Get a National Geographic Little Kids subscription for $7!

Social media/group buying sites have become so popular that I can name four or five of them, and I get daily e-mails from several. Mamapedia (a great site where moms share advice and post content) has its Mamapedia Sweet Deals with some bargain finds for families.

The best deal I've seen yet: a full year of National Geographic Little Kids magazine for $7! The regular price for the subscription is $24, the Mamapedia Sweet Deals price is $10 -- and if you're a first-time Mamapedia Sweet Deals buyer, you can use the code NATGEO3 to further knock the price down to $7! (If you've already purchased from there before, you can use the code EASTER10 to get 10% off the deal -- and that's still a great price.)

Like most group buying sites, this deal ends in just a few days, so you have to scoop it up now. If you miss it, though, sign up for Mamapedia Sweet Deals for some nice discounts.

My kids love wildlife (I'm a National Wildlife Federation Be Out There Founding Mother), and I've always meant to get the National Geographic Little Kids magazine for them. Now I am going to do it for sure!

Win a beautiful Shabby Apple dress!

See this amazing dress? It's called Spanish Steps, part of a new line by Shabby Apple, which makes beautiful women's dresses. I first found out about Shabby Apple a couple years ago through another blogger. Shabby Apple has easy, casual dresses and dress-up dresses. They also design maternity dresses and dresses for little girls. If you love dresses, you should definitely know about Shabby Apple.

When you check out the Shabby Apple dresses, you can use the coupon code "tropicofmom10off" to save when you find a dress you have to have. Also be sure to like the Shabby Apple Facebook page for more discounts, giveaways and news.

The best news here is that Shabby Apple has offered to let me give away this Spanish Steps dress! I think it is perfect for all the upcoming spring and summer events you'd wear a dress to: Easter, Mother's Day brunch, weddings or graduation ceremonies. You could win this dress! Not too shabby. Except it is. Heh! Update: Commenter 19, Freckle Face Girl, has won. Thank you to everyone who commented!

To win, please leave a comment about where you'd wear this dress, or mention your favorite Italian art work (since Spanish Steps if part of the new Roamin' Holiday line of dresses from Shabby Apple.) I'm not one to make people go through a lot of hoops to win something, but I'd appreciate it if you'd follow my blog. I'll pick a winner at random next Monday. Good luck, and happy dress shopping! Contest open only in the U.S.

How to go to Disney World for $158

My family is going to Disney World next month, and all we're spending for the weekend is $158 for the resort hotel room for all three nights, plus whatever food we eat.

Last year when we went to Disney, we bought the Florida resident seasonal pass because it was about the same price as the four-day pass or whatever it was we were considering buying at the time. The seasonal pass lets you go to any of the four theme parks any time except for their blackout dates, which are times we wouldn't go anyway (spring break, the dead of summer and the last two weeks of the year). We also used our seasonal passes last month for a quick weekend trip, so they have really already paid for themselves, so to speak.

Well, it turns out that not only do seasonal and annual passholders get discounts at Disney gift shops and restaurants, but also occasional deals like the one Disney just e-mailed me about: 40% off a Disney resort room. So I reserved a room at one of the moderate resorts for $139 a night and had to pay $158 to secure the room.

But!

I also have the Disney Visa, which gives me reward points. You can also use Disney rewards dollars to buy things at Disney stores, the Disney site and many other Disney places. I got $200 just for signing up and getting the card. I use the card when I pay for anything, then pay off the bill at the end of the month. I recently redeemed 300 points, which means $300, and I can use that to pay for the rest of the hotel room (minus a few dollars for taxes, I think).

And then it's just a three-hour drive from our home.

This is going to be the cheapest trip I think my family has ever taken!

A girlfriend getaway to Kissimmee

I have a dream. A dream about sleeping in as long as I like, hanging out with my girl friends by the pool, having a lazy lunch and doing whatever I want. Someday I will have that dream in a girlfriend getaway. Someday....

Someday could be right now, though! the Seralago Hotel & Suites near Disney World in Kissimmee, Fla., has a special Girlfriends Getaway package with a $35 rate for groups of three rooms or more. You also get a complimentary welcome drink.

To book this Florida getaway with your girlfriends, call Edith Riveros at 407-997-4348 or toll-free at 800-366-5437 ext. 2994.

Enjoy dinner and a movie with McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants

There are only a few weeks left of summer (officially). Did you get to have any fun? If you're due for a date night or some fun on the town with girlfriends, check out this great deal from McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants: From now through Sept. 30, any guest who purchases a dinner entrée will have the option to add a movie ticket to their bill for just $5.00. They call it Reel to Reel. (Get it?!) Enjoy a pre-screening dinner, skip the box office hassle and walk away with a discounted movie ticket!

Click here for a list of McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurants around the country and their nearby cinemas. You can also find McCormick & Schmick's locations here.

To help you plan your dinner-and-a-movie night out, McCormick & Schmick's is generously offering a $25 dining certificate to a lucky reader. To win, please leave a comment about what you would order at the restaurant and what movie you would like to see afterward. I'll randomly choose a winner on Aug. 18.

Back-to-school consignment sale in Miami helps kids with cancer

The Five Ladybugs Consignment Sale presents its Back To School Event on Friday, July 30, 4 pm to 8 pm and Saturday, July 31, 9 am to 4 pm at Sunrise Presbyterian Church's Fellowship Hall in Miami.

