Vacation Tips

My vacation is over and Monica (my wife) and I were talking about how we had a nice vacation, but we didn't break the bank. With the economy being what it is here are some tips to save money on your next vacay.

1. Vacation with another couple. It helps if this is a couple that you like. Instead of having to pay for a place to stay and gas to get there we just paid for gas. The other couple paid for the place to stay. This also helps because the other couple provides someone to hang out with so you don't always have to spend money doing something.

2. Buy groceries. We bought things like cereal, Mt. Dew, and some essential snacks. We also bought stuff to cook one dinner. That way we didn't have to eat every meal out. It's cheaper and it can be healthier.

3. Set a budget before you go. Monica and I knew how much money we could spend. It meant that we had to say no to some things, but we prioritized and did the things we really wanted to do.

4. Resist the temptation to buy crap. When you go to a place like Myrtle Beach the streets are lined with stores with BIG flashing lights. They suck you in like a tractor beam...at least they suck me in. Monica and I don't buy stuff from those stores. We normally go on vacation and buy one thing...a magnet. We spend a few bucks so we can have a souvenir, but we stop it at that.

5. Go to a place with a pool or beach. Since we had both we didn't feel the urge to go out and spend money on entertainment.

6. Bring entertainment with you. I brought the Wii, and some DVD's. Both of these gave us something to do, but it didn't cost a thing.

7. Bring a gift card. If you ever get a gift card to a restaurant try to save it for your next vacation. We had one for Outback and we were able to eat great and not spend a dime of our own money.

8. Drive somewhere relatively close. We only had to fill the tank two times.

9. Research before you go. Monica does a great job at this. Before every trip she does some research in books and on the Internet. She finds out all the great things to do and then prices them out. We knew we wanted to go parasailing and so we made that a priority. Monica wrote down multiple numbers for places to go and we went with the cheapest company. This helps you budget before you go because you know how much everything is going to cost.

10. Plan ahead. The truth is that taking a vacation is going to cost money. If you don't plan ahead you will either not be able to go or go into debt over it. Plan a few months in advance and you should be able to have a nice vacay but not break the bank.