Big help for saving money

[KenveeB]

We collect Christmas ornaments from each port we visit. I write the date on each ornament. It's so fun each year at Christmas to reminisce about the wonderful time we had on each cruise.

 

This is what I do. They're small and easy to bring home, they're easy to store, and they actually get used every single year. Part of my Christmas tradition is reminiscing about where each ornament on my tree came from as I hang them up on the tree. (I get at least one new ornament a year, and one for every major life event, including vacations.) It's a nice walk down memory lane without having to have tacky souvenirs displayed all year.

[footballbabe3]

We also do this!! We collect Xmas ornaments from our ports and the ships. You can get them relatively inexspensive. It is fun pulling them out every Christmas and talking about all of our trips.

[Neotericisis]

Thanks for the laugh!!!

 

I used to buy souveiors, but I gave up on all the slogan tee-shirts etc. years ago. My husband still gets suckered now and then- haha!

 

I do buy one thing from everywhere I go though- SHOT GLASSES! I LOVE collecting them whenever I visit somewhere because they are relatively cheap, unique, very small, and I will use them. I have tons of them around my bar at home and they are great conversation pieces at parties (I try to get really unique ones!)

 

Now and then I may buy a pretty piece of handmade jewelry, or a sarong etc. but only things I will use.

[Neotericisis]

We also do this!! We collect Xmas ornaments from our ports and the ships. You can get them relatively inexspensive. It is fun pulling them out every Christmas and talking about all of our trips.

 

I LOVE this idea!

[Neotericisis]

I bring back a small stone of every country I visit. No cost at all.

 

My Dad did this! He was a merchant seaman in his youth and has tons of them from back in the day from the various ports he visited. Whenever we went on vacation we always have to find the perfect stone for the garden. This makes me miss him so much, but I'm at work so I am not going to cry.

 

Thank you for the happy memory. Its so funny how the ones we've lost never really leave us- a simple memory of them can make it seem as if they have never left at all. :)

[amsinger1]

My mom started collecting salt. It is a huge family joke about who will "inherit" her salt collection. When she gets home, she labels them in a plain salt shaker (or mill thingy). She has a huge collection of salt that comes out every night for dinner. I have started my own, did not even realize I was :D It is cheep, easy to travel home with and last a long time. Makes for a great dinner topic about the different places traveled.

[CDNJehn]

SHOT GLASSES! I LOVE collecting them whenever I visit somewhere because they are relatively cheap, unique, very small, and I will use them. I have tons of them around my bar at home and they are great conversation pieces at parties (I try to get really unique ones!)

 

I second this! We started collecting shot glasses on our first cruise. We try to get ones that have an image of something we did on the cruise. Ruins in Belize, sharks in Bahamas, etc...

[CDNJehn]

Great idea. I used to have tons of bookmarks and still come across them from time to time in a book that I am rereading ( even though I have fewer real books since the Kindle). They are great triggers for fond memories.

 

We use dollar bills from the countries we've been to as bookmark souvenir. Can't argue with a bookmark for a dollar (sometimes less depending on the exchange).

[NMLady]

I am surprised no one has mentioned magnets. I like magnets and occasionally really nice keychains. In Rome I found some nice Murano type necklaces that went over well. In Budapest there were some pretty pashmina scarves on Vaci Utca (probably from India) that also were big hits.

 

I used to collect magnets but the fridge, freezer, stove were all full so then I switched to souvenir spoons. But when we moved into smaller home I no longer had space for displaying them. Shot glasses are small but also take up space.

Our playing card souvenirs though bring back memories as we play cards and so far fit in one drawer.

[cynthe66]

My three are magnets, cookbooks from the country I visited, and an apron/hot mitt sets. I'm a baker so I use all three in my job.

[mkailene]

Something new that I want to start doing is getting a coin from every country I visit and adhering a magnet to the back of them. I like functional souveniers and they won't take up much space!

[lady_cruiser]

After we cruised on our 10th cruise we stopped by tee-shirts, caps, etc. Now we will buy a 1-lb bag of their local coffee to enjoy when we get home and a deck of playing cards in each of the ports-of-call we visited. If we have been to that port before than we just don't buy more playing cards.

[Barlee126]

I keep any foreign money I get in my change for myself as I have a little collection.

 

I try not to get drinks in the plastic ship cups because I don't use them at home!

 

I do this also. I love getting foreign currency as a keepsake! Other than that I have purchased a couple of small, stone elephants from a few different places.

[SeagoingMom]

Love reading about everyone's souvenir-buying choices!

 

When I first started traveling in college, my mother advised me against buying the types of "souvenirs" most people think of -- statues that say "New York City", turtle shells with "Bermuda" painted on them, etc. She said, "Buy something you will use! Then every time you use it, you will remember the lovely trip you took."