Shoppers will find everything their children need for back to school: pre-loved uniforms from many of the area's schools, sports and dance gear for after-school activities, homeschooling materials, plus clothes, toys and much more all at bargain prices.

Seasonal consignment shopping is a fast-growing trend in many parts of the country, but this will be the first of its kind in Miami. It provides a great opportunity for you to clean out your closets and make some extra money too.

Consigning is easy; just register online, price and tag the items at home. Then drop them off before the sale and collect the earnings after the sale. Unsold items as well as a portion of the sale's proceeds will benefit local nonprofit group Children Battling Cancer, Inc., a foundation that raises awareness and supports children battling cancer and their families.

Find out more at the Five Ladybugs Facebook page or e-mail thefiveladybugs@yahoo.com

10 creative ways to save money for more affordable vacations

My family is excited about going to Disney World again soon! Disney World is an easy trip for us because it's just a three-hour drive, it's kid-friendly and Florida residents get great discounts. We like to do weekend trips here and there throughout the year when we -- OK, my husband and I -- need a break from everyday life. What better place to do that than a fantasy world like Disney?

Here are ways my family saves money when we travel.

1. Stay local.
Well, this one's a no-brainer, but it's amazing how much you can save when you "travel" without really traveling. I know several families who book a resort on the beach when they get away -- and the beach is only miles away from us! It sure saves on airfare or vehicle gas, and getting there is often a huge chunk of the cost of a vacation. If there's a place not too far from you where you can get away, give it a try.

2. Look for or ask for discounts on your favorite places.
One of the reasons we return to Disney frequently is the great Florida resident discounts. The deal we're going to make use of this month gives you four days in the theme parks for $99 -- a superb deal when a single-day ticket costs around $84. Maybe you don't live in Florida, but there could be another theme park, water park, museum or other attraction that offers discounts or memberships. If you don't know of any discounts, contact your favorite places and ask.

3. Sign up for e-mails.
Almost every company has an e-mail newsletter for promotions like special deals. If you are interested in traveling to a certain area or staying at a specific resort, sign up for the e-mail. Most states have tourism boards that send out promotions from around the state -- Florida does, and each e-mail from my state is packed with travel ideas and discounts from hotels I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

4. Ask your friends.
Another large portion -- maybe the largest portion -- of a vacation cost is lodging. I know someone who used to work for a large hotel chain, and he offered his family and friends a discount code when booking rooms online. Maybe you have an "in" like this too. (Facebook makes it easy to ask when you're planning your trip!) Or maybe you can stay with someone (one of my brothers almost always stays with friends wherever he goes), use their empty vacation home, take their unused timeshare slot or even swap houses.

5. Take your own food.
Some people travel so they don't have to cook, and I hear ya! It's not exactly relaxing when you have to figure out meals and you're not even in your own kitchen. If you can prepare meals beforehand, though, or if you're allowed to, say, bring a picnic lunch to the place you're going to, you won't that that big restaurant bill. My family has found that if we even just do breakfast on our own, we save a lot of money. It's become a habit for us to take some quick, easy items for breakfast and eat in our hotel room before we head out for some fun. Which leads me to my next tip....

6. Take advantage of "free breakfast" hotels.
Many hotels now offer free breakfast in the lobby -- not just bed-and-breakfast inns. Chains like Hampton Inn, Jameson Inn and Holiday Inn Express serve free coffee, juice, pastries, fruit, cereal and more.

7. Go during the off season.
Disney World has regular seasons, peak seasons and value seasons at different times of the year. My family generally avoids going during the peak seasons -- it's too crowded anyway! We actually prefer going during the value seasons when it's not so busy, and we save money on top of it. Find out when the off season is where you want to go, and save big.

8. Go with a group.
Many hotels and attractions have group rates that are less expensive than their regular price. Call ahead to find out how many people you need to qualify for the group rate -- and then gather up your family and friends and get going!

9. Ask friends to help pets.
I admit, another one of our big expenses when traveling is boarding our pets. If you have kind neighbors or friends who can look after your dogs, cats, fish, birds, etc., this also saves money.

10. Search discount sites.
The Web is full of travel sites that exist to offer great deals on airfare, lodging, cruises, etc. There are some great deals out there online, and it's worth the time spent researching and planning.

If you're like me and think you just might die if you didn't get away from home once in a while, don't give up on going away because of the cost. There are lots of ways to save.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the Toyota Sienna and TwitterMoms blogging program for a chance to get a $30 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

SeaWorld Orlando offers $5 children's tickets to help wildlife

If you're looking for something fun to do with the kids -- and help out wildlife at the same time -- just head to SeaWorld in Orlando before the end of the year to take advantage of a new $5 children's ticket price. Now through Dec. 31, 2010, with each full-paid, SeaWorld Orlando single-day, adult admission purchased online, any child age 12 and younger gets a $5 admission, the amount which goes to fund non-profit organizations that are working on wildlife conservation projects. Families even can choose which wildlife conservation effort receives their donation.

A hundred percent of each child’s ticket sold goes to wildlife conservation project of your choice!

Complete details are available at SeaWorldCares.com.

With your discounted tickets, your family can check out SeaWorld AfterDark this summer (May 29-Aug. 15), with a nighttime rock ‘n' roll extravaganza, a high-energy Shamu show, a hilarious sea lion show and a mystifying fireworks finale. That's in addition to being able to experience all that's awesome day and night, like Manta, up-close animal encounters and spectacular shows.