<blockquote>A couple of exciting things for my regular readers.: My member post is going live on Yakezie.com today (I’ll be in the finance vertical) and I’ve added some category buttons to the area below the header.
Quite a while ago, I went on a vacation. All told, I spent around $700, and that was including almost $200 (!!!) for just 2 dinners! Here’s how I made up for those splurges by cutting other areas of my travel budget.
- Bought a City Pass – They dont have these for every city, and Atlanta was the first time that I’ve tried it, but it worked out great. We were able to get a behind the scenes tour of the georgia aquarium, entrance into the Coca-Cola museum, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, a tour of CNN and enterance to a museum that we did not take advantage of. Without the pass, this would have cost $88. The pass cost $74, and we didn’t even take advantage of all we could have. Although the savings is only $14, we didn’t have to wait in ticket lines either.
- Used Public Transit – When this is available, I’ll always prefer this + walking to taking a taxi or renting a car. It’s always cheaper, and you can see a part of the area you’re visiting that you may not have seen in a taxi or while cruising around in a rental car.
- Go to off the beaten path places – I enjoy this one throughly. While in Atlanta, we went to the state capitol building. There is usually interesting exhibits in the capitol about the state and history (which I enjoy) and if you go at the right time, you can see the legislators working. While we were in the house, I think the Secretary of State was filming a tv advertisement for re-election. Always interesting stuff going on there, and they are always free to enter (though you may have to pass through a metal detector.
- Check out the local happenings – While this wasn’t planned, we happened to be in Atlanta during restaurant week. They had great 3 course meals at restaurants for $35 and $25 depending on the restaurant, but this allowed us to eat at 2 amazing restaurants for much less than they normally would have cost. In fact, one of the restaurants does not even print prices on their website – which is usually a good sign that I wouldn’t be able to afford it. Note: if you’re ever in this situation, I came up with some valuable advice a while back I’d like to share: If you have to ask what it costs, you can’t afford it.
- Pack meals for the airport – We prepared sandwiches and some snacks to eat at the airport on the way out. It was a good thing we did too, as our flight ended up getting delayed a few hours. It made for our time at the airport rather cheap. However, you need to be careful with this. If you plan on taking your food past security, please be aware of the TSA rules. No one who is in line behind you wants to hear you arguing with an agent over whether or not you can take your ranch dressing through while holding up the line. You wont make many friends that way. For those frugal boozehounds out there, I have seen and heard about (but never tried) the following: You can bring in the “shooters” of your favorite Bourbon alcohol, and as long as they are sealed in your 1 quart bag, you can take as many as will fit. Mix them with the soda the airline gives you and viola, free mixed drink(s)!
- Watch the dining out – When you’re traveling, you’re most likely not near a kitchen that you are familiar with, or even one at all. Eating out can add up quick, and it adds up even faster if you’ve got a family. Try going to a nearby grocery store for some meals or snacks. Peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches still taste good even though you’re no longer 11 years old. Take it from me, I know. Also if you do this, you shouldn’t feel as guilty if you spend a bit more on dinner than normal.
- Use Bing Travel – Usually I don’t use Microsoft products, but I have been using this website since long before Microsoft bought them. They take historical fare data and statistical models to guess the fare price for the areas you want to fly to.
Remember, your vacation does not start when your plane touches down or your vehicle arrives at its destination. Your vacation starts the minute you start planning for it. Get someone to drop you off and pick you up from the airport (or take transit) so you wont have to pay to park. Book your tickets during a lull in prices and you could save big as well. Jet Blue airlines has the All You Can Jet Promotion in September because flying drops off heavily in September and they are looking to generate revenue.
How do you save money on vacation?
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We usually try to split the cost of a condo or house with family or friends. With kids this make for a more enjoyable time for everybody… and it cost a lot less that use trying it solo.
Circa 2006, I found myself traveling alone at Vara’s backpacker hostel on Muri beach, Cooks Island. The only restaurants around Muri beach were resort restaurants. I had mostly ramen, tomato sandwiches, and beer for the next few days. I call it the Rarotonga diet. My room was right on the beach – 20 bucks, but there were 5 bed in that room. *shrug* A lot of people were from the U.K. Mostly starting off or ending their year long trip, nice…
I also went to a church (Titikaveka church?) to attend service, listen to the mesmerizing Polynesian, and they gave us backpackers free lunch. I was a pretty cheap dude on that trip, but so was everybody else. ahh, good times….
forgot to add that I am a Buddhist in the last post.
You know what I learned the hard way about travel? If you curb your shopping, it will help too. I love exploring local places, using local transportation but Good God do I love shopping experience in new places! LOL Last time we travelled, I fought really hard not to shop and hey! We stayed right on the budget! Usually because of me we would go way over! It was so satisfying I could not believe it!
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