Saving Money on Field Trips

I'm back in the blog game, now that the kids are back from vacation and settled in at home again. This week, I've been thinking about saving money. With all of the traveling that has gone on in the last couple of months, we're on a tight budget while we catch up. So I'll share with you how we manage to keep things rolling for the kids while we grown-ups are watching the numbers.

Last weekend, I took my three kids to the zoo. I was not the lone grown-up, of course; I had my partner, David. We all go to the zoo a lot. We've been about five times so far this year, and we've only spent about five and a half months of this year in Colorado.

There are a couple of obvious reasons we like to spend so much time at the zoo:

1. The kids love it. My five-year-olds are very excited about watching animals and asking questions, two things the zoo is perfect for. "Do snakes go fast?" "How long can an elephant stay under water?" And when I can't answer them, I can usually find a keeper who can. Which leads me to... 
2. It's incredibly educational. I can show them videos on the internet of elephants swimming all day, but that doesn't compare to seeing one roll over into the water right in front of them. They really don't seem to completely understand that the videos I show them on my computer are of things that actually happened.

There are other benefits like spending some time in the sun and fresh air, getting some exercise, and wearing them out so they'll fall asleep the moment the bedroom door closes. Last weekend, we even got maps for the five-year-olds and let them show us how to get from one place to another.

Taking your kids to the zoo regularly can be expensive, though. Admission prices, food and drinks alone are enough to make your head spin. The first step to making this work for you is to remember that a lot of what you're spending at the zoo is going toward taking care of the animals and improving the park itself. A lot of the zoo staff are probably volunteers. But that doesn't ease the stress on your wallet. Here's how we do that:

1. We're members of the zoo. That paid for itself the next time we went through the gates. We no longer have to pay admissions, and we get discounts on zoo fare. We get about 10% off on food at the various venues. That's not bad, but the food is still over-priced by the standards of the outside world. This time, we spent $30 (after our discount) on 4 small scoops of ice cream, a large soda (my partner and I shared for the rest of the zoo trip) and a smallish serving of Asian noodles. I say small(ish) because they do not match the size you would expect to get if you ordered "a scoop" of ice cream or "a bowl" of noodles in the city.
2. Also, you can often find coupons online specifically for things to do with your kids. Of course you can sign up for Groupon or other discount-offering services. They often have great deals on the kinds of things you'll probably only be able to do once in a while. For instance, that's how I got my family a huge discount on a trail ride coming up this fall. Otherwise, just try googling "things to do with kids in (your city) coupons" or something similar. Here's the page I check before taking the kids out here in Denver:  http://www.denverkids.com/ 
3.  We bring food and water. I baked croissants and made meat and cheese sandwiches with them before we left. We also bring one reusable water bottle per person, and refill them at water fountains. Thus, we dodge buying bottled water and lunch. That frees up some spending money for that ice cream, later.
   
4. We make a commitment to ignore the gift shop entirely. We go to the zoo a lot. We bought them each a souvenir once. They don't need one every time we go. Besides, you should see how many toys they have already. Also, gift shops are so expensive... and there's nothing in there you need.

An additional idea to save you some cash: don't pay for parking if you can avoid it. The Denver zoo doesn't have paid parking. Even when the free parking immediately in front of the entrance is full, there is free parking available at the science museum which is in the same park.  The Honolulu zoo had paid parking lots nearest the gate, but you could find free street parking a block or two away. As far as I can tell, unless you're in a hurry to get to a specific event, you can probably find free parking you can walk from. After all, you're going to be walking around the zoo all day anyway, what's a little more? And who wants to feed the meter and then spend the whole day concerned about time running out?

Obviously, we aren't cutting all of the corners we could. We did buy ice cream. But two adults and three children spending 5 or 6 hours at the zoo only cost us $40-$50 if you count putting gas in the car right after we left the house. It could have been a lot more.

I don't know what your zoo's policies on outside food or membership discounts are. You might benefit more or less from the things we do. Either way, you benifit from knowing, so ask. You can call, stop by, or go to your zoo's website. They seem to all have publicly available information about these things.

If you're homeschooling, you want to have as many resources in your back pocket as you can, and finding money saving opportunities is key. These tips don't just apply to the zoo. Check out botanical gardens, museums, butterfly houses, and whatever else your city has to offer. If you manage to save enough money to go out just one extra time this year, you win.