Tonight I thought of two random money-saving ideas that I would like to pass along.

First, if you are still planning your summer vacation or an autumn trip, you may still have time to obtain free road maps, coupons, and tourism guides. Consider contacting the tourism board for the state that you wish to visit. In the past, I have obtained free road maps from several different states this way. Next month I will be going on a trip to New York State, so I contacted its state tourism bureau at www.iloveny.com. I was able to request informational booklets there, and then the website linked me to a website for the tourism bureau for the specific region that I planned to visit. Once I reached the second link, I was able to request still more information on that region. Within a few weeks, I received a road map of the region, a map of bicycle trails in the region, booklets of coupons for area restaurants and museums, and many informational brochures.

Remember that if you belong to AAA, you can put your membership to use by requesting trip information from them, as well.

My second tip is inspired by a newspaper story that I read today about the financial costs of relocating. I personally moved in 2000, 2003, and 2006. When I changed my address with the Post Office each of these times, I received advertisements from companies that sold cardboard boxes for bins. I did not pay for any of the boxes that I used, however. My friend Erin and I drove to a local shopping plaza, stopped at each of the stores, and asked if we could have their empty boxes. Every retail establishment that we stopped at obliged. I realize that some shops may deny this request, but it doesn't hurt to ask.