Tag Archives: travel

No round up this week, gratitude instead

My apologies for missing the round up this week. I wasn’t feeling well last night, so I didn’t get a chance to get it posted. Then I was up and at ’em for work this morning, and I didn’t have a chance to catch up.

I do want to give my sincere thanks for the words of encouragement on my post about planning our trip to Europe. I have to confess, I was really nervous about sharing my plans. I had no reason to believe that my wonderful readers would be anything but supportive, but I also know that all of us in this community are committed to being debt free. I was worried that announcing such an expensive endeavour while we’ll still in debt might result in some judgment. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The comments I received were so supportive and encouraging. Thank you.

I’m excited, but also overwhelmed. We’ve never made a trip like this. So I’d also like to request advice if you have any to give. A couple of you have already offered some tips (thanks Susan and Claire!). If you’ve ever traveled to Europe — or to any other country for that matter — I would love to hear about your trip, especially if you’ve done it frugally!

I really want to have the trip of a lifetime, but since we’re still in debt and living on a modest income, we’re going to have to be creative if we want to do it without throwing off our goals too much.

I’ll be sure to write more as we continue to plan. First priority, though, is saving! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Friday!

Planning a frugal European vacation

eiffel-towerLast weekend during one of our long talks, Tony and I ended up discussing the things we’d like to do before we have children. At the top of both of our lists was a trip to Europe.

There are a lot of things we’d like to do someday, but international travel is the only one we can’t imagine doing with a baby.

Ever since we met, we’ve talked about traveling to Europe while we’re young — one last big trip before we settle down and start a family. When we first started planning our wedding, we briefly considered a European honeymoon. Our budget and my inability to find a full time job after we moved quickly nixed that plan. But when we decided to take a brief (and frugal) trip to Washington D.C. instead, we told ourselves that we’d plan for a European vacation the summer after he graduated in 2010.

When we committed to becoming debt free, I shelved this lofty dream. “We can’t afford anything like that until we’re debt-free,” I told myself.

But now that we’re credit card debt free and making serious plans for a family, I’ve realized something — we’ll be paying our student loan debt for a long time. No matter how aggressive we are, we’ll be paying those debts for years after we’ve had children. I’ve come to terms with that, and I’m ok with it.

We can’t wait until we’re completely debt-free to live our lives, though. My first plan was to be 100% debt-free before having children, but there’s no way I’m waiting 10-15 years to start a family. I’ve decided to add the dream of a European vacation to that list, too. We don’t want to wait until retirement to take the trip we’ve always dreamed of taking.

So we’ve set a new goal for ourselves: we want to plan a trip to London and Paris for May 2010. If it works out, we’ll be spending our second wedding anniversary in Paris! :)

That doesn’t mean we’re sacrificing our other goals, though. We’re not going to add to our debt for this trip or stop working toward our goal to be debt-free. After some planning and discussing, here’s our rough plan:

  • We’ll pay for the trip in cash.
  • We’ll be as frugal as possible in planning the trip, and plan ahead to make sure we’re getting the best deal possible on airfare, hotels, and other expenses.
  • Our emergency fund is still our top saving priority, so any saving for Europe will start after we’ve fully funded it.
  • We’ll continue to pay a little extra on our student loans to cut the total time we’ll be repaying. After the trip, student loans will be our top priority.
  • All extra money (including gifts and extra income) will go toward emergency and vacation savings.
  • We’ll cut spending in other areas to free up money for savings and debt.

I did some preliminary research and determined that we’ll need to save about $6,000 for the trip. Including our emergency fund goal, that means we’ll have to save about $12,000 in 16 months.

I realize this plan will delay a lot of our other goals — including being debt-free and buying a house. We’ve considered all of this in our decision, and I can’t imagine a scenario in which we’ll regret the trip (as long as it doesn’t add to our debt).

I’m more excited about this goal than I’ve been in a long time, and I’m feeling good about our decision. As excited as I’ve been about paying debt, it can be so overwhelming and depressing to devote every extra penny to what seems like an endless black hole of debt. Adding an exciting goal to our plans has given me the lift I needed. I can’t wait to get started!

photo by franz88

Preparing for a frugal holiday road trip


photo by munzer

I can’t believe we’re hitting the road in less than a week! I’m so excited to see friends and family for the first time in 6 months, but I’m rushing to finish last minute preparations for what will be a pretty big trip.

