Traveling anytime between Thanksgiving and Christmas and even through New Year Day can be a double sided coin. It is great time reconnect with family members. On the other hand holiday travel can be worst than exploring the Brazilian rain forest with a three legged mule.

Statistics show more people travel in the time period around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do you remember seeing on TV, every year during this time of year all those people sleeping in airport terminals? What about delayed or cancelled planes, trains, buses, and cars? Most all of those problems were caused by weather. In the United States some of the busiest travel time is while we are having some of the harshest weather of the entire year.

Traveling during these holidays is not always grim and bleak. If you must travel you may be able to side step a lot of the horrors of holiday travel and save a little money in the process. All you have to do is a few simple things.

Yesterday, I wrote about Shopping for Emergency Kits. When I finished I felt that I had done a very incomplete job in covering the subject. So, today, I have added a part 2. Because the you can specialize emergency kits for cars, trains, work, buses, and home, I do not expect this will be the last.

In today’s post I want to cover emergency kits for cars. It is while we are driving about that we run the largest chance of being in or coming upon some emergency situation.

Quite a few years ago, there was the Kim Family headed north out of the San Francisco Bay area into Oregon for a family road trip for Thanksgiving back in 2006. Through a series of wrong turns they ended lost and stuck in the snow for nine days. They survived by taking what they have and using it to their best advantage.

Gas prices are still rising. This affects everything in the family budget from food to this summers family vacation. That is one reason why I like the Idaho Sportsman Show. We can get ideas on where we can go for a family vacation and still be within our budget.

Last Friday we went to the Western Idaho Fairgrounds to see where and what we could go on our family vacation. It was there our daughter got to try fishing for the first time. My wife and daughter got to shoot air rifles. An I got look into planning a trip to a part of scenic Idaho we have never been.

It does not matter if it is a short trip  across town or a long across the United States. There are many choices as far as the mode of transportation. I prefer walking for distances less than a couple of blocks. For distances up to 5 miles in warm weather I usually take my bicycle.  When the weather is bad, the car is my preferred mode of travel. Now when comes to trips of any length or time that is a total different store.

The other day I was comparing air fares with the cost of taking a bus and driving. I realize there are many factors involved in making the decision as to what means of travel best fits the circumstances. What I found was four main things impact a persons decision as to what mode of transportation they should take.  They are

A few weeks back I wrote about the star rating system for hotels. Today, I want to look at the star rating system of restaurants.

The reason why I am writing about the rating system for restaurant’s is I want to know and I want you to know what to expect when you walk into a restaurant. Are you getting your monies worth in terms of food and service?

My friend Ray and I were sitting around and talking about the rating systems for hotels. The question was brought up, “Is there a standard as to what I can expect from a 3 star as opposed to a 4 star hotel?”

We agreed that it would be a good post for The Shopping Nazi. How else would you know if you are getting good value for your money. A couple of days later I received an email with five links that describe the rating system of hotels. They are Hotels.org, How Stuff Works, Forbes Travel Guide, Super Pages, and Go Europe at About.com.

We just got back from our get-a-way. Everyone needs to take a few days as a family and get a way from the pressure of life. This year, in quite a few years we took a vacation. It was largely because of the money we were able to save through practicing and writing about it in The Shopping Nazi.

Now for the numbers as to what it did cost us for our little vacation.

Lodging – First night was in a Holiday Inn, which cost us $109. The next two nights were a little motel in Sumpter Oregon. That was $120 for the two nights.

It is summer time. Most of us has already booked our summer vacation. Some have gone through a travel agent. Then there are those who have listen commercial William Scanter and used PriceLine.com to get the lowest rate. But does PriceLine.com really give the lowest rate?

In a effort to look a where to go for the best deal I took the major online booking websites and gave them a task. A couple that is 40 years want to spend 2 nights in San Francisco leaving Boise ID. They are going to book their room for August 14th, 15th. A mid August weekend. Now let us see who has the best rate!

It was like last week we bought our daughter her first a MP3 player for $39.99. It was not what it cost us. After sales tax, carrying case, and mp3 our cost was well over $50 and still going up.

That is why I want to take today and look at hidden or unexpected costs. We have chosen only the 5 most common hidden cost over and above the price tag. Some are expected. Some are hidden and unexpected. All are over and above the price tag.

Yesterday, I shared, with you, some of the great benefits I have experienced since I moved to Idaho 15 years ago. Today, I want to share with you the top 7 businesses that impress me the most when I went to the state capitol building as part of annual Buy Idaho event.

Idaho Candy Company has been around since 1901. They are not a world player that competes with Nestle or Mars candies, but they do offer some tasty treats. The Cherry Cocktail and Idaho Spud are two of my favorites.

Dream Chocolate is another candy company. Well not just another candy company. They specialize in great chocolate bar with a custom label. Can you think of a better way to impress a future employer than by attaching a candy bar with your picture on it to your resume.