Simple Travel Adjustments to Make Travel More Affordable

My husband and I sometimes sit back and wonder how we ever afforded to travel before we were done with school and had real, grown-up jobs (this after a two night, 36-hour trip to Chicago that cost us $2,500). We know we are a bit more extravagant now that we might have been in the past, but we still cannot figure out how we ever traveled for less. It does occur to us that we do like nice hotels, we do have a thing for nice wine, and we aren’t afraid to splurge when we travel on things we really enjoy. However, sometimes even we sit back and think that there has got to be a way that we can travel for less – and that’s when I realized, that if you just sit back and put some thought into it, we all can travel for less.

Pack Your Snacks

One of the biggest expenses on any trip is stopping for snacks. For us, airport food is a killer. It’s not even that good, definitely not that healthy and we don’t really even care for it. If we packed a few of our favorite at-home snacks to enjoy mid-flight, we’d probably be a lot happier, and we’d definitely be a lot wealthier by the time we land.

Save on Hotels

I try to remember to do this every time we travel, but I usually forget. When I do remember, though, I am so impressed with myself and my savings. Try Priceline and other hotel sites like this for hotel rooms. You can bid on a room in a hotel of your specification as far as category, location and star-rating, and you can book express rooms that are any level you choose for a much lower than advertised price. It’s savings sometimes more than half the room rate. It’s worth it.

Find Smart Meals

You can eat dinner early to save money on the menu items (usually around 25%). It’s a good idea, too, to find restaurants with a happy hour and order cocktails off that menu instead of a bottle of wine. Another of my favorites is Sunday brunch. We can spend a lot at Sunday brunch, but we also love to find the locations that offer bottomless mimosas, because, well, we might just drink several during brunch. If you can find them when they are bottomless, you’re doing good.

Save on Entertainment

One of the easiest ways to travel and save is to spend nothing on entertainment. Find your own. Sightsee through historic locations. See the world through your own eyes. We love to see the sights in places we are visiting by walking around, window shopping and by grabbing a cocktail somewhere during happy hour and just enjoying the view. Trust me; it’s always entertaining.

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