We’ll be traveling a total of 2,000 miles in 12 days on a shoestring budget. Here are some of things we’re doing to keep our costs low.

We’re driving ourselves.

Plane tickets are more expensive than ever. Even when gas prices were higher, driving was still the most economical option for us. We drive a small, fuel efficient car in good condition, so even when gas prices were $4 a gallon, our total costs would have been about $350 round trip. That’s about the cost of a single plane ticket. With current gas prices, we’ll probably only spend about $200.

We’re bringing the dog.

Boarding him for a week and half would have easily added $200 to our total travel costs. Instead, we’re loading him into the backseat and bringing him with us.

We’re packing snacks.

We have healthy snacks like fruit, raisins, and granola to help us save money on expensive (and unhealthy) food on the road.

We booked our hotel room in advance.

The trip will take about 12 hours of driving. Add to that extra stops for bathroom breaks and dog walking, and we’ll probably be driving for a total of 14 hours each way. To make the trip easier on us and our hyperactive dog, we’re splitting it up into two legs. We’ll drive half of the distance Tuesday night, stop to sleep, then finish the trip bright and early on Christmas Eve.

I booked a room for us at the halfway point at a cheap, dog-friendly hotel. When I booked the room two months ago, Hotel Club was offering a $25 discount off already discounted prices. We paid only $65 for a night at a moderately rated travel hotel. According to reviews, it’s clean and comfortable. They also don’t charge extra for pets.

Most importantly, we don’t risk spending a fortune for an overpriced room just because we’re exhausted and tired of driving. The room is prepaid, and we know exactly where we’ll stop for the night.

We had the car checked out.

With a tight schedule and cold temperatures, we didn’t want to take any chances on car trouble. So we took some money from our car maintenance fund for an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection to make sure everything is in good working order.

We’re prepared for emergencies.

There’s always a possibility for car problems, bad weather, and other mishaps. To ensure our safety, we’re packing extra blankets, food, water, cash, a spare tire, and jumper cables. We also have a membership to AAA, so we can call roadside assistance if we need a tow or other assistance.

Thanks to some advance planning, it’s shaping up to be a pretty stress free road trip. Hopefully the dog will cooperate. I’ll let you know how it turns out! :)

Overcoming birthday & vacation spending mode

I apologize for my absence yesterday and most of this week. We’ve spent the week recovering from a wonderful but exhausting trip to Seattle, and yesterday we celebrated my 24th birthday with some sushi and gift card shopping.

Our trip has thrown off our budget considerably. It’s not because we overspent on the trip. Thanks to the generosity of my sister, who was a very gracious hostess, and my parents, we didn’t spend much at all. My sister and brother-in-law even treated us to a very fancy (and delicious) meal in the city for our birthdays.

As a thank you, we awoke early one morning and went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for apple cinnamon pancakes and cooked breakfast for everyone Sunday morning. Other than that, we spent very little on the trip aside from a couple of quick airport meals.

This is good news, as we didn’t have much to spend from our vacation budget after buying plane tickets, boarding our dog, parking the car at the airport, and paying for gas to drive 2 hours each way to the airport. Our total vacation spending ended up being about $600 including all travel expenses. We’d been saving for it over the past few months, and factored a little cushion into this month’s budget, so the vacation itself didn’t throw us off too much.

However, we’ve been struggling all week to get out of vacation mode and get back on track. It seems that the casual vacation attitude seeps into our daily life every time we leave town. This happened after our honeymoon, too. Our spending inhibitions lower on vacation, and we come back home and can’t seem to get back on track.

We’ve had three meals out this week alone (including sushi for my birthday last night). We also spent my gift card on some new work clothes and Tony bought a new pair of shoes with some money he received for his birthday two weeks ago.

All of this is fine with me. I’m happy to use birthday money on practical things like clothes and shoes. Our food budget is probably shot due to several meals out in the airport and for my birthday, but I can live with that.

The question is, how do we get back on track now? As a former spending addict, it’s hard to shut off the valve once I’ve started overspending. Not to mention, I hate watching all that money come out of our bank account, even though it was put there specifically to use for birthday gifts.

Sigh.

