Ways to Save While Traveling
If you’re like me and love to travel but are feeling the pinch of expenses, here are a few of my own tips and tricks to help you save money while on vacation.
~ If at all possible, drive to your destination. I do realize if you are traveling across the country or out of the country, this is not feasible, however with the prices of airplane tickets skyrocketing, this will save so much money in the airplane fees, parking your car at the airport, etc.
~ When you are at your hotel, ask for extra toiletries, I promise you the hotel staff does not mind handing you a few extra. Even if you are there for one night, ask for two bottles of everything per person in the room, per night. Might seem small, but those little bottles add up, and most of them are high end products.
~ Before we leave hotels, I make a clean sweep of it and take the toiletries, kleen ex, and toilet paper as well as coffee pods, tea bags, and anything disposable – like cups, laundry bags, trash bags, etc. More times than not that stuff ends up in the garbage when they clean the room anyway, so why not take it home, and cut back on travel expenses and home expenses?
~ Get room service every night. They will leave fresh toiletries, coffee, cups, and tea for you if you have already used the old ones (or put them in your luggage like I do)
~ Book with a hotel that has a complimentary breakfast, and take advantage of it. Get up as soon as it opens, enjoy your breakfast, and go down one more time before it closes. I also end up usually grabbing a few extra empty coffee cups, tea bags, honey packets, napkins etc to take with me on the road. I also grab a smaller tumbler from the house to put extra juice in from breakfast…. Honestly I never leave the house without my reusable tumbler. At breakfast, I always grab extra food if I’m on a road trip – couple pieces of fruit, bagel, muffin, etc – saves you on road trip snacks. If you have kids grab a couple extra containers of milk and carry a cooler to keep them in.
~ Fill your cooler with ice before you leave the hotel. Seriously, this saves so much money! I thought my dad was crazy when I saw him doing this growing up but as I have gotten older, this not only saves the hassle of making another stop when you are trying to get back on the road, this also saves money while traveling.
~ Stay out of the mini bar, and the hotel bar. I don’t drink and my husband doesn’t drink enough for this to affect us, but if you’re a heavy drinker, hit the liquor store beforehand rather than raiding the mini bar, or even the bar in the hotel. Four or Five shots, you could buy your favorite bottle of liquor from a store and have leftover.
~ Don’t buy snacks or toiletries from the hotel lobby, or even a gas station. Hit up a Walmart or your favorite grocery store, or even your own pantry or toiletries, for road trip snacks. Might be a lot to pack, but your wallet will thank you.
BONUS: This is an off the wall tip that works for my husband and I…. CRUISE for vacations. Cruises include all you need for the duration of the trip, everything included – food, lemonade, tea, entertainment on the boat, hotel, etc – all inclusive. You can get off the boat during port stops and enjoy the land without paying for anything! Great way to travel the world without having to pay so much for hotel fees, plane fees, etc… Best part to me is they have fine dining on the boat every night where you can get two entrées and all the appetizers and dessert you want included in the price of your cruise. They might seem pricy but if you have multiple people in the same room, divide the price evenly instead of just charging for the extra guest in the room, and when you look at it in the aspect of you not having to buy pretty much anything else while you’re on vacation, it’s really not that bad. When you cruise, take all the kleen ex and TP and put in your suitcase – they will refill every night. I always bring my own thermos to fill as well so you’re not paying for water or anything.
what do you do when traveling to save money? Leave me a comment below and share your secrets!
