Allie in the South of Spain

17. Plan, plan, plan : My husband is really good at this and I am blessed to have him as a partner. Have an idea of what you will be doing, seeing, where you will be staying, how you will be moving about, what you will be eating, how much you can spend, etc. Try to figure out a timetable for your vacation (though you may not be able to stick to it perfectly which is definitely ok, you are on vacation in the end). If you have a rough idea of your schedule you will be able to plan meals easier. That means you won't end up starving somewhere and have to shell out a lot of money to ease your hunger by making an unplanned stop. If you plan you will be able to maximize your time (remember that time is money). You don't have to have every minute scheduled of course but planning ahead is always a good idea.

16.  Be realistic : Maybe this isn´t a time when you can go on vacation. Make the best of it and treat yourself to a relaxing weekend at home. Unplug the phone and internet and spend quality time with your spouse, partner, friends and/or family. If it isn't in your budget to travel, you shouldn't. It will be a fleeting escape since you will eventually have to return to reality (with bills and jobs and problems).

I am living in a country with royalty. Sometimes I forget that fact but then something reminds me like a special news report about the royal budget (paid for by the goverment and thus the people). Coming from America it is hard to believe that there are places with a King and Queen still kicking around but Spain is just such a place. In fact they also have princes, princesses, dukes, duchesses, the whole blue blooded nine yards. There is a big royal following here so pardon me if I offend you. Chalk it up to my being foreign (I just must not understand). Here in Spain I can appreciate that the current King did a lot to help the transition to democracy after the end of a long dictatorship. I understand that people have a lot of respect and admiration for him and his family. They are figureheads for the government and symbols of Spain itself as a nation. People love to follow their every move, know what they wore, who is involved in a scandal, who married who etc. (in the U.S. we ...

15. Share costs with other couples or families : The same principle of saving money that you use while carpooling functions here as well. If you can rent an entire house or an apartment rather than stay at a hotel and split the cost sometimes you can save some money (be sure to do your research). If you can drive together, even better. Maybe you could share the cost and work of preparing meals. Of course you would want to look for a group that has compatible travel plans and expectations but by splitting costs you will travel more frugally. Some of my most memorable trips as a child were done with neighbors and their children. We still talk about the awful, rock hard pancakes that were made during one camping trip with neighbors. Bonus: (if you have kids) you can share childcare or babysitting responsibilities as well. One couple or person could watch the kids one night and then you could trade off. That way everyone gets a chance to enjoy a relaxing ...

14. When in Rome, do as the Romans do: What do I mean by this? Well, look at and observe the locals when you are visiting somewhere new. Often times you will get clued in on cheap eats and places to shop. People who live in touristy areas have to live their normal lives and chances are they have the inside track on where you can get the most bang for your buck. Case in point: my husband and I traveled to Vienna a few years ago. It is a very expensive place to visit and though we were staying at a hostel, we found that just eating was going to cost an arm and a leg. After spending WAY too much at a McDonald´s in an attempt to save, we looked to the locals to see where they were eating. Many businessmen were going to a stand set up outside of their building and were buying yummy-looking sausages and sandwiches. We decided to give this vendor a try and were delightfully surprised. The prices were good and the food was too. If you look for places full of local people you tend to avoid...

13. Go on a mini-vacation: Instead of trying to plan and budget for a long trip, take a short one instead. Make it to somewhere that you really want to visit so that you can get a lot out of a weekend for example. Or plan a super relaxing vacation where you just get away from it all. Whatever you decide to do, the chances are that the less time you spend away, the less you will spend. Sometimes all it takes is a mini-vacation to give you a new perspective on life.

One of the wonderful things about living in Spain is the tiles. Carpet is almost unheard of but tiles are everywhere and are mostly beautiful. Our new apartment has marble tiles throughout the main living areas and bedrooms but the kitchen and bathrooms were done in light tan tiles. We knew from the very beginning that we would switch them out (since we have similar floors now in our rental and you can see every little thing on them. ANNOYING!). We had a bunch of different contractors come out to do estimates and finally decided on one. Then it was time to decide on the tiles we would use. There are a ton of different options and we knew that we wanted something that would be easy to take care of and keep clean. In the kitchen I wanted dark floors to contrast with the walls and the cabinets we will have installed soon. Here is the tile we decided on. It is dark brown and looks almost like wood (yep it is a tile).  In the bathrooms we wanted a sort of rustic look. We w...

