to get there before you for the flight to be full. I always suggest getting to the airport at least one hour early for domestic and at least two hours early for international. Of course, I get excited for any travel I do and want to allow time for anything that might delay me (traffic, long security lines, etc.), so we tend to get to the airport two hours ahead of any flight. We use the extra time to browse shops, watch people and eat. It’s always nice to be able to sit down and have a decent meal, instead of grabbing fast food right before you get on the flight. It gives you time to relax if you stress right before you travel. It also boosts your energy and helps reduce jet lag. Make sure you drink lots of water, too. I always buy a big bottle of water after security to take with me on the flight, since I am often thirsty, flying dehydrates you and I don’t always want to wait 45 minutes to an hour before they bring around the drink cart.

Tip: Want to finally get into the fancy schmancy airline lounge? Ask for a pass to use it if you’re bumped and have to wait a few extra hours.

More tips on getting “bumped”:

• If you want to get bumped, it helps to get to the airport early as well. Get your name on the list of volunteers before anyone else.
• Book on a flight that is likely to be overbooked (holidays, afternoon flights, early evening flights, last flight of the day, red eye, etc.)
• Be polite. Don’t demand higher compensation than what they are offering you. If you know they are desperate, you can use it to your advantage, but negotiate in a polite manner.
• Know the flight schedule. This can be just as useful to you and your travel plans as it is to the airline employee rebooking you.
• Make sure you’re booking on an airline that does overbook flights. Some airlines do not. (Of course, this information is also helpful in not getting bumped.)
• Be willing to fly on a different airline or a different route. This makes it easier to rebook you as well.
• Pack light. While this doesn’t really help you to get booked, it does ensure that you keep all your belongings with you and the airline doesn’t have to figure out how to reroute your bags in addition to you (and your travel companions).
• Fly through busy airports when possible. Obviously, these airports have more passengers flying everyday and have more overbooked flights than smaller airports.

I never really thought about postponing my flight a few hours to “invest” in my future vacationing, but with all this talk about how I can do it and it seeming to be so easy, I might just start thinking about how a few hours won’t really effect my travel plans and offer to give up my seat from now on. If it can help me budget a trip for cheaper the next time I travel, then it’s totally worth it. What about you? Have you ever purposely volunteered to be “bumped” in order to receive free travel?

Did you know you can subscribe to the Shereen Travels Cheap blog on your Kindle? No? Well, you can! Take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you go, get real-time updates when new posts are published, so you can read and enjoy STC at home, at work, on the train, in France! Don’t have a Kindle? You can still use that fancy Kindle reading app, which is FREE, by the way, to read on your other web-enabled devices (iPad, Blackberry, Android, etc.).

So little to do and so much time to do it in. Bring things to occupy yourself if you find you might have a lot more wait time on your hands. I feel this kind of traveling deserves more than a typical "gadget". Here are some of my favorite games to bring along on a trip (not iPod apps, but good old-fashioned games):

Fluxx 4.0 - I love this game! It's the card game with ever-changing rules depending how you play. You start with a basic set of rules and a goal, but by the cards you choose to play, you can change how many cards to pick up, put down, steal from another player and the overall goal to win. Use your cards to your advantage and change the goal to match what you have in your hand. Don't get too excited about it though, because other players are going to do the same and change the game entirely. Fluxx comes in original 4.0, Family, Zombie, Eco, Monty Python, Pirate, Martian and Stoner editions. You can play them separately or up the challenge by playing two or more editions together.

Travel Scrabble - Are you a Scrabble fan? This great travel edition keeps all your pieces in a nifty little zipper folio. You won't lose any of the pieces when you pack it back up and the smaller footprint and parts make it easy to play almost anywhere!

Travel Yahtzee - If you love Yahtzee as I do, you know there's no substitution to playing with actual dice. Sure, you can get an electronic version, but it's really not the same. This Yahtzee To Go set comes in a durable plastic container that you can use as a shaker and never lose your dice. When you're done playing, store your scorecards in it as well and everything is in one place when you're ready to play again!

Cranium Zigity - Here's another card game I love. It's great for adults and children alike and my husband and I enjoy playing it on the plane anytime we travel. A game lasts between five and ten minutes, so you can play for as long as you want and it can keep the attention of even the most ADD challenged minds, because it has four different goals in one game. You may have to spell, add, make a picture or match suits. The cards are plastic, so if you spill a drink or find someone gnawing on one, they're still usable. Great for the pool or beach, too!

