Frugal vacationing...

[peanut]

I know there's a forum for campers and outdoor enthusiasts, but what about the rest of us? How do you manage a frugal vacation?

DH and I are in our late 40s/50s. We're past the camping phase. We discovered a lot on our recent three week vacation.

1) book your car rental well in advance for good discounts.
2) if you can, rent a car someplace other than the airport. Take a taxi to the rental location, or have someone drive you there.
3) sign onto airline email lists for discount offers. We regularly get 35-40% off offers.
4) arrange hotel and B&B accommodations ahead of time.
5) staying someplace a week or longer nets a big discount.
6) check out housekeeping cottages. That helps keep your diet under control too! I found staying with relatives and friends very bad for weight and health issues.
7) buy a soft sided cooler to pack in your luggage. Buy your snacks and lunch items at grocery stores and store in the cooler. Picnic in a park for lunch.
8) find things to do that are free in the area you're staying. This really gives you the feel of a place. You become like a local, who doesn't go for all the touristy stuff anyway. You do have to avoid those touristy brochures though.
9) look up the nature areas where you are staying. If nothing else, they give you a place to walk and picnic.
10) check out any websites associated with the community/area you're visiting. They often tell the highlights of the community for people thinking of moving there. And they often give a better picture of affordable things to do.
11) connect with locals on-line or in real life and ask where the locals shop and play.
12) check with the local library for events and things to see and do.
13) go to the local Farmer's market for cheap souvenirs. You can find good homemade local crafts and food products there. And it's cheaper than the tourist gift/craft stores.

What do you do to make for a cheaper vacation, while still having a fun time?

Jean

[leezza]

Hi Peanut,

Well while my Sister and her family were on vacation recently, (driving around the country). We had walkie talkie phones and they would call me and I would look stuff up for them as they went......kinda like the matrix......I was able to find them good hotels and places to eat, and also give them directions from their position on the highway. Work great and saved them a lot of time.

leezza

[pita1213]

look for state or national parks. there are some that are basically nature parks and others that are historical parks too. we went to a few in Florida and the kids had a ball running around one of the battlefields.

[Michelle68]

We usually take a one to two week vacation each summer. Because both my DH and I love to travel and we really think it's important to teach the kids as much as we can about different places and people, we try to go to a new place each year and make it a goal to see at least one new state each vacation. This could be very expensive but we've gotten pretty good at budgeting and sticking to our budget. Basically this is what we do to save money:
1.) If we do eat out, we only eat out one meal a day, usually lunch.
2. )We try to stay in hotels with a refrigerator so that we can store food such as milk, sandwich meat, cheese, etc. for when we don't eat out. We also take an ice chest with us for eating meals on the road and to store water and snacks.
3.) If we can find a good deal, we stay in hotels which provide free breakfast.
4.) We budget only a small amount for souveneirs. The only thing I like to collect are magnets from each place we go and DH usually only buys a couple of nice souveneirs. The kids save their money and/or are usually given money before trips by their grandparents for any extra souveneirs they want.
5.) We will sometimes buy a state parks pass or national parks pass if we are going to be staying in or going to a lot of these areas. For around $75 we can get the entire family into any national park during our vacation and for the rest of the year.
6.) We drive to all our vacation destinations. I think it's great for everyone to see the country and it's such fun to stop at some of the off the beaten path attractions and places. Of course this wouldn't work so well if we were heading to Hawaii or Europe , but last summer we drove 3600 miles round trip to New York City and got to see places such as the Smokey Mountains, The Blue Ridge Mountains, Gettysburg, Nashville, etc.
7.) We save all year for our vacation and pay cash for everything.
8.) Send off ahead of time for info and coupons to attractions and sites we're planning to see.

Anyway, those are just some of the ways we take frugal vacations. This summer we drove to the Grand Canyon and were gone a total of 11 days. We spent around $1800 on everything, including gas (but not including the truck repair when our truck broke down. ) Our trip to NYC lasted a bit longer and we spent around $2500 for 5 people since we also took our DD's best friend with us and a trip to South Dakota a couple of years back cost $1500. This next summer we're cutting back a bit since I had surgery and have a large deductible, but we've made plans to visit the Ozarks and Missouri and we've started saving up for that trip. I think it's totally possible to have a fun and frugal vacation, but it takes a lot of planning and doing what we all do best-- looking for the best deals on everything from food to lodging.



--MIchelle

[pkellyc]

DH and I are finding that we really like vacationing while the kids are in school. Now that ours are grown we have found the joy of, no lines, cheaper rates, cooler temperatures for sight seeing, and just a general calmness that you don't find with a kids on a blistering hot day.

State or city parks with a picnic, especially when visiting a city can be a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle and saves you plenty in eating out costs.

Dh and I like local history so a walking tours are always fun for us. A visit to a local museum, cider house, cheese factory, orchards, maple sugar houses, and micro breweries are all places we have been to in the past for not a lot of money.
Dh also likes natrual disaster areas and many of these areas are turned into parks. This goes hand in hand with the picnics. Not only do you get to see a broken dam and gather some local history, you get to eat there too.

I stopped buying souvenirs. If I do see something for myself or my girls I try to make it something we will use other than another piece of clutter.

[nuisance26]

~We like to rent a vacation house to save money. DH isn't touristy, he just wants to relax. That's saves alot of money right there. Off-season rates can be great no matter where you want to vacation. I learned this from my parents, who would book a house on the beach in NC for a few hundred dollars in the beginning of September. Another advantage is that you have a kitchen and you never have to eat out. This year we're renting in the in-season so that we can attend a reunion nearby. Still, at $650 for 5 days/4 nights, it's not horrible. And we get a hot tub on the deck, privacy and a great mountain view! Usually the rates for vacation houses are comparable to a hotel($120-140 night) but what you get for the money is a better value, IMO. Especially if you can stay a full week. A few years back we got a fab chalet off-season in the mountains with all the romantic amenities; $600 for the entire week!~

[quiltergirl]

We saved a lot of money on our last vacation by planning and booking everything in advance on the internet. Of course you have to be careful and have an idea of prices, but there are some great deals out there.