This Christmas was spent with Jose's family in the little pueblo where they all live (both sides). Before heading out to see them, Jose and I exchanged gifts. My Dad would be angry that we didn't wait until Christmas morning but at least we waited until Christmas Eve. We were on a budget this year and I think we did well. We opened half for Christmas and will do the other part for the Reyes Magos on January 6th. Anyway, we were with his mom's side on Christmas Eve. The last few days I had not been feeling 100% with a cough and a stuffy nose so we decided to call it an early night after having dinner and getting a visit from Santa. He might look familiar. Yes that is Jose. He dressed up to bring the gifts and spoke only in English. It was hilarious. Christmas day was spent with Jose's dad's family. I woke up feeling awful. I usually have a pretty good immune system and rarely get sick but on Christmas I felt terrible so I crawled back into bed and spent the d...

12. Visit parks: Parks were created for a reason: for people to enjoy green spaces. They are a place to getaway from it all, the hustle and bustle of life, a place to reconnect with nature (something I am convinced that everyone needs). I figure that if there is a reason to conserve these areas then they are probably worth the trip. Plus, visiting a State, National or local park tends to be a cheap way to travel. Look around your area to see what you can find. I know that in Michigan (my home state) there are a lot of BEAUTIFUL parks that you can visit. Jose and I spent a few days roadtripping to see a few last summer and were more than pleasantly surprised. We had bought a pass that allowed us entry into the State parks and ended up picnicking, camping and hiking our way through a couple. It was great!  Visit parks. It will be worth it.

11. Bring plastic baggies : I can´t tell you how many times my husband and I have found a use for plastic baggies. You can use them to hold dirty clothes until you get home to do a load of laundry (have you seen how much hotels and cruise lines charge for this service? OUTRAGEOUS). You can cushion things that might break during travel (think souveniers). You can pass your small toiletries through security check-points (just remember to check size limits). You can use them to cover your shoes in your suitcase. You can wrap up liquids in your bag so they don´t spill onto everything else (like the time a bottle of lotion spilled allllllll over my clothes on the way to our destination. Gross). You can use them to pack your own food during your trip. Put your shower sponge or loofah in one if it is still wet. Cover your head in the rain. The possibilities are endless really. We almost always have a use for them. Throwing a few in your bag as you pack can really save you money whi...

When we adopted Cooper he came with two things: a blankie (which I wrote about here ) and a squeaky Donald Duck toy. The blanket has held up pretty well but Donald is another story. He no longer makes noise (which is somewhat of a blessing), is super disgusting and has lost his tail and one webbed foot. I had no idea where Cooper's foster mom got Donald until a few weeks ago when I saw the exact same one in a store. I knew I had to get it for him for Christmas to replace his yucky, old one (since he is our furry baby). Ta da. Here it is: We gave him it today and he freaked out. He has been squeaking it for the past hour or so, running around like a madman. Cute. Here he is taking a break with his Christmas present. Enjoy the day !

10. Budget : A lot of travel requires you to plan ahead. You need to know where you are going and why. While you are doing this planning throw in a budget. Figure out how much you are willing to spend each day and multiply that by the number of days you are going. Investigate how much things cost where you are going. Plan for any shopping you will do. Try to stick to your daily budget as much as possible. Include your hotel, travel costs, food, entry fees etc. You can use the internet to get a good idea of how much you will be spending. Try to cut corners where you can. Have a plan. Budget, budget, budget.

I have mentioned it before but here in Spain Nativity scenes reign supreme. Since basically everyone is Catholic whether they are practicing or not they celebrate the coming of the 3 Kings/Wisemen rather than Santa. On January 6th when the Wisemen arrived to meet Jesus is when children get most of their gifts here in Spain. People put up their Nativity scenes at the beginning of December and Jose and I are no different (though we have a tree too, read about it here ). Right now we have what is called here the "misterio" or mystery which includes just Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus (which you put out on Christmas). Other people have huge (and expensive) collections of pieces. They add to them every year. There are all kinds of figures that you can get, a lot of which you know where NOT at the birth of Jesus but are fun all the same. It is a nice tradition to have. One friend told me that as a child her parents would move the Wisemen around the house, changing their position...

9. Sign up for sites like Groupon to receive deals : I cannot tell you how many amazing offers we have seen through these kinds of e-mails. The discounts can be great. Just be careful to read the small print.  It wouldn´t make sense to buy into an offer for two nights at a hotel that can only be used when you are working. I would also recommend that if you do buy a trip or package you make reservations and plans to use it ASAP (not that you have to actually use it but at least have it scheduled soon after the purchase). There might be black out dates or there might be many people who wait until the last minute to try to use it and the company won't be able to keep up. If you have your reservation made before you shouldn't have a problem. Also it could be a good idea to only open the e-mails if you are looking to go somewhere. Otherwise you will be tempted. It has happened more than once that Jose and I were just about to buy a cheap...

