Vacation - (My Bloggy Break)

I’ve been on a bloggy break, I am still out of state visiting family. We are currently at the New Jersey Shore. I do not have any Internet access so I will be posting very few posts this week and may be longer than usually in answering my emails. I thank you for your patience and should be resuming regular posts next week.

Here are a few ideas for saving money on your vacation.

1. Rent a condo or house.
We have often found that it is just as expensive or sometimes less expensive to rent a house or condo rather than a hotel room. It is much nicer to stay in a place that has a living area and a kitchen where you can cook some meals.

2. Bring your food.
We brought along a lot of our own food. This way we were able to shop our stash and pick out items that would be easy to fix for lunches and dinners. We also brought our own snack food (free Chex mix!) and bottled water. I would also suggest bringing food that dosen’t spoil - such as canned spaghetti sauce, pasta, tuna in a can or pouch. That way you can take home any food you don’t use and not have a lot of waste.

3. Be selective about your eating out.
It can be very expensive to eat out - so be selective and choose something special or your favorite restaurant when you eat out. If you eat every dinner out and grab lunch at the drive-thru it can add up quickly. I would suggest you only eat out one night - that way it is special!

4. Take your coupons!
You don’t know what you might run out of or forget. I somehow forgot to pack any sunscreen! UGH - I have a ton of it at home - but I had to buy some here! We found an Acme down the street that doubles coupons up to .99. We’ve been able to save on a few things that way.

5. Share a vacation.
Go in with a friend or family member to share a house or split a week. I was invited to come along with my sister’s family for a few days of their week at the shore.

6. Plan ahead
Use the Internet to find free things to do where you are vacationing. We hope to go to the Cape May Zoo for free this week.

7. Take rainy day / hot day activities.
It can be an expensive outing to take the whole family to the movies - because it is raining or 102 degrees! Plan ahead and have a few movies and games packed along, just in case! My sister brought along about 10 movies from the library - all kinds of stuff for us and the kids and the teens so everyone has something!

8. Remember that you’re on a vacation!
Plan times to do nothing - except relax! (It’s free) Watch the sunset - or sunrise, go for a walk, read a book, take a nap, enjoy yourself. Don’t stress out (and run up the credit card) by going from one activity to another.


Do you have any great money saving vacation ideas? Post them here or give us a link to a post on you blog!