What about you? Do you have trouble getting your spending back on track after a vacation?

Budget weddings: You don’t have to skip the honeymoon

With Tony in grad school and me working part-time, we could barely afford to pay our bills let alone go on an extravagant vacation right after the wedding. We decided to put the honeymoon off for a couple years until after he graduated. We’d save now, then we’d go on a big vacation later.

The more we thought about it, though, the more we realized that you can’t really recreate the honeymoon two years later. We wanted that special time to just be together and marvel at the fact that we were actually married. You don’t have to go to an expensive resort on a secluded beach to get that feeling, though. It doesn’t matter where you go.

Here are some tips we used to plan a romantic adventure for under $1,000.

Stay close to home.

You don’t have to travel across the world and spend thousands on plane tickets. Just choose someplace that neither you or your spouse has ever been. Experiencing it together for the first time will make it extra special. We chose Washington D.C. because we’d never been there, and our new home is only a 6-hour drive from the nation’s capital.

Drive, don’t fly.

Even if your destination is a bit of a drive from home, it’s often cheaper to drive than fly, especially if your car is fuel efficient. We had to travel to Indiana for the wedding and then to Washington for the honeymoon. Flying would have involved three expensive one-way tickets for each of us. Because our car gets 35 miles to the gallon on the highway, we only spent $200 on gas to drive about 1800 miles.

Don’t forget to factor hotels into the overall cost if your destination is too far to drive in one day. Remember, though, when you’re honeymooning, the drive is part of the adventure.

Choose your destination wisely.

What kind of traveler are you and your future spouse? Are you looking for a relaxing beach getaway with no stress, or do you like to sight-see and stay moving on vacation? Choose a destination that will suit both of your travel styles.

My husband and I are sight-seers, and a beach vacation sounded boring to us. Washington D.C. was perfect because we love museums and historic sites.

Other frugal destinations include:

North and South Carolina’s Beaches – If you live on the East Coast and you’re looking for a beach vacation close to home, the Carolinas offer resort beaches at lower prices. Check out Myrtle Beach, SC or the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Mountain Getaways – If you both love the outdoors, consider a secluded mountain cabin or camping trip to reconnect with nature and each other.

Cruise to Nowhere – If you’re desperate to spend your honeymoon on a cruise,  “cruises to nowhere” (with no port stops) or cruises with just one stop are a very cheap option. You can spend a few nights at sea with all the luxuries of a cruise ship for a fraction of the cost.

Road Trip – Tony and I considered this option, and ultimately decided we’d have more fun in D.C. But a honeymoon road trip is a good way to see a lot of sights without spending a lot. Stay in cheap bed and breakfasts in off-the-map locations to reduce hotel costs. We still want to plan this kind of trip through New England before we move away from the East Coast.

Stay away from tourist traps.

Keep expenses in mind when you’re looking at things to do in your prospective destinations. Vegas might not be the best option for a honeymoon on a budget because you really have to spend money to have fun there. Remember, spending inhibitions are particularly low on vacation, so do some research and try to choose a place with a lot of fun, frugal activities that will keep you busy without tempting you to spend money.

Washington D.C. was the perfect frugal destination. None of the museums, monuments, or historic sites that we visited charged an admission fee, so we spent next to nothing on attractions.

Bring groceries.

Eating out is one of the biggest money drains on any vacation. Tony and I found a wonderful hotel in Georgetown that offered suites with full kitchens so we could cook some meals in the hotel room. Scout out a grocery store in the area and stock up on food when you arrive. If you cut your food budget by cooking in the hotel, you won’t have to feel guilty about splurging on a couple really nice meals.

Don’t forget to mention you’re on your honeymoon.

You shouldn’t bank on this when planning, but make sure you let people know you’re honeymooning. Many times people will go out of their way to make your travel experience extra special if they know you’re newlyweds. We even received a free upgrade to a luxury suite at our hotel (worth an extra $75 a night) when they found out it was our honeymoon. Even if they don’t offer upgrades, you’ll still get some nice well wishes. :)

If you have to board your pets, don’t take the budget route

Our beloved Dachshund/Lab mix, Howie, has been in a kennel all weekend. :( No, I don’t like boarding him. Unfortunately, we don’t have close friends here who we’re comfortable asking to shoulder the burden of pet-sitting. He’s well behaved, but very hyper. Our solution is to budget Howie’s boarding fees in with our vacation budget.

