The Top 6 Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama Posts of 2016

From travel tips to historical destinations to amazing family dining, here are the Top 6 Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama Posts of 2016 as clicked on & shared by you...

When I decided to publish my first ever travel post on Frugal Foodie Mama in 2013, I really didn't set out with the intention of merging my predominantly food & recipe blog with a family friendly travel blog. My family and I had stayed at a bed & breakfast in Virginia for a little weekend getaway, and I was impressed with how the innkeepers had went above and beyond to accommodate us. I wanted to show my appreciation and gratitude, so I thought why not write up a little review of our stay on my blog and share it with my social media followers as a way to thank them for their generous hospitality? I had no idea how my loyal readers would react to a travel piece, but I figured it was just one post so why not?

Luckily for me, my first ever travel review was well received by you all. But I wasn't entirely convinced that I should delve head first into travel writing, so it took me over a year to write and publish my second ever travel post. When that post was also pretty well received, it dawned on me that I might be onto to something here and Traveling Frugal Foodie Mama (or #TravelingFFM, as it is known on social media) was born! :)

Since that time, I have published a total of 39 travel posts to the blog- 16 of those being from 2016 alone. Yep, I really upped my travel game in the past year, folks. While I am not sharing all 16 travel posts from last year with you all here today, I am sharing my top 6 travel posts from 2016. Hopefully, you all will find a little family travel inspiration for 2017 below... 

The Best Money Saving Tips for Ski & Snow Family Vacations

Plan a budget friendly wintertime family getaway this year with these Best Money Saving Tips for Ski & Snow Family Vacations...

This post was created in partnership with Family Travel Forum. 

While I was compensated for this post, all opinions expressed below are 100% my own.

Winter and snow (aka, ski season) is upon us, and it is time to start planning those wintertime family getaways. Whether you are planning to stay close to home, heading to the snowy slopes of Colorado, or heading northeast to ski the mountains of Vermont & New Hampshire, it is no secret that ski & snow vacations for the family can get a little pricey. But there are ways to save money and cut the costs without also having to cut back on the experiences and the frosty family fun.

I have partnered up with my friends at Family Travel Forum today to bring you all the very best tips for saving money on ski passes, lift tickets, equipment rentals, lodging, and so much more this coming ski season. A fabulous wintertime family vacation doesn't have to break the bank, folks. :)

5 Simple Tips for Sticking to a Travel Dining Budget

Staying on a dining budget while traveling is easy with my 5 Simple Tips for Sticking to a Travel Dining Budget...

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Visa Clear Prepaid program and 

the Green Dot® Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Card.

If you happen to travel at all- whether it be once a year for a family vacation or you take multiple road trips throughout the year- you probably already know that dining out while traveling can really eat up (pun intended ;) ) most of your travel budget pretty quickly. 

Being a foodie and food blogger, experiencing the local food scene in a new city ranks right up there in my top priorities when traveling. And because of that, the dining out expenses can really start adding up. Mainly because I want to try it all. 

Since my family and I love traveling, we have had to find ways to keep our dining budget in check because going over it one too many times means less trips throughout the year as our annual travel budget is depleted. Savvy savings and sticking to a budget with our travel dining = more trips as a family for the year! :)

So what are my best tips for staying on a travel dining budget? I am sharing my top five with you all below...

5 Ways to Save Money on Day Trips

Get out and about and explore without breaking your travel budget with these 5 Ways to Save Money on Day Trips...

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Brita, but all my opinions are my own.

Though we tend to travel and take little road trips all year round, summer seems to be when we really get out there and hit the road for a little family vacation time. My oldest is out from school for a couple of months, and we are pretty much free to pick and go when an opportunity or urge arises. 

But one thing that I have learned about summer travel is that the expenses of taking a trip- even what seems like a little weekend getaway- can add up fast. I can snag a great deal on a hotel or B&B. We can find the best price on gas and fuel up before heading out. But what I was finding is that those little day trips we took to get out and about and explore once we arrived at our destination were just eating up our travel budget. 

Walk around a little town or explore an area of a city, and you will find that there all kinds of ways to spend money around every corner. I soon discovered that those little day trips were eating up our travel budget for that trip quick, so I implemented a few changes over the past year or so. These changes have saved us hundreds of dollars. And money saved means more stays in our travel fund for the year which equals more trips and family time! :) 

So, what haveI done to save my family money as we explore and discover the areas that we love traveling to? I gathered up my five top tips for you all below...