Money Monday!

Reciprocity. That's what I wanted to talk about today. I read this tip in a book a few weeks ago. I got it from the library, as usual, along with several others, all of which were skimmed. The book, Five-Star Living on a Two-Star Budget: Living Big on Only a Little by Margaret Feinberg, Natalie Nichols Gillespie, has lots of little tips, but one did stick out to me. One of the authors said she did a little research on memberships to her local science museums etc. and ended up saving a ton of money.

Did you know about membership reciprocity? I did, but hadn't thought about using it this way before. Reciprocity in this sense means if you buy a membership (family or individual) to a zoo, museum, science center, arts center, etc, you can use it to get in to other establishments all around the country and even the world for free, or sometimes a discounted rate. She lives near a larger city where memberships to excellent museums, etc. are more pricey (as I recall, but I didn't commit the entire book to memory, peeps- there I go calling you peeps again). So, she checked the website to find out about the other museums in the reciprocity network. She found one states away that offered free entrance into her own local, excellent, museum, but at a fraction of the price for a year-long family membership. It's completely OK to do (doesn't it sound sneaky? But, as I thought about it, I guess it sounds smart, too), and although you may miss out on some privileges of taking the membership to your local establishment (like getting mailers or special visiting privileges, etc), you can save a ton of money.

With the ease of Internet access to hundreds of zoos, etc. around the country, you can do a quick search to find out if there's a better deal for your family out there- and with the Internet you may even be able to buy your membership online, to some museum states away, and use it this week in your own city.