This is one area where I don’t look for the cheapest option. The truth is, if your boarding facility is reputable, you’ll pay more for personal care. The more personal care they provide the animals, the more staff they need. They also must have better facilities, which are more costly to maintain. If those are the things you’re paying for, then it’s absolutely worth it to pay extra to board your pet.

We boarded Howie for the first time during the week of our wedding. He wasn’t quite a year old, and I was very uncomfortable with the idea.

I don’t expect our dog to be pampered with doggie massages and treats four times a day (though that’s not far off from what he gets at home), but I do expect the people whom I’m entrusting with his care to treat him humanely and kindly. I’ve heard horror stories about understaffed boarding facilities abusing and neglecting animals. Even facilities considered humane often leave the animals in small cages 24 hours a day. I hate the idea of animal cruelty period, and I certainly don’t want my own pet to be mistreated. The thought of putting Howie in a cage for that long with no room to stretch his legs broke my heart.

We researched extensively before choosing a boarding facility. After looking at reviews, asking other pet owners in the area for recommendations, and touring the facility, we chose a place that charges $23 a night. That includes 4 hours of morning play time and 2 hours of afternoon play time in a yard with all of the other dogs. For a social dog like Howie who loves the dog park, this is ideal.

On the tour, we were looking for a few things. First, we checked the play area. The dogs in the yard all seemed friendly and social. I wanted to make sure they were keeping aggressive dogs separate. Indeed, the owner showed us a separate play yard where staffers play with dogs that don’t play well with other dogs.

We also looked in the kennels where the dogs sleep. Dogs stay there, so I didn’t expect it to smell like roses. However, excessive bad odors could be a warning sign that the kennels aren’t maintained well or cleaned after messes. That’s not only uncomfortable, but unsanitary. I also looked at the kennels to make sure they were large enough to comfortably hold the dogs.

When choosing a boarding facility, pay attention to their policies on vaccinations and vet care. Our boarding facility must have current vet records on dogs before they can stay. When I called to make a reservation for this weekend, they even reminded me that Howie was due for several shots before he would be welcome. Their records were so up to date that they knew the dates when he was due for his shots. That’s important if you don’t want to bring a sick dog home.

If you’re considering boarding a social dog, I suggest finding a facility that offers several hours of daily playtime.

They even gave us a free half-day pass to let Howie play in the dog area for a few hours before our trip. This was good for us because we’d never boarded him, and we wanted to know how he’d react to being dropped off in a strange environment. He loved it. When we picked him up, he was exhausted and filthy from rolling around in the dirt with other dogs. I’d rather give him a bath when we get home than pick up a clean dog who’s been caged.

We ended up paying almost $250 in boarding fees while we were away for our wedding and honeymoon. We’ll pay a little under $100 for this weekend. Obviously, the ideal is to leave your pet with a loving family member or friend for little or no money. When that isn’t an option, it’s worth it to pay top dollar for good care.

You may have more money in your travel budget than you think

The casual vacation mentality makes it easy to forget your spending inhibitions. That’s why it’s more crucial than ever to create and maintain a travel budget for trips, no matter how short they are.

Obviously, you shouldn’t take fun trips that you can’t afford. If you’re heading out for a vacation, you’ve hopefully been saving for some time. You should have a set amount that you can spend outside your regular budget.

Our travel budgets usually include set figures for airline tickets or gas, food, transportation (for cabs, buses, trains, car rental, etc. in the place we’re visiting), hotel, and entertainment.

Due to the hospitality of my sister and her family (thanks Mary!), our travel budget for this trip is very small. We’re staying with them, so we won’t be paying for a hotel. Our food costs will also be much lower than they would be if we were eating out three meals a day. We also won’t need to rent a car. As you can see, this particular trip will be relatively inexpensive aside from the plane tickets, but we still know exactly how much we can spend without going over budget.

I figure out how much I can spend based on what we’ve saved for the trip, but there’s something missing from these numbers, though. What about the money from our regular budget that we won’t be spending since we’ll be away from home?