8. Look for free entries and discounts or deals : If I have learned anything from marrying my Spaniard it is that you cannot afford to pass up something that is FREE. Even if you have to wait longer to get into a free museum it can be worth it. Again, do your research. Find out which days you can get in free or at a discount at the places you want to visit. Recommendation: plan to arrive early.  I have mistakingly decided to go somewhere (Versailles) on its only free day to find a mile long line since I didn´t realize everyone and their mom would go then. We waited forever! It can work out though if you plan ahead. There  is an amazing, smaller museum (The Frick Collection) in New York that ended up being my FAVORITE that we visited during a trip there. We went on its one free day a month and also got a free audio guide. It was awesome! Make sure you know what you are up against and plan to be patient if you want to take advantage of free ent...

This week was kind of a big joke at work. The girls didn't have the interest and the teachers the energy to get a whole lot done. Add to that the fact that we had to move classrooms to another building and you have to get creative to pass the time. I decided to make angels with my first grade classes and they loved it. I then brought the same craft to my fourth grade and they liked it too. It was a nice activity to do on a relaxed day. Here are some examples of the angels my students ended up giving to me as gifts:     Cute, right? All you need is a paper doily, two circles (one larger than the other for the halo, the smaller one for the face), scissors and glue. Even little kids can follow the directions to make the angels since it is pretty basic.    These are the supplies that I gave my girls. They then folded the doily in half and cut it into 2 pieces. One half of the doily becomes the body. The other half is folded into the wings. To make the ...

7. Camp : Admittedly not my personal favourite, this certainly is a cheap way to travel. You can see some BEAUTIFUL, natural places for not a lot of jing. Look at your State Parks, recreational areas etc. I figure that they became parks because they have something interesting to offer, something worth conserving. José and I sprang for a State Park pass two summers ago and spent a great few days in a tent, learning how to start a fire, roasting marshmallows and going to the beach. Remember though that camping saves money only if you either already have the equipment or can borrow it (in our case from my Dad). Tents and other gear can be expensive and chances are you know someone who has it in their garage, basement or attic. Ask. I would especially recommend this route for people who have never camped. You might be like me and know you would only go sporadically at best. It doesn´t make sense for me to buy an expensive tent that I will only use once a year. If...

Since last weekend and the absolute tragedy back in the U.S. every time I come into school for work and I look at my beautiful, little girls I struggle. I can't explain why or how someone could commit such a crime against such innocents. I struggle to think of what I would do as a teacher in the same situation. I can't seem to wrap my mind around what happened when I look at my girls. My girls who want to show me their loose teeth and give me big hugs. My girls who draw pictures and jump rope at recess. I've just been sad, sad, sad. Today though there was a respite at school since it was the day we had our Christmas show. It was nice to be distracted for a day since I have been transfixed lately with news about Connecticut. Today was a day off. Boy oh boy does my school take their Christmas production seriously. Today was the big day that each grade went up on a stage in our gym to sing a Christmas carol for their parents and family members but they have been practicing f...

6. Staycation : Explore what your area has to offer. Do some research. You might just be surprised what you can see and do close to home. Having a husband and in-laws coming to visit from another country forced me to look at my town and state as a tourist would. What would I want to see if I were visiting? Where would I want to visit? I had to get creative but it worked and I ended up learning a lot of things I didn´t already know. By staying close to home you save money on travel expenses of course but you might also be able to stay in your own home as well if there are things worth visiting close. Otherwise you might look for a budget hotel or motel in another area not too far from where you live. 

5.  5.DON´T buy souvenirs : Talk about a waste of your hard-earned money. Some things are poorly made. They are not exactly original since they are often times mass produced. How many coffee mugs do you need? Who really wants to look at their vacation knick knacks after they are back anyway? They collect dust and are just more clutter. The most Jose and I buy is a magnet. Our fridge is a gallery of our travels. Take pictures. Start a blog to remember your trips. Both are free. Just stay out of the stores.

4. Grocery shop and prepare your own food : Going out to eat is expensive. Going out to eat somewhere touristy is even more so. Why not hit up a grocery store and prepare your own eats? It can save you a lot. When Jose and I travel we usually budget one meal out (since we love to try local cuisine) but carry sandwiches and picnics during the day. If you stay somewhere that offers a kitchen for you to use think about taking advantage of it too.

