Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/517056
Familyvacationscanbe either delightful or disas- trous — it depends greatly on your atti- tude and the care you de- vote to re- search and planning. ADJUSTYOUR ATTITUDE Here is the first rule of family vacations: Parents on vacation really aren't on vacation. If you can unload personal expectations that you will be relaxed and re- freshed when it's over, you won't be disappointed when you're not. And if you do get a little R&R along the way, consider it an un- expected bonus. BE REALISTIC ABOUT COST Decide ahead of time how much cash you have for this vacation. If you have, say, a family of five and $500 to spend, don't even think about a couple of days at Disney World. Al- ways consider the money you have first, and then design a vacation that will realistically fit within that financial boundary. BE REALISTIC ABOUT TIME Don't try to stretch your available cash to cover the maximum time you have to be away from home. Di- vide what you can spend by a reasonable daily bud- get to determine how many days you can be gone. Care- fully consider all the costs, not only the admission fees and overnight accommoda- tions. Instead of full weeks, consider day trips or a weekend vacation. When it comes to family vaca- tions, quality is consider- ably more important than quantity. SINGLE PARENTS It is re- ally tough to go it alone. If you have more than one child, full vacation respon- sibility can be overwhelm- ing. You need help, so con- sider staying with relatives or travelling with a group. Sharing the trip with an- other single-parent fam- ily with kids the same age can reduce costs signifi- cantly. It will relieve your anxiety and stress, too. INVOLVE THE KIDS If ev- eryone is involved in mak- ing the plans and sav- ing the money, you will prevent lots of problems. Let the kids have a say in where you will go. Talk about how much money you have to spend. Show the kids what it costs to eat in a restaurant, spend the night in a hotel or buy tickets for the amuse- ment park. Look at travel guides to find the best bar- gains for the amenities you agree on. Also, take a look at a brand new re- source, "Planning Suc- cessful Family Vacations: A guide for traveling with kids." Encourage everyone in the family to think of ways to cut back to allow more money for activities or what you have decided is top priority. ENVELOPE METHOD There's nothing like a good visual to keep a va- cation based in reality. Large colorful envelopes are ideal, one for each day to hold that day's allotted cash. Design the outside for the spending record so you can keep track of where the money is going. LIVING-HISTORY MUSE- UMS There are at least 2,000 living-history mu- seums around the coun- try, where the past seems as real as the present and learning is a joyous ad- venture. Spring and sum- mer are the best times to visit because there are so many special children's programs and family events. Many can be seen in an afternoon, while oth- ers might require the en- tire weekend. I suggest you start with a virtual visit. Go to www.alhfam. org, the site of The Asso- ciation for Living History Farms and Agricultural Museums located in every area of the U.S. and Can- ada, where you can take a virtual tour of wonderful places like the Jamestown Settlement in Williams- burg, Virginia, The Henry Ford Museum in Dear- born, Michigan and Con- ner Prairie in Fishers, In- diana, to name just a few. You can find hours of oper- ation, entrance fees as well as the programs they offer currently. Whether you plan to travel this summer or de- sign a stay-at-home vaca- tion, it's not too early to start planning. Besides, half the fun is the antici- pation. MaryHuntisthefounder of www.DebtProofLiving. com, a personal finance member website. You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Secretsofstress-freevacationswithkids The Marine Corps League, Detachment 1140, Tehama/Red Bluff, con- ducted the opening cere- mony May 16 at the Elks Lodge in Chico with rifle volleys and "Taps," as re- quested, at the Chico Gun Show. Detachment 1140 was also there to sell tickets for a rifle raffle. The item for raffle is a Ruger 1022 Break- down. The detachment holds several raffles during the year as a fundraiser for the honor guard and other community projects. Buddy Male is the Com- mandant of Detachment 1140 and also serves as the Honor Guard Commander. "Detachment 1140 is a 501 (c) (4) non-profit, tax deductible corporation, that provides financial support to our honor guard for its service to our fallen mili- tary personnel along with supporting our veterans in need of assistance," Male said. "We are committed to our military veterans and their well-being." The honor guard holds regular practice at Veter- ans Memorial Hall, 735 Oak St., Red Bluff, at 6 p.m. each Monday, except holidays. It is the only one of its kind in Tehama County but cov- ers other counties whenever possible. There is a com- bined color guard, consist- ing of Detachment 1140, the American Legion, VFW and Am Vets. For more information on Detachment 1140 and services provided by the honor guard, call Male at 528-8813. Honor guard opens gun show Do you ever have ques- tions about your Medi- care? Have you ever won- dered where you can get fast, reliable answers to those ques- tions — free of charge? There's a terrific pro- gram in your community that can help. It's called the State Health Insurance Assis- tance Program, or SHIP. If you're eligible for Medi- care, you're eligible for per- sonalized counseling from your local SHIP office. SHIPs are state pro- grams that get money from the federal govern- ment to help people with Medicare, their families, and their caregivers under- stand Medicare benefits. SHIPs aren't connected to any insurance company or health plan, so they're not trying to sell you any kind of product. SHIP counselors are volunteers who have been well-trained to answer your questions, whether you have Original Medi- care (where the govern- ment pays your providers directly) or Medicare Ad- vantage (in which private insurers offer health care services through a spe- cific network of doctors, hospitals, and other pro- viders). SHIP volunteer are of- ten Medicare beneficiaries themselves, so they really know the ins and outs of the program and can help you navigate it. And did I mention that SHIP counseling is abso- lutely free? Here are some of the is- sues that a SHIP counselor can help you with: • Billing problems; • Complaints about your medical care or treatment; • How to look for a Medi- care Advantage health plan or Medicare Part D pre- scription drug plan; • How Medicare works with other insurance; • How to appeal if you disagree with coverage or payment decisions by Medicare or your Medi- care plan. You can speak with SHIP counselors either over the phone or in per- son at your local office. How do you get in touch with them? To find the SHIP office closest to you call 800-434-0222. Of course, there are other ways besides SHIP to get information about Medicare. One excellent re- source is the "Medicare & You" handbook, which is mailed to Medicare benefi- ciaries every fall. "Medicare & You" is a gold mine of easy-to- understand informa- tion about how Medicare works, how to enroll, what services are covered, and many other topics. You can find the 2015 edition of "Medicare & You" online at medicare. gov/Pubs/pdf/10050.pdf Help is also available through the Medicare customer service center, at 1-800-MEDICARE (1- 800-633-4227; TTY us- ers call 1-877-486-2048). The call center is open 24 hours a day, including weekends. Another helpful re- source is the official Medi- care website, at www. Medicare.gov. The website has a wide variety of information about Medicare health and prescription drug plans in your area, including what they cost and what ser- vices they provide. You can look for doctors or other health care pro- viders and suppliers who participate in Medicare, and see what Medicare covers, including preven- tive care services. At www.Medicare.gov, you also can get Medi- care appeals information and forms, get information about the quality of care provided by plans, nurs- ing homes, hospitals, home health agencies, and di- alysis facilities and look up helpful websites and phone numbers. David Sayen is Medicare's regional administrator for Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Pacific Territories. You can always get answers to your Medicare questions by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800- 633-4227). DAVID SAYEN Get free help understanding your Medicare David Sayen COURTESYPHOTO Pictured are John Minton, Gil Arellano, Buddy Male, Ray Valenzuela, David Camacho and Roy Fansler. 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