If you’re leaving for a week, that’s 25% of your monthly budget for a number of expenses that you won’t be spending while you’re away. You won’t be going to the grocery store that week, so that’s a fourth of your monthly grocery budget that you won’t use. If you make sure all your appliances are unplugged (except for the refrigerator, of course) and your air conditioner is off, then you’ll also see a decrease in your electric bill for the month. You can also plan on saving a week’s worth of gas or other transportation costs. Depending on your personal expenses, you may be saving on other things while you’re away from home.

To figure out how much you’re saving on your monthly budget while you’re away, just take a look at your budget. Divide the number of days you’ll be gone by 30. This is the percentage you can subtract from weekly expenses such as food, gas, and entertainment.

I just did the math for us, and almost $100 of our regular budget will be saved during our four-day weekend away from home. That’s a pretty substantial chunk of change in addition to the money we’ve already saved for the trip.

You don’t necessarily have to tack this extra money onto your vacation budget. You might choose to use it as a snowflake to pay down debt or kick start your savings for your next vacation. Regardless of what you choose to do with it, it’s important that you account for it. When money isn’t properly accounted for, it may end up being wasted.

We typically add some, if not all, to our vacation budget. We’ll need food and transportation on vacation, too, so why not put this money toward that? Of course, we’ll spend more than normal for these expenses on the road, which is why it’s so important to have enough vacation money saved to cover these costs.

In this  particular case, we’re spending about $100 to board Howie while we’re gone. I like to think our regular budget money is going toward his super-nice kennel since all of our vacation costs are covered. :)

Preparing your kitchen before you leave for vacation

Photo by betsyjean79

In the mad dash to finish packing, make sure nothing is forgotten, and get out the door, it can be easy to overlook some important aspects of travel preparation, including thorough cleaning of your home.

I usually try to thoroughly clean every room before I leave, not only because it’s nice to come back to a clean house after vacation, but also because it allows me to ensure that I haven’t forgotten anything.

If you’re short on time, the one room you should never overlook is the kitchen. Here’s a short list of how I prepare my kitchen before I leave.

1. Plan ahead to avoid leaving a fully stocked freezer behind.

Because I stockpile meat, it’s not uncommon for me to have $40 or $50 worth of food in the freezer at any given time. I don’t like leaving this kind of investment behind when I’m leaving town. If the power went out while we were away, not only would we lose all that meat, but we’d come home to a stinky, unsanitary mess.

To avoid the unthinkable, I spend the weeks leading up to a vacation clearing out my meat stockpile. I stop buying bulk meat for a month or so before vacation, and start using it up in meals. Since we rarely leave town, this is relatively easy for us to do.

2. Clean out the refrigerator before you go.

Try to use as much of your food as possible to avoid waste, and leave your refrigerator free of perishable foods. We usually remove all leftovers and anything that will expire before we return. You don’t want to come home to a smelly refrigerator.

Condiments with a long shelf life like ketchup and mustard are fine to leave. Items like milk, cheese, and eggs should probably go depending on how long you’ll be gone. A power outage may be unlikely, but do you really want to risk having to clean up that kind of mess? Spoiled dairy can leave your refrigerator smelly forever.

3. Don’t leave unsealed food on the counters, in the pantry, or in the sink.

This is particularly important in the warm summer months. When we’re leaving town, we typically shut off the AC so we’re not paying to cool an empty apartment. If you’re going to do this, it’s essential that you completely clear your kitchen of any unsealed food items or fruit to avoid bugs.

Make sure items like sugar are sealed up in airtight containers. If you have open containers of crackers, cookies, bread, or other foods, you should eat them, take them with you, or throw them away before you leave. If it’s sealed airtight, it should be safe. Otherwise, don’t leave it in your kitchen.

Make sure all garbage cans and recycling bins are empty and clean. I also run my garbage disposal one last time and pour some bleach or other cleaning solution down it before I leave. I learned this lesson the hard way in college when I returned home after a weekend away to find a rotten piece of watermelon in the garbage disposal and a kitchen full of fruit flies. We didn’t get rid of them until fall when the weather cooled down. It was a nightmare.

4. Make sure all dishes are clean, dry, and put away.

Dirty dishes, standing water and warm temperatures can lead to mold and bacteria. Not to mention, nobody likes to come home to a sink full of dishes to put away or, worse, wash. I always do one last load of dishes the night before I leave, dry them, and put them away. I wash any last-minute dinner or breakfast dishes by hand, dry and put those away, too. Don’t leave any dishes, dirty or clean, in your dishwasher.