Shereen Travels Cheap has been approached with a fun new project. Microsoft is teaming with OneTravel and asking for 40 travel bloggers to test out their new Office 2010 add-on called OneNote. It claims to be a digital notebook where you can gather all of your notes and information in one place, with a built-in search function and the ability to share notebooks with others. I'm really excited to try it out, because I'll get to make up an itinerary for 24 hours in Melbourne, Australia to see how easy it is to use, then have my OneNote shared on both the Microsoft Office site for OneNote and the OneTravel website.

Soon after, you will be seeing a blog post on how cool OneNote is and why you should use it for all your travel planning. I think it'll be a very invaluable resource for you, especially if you like to clip and gather information thoughout the year and then forget where you put it or you travel with several people. You can all add your travel info and suggestions to the notebook and then work at turning those notes into an itinerary. Convenient, if you ask me!

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You all know how much I love my iGo. It even has accessories! I’ve done away with all my wall adapters when I travel. I take my iGo and all my corresponding tips in a small bag and leave all the others at home, except for my netbook charger. I have a splitter to charge two devices at once and a USB plug to charge something while playing on my computer.

You want to get your very own, don’t you? Free would be even better, too, so listen up. Go to my Facebook page to enter to win one of three sets. These sets will get you on your way to being a more space-saving and efficient traveler and packer. Each set includes a wall adapter, a car adapter (for road trips and rental cars) and 3 tips – mini USB, micro USB and Apple for your iPod, iPhone, etc. – to get you started. If you have other electronic devices that you take with you, like your Nintendo DS, Kindle and other mobile phone, you can purchase additional tips for those. You can purchase at your local Radio Shack or you can search Amazon for tips. I find they have many more available at sale prices on Amazon, and it’s the only place you can buy the tip for Kindle. This giveaway ends on April 14 and the winners will be chosen on April 15 and given 48 hours to respond.

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Come over to the Frugal Living Community and join in money-saving discussions with me and my other frugal friends. You can join other discussions, too, and learn how to save money on fashion, groceries, travel and more! Blog Frog is a fantastic site that is comprised of bloggers and blog readers who share the same interests. In addition to joining different communities (Frugal Living is NOT the only one, just the one where I am a community leader and share most of my money-saving ideas), you can find other blogs that interest you, interact with other bloggers/readers and make new friends.

Morocco For Less Cash-o! 4.9.11

Sorry, that was a bad play-on-words, but still, don’t you want to go everywhere for less cash? Yeah, me too. While I don’t know that much about Morocco, other than it is desert-y, sells a lot of handmade carpets and is close to Spain, I know that it would be a lovely place to visit and is high up on my travel list. Sadly, there are a lot of people who have no idea where Morocco is or Marrakech…or that Marrakech is in Morocco. Well, if you’re one of those people, let me enlighten you: Morocco is located in the Northwest corner of Africa, about half of it is covered by the Sahara Desert and Marrakech, though it’s the most well-known, is not the capital or the largest city. Those go to Rabat and Casablanca, respectively.

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Other fun facts: Morocco is run by a constitutional monarchy (meaning they have a king and a prime minister), besides Moroccan Arabic, they also speak Berber, French and Spanish and Morocco is mainly mountainous, but even so, still has over 33 million inhabitants. It is separated from Spain and the rest of Europe by the very thin Strait of Gibraltar and is bordered by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It’s especially great for travel, because, not only is it budget-friendly, it appeals to many and it has warm/hot dry summers and the winters are mild and cool, though rainy. You won’t have to pack a parka and 22 pairs of woolly socks, which is nice when traveling in the fall and winter and also for generally packing light.

So, besides these textbook facts, what else will you find in Morocco?

• Great surfing. Does that surprise you? Peak surfing season runs from October through April and you can see waves as high as 18 feet high. There are plenty of different beaches to choose from for a variety surfing opportunities and experiences.

• Amazing food! I’ve only been lucky enough to eat Moroccan food at local restaurants, but I know from just that small sampling that genuine Moroccan food will be awesome. There are so many different spices and cooking techniques. I love lamb and yogurt, which are staples. You are more likely to find inexpensive chicken and beef dishes and a plethora of couscous. 