3. Look for last minute deals : Sort of like travelling off-season, if you can decide to go last minute, you can often save a lot. Companies need to fill their rooms and seats. It makes more sense to do so at a cut rate than to leave them empty. Check out the web for lots of deals on hotels, flights and organized trips. You can sign up for e-mail notifications as well. If you live close to a cruise hub you can find some AMAZING prices for example. If you plan to try to travel last minute you have to also be aware that nothing might be available. You have to be flexible. Though it might not work for everyone, last minute travel can save money for those willing to wait.

Yesterday Jose and I attended the wedding of his best friend in his hometown. We woke up early on Saturday to go pick up some friends flying in from Poland for the big day. Their flight arrived a half hour late which set into motion a rush to get ready to go to the church for their ceremony. I thought we were making good time when I left the hair stylist at noon. I thought. Jose had told me that everything began at 12:30, so in my mind we had a half hour to get dressed. As we were driving back to his parents' house to change we came across some friends from work and rolled down the window to say hi. "See you at 12:30," we said. "What?????!!!!???" they asked. It turns out that we were wrong and that the mass was about to start just then. Talk about being in a rush. We flew back and got dressed in record time. We ran into the church and made it just in time for Jose to read his petition during the mass. Phew. We were late but weren't the latest, so I felt a ...

2. Use hostals : Staying in hotels can cost an arm and a leg. At least for us, when we travel we are only really looking for a place to crash at night and shower in the morning. We don´t need to stay in the most luxurious digs. That is where hostals can save big money. They aren´t just for students either. There is an entire gamma of places with many different price points. I would recommend the hostalworld ( www.hostalworld.com ) website. You can search by city and price. You can decide if you want to save money by sharing a room with other people (I prefer not to and am willing to pay a little more to avoid it). People are very good about leaving their impressions of the place after they have stayed. I usually try to book us into a place that has high ratings and offers the ammenities we are looking for. Though they are basic, hostals are cost effective and they have them all over the world. Bonus: often times there are kitchens that you can use to prepare your own food and sa...

After writing a recent post about how I have been learning to live more frugally since moving to Spain I began to think about how Jose and I try to save money and still travel. It is one of our passions and something that we began doing together from the very beginning of our relationship. We really were able to bond and get to know each other while seeing different parts of the world. We love it! Though some times (see our honeymoon cruise ) we spend more money than others lately with the way life has been going and the expenses we have had we are cutting corners everywhere. We don´t want to give up something we love so much and have been working on ways to save money while traveling. I have decided to do a month-long series for these posts since there are quite a few of them. Here is day 1 . I hope you enjoy and that you can use some of these ideas yourself! Travel off-season : You save because hotels, restaurants, attractions and other tourism-related businesses...

This morning before heading to work, José and I met up with a representative from the electrical company who turned on our lights! Yay! That means that we can start actually thinking about painting, cleaning, decorating and moving. Once we have water we will really be on a roll. This weekend is the wedding of one of Jose´s best friends. Remember when I told you about the tocado I was going to wear here ? Well, tomorrow is the big day. I will be sure to post pictures! We are also headed to Jose´s school´s Christmas dinner tonight, so though this post is short. I am sure there will be much to tell coming soon.

I logged into my Facebook today and saw my year in review. What a great reminder of what a wonderful and blessed year I have had in 2012! Surprisingly (or maybe creepily not so) Facebook did a good job of summing up my year.  Here are some of the highlights: From March 13th , this gem of a picture of my brand new niece Ducky From May 12th , our Spanish wedding album. Entry here .  From June 12th , a status update: Become a legal resident: Check. Get a job: Check. From July 22nd , our honeymoon cruise album and trip to Disney From September 23rd , this shot of José dressed as Zorro for Halloween From October 5th , this picture of our rescue doggie, Cooper. (His story here ). A map showing me located in Michigan at the end of October and beginning of November. Read about why we went here . From November 30th , another picture of my niece, getting big! And finally from December 2nd , our weekend get-away (read about it here ) to the mou...

Jose and I went Christmas shopping this weekend at our local market. This is a place to find everything! Clothes, food, things for your home, jewelry, purses, shoes, boots, a ton of stuff, and usually on the cheap (both in terms of price and sometimes quality, you have to be careful). Though there are some things I am somewhat leary of, like 10 thongs for 2 dollars, if you have the inclination (and the time) you can find some good, not so creepy deals. I would equate this weekly market to a flea market or bazaar (in the U.S.) with mostly gypsy people doing the selling. Going can sometimes be intense since the stalls are placed in tight rows and the vendors are constantly shouting to get your attention. It is definitely a cultural experience walking through and non-native speakers are definitely tested linguistically . The vendors catchlines are hilarious ("I must be drunk to have these prices," "Take it all, take it all," "The newest styles,...