5. Unplug everything but the refrigerator and the oven.

Appliances like toaster ovens, blenders, and stand mixers are not only fire hazards when left plugged in unattended, they also drain extra energy. If you unplug everything before you go, your kitchen will be safer while you’re gone and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by a lower electric bill upon your return.

How to avoid high luggage fees at the airport

Photo by geishaboy500

It’s bad enough that airline tickets have skyrocketed in the past two years, but recent hikes in luggage checking fees have made travel even more expensive. Some airlines, including American, Northwest, United, and US Airways, are even charging for your first checked bag.

Here are some tips for avoiding these excessive fees, or at least reducing their impact on your travel budget.

1. Be familiar with the airline’s policies before you buy your tickets.

Online ticket brokers like Expedia.com and Priceline.com have made it easy to compare major airlines’ prices before purchasing tickets. (Keep in mind, they also charge fees for their services, so I recommend purchasing your tickets directly through the airline.)

Unfortunately, when buying through these sites, it’s easy to forget extra add-on fees in your quest for the cheapest price. You may purchase a ticket from United because it’s $15 cheaper than Delta, but you’ll end up paying the same after you check your bag.

This handy chart from Travel Insider compares all of the checked luggage policies of major airlines as of July 2008. Be familiar with these policies, and bear in mind the length of your trip, how many bags you’ll have to check per passenger, and the likely weight of each bag. Figure all of this information into the final ticket price so you’ll have a better comparison when purchasing.

2. Avoid checking luggage all together by carrying on if possible.

According to this carry-on luggage policy chart, all of the major airlines still allow a free carry-on bag and “personal item” for each passenger. Personal items include purses, laptop cases, backpacks, etc. It should be easy to fit all of your necessities in a carry-on and personal bag if your trip is short. Take advantage of this, especially if your airline charges for your first checked bag.

The airline we’re traveling on doesn’t charge for the first checked bag, but we prefer carrying on anyway to eliminate the risk losing our luggage during a layover. Luckily for us, our trip is short. We’ll only be staying for three days. So all of our luggage will be with us for the duration of the trip.

3. Minimize your toiletries, especially for carry-on bags.

Staying in a hotel? Then you probably don’t need to worry about toiletry items like shampoo, conditioner, soap, and mouthwash. Most hotels will provide these for you. This is good news if you’re carrying on since current Transportation Security Administration restrictions limit liquids in carry-on bag.

We’re staying with my sister, so we’re bringing our own toiletries. No problem for frugal folks like us. We’ve been collecting free samples for months. We also have some leftover hotel toiletries from our honeymoon. Samples easily meet the 3 oz. or less requirement for carry-ons, and they’re compact enough to fit into the TSA-approved quart-sized zipper bag. Plus, it’s fun to try some new toiletries on vacation.

Here’s three day’s worth of mini toiletries:

And look how nicely they fit in a 1-quart bag:

4. If you must check luggage, weigh your bags before you leave.

The surcharges for extra weight can cost a fortune. You can refer to this chart again for luggage weight limits and costs. Save yourself some trouble, and money, by putting your suitcase on a scale before you leave for the airport. Move some items to your checked luggage or to a backpack that you can carry on as a personal item if your bag weighs too much. If you can’t get around the extra weight, at least you’ll be prepared for the high fees when you check your bag.

5. Pack light!

This one is last on the list because, well, duh. The best way to save money on checked luggage fees is not to check luggage, even for longer trips.

If you’re very careful about how and what you pack, you should be able to get a week’s worth of necessities into a carry-on suitcase and personal bag. Notice, I said necessities. Obviously you can’t scrimp space on items like underwear and socks, but everything else is up for negotiation. Do you really need more than one pair of shoes? What about that extra sweater?

For long trips, most hotels offer coin laundries as a courtesy to guests. Doing laundry might not seem lik a fun vacation activity, but it’s certainly a lot cheaper than paying $15-$25 per checked bag. That money could go to something a lot more worthwhile on your trip, like a nice restaurant meal or a museum admission. Take that into consideration when deciding whether it’s really worth it to check your bag.