• Easy transportation. Whether you want to see several cities or stay in one city your entire trip, it’s super easy to get around within the country. Rent a car and get around to different cities and experience more on your own schedule, take the train between major cities and only worry about your bags or take the bus around town. You can even save money and time by taking shared taxis, if you don’t mind being squished in with strangers.

• Astounding historical sites. Historic sites are often three things: Super cool, educational (often in a fun way) and budget friendly! Here is just a small percentage of the interesting places to see in Morocco:

Fes el Bali

The oldest and walled part of Fes has the oldest university in the world and is also the largest car-free urban area in the world.

Jardin Majorelle

For a small entrance fee, enjoy the rare and exotic plant life of Morocco, varieties of birds and a museum full of Muslim artwork.

Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

The largest mosque in the world that took 6,000 artisans 5 years to complete. It has room for 100,000 worshippers. You gotta see that, right?

The Saadian Tombs

Beautiful tombs built by Sultan Ahmed al-Mansour for himself and his family. Thought to have been destroyed, they were found sealed up and perfectly preserved in the early 1900s.

• Markets, markets and more markets! Haggle away for fantastic handmade and unique items. Moroccan markets are great places to shop for spices, rugs, wool, silk, hookas, trinkets and more!

Want more deals and tips everyday? “Like” Shereen Travels Cheap on Facebook and follow me onTwitter. You never know what great deal will pop up! Keep up with current sales, new products and websites and get more awesome tips in between blog posts!

Budget tips to make the most of your trip

• Get a metered taxi. There are non-metered taxis everywhere. If you do get in one, make sure you agree on a price before getting in or putting your bags in the trunk. A metered taxi is safer and will often save you money on your trip. While taxis aren’t too expensive in the country, drives will try to get the most they can out of a tourist whenever they can.
• Share a bathroom. If you don’t care about having an en suite bathroom, you can get a lower rate by choosing a hotel that has rooms that share one. Of course, even if you get a private room, you will be looking at reasonable room rates. Many even include breakfast, which already helps take a bit of the edge off travel expenses.
• Don’t book ahead. I know, this is against ALL my beliefs for getting good lodgings, but if you really want to save money on your hotel, wait until you arrive and look for hotels that are off the main roads. You can find budget-friendly hotels, called Riads (homes converted into hotels), that are just as good as ones you can book online, but may lack a few amenities. You can negotiate lower prices this way.
• Eat on the street. Morocco is full of street vendors that serve food at very affordable prices. If you aren’t afraid of eating from a cart, which I think is pretty fun no matter where you are, then you can save a bundle right here by grabbing lunch and snacks on the go. You can burn more calories this way, too.
• Visit in the Spring & Fall. Not only will you have cooler weather, but there will be fewer tourists and airfare will be cheaper than it is all year. (Hint: Do not buy airfare late Spring or during the early Summer when travel sites are trying to get people to travel during the most expensive time of the year. Buy in Fall, Winter or early Spring or wait until late Summer to get airfare deals. They don’t want you to see better prices for a different time of year, because you may change your plans. Example – I will be traveling to Hawaii in late September. I know that airfare can be as low as $300 per person for a round-trip flight. Because Summer is the biggest travel season, right now tickets are almost twice as much, even if I check for September/October travel dates. In late July or August the prices will drop dramatically, saving me $600+ on airfare for two of us.)
• Haggle. If you want to try your hand at browsing the souks (markets) and making a purchase, you can try to talk your way down to a more reasonable price. Don’t forget to not low-ball the kind Moroccan people (just as I suggest everywhere else), as these people make their living by selling their goods at the markets. Do make sure you’ve done a bit of homework, so you know what things are worth and you don’t get taken to the cleaners. (see tips for taxis)

Did you know you can subscribe to the Shereen Travels Cheap blog on your Kindle? No? Well, you can! Take Shereen Travels Cheap everywhere you go, get real-time updates when new posts are published, so you can read and enjoy STC at home, at work, on the train, in France! Don’t have a Kindle? You can still use that fancy Kindle reading app, which is FREE, by the way, to read on your other web-enabled devices (iPad, Blackberry, Android, etc.).

Bring a hat, as the desert sun can be quite brutal if you’re planning on spending a lot of time outside. It’ll protect your head from the sun and shield your eyes. You can find nice looking, packable ones (meaning you can crush them in your luggage with no issues) at REI, Columbia, ExOfficio and more outdoor stores. You’re bound to find something that will suit you.

