Apologies for the caps lock in your feed reader this morning, but I was a guest on the fantastic podcast The Finance Girlies and I finally get to tell you about it because IT WENT LIVE TODAY!!!!
Hosts Emily and Cassidy put me perfectly at ease (more about their stories here), though I still think I talked too fast despite telling myself over and over that I was not going to talk too fast; the speed-talking phenomenon is real!
I’d love it if you took the time to pop over and have a listen.
In a fortuitous turn of events, when they reached out to confirm the release date, it happened to coincide with a fresh post about saving money while we’re living in Europe for four months.
Here are my first and second rounds of money-saving tips from our time overseas. For lots more details about our trip you can find all the details on my Travel page!
And, since frugal-minded folks tend to like free things, why not pop over to yesterday’s post for a chance to win a signed copy of Laura Vanderkam’s latest book, Big Time…
Okay, let’s talk money saving tips.
CHILD RATE TICKETS
Travelling with kids isn’t cheap but, blessedly, they can often get access to museums and public transit for free or at heavily discounted rates. We make sure to maximize those options when they’re available to us!
When the kids and I were visiting Suomenlinna (a UNESCO World Heritage Site on an island just outside Helsinki), I had to pay to enter the on-site church, but the kids could get in for free. So they went in without me and came out with the lowdown (complete with pictures) free of charge.
USING UP THE FOOD WE BOUGHT
When we left Vienna, we got down to the bottom of the proverbial barrel in terms of using up our groceries. I threw out a tiny bit of rice and left behind the salt and cinnamon we bought but didn’t finish. Other than that, the larder was bare!
This week, I had some over-ripe bananas. Is baking in an Airbnb kitchen ideal? No. Did I understand all the different flour options in a Finnish grocery store? No, I did not. But I figured it was worth a try and we used up all sorts of odds and ends in the cupboard AND got a delicious banana bread out of it.
DISCOUNTED GROCERIES
I never expected to find so many reduced items at grocery stores in Europe! We bought these DELICIOUS discounted sandwiches in Zurich and they kept us well-fuelled en route to Monaco.
FREE MUSEUMS/FREE DAYS
This “tip” is probably going to make an appearance in every money-saving post I write about this trip, but it’s worth repeating. For each destination I look up free museums (in Helsinki the Tram Museum and the City Museum are always free), and then I look up free days for paid museums. Many (most?) museums and other attractions (even spots like zoos) tend to have at least a few free days each year, especially in the off-season, but many are free on a monthly rotating basis.
SHARING TREATS
When we eat out, we tend to share items. If we’re each getting something, we try to choose different things so we get to try a wider variety.
And, not only did we get to enjoy freshly made churros, because it took longer than expected to prepare them, the shop gave us EACH a free lemon-glazed, filled doughnut!
SAMPLES!!!
In Venice, we made out like bandits at Nino & Friends chocolate shop. They handed out so many samples.
John and Belle spent most of Vappu exploring Helsinki and at every turn there were free items, including mini Daim bars.
On Mother’s Day, John and I went to a local sushi spot for supper (it’s a great deal!), and en route home ended up walking by the cafe where we bought the churros mentioned above. It happened to be closing time and the owner was giving away all the excess bakery items. There were fresh loaves of bread (piping hot, straight from the oven), croissants, and an array of muffins and doughnuts. The owner even had paper bags so people could take things home for free!!!!
The next day I made a sandwich from the crusty French loaf and it was divine.
FREE PARKING
A huge thanks to Catrina for letting us leave our car at her place the first night we were in Zurich. All the other places had either inexpensive parking or, better yet, free!
HOT WATER BOTTLE… SORT OF
I was soooo cold one afternoon and desperately wished for my beloved Magic Bags. While it wasn’t the same, I filled up an empty plastic bottle with hot water and it was certainly better than nothing!
SHOPPING AROUND
I had wanted to buy postcards from Helsinki; John and I found some nice ones at a local market, but I wasn’t convinced they were original art. Sure enough, we found the exact same ones for a much better price at a local souvenir shop!
Last week, Indy and I headed out to find a very specific souvenir he wanted (a moose keychain). We compared options and prices at multiple shops that were close together before finding the best deal which also happened to have the cutest moose. (In case you’re wondering, he named him Elki which is a mash-up of how popular elk are in Finland and how the name is buried in the word hELsinKI.) Why yes, we are a family that names tiny stuffed animals!
VISITING ON DISCOUNT DAYS
Helsinki’s amusement park—Linnanmäki—has discounted Fun Fare days early in the season. We planned our visit around one of those and happily saved €4 per wristband (that’s about ~$26 CAD in total savings). We also ate lunch before we went, packed a few snacks and water in my purse, and aside from a bag of popcorn, didn’t purchase any food on-site. This saved a lot of money!
That’s a wrap for now. In case you haven’t had a chance to pop over and listen to my guest appearance on The Finance Girlies, here’s your not-so-subtle reminder to do that now!
Your turn.
- Share some recent frugal wins.
- Make me feel better about how fast I talk!
P.S. You can also find more behind-the-scenes content within my Patreon community, Lighthouse Keepers; some of the posts are free but most topics land behind the paywall.
Discover more from The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
