Frugality In Practice: Daddy’s Taking Us To The Zoo Tomorrow

April 7, 2008 · Filed Under , · 6 Comments 

Zebras at the ZooSee the elephant with a long truck a swinging, great big ears and a long trunk swinging, snuffing up the peanuts with the long trunk a swinging, and we can stay all day. I can go on if you like? No. Are you sure? After all, I have the song memorized as my wife and kids insisted on playing that song over and over again during the last 3o minutes of our drive to the Sacramento Zoo. Very sweet and cute, especially the first 4 times I heard it, then it lost some of its luster. But still cute. The zoo was great and as it turned out, quite a fun frugal family activity (FFFA’s for short). Here are a few tips if you plan on going to a zoo near you.

  • Ask if they have a AAA discount. The zoo we went to did, and saved us a couple dollars on each admission fee.
  • Bring your own food and snacks. This is a great way to avoid the $7 hamburgers and $2.50 bottle of water.
  • Disposable Camera. Get the kids their own disposable camera so they can capture their favorite critters and sites. This is a great way to preserve memories and record what type of shoes everybody was wearing that day!
  • Stop and Smell the Monkey Poop. I noticed some parents at the zoo seemed to be a hurry for some reason and just zoomed around the park with kids in tow. What a waste of not only money, but learning opportunities. Read the signs to your kids and ask them questions and answer their questions. Some of my favorite memories of the zoo were stopping and reading every single sign in the reptile house to my 2 oldest kids. Their questions really blew me away as you could tell they were listening to my every word. It was a blast and is a memory I will cherish for a VERY long time.
  • Get Your Hand Stamped. If the kids are getting tired and need a break, don’t be afraid to get your hands stamped and leave for a bit. We did this and went and found a park and had some downtime for a while and then went back to the zoo rejuvenated for a couple hours. This is a great way to insure that you get your money’s worth out of the trip.

Any other tips? Please feel free to leave a comment.

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Comments

6 Responses to “Frugality In Practice: Daddy’s Taking Us To The Zoo Tomorrow”

  1. Jennifer on April 7th, 2008 4:08 pm

    I love the zoo!

    Another tip if you like the zoo a lot-look into becoming a member! We only had to go to our zoo twice in 12 months to break even on membership costs, but we’ve visited it at least 8 so far and our year isn’t even half over. Plus if you travel you can get in free to other zoos, museums & aquariums around the country.

    We try to join a different museum, zoo, or aquarium every year and go many times during that year to really get into all they have to offer. It works out to be a lot cheaper than visiting multiple different places in one year.

    Also-take advantage of zoo keepers and volunteers. They have tons of information so ask them your questions to learn a lot about a particular animal you are interested in!

  2. Kyle on April 8th, 2008 1:03 pm

    Once again, a great comment Jennifer. Thanks for adding those tips!

  3. hyperactive lu on April 9th, 2008 5:06 am

    great one! i will definitely remember the “hand stamping one”!

  4. The Happy Housewife on April 10th, 2008 1:05 pm

    I love the zoo too. I am fortunate to have just relocated very close to the National Zoo. I can’t wait to go. I agree with you on #4. Years ago we had Disney passes and I would see parents dragging their crying kids all over the park. The kids just wanted to play in the water sprayer or look at something a bit longer but the parent was on this mission to miserable. I have never quite understood that. Once, when we went to our old zoo we spent the entire time in the reptile area. Who cares, the kids were having a great time and at least it had a/c!
    Toni
    Toni

  5. Kyle on April 10th, 2008 1:32 pm

    Happy Housewife, great comment, I think parents sometimes feel they have to get everything in or somehow they have failed. Mission to miserable is a great way of putting it!

  6. DivaJean on April 22nd, 2008 6:21 am

    We pick up a membership with our own local zoo every year. On a weekend or day the kids don’t know what to do, its frugal to zoom over to the zoo and see what’s going on.

    We don’t ever feel the need to rush thru since we can come and go any time. Over time, we’ve been able to find out names of some of the animals and talk with their zookeepers- the kids feel a real connection to their animal friends at the zoo.

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