On the same note, bring lots of sunscreen (or bring some and buy more there). You don’t want your vacation ruined on the first day – or any day – by broiling like a lobster and then being ouchy for the whole rest of your trip. This happened to me on our trip to Cancun. Luckily, it was the next to last day, but then I had to wear normal clothes on my way back home and everything hurt when it touched my burnt skin. Longest. Plane ride. Ever.

If you put on sunscreen, but then forgot to reapply, like I obviously did on the beach in Cancun, get yourself a fancy set of these UV SunSense Wristbands. They are easy to use and 100% recyclable. You put on a wristband, apply your sunscreen (to the wristband, too) and go outside. You will notice that once sunscreen is applied, you wristband will change color to purple. When the color fades, it’s time to reapply. When the color is totally gone, it’s time to go inside! Pretty easy and saves you from a nasty burn.

You’re gonna want to bring home some fabulous finds from your trip, aren’t you? Anticipating this is the first step to not stressing about packing your bags to go home. The Travelon Pack-Flat Back-Up Carry-On Bag is your solution! Get one of these back-up bags before you go, toss it in your travel bag (makes a nice flat surface between layers of clothing to make packing a bit easier, too) where it takes up little space, then when you are coming home with all your goodies, unzip it and create a full-size carry-on bag that is durable and will fit right under the airplane seat. I love mine and tell everyone to get one. It fits a ton of stuff, is lightweight and you can toss your purse and snacks in it and use if for your “personal item”. We packed, like, 50 lbs of purchases in ours on our last trip and the handles are still firmly attached, so it’s pretty durable. Lesser bags would have cracked under the pressure and just fallen apart, literally. I’ve bought a lot of those when I’ve overestimated my available bag space (or completely disregarded it as a problem).

I am entered into a competition to win $500 for the most liked blog on the site BlogSynergy. If you could take a moment to go THERE and click the “like” button, I would be forever grateful. I’ll thank you in advance, because I know you guys are awesome! (You don’t have to be a member of the BlogSynergy site, but you do have to be a member of Facebook. If you don’t already like me there, too, just pop on over and do it now…then you can get back to reading.)

Let’s make it to 50 readers on this blog!

Shereen Travels Cheap has several fantastic and fun prizes to give away, but I’d like to make them goal-oriented. I know there are a lot of readers that come by each week to read the new content here, which is great! What would be even better is if you guys would also subscribe to the blog – either on Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs – so I know how many of you are repeat customers. Once the total between the two reaches 50 readers, I’ll be giving away some great wine-related travel products. Being able to ship back or bring back your favorite wines from your travels in your checked luggage make a nice souvenir for yourself and others that weren’t lucky enough to go on your trip with you. This giveaway will be a perfect solution to that! The faster we get to 50, the faster we can start giving away prizes! We will do another one at 100, 150 and so on.

iGo goes everywhere you go.

You all know how much I love my iGo. It even has accessories! I’ve done away with all my wall adapters when I travel. I take my iGo and all my corresponding tips in a small bag and leave all the others at home, except for my netbook charger. I have a splitter to charge two devices at once and a USB plug to charge something while playing on my computer.

You want to get your very own, don’t you? Free would be even better, too, so listen up. Go to my Facebook page to enter to win one of three sets. These sets will get you on your way to being a more space-saving and efficient traveler and packer. Each set includes a wall adapter, a car adapter (for road trips and rental cars) and 3 tips – mini USB, micro USB and Apple for your iPod, iPhone, etc. – to get you started. If you have other electronic devices that you take with you, like your Nintendo DS, Kindle and other mobile phone, you can purchase additional tips for those. You can purchase at your local Radio Shack or you can search Amazon for tips. I find they have many more available at sale prices on Amazon, and it’s the only place you can buy the tip for Kindle. This giveaway ends on April 14 and the winners will be chosen on April 15 and given 48 hours to respond before I pick someone else.

Come over to the Frugal Living Community and join in money-saving discussions with me and my other frugal friends. You can join other discussions, too, and learn how to save money on fashion, groceries, travel and more! Blog Frog is a fantastic site that is comprised of bloggers and blog readers who share the same interests. In addition to joining different communities (Frugal Living is NOT the only one, just the one where I am a community leader and share most of my money-saving ideas), you can find other blogs that interest you, interact with other bloggers/readers and make new friends.