Souvenirs: The Penny-wise Way

The word souvenir is enough to make any parent quake in fear—especially when it has just come out of the mouth of your child who has once again managed to zero in on the single-most expensive trinket in the store, and then set his or her mind to taking immediate ownership.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a plastic toy that will break before you get it home, or a tee-shirt that will pill after two washes—for your son or daughter it is the single most, perfect object to commemorate your trip to the zoo or your vacation at the beach. Industry loves them for it, even if you don’t.

But is there really anything that you can do to regain control of this situation, short of becoming the Scrooge that says no? Fortunately there is, and it doesn’t require a lot of effort.

If you don’t want to get stuck paying for expensive souvenirs, the first step is to anticipate the inevitable. Whether you plan to visit an amusement park, or have your eyes on a week-long trip to the beach, you can be sure that souvenirs will come into the picture at some point. It’s just part of the package. Once you’ve accepted this fact, it’s time to plan your attack.

If you are going on a family vacation to the beach, or say a national park, luck is already on your side. You ultimately have control over where the car stops to shop for souvenirs, and this can be your greatest defense.

That surf shop with the flashing neon sign may be a tempting place to stop, but chances are their prices will be anything but tempting. If you want real bargains, you’re going to have to employ the same money-saving strategies that you do back home.  So, where would you normally take your kids to shop for bargain priced trinkets? A dollar store of course.

Chances are if they have them in your town, they will also have them in the town you are visiting. To locate the closest dollar store, just stop at a gas station and ask a local for directions. Then, jump back in the car and steer your way to savings!

If you are visiting a vacation hot spot, you can be sure that the local dollar store will feature items that are very similar to what the souvenir shops have to offer—mugs and magnets stamped with the name of the location, post cards, bags of seashells—your basic vacation novelties.

Hand your kids their souvenir money at the door, and they will have a blast trying to decide how to spend it. Just make sure that when the money runs out, their shopping stops.

If you’re looking for an even cheaper souvenir, encourage your children to collect natural souvenirs. This strategy works especially well if you will be spending a lot of time outdoors. Hand-collected seashells are just as nice or nicer than any collection you could purchase in a shop. To excite your kids to the possibilities, give each of them a shoebox the week before the trip, and have them decorate the box. Then, they will each have a special place to store their treasures.

If your kids are school-aged, another affordable option is a photo journal. Before the trip, purchase an inexpensive journal for each child and several rolls of film. Then, present them each with a journal at the start of the trip. Kids will have a blast taking pictures and recording stories about their trip, and afterwards they will go home with a special, hand-crafted souvenir that will far outlast any trinket.

Now, these are all great ideas for the times when you have control over your kids’ exposure to souvenir shops, but what do you do in the situations where souvenir shops can’t be avoided—the times when amusement parks, zoos, and science museums force you to exit through the gift shop?

Admittedly, this is a bit trickier, but still not a hopeless situation. You just have to be ready for the challenge. Now, the tee-shirts, stuffed animals and books for sale in these shops probably aren’t going to do any wonders for your budget, but how about steering your kids to a more affordable purchase?

For example, you could suggest that they start a pencil collection. Then, each time you visit a souvenir shop, you can get out for the price of a single pencil. Even if it’s an overpriced pencil, the damage won’t be too bad.

Post cards are another affordable option. Kids will have a lot of fun searching through the spinners for just the right card, and then they can start an album at home as a way to track all the interesting places they’ve been.

Still looking for something cheaper? Then, allow me to introduce you to the little wonder known as the souvenir coin.

You’ve probably seen the coin stamping machines at numerous tourist locations, you may have even given one a try, but you probably haven’t thought about how much money this little invention could save you. Hand each kid a penny and two quarters, and let them go to work creating their own souvenir. For 50-cents, the machine allows you to turn a crank which leaves an impression on your very own souvenir penny.

If you are visiting the zoo, for example, it might leave an impression of a panda bear and the name of the zoo. Whatever the image, it’s fun for the kids and cheap for you.

So, the next time you find yourself quaking at the mere mention of souvenirs, remember that we thrifty types always have a few tricks up our sleeves.

-Erin Huffstetler