Ways frugal couples vacation
How Frugal Couples Vacation
Gettyimages.com/couple on vacation at the beach
My boyfriend and I are on a tight budget, which can be a bit of a problem considering that we are also slight wanderlusts. We crave getting out of the city at least every two months. We never like to say no to a wedding invitation because we love our friends. And we live for seeing new places and experiencing new things. So, in order for those habits and tastes to not totally destroy our bank accounts, we’ve had to learn to be pretty thrifty. Some would say we are downright scrappy. I say we’re clever. In fact, I’ve told my boyfriend before, “Even if we ever do become wealthy, I think I’d still like to travel like this—it feels fun, like we’re getting away with something.” If you tend to come back from trips spending more than you’d hoped, or if you’d like to make more room in your budget for travel, use these tips. Here are ways frugal couples vacation.
Gettyimages.com/Smoothie Spills From Blender
We pack a blender
Forget $18 blended drinks by the pool. Sometimes we just pack our own blender, buy daiquiri mix, grab some discounted alcohol at BevMo and turn our hotel room into a pool bar.
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Gettyimages.com/cheese sandwich
We put lunch in the fridge
We tend to splurge on dinner for the experience but, when it comes time to just refuel on calories poolside for lunch, we don’t buy the $20 tuna melt. That’s absurd, and highway robbery. Before checking into our hotel, we do a grocery run and grab lunch supplies to put in our room’s mini fridge.
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Gettyimages.com/Couple holding hands standing up in convertible car and enjoying the sunset
We travel at night and work remotely
Not everyone has this option but if you do, consider it. Sometimes we squeeze in an extra day of vacation by asking to, for example, work remotely on Friday. Then we travel Thursday night so as to wake up at our destination Friday. It’s much better to work poolside or on a gorgeous hotel room balcony than in an office, and when the day is done, you get to have dinner in the magical location. And you don’t need to take a day off work aka lose income to do it.
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Gettyimages.com/Two Pina Colada Cocktail Drinks
Virgin pina coladas at the bar; rum in the room
Sometimes, if they’re affordable, we’ll buy the virgin pina coladas, daiquiris, and such, at the pool bar (they can be half the price of the hard stuff), take them to our room, dump our own rum in them, and go back to the pool.
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Gettyimages.com/Laughing couple preparing dinner cooking elderly middle age
We stay at AirBnbs with the host at home
If you’re willing to have company, one of the cheapest accommodations can be an AirBnb, where the host is home. You can usually still get a sweet and rather private setup—like the small apartment someone rents out over a garage or a guest house—for a fraction of a cost of a hotel or fully private AirBnb.
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Getty
We go where breakfast is free
We always look for places that offer free breakfast. That can easily help us save $30 or $40 a morning and if we fill up enough, we can stay full until 5pm snacks with our beer.
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Gettyimages.com/Woman lying on blanket on a meadow eating apple
And we stock up at breakfast
We also get clever at the hotel breakfast and take some things to go. We’ll grab coffee cups and put a few hard-boiled eggs and pieces of fruit in them. We might make a PB&J sandwich for the road. That’s practically lunch for later.
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Gettyimages.com/African American woman pumping gas at gas station
We get gas in the cheaper area
We don’t fill up on gas in our city—which is a major one—because it’s the most expensive. We put a little road behind us and wait to fill up where gas prices are cheaper.
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Gettyimages.com/woman hailing a taxi cab
We take Lyfts strategically
We plan our activities strategically, based on location. So we’ll find a show, restaurant, and bar we want to go to, all within walking distance of each other. That way, we only need to take two Lyfts the whole night—out and back.
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Gettyimages.com/African American bartender smiling in bar
We’re very nice to bartenders
Being nice to the bartenders and staff can go a long way. Let me tell you something: it’s very rare that customers ask the bartender about himself. And when you do, you may find he’s so appreciative that you get a free round.
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Gettyimages.com/hotel check in
We become regulars
Becoming regulars at spots helps, too. If we return to one hotel once a year for several years, we may have leeway to ask them to wave the resort fee for one night, or throw in some free drink vouchers.
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Gettyimages.com/Young woman using smartphone and pulling suitcase, city skyline in view
Take the cheap flight w/ the layover
We can often find a much cheaper flight if we’re willing to tolerate a long layover. And we do that. We just make sure to pack food so we don’t spend a bunch of money at airport restaurants, and we bring work to work on during our layover.
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Gettyimages.com/Portrait of a happy woman holding a credit card on the street and looking at the camera smiling
Get a card with a good rewards program
Having a credit card with a good rewards program for hotels and airlines really helps, too.
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gettyimages.com/man online shopping with a credit card
Fill an online cart and abandon it
Next time you want to book a flight or hotel on one of the major booking sites, select the ones you want, and then abandon the site. You should probably find that, within 15 minutes, the site is emailing you with coupons and discount codes, trying to get you to come back and complete the purchase.
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Gettyimages.com/Couple relaxed on the pool loungers
Chill; don’t overdo it
We go on vacation to relax and to us, that doesn’t mean going to three museums, riding a submarine, and attending a show every day. We just sit by the pool and chill. It’s free. Well, kind of.
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