7 Tips for a frugal roadtrip

1. Plan ahead. We mapped out our route and booked our hotels ahead of time, rather than looking for a place to stop. This allowed us to budget more clearly because we knew exactly how much we were going to spend. In one case, we even got a discount for pre-paying for the hotel. Also, because we booked ahead of time, they were able to block our rooms for us with our crib and my husband's feather-free pillows, so we could be sure to get them.

2. Use points. We had accumulated several hotel points from our relocation and my husband's business trips and were able to use them to get one of our nights of hotel completely for free. This is the first time we ever had enough points to do that, but we have been diligent anyway about always using our numbers, and now are close to being able to book rooms at several different hotel chains. I'm also a fan of Free Frequent Flyer Miles for accumulating points and miles without traveling.

3. Look for promotions. When we were at the wedding, we used the wedding block code to get a great rate and a free breakfast. I also checked the hotel website before we left and found a promotion for one free night after every two stays, which I registered for. After our trip, we should have a free night to use next time we want to go away.

4. Consider giftcards. Our grocery store gives gas discounts for giftcards purchased, so we bought a giftcard to use for our hotel stay and for some of the restaurants along the way.

5. Find restaurant coupons. If you've planned your stay, you know where you're going to stop. Search each of those towns to find out what restaurants are there, and sign up for mailing lists to get coupons to those restaurants. It's also a good idea to pile up coupons for fast food and coffee places for stops along the way.

6. Make good use of breakfast. Mid priced hotels are most likely to offer free breakfast. Many of these breakfasts are so good now that you can eat well enough to skip lunch and just snack in the car. This saves you time as well as money.

7. Pack food. We always pack a bag full of snacks from my stockpile - things like poptarts, granola bars, cookies, crackers - as well a cooler with some bagels sandwiches and drinks. You could also pack cereal and milk, and even some microwave meals to eat in your room. Be sure to bring your coupon folder to go to the grocery store once you are there and restock for the trip back.

My So-Called Adventure

I'm 27 years old. I'm married, I have a few jobs, I have debt. I have an apartment full of clutter, and I am remarkably inefficient at getting things done around it. I feel tired, overwhelmed, and cranky.

So what I wanted to do this summer, more than anything (well almost anything. staring at a wall did come first) was to have an adventure. It didn't matter to me what I did, or where I went, but I wanted to briefly feel completely irresponsible, and to explore. We won't live in the lovely state that we currently call home (deliciously vague, am I not?) for all that much longer and I wanted to make sure I saw it before we left.

So this weekend we went. My husband's college roommate came down, we got in the car, and we saw 4 cities in about a week. We went site-seeing, ate at restaurants we'd seen on the Food Network, wandered through downtowns, and even went to a friend's wedding in between.

So why was it not satisfying? Why was it not everything I wanted it to be?

I'm not sure what the story is. I am glad I went, I'm glad I can say that I went, and I did have a good time, but by the end all I wanted was to be home and to get my laundry done. I guess I'm more of a homebody than I would like to be.


And because I can't help but mention it, while it wasn't an incredibly frugal adventure, I did manage to get through it relatively inexpensively (hmmm, I guess I fail at irresponsible). We only went places to which we could drive, in our car that gets more than 30 mpg (32 avg for this trip), we shared hotel rooms with our friend (who got one of them for free with his accumulated hotel points), and I even printed coupons for one of the museums we went to. My favorite frugal travel tidbit, though, is that because we researched restaurants, we went to some of the best places in the country - which were often out of the way and inexpensive - and when we did eat at expensive places, we ordered small dinners a la carte, so we could get exactly what we wanted without spending a ton.



But, all in all, I'm glad to be back.

Some ideas for inexpensive vacations

I want to travel more, but with my savings and debt reduction goals, vacations are something that tend to fall by the wayside. A couple of months ago, though, I was talking to my mom's best friend and she said something that made me rethink my view. She said to me, "We've eaten sandwiches out of the back of our van in some of the most beautiful places in the country."

As she said this, I realized that of course there are ways to take inexpensive vacations, I just need to rethink my idea of vacations. Not every trip needs to be a cruise to the Bahamas, or a month long Paris excursion. Often the most meaningful vacations are ones where we explore what different places have to offer.

Take shorter trips

One of the best ways to make your vacations less expensive is to make them shorter. In the past year, rather than blowing all our money on a two week trip, my husband and I have been taking long weekends to cities that are within driving range. The long weekend breaks up the season and gives you enough time to see what most cities have to offer. Also, finding places we can drive to saves us a lot of money on airfare and helps keep our plans more flexible: we can come and go on our own timetable, not the airline's.

Visit friends and family

We're very fortunate that we have friends all over the country now who would love to have us stay. Often my husband and his grad school friends will piggyback a visit onto the beginning or end of a conference or other business travel. Since the airfare is paid for by the work part of the trip, and the housing is free since they stay with us (or he with them), these are very inexpensive vacations indeed. It's also much more positive and fun than visiting a random city where we don't know anyone.

Find the best deal

When we do fly (generally to visit our families), we always shop around to find the best deal. For flights, I usually check Expedia and Travelocity first to see who has the best deal. Before I book, though, I always check the airline's own webpage to see if they have a better rate. Continental, for example, guarantees that their own website will always have the best deals on their flights. Plus, many airlines offer bonuses, in the form of miles, points, or freebies, if you book through their websites.

If I do find the best deal through a portal, though, I always try to click through a rebate site, like ebates.com or upromise.com before I book the travel, to make sure that I maximize my rewards.

Sign up and accumulate points

I belong to just about every hotel, airline, and even train membership that's out there. Since I always fly the cheapest flight I can get, regardless of airline, I like to have all of my flyer numbers handy when I'm booking so that I can be sure that I'm being rewarded for all my travel. Some hotel memberships even have added benefits: when we signed up for the Holiday Inn club, we got a free upgrade; my husband's Omni membership entitles him to a free newspaper, morning beverage and wireless Internet.

I also use programs like E-rewards and E-miles to accumulate a few extra points here and there. The best resource I've ever found for free points is Free Frequent Flyer Miles, which lists a variety of ways to earn, transfer and use points. It's upgraded pretty regularly and is incredibly detailed and easy to understand.