Comments on: Save money while traveling

By: 2latewise

2latewise — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:30:24 +0000

Lunch is often cheaper at restaurants than dinner, so save your snacks and sandwiches for the evening meal. Grocery stores often have precooked foods at prices competitive with fast food, and you can get healthier fare, too. Cheerios are a delicious, healthy substitute for potato chips or other dry snacks, and they require no refrigeration.
If you have a good secondhand bookstore nearby, pick up current magazines and paperbacks at a good price to read on your trip, and sell them back when you get home.
Take along your nearly-used-up toothpaste and deodorant to finish on the trip. You’ll find yourself getting very frugal to make sure they last. (My dentist says you only need a dab of toothpase the size of a green pea to brush your teeth.)
If you want a “souvenir” there are varied approaches: photos/postcards, one and only one “good” item you’ll actually use(not very likely to be found), or a specialty activity/event like rafting the Grand Canyon or a whalewatching boat trip that is unlikely to ever offer itself again.
Save $20K by knowing whether you’ll fall for a salesman’s pitch and don’t go on a “free” trip if you can’t say NO firmly and repeatedly. A relative had to pay money to get rid of 2 timeshares. She felt guilted into buying one because the salesman turned nasty and told her he had to make money for his kids to go to college, and she had just cost him a day of work if she pulled out of the deal. The other one was a total spur-of-the -moment thing she and her husband fell for, thinking many other family members would want to go to Florida in midsummer.
Try to buy gas away from the interstate. Those interchange locations are expensive, with prices to match.
The value test: what will this item bring at a yard sale in three months?

By: Budget Busters: Five Easy Ways to Save Money When Traveling | Better Traveling

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:10:34 +0000

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By: Back From Family Road Trip Vacation | Mortgage Info Today Blog

Back From Family Road Trip Vacation | Mortgage Info Today Blog — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:24:05 +0000

[...] Save money while traveling at Gather Little By Little [...]

By: * Back From Family Road Trip Vacation

* Back From Family Road Trip Vacation — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:46:27 +0000

[...] at Good Financial Cents — A great collection of financial tips from dozens of PF bloggers.Save money while traveling at Gather Little By LittleHow Your Personality and Past Affect Your Money Habits at Man vs. [...]

By: DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com

DDFD at DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:12:58 +0000

Solid advice– I spend quite a bit of time in my car. Packing your own food and drink is a big money saver.

By: Happy Father’s Day Announcement and Round Up | Good Financial Cents -Jeff Rose Certified Financial Planner and Investment Advisor, Carbondale, Illinois

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:09:53 +0000

[...] Gather Little By Little wants to help you save money while traveling. [...]

By: itistimetotalk

itistimetotalk — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:44:29 +0000

Thank you for the article, “Saving Money While Traveling”. It contains some useful and good money saving tips. Also, on Hotels you may be able to get additional savings by using your AAA card if you are a member (of course this may depend on the hotel and staff).

By: Jane

Jane — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:10:02 +0000

I would recommend taking a room on the second floor so you can scan the parking lot before heading down to your car.
Travel and truck centers are some of the safest places to stop and rest. They have 24-hour security and are visited by professional drivers who are used to staying aware and protective of their vehicles.
And i feel coffee shops, hair salons and taverns are all good places to chat casually with residents. Also pick up a local paper or watch the local television news to be aware of the local current events.

By: Save money while traveling | Saving Money News

Save money while traveling | Saving Money News — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:08:09 +0000

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By: sarah p.

sarah p. — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:29:16 +0000

Agree completely on the water and packing snacks. When flying, it’s easy to stop at a grocery store (you can even plan ahead for coupon deals at local stores!) when you get to your destination for snacks/beverages that aren’t packable due to regulations.

Disagree somewhat on the hotels – I consider safety and cleanliness an essential piece of even a frugal hotel and will not even consider somewhere unclean or borderline safe. I also think that money on hotels is often very well spent, depending on the vacation.

On gas, prices can vary widely even among local stations. Look up cheap stations online before you leave (or drive a few blocks off the freeway) and you can often save $.10-.15/gallon.

My biggest thing when it comes to vacation is to plan based on what is most important to you. We just got back from a vacation I consider to be frugal, yet we spent a fair amount of (budgeted) money on the things most important to us. We ate at fancy restaurants, because that was one of the goals of the trip (and used restaurant.com discount certificates where we could). We also ate in, and got snacks from the grocery store. We got a great rate on a hotel for part of the time and stayed with family the other part. Flights were free with miles (from business trips). We found the best deal on a rental car by renting off-airport with coupon codes. We balanced our time between free attractions and paid attractions that were important to us.

Overall, it was a fantastic vacation, full of great memories and done under the spending plan we had set.