
I stopped shopping for stuff several years ago. Every so often things come into my house, but for the most part I go to the grocery store a few times a week and that's about all the shopping I do. So when I went to Ireland and the Isle of Man this past week (Be sure to come back and read about the trip. I've got three posts up so far.) -- Yes, so on my vacation I wasn't there to shop. BUT I knew I had to bring back souvenirs and I knew they had to be thrifty because airplane fare, food and lodging was 99.9% of my budget. I had very limited space in my bag to carry anything, too.

I'm obsessed with mail.
I love mailboxes.
I love paper to write on.
I love writing out addresses on envelopes and I am in love with fun stamps.

Before I left I decided to invest my Dollars, Euros and Pounds into post cards. I copied off a few dozen names and addresses of friends and family and took them with me, so I could send off postcards to them as small gifts :)
Then I made sure that I got a really nice assortment of postcards for myself, too.
Continuing the Thrifty Theme - I'm going to mail out a few dozen more post cards to people, even though I'm home. It's much cheaper to send the cards to the US, in the US.

I only got to the Post Office in the Isle of Man and not in Ireland, so I was only able to bring home IOM postage. I usually like to get a few stamps from countries that I visit. It's a very inexpensive way to get a souvenir. The flower stamps were 1 cent, 2 cents and 4 cents each- so that's REALLY thrifty!

This stamp was so neat - it's an IOM stamp that shows the US landing on the moon. It's even got a US flag in it. I thought it was the perfect stamp to bring home.
I did end up buying one shirt and I had to buy a windbreaker/rain jacket because I was not prepared for the deluge of rain we experienced. Other than that, my Thrifty Souvenir adventure was perfect and I don't feel like I missed a thing.
Oh, I also took over 400 photos! Those were really inexpensive, too!
Please go on over to Leigh's place and see who else joined in on the carnival.
Kristin

Great way to invest in some thrify souviners! And I do know you love that! I cannot wait to see more of these 400 pictures!
ReplyDeleteCoool! This is so up my alley! I have a thing for mailboxes too and was swooning over your shot:) I have a blog event called Postcard Friendship Friday.. This post would be so perfect for it! Would you like to share it with that group of bloggers too! There is a clickable badge on my blog about it if you'd like to learn more:)
ReplyDeletePostcards & stamps as souveniers are quite thrifty. I would love to go to Ireland. Never heard of the Isle of Man though. And you can never take too many photos. We went to Europe back in 2003 & I wish we had taken more photos. Thanks for visiting my blog & leaving me a comment.
ReplyDeleteI love all of those postcards! I'd love to read the reactions from your friends!
ReplyDeleteAnd you got some really great post cards with your investment!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea for souvenirs! I love the idea of collecting postcards and stamps... = ) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe Isle of Man stamp is just perfect. Great idea about the postcards. Love the mailbox shot. Sounds like a dream trip.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that stamps and postcards are thrifty souvenirs. I am fan too.
ReplyDeleteHappy PFF day.
A great post! Doubly so for me because I was born in Dublin, so I'll be going to look at your other posts about the land of my birth. :) I buy postcards everywhere, as a reminder of holidays and visits.
ReplyDeleteHooray! It's so nice to see you here! Huge PFF hugs!
ReplyDeleteCool and thrifty. I like the idea of using stamps as souvenirs.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Norway, I would buy all sorts of stamps to mail packages home. But when I got home, I found that all the stamps had be cut from the boxes and I didn't have them after all. It was disappointing.
I never thought to buy stamps and bring them home unused.
Oh wow Happy PFF !
ReplyDeleteI love the cool green
painted post box.
I really must admit
I loved it all .
This is right up my alley .
So many treasures to enjoy today.
Thank you for sharing them.
Have a very happy weeknd.
What a wonderful blog! I thoroughly enjoyed reading every word! Happy PFF!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone from PFF for stopping by! It's great to meet a whole bunch of new folks.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally in love with those mailboxes - I'll post all of my other photos of them for next weeks PFF.
Thanks again.
Kristin
Great post....great ideas on thrifty souvenirs. Postcards yes, but I would never have thought to purchase stamps. What a clever idea. :-)
ReplyDeleteHave a beautiful weekend.
WOW!!! Great postcards and stamps. The mailboxes are fun.
ReplyDeleteDebby
I love your thrifty suggestions. Great ideas when traveling or even here in my home town.
ReplyDelete