 

So I took her advice, and never looked back. Instead of having shelves, racks, display cases and refrigerators full of stuff to look at and dust, I usually buy jewelry or a scarf, because I love jewelry and scarves! But if I bought a plate or a spoon, it would be with the intention of using it. Virtually everything I buy as a souvenir I actually frequently use and enjoy. The item may not be "authentic" to the place I visit (although it may be.) But then, most souvenirs are made in China anyway! But what I buy I use, and it reminds me of my trip, and that is the point, for me.

 

I sometimes buy little statues (birds are my favorite), but I then mostly use those to drape my bracelets on!

 

After all, when I retire on a cruise ship, I will have to bring only things I can use! :D

[SeagoingMom]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/06/travel/souvenir-buying-guide/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

 

 

Don't come back with any of this junque!!

My previous post was written before I even clicked on the link and found out the article was talking about buying souvenirs for others! My rule of thumb on this is' date=' don't do it. At all. Once I've set a precedent for buying stuff for others, I feel I can't, for their sakes, stop. The word [i']souvenir[/i] means "to remember" in French. My friends and family don't "remember" my trip, because they weren't on it! So no souvenirs for them!

 

I decided this, of course, after stressing over buying souvenirs for my 5 sons whom we had left behind when DH and I took our first cruise. We finally ended up with "Puerto Rico" tee shirts, which the boys wore until they outgrew them, but it didn't take long to find out they were pretty bad quality (the shirts, not the boys! :rolleyes:) -- in one case, after several washings, the words "Puerto Rico" began to peel off, and we realized that the words had been heat-sealed over some other logo, of a cartoon character! (Of course, the tees had been manufactured in Malaysia or China or somewhere other than P.R., and could have been purchased on Amazon.com! Except the defective, re-used one -- I think it had been some enterprising Puerto Rican shop owner who put that one together himself out of stock that had not sold well.)

 

Call me selfish -- I guess I am -- but I don't vacation to shop, and I am, frankly, a terrible gift-giver (vacationing or not) -- too much stress to get the right thing, too much stress to not get something worthless to the recipient. Port stops are too short for me to be willing to forego the activities I want to do in order to shop for cheap (or expensive) gifts for others. Plus if I buy a gift for one relative or friend, I feel I should buy gifts for all, and that would take all day, and then some -- I have a big family! And this is not to mention packing everything up to get it home!

 

I have learned over many years how much of a burden it is to give stuff to people -- both for the giver and the recipient. It involves a lot of stress, adds up to a pile of junk, in most cases, and a huge waste of money. Most Americans, and certainly my family, really are people who "have everything" (read "have too much") and I feel guilty adding to that materialism, and recipients tend to feel guilty about getting rid of something given by a loved one. I definitely don't want to see someone in my family appear on an episode of "Hoarders" some day!

 

I do admire people, though, who are good at thinking of others while on vacation (or at any time!), and who are good at buying things others appreciate. It's just not my "gift." :o

 

 

[cynthe66]

I generally don't buy souvenirs for people. But when I go on a cruise I generally bring back something for the two girls who have covered my job for me while I was gone. I don't have a job that can be put on the back burner till I'm back so I need coverage. (Full time baker at a independent/assisted living facility in Florida which is a 7 day a week, 52 weeks a year job).

[SeagoingMom]

I generally don't buy souvenirs for people. But when I go on a cruise I generally bring back something for the two girls who have covered my job for me while I was gone. I don't have a job that can be put on the back burner till I'm back so I need coverage. (Full time baker at a independent/assisted living facility in Florida which is a 7 day a week, 52 weeks a year job).

That is very thoughtful of you. What sorts of things do you buy for them?

[Daisydaisy20]

$1 casino chips and matchbooks, sometimes playing cards

[cj'smom]

We, too, enjoy collecting Christmas ornaments and magnets. Small, inexpensive and we do actually use them! If we are cruising without one or more of our 4 kids, we bring the others back something small. Last time it was a pair of earrings for one girl and a colorful headband for another. Each was about $5. I like costume jewelry so will often pick up an inexpensive necklace or pair of earrings. Makes me think fondly of our trip each time I wear them. Other than that, the only people we buy for would be our neighbors who collect our mail and keep an eye on our house. I get them something edible such as local coffee, candy, packaged dessert, hot sauce or spices.

[rlkubi]

I collect magnets. They don't take up a lot of space but when I like to look at them and remember where we've been :).

[dulcimergirl]

I collect 1 coffee mug from every ship I go on. They are the dark blue ones with the ship emblem on them with ship info. Both RCL and CCL have the same mug, which makes my collection match. I use them every day and enjoy picking up a mug of coffee and thinking, what a great time I had on Fantasy, or Legend, or Oasis. I don't usually purchase any other do-dad. This morning, I'm thinking about Legend, my favorite ship, and my B2B Christmas cruise coming up. Whooo hoooo