Frugal Vacations (invest, coupons, financial, economy)

[spiderbear]

Originally Posted by Weekend Traveler

I also use www.restaurant.com I noticed that here in the greater Washington DC area, many more mainstream restaurants that use to be quite chic and crowded are getting slow and have showed up in restaurant.com I use it also in a variety of cities we travel to and have saved hundreds this year. Register via your email account and you will get notifications for sales where on occasion you can get a $25 gift certificate for as little as $2. You just have to spend at least $35 at the specific restaurant. So a $35 meal will just cost $12

I LOVE restaurant.com! Generally all you have to do is google "restaurant.com discount" and you'll get the coupon code for that month. In general, I only pay $5 for a $25 gift certificate, with a $35 minimum purchase. It makes it so that you really don't have to worry about eating cheap, and can get whatever you want on the menu. Also order more than you can eat, and you have lunch for the next day.

We drive a lot, but it's gotten to be such a hassle that neither of us wants to do it anymore. We're going to Tampa for a convention in August, and found an Amtrak fare for less than $100 round-trip from Raleigh..half the cost of the flight. It takes a bit longer, but it's convenient, and cheap.

[cobolt]

I went to Knoxville last year and stayed in a hostel for under 20 bucks a night, free breakfast and coffee, a community kitchen where I purchased my own food for preparation. I met cool people, explored the city, and even met people to go hiking in the Smoky mountains with. Camping and hostels or house swaps are the way to go. My whole philosophy is that I vacation to get out and explore and see things, not to sit around and watch tv, so I don't mind much where I stay, so long as I can shower, sleep, eat.

[NYMD67]

do what our frugal friends do.... go stay with friends (or family) who live someplace else-it is free!
you get free meals and taken around to every sight there is (we use to live very close to several beaches...now we live not to far from the beaches,but also touristy areas such as Lancaster)
(obviously there is some sarcasism here...). We don't go on vacations because everyone is busy taking their vacation at our house!
someday we will learn to say "it doesn't work this year"...

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by NYMD67

do what our frugal friends do.... go stay with friends (or family) who live someplace else-it is free!
you get free meals and taken around to every sight there is (we use to live very close to several beaches...now we live not to far from the beaches,but also touristy areas such as Lancaster) ...

We had friends who would invite themselves fro a weekend, expect us to fees them, expect us to pick up checks when we went out, and did not like to leave on Monday when we had to leave for work.

After they pulled that ONCE, we were always either "out of town" or "too busy that weekend".

There is a fine line between being frugal and using people. The first is great and the second is not.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

... we were always either "out of town" or "too busy that weekend".

Thus you must not have the 'open-door policy'? I have come home a few times to be 'delighted' to have unexpected 'drop-in-guests'. Granted... the 'gracious' guests do make me more happy.

I was surprised the last group from Canada remembered where my house was, as well as where the spare key resides. It had been 10 yrs since their last visit and my trees are about 40 ft higher and real bushy, and I live in the boonies.

I have 4 neighbors with 'guest houses' or really nice apartments in their barns / shops. That is what I hope to have someday, a nice little cabin, back in the woods, away from the house w/ complete separate qtrs for guests (When too many show up at once).

It does get a bit under my skin to have guests expect you to pay when you go out to eat. 5 yrs of unemployment has stretched my 'frugality'. Guests don't get me in that bind more than once... after that we all go out on a $5 Wendy's gift card.

[eskercurve]

Eco-tourism and volunteer vacations are two very popular types of vacations for those who want to make a difference.

Some are not very frugal but some are. Considering airfare, I think most of these are very reasonable.

Participate in an Amizade global, interational volunteer program with a group

That is one example. There are others out there as well. So, to me, this is a huge plus - feel good, do good, AND save money.

[spiderbear]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

It does get a bit under my skin to have guests expect you to pay when you go out to eat. 5 yrs of unemployment has stretched my 'frugality'. Guests don't get me in that bind more than once... after that we all go out on a $5 Wendy's gift card.

Wow. Anyone who expected that wouldn't be guests of mine.

[gardener34]

If you are a nature lover camping. What you spend on the initial outlay for gear, you will recoup that cost easily. You can make your own camp meals... and enjoy nature and you can go anywhere in the US. And some of those campgrounds are like resorts, really, they have activities, pools, hot tubs, and everything.

[WyoNewk]

Originally Posted by NYMD67

do what our frugal friends do.... go stay with friends (or family) who live someplace else-it is free!
you get free meals and taken around to every sight there is (we use to live very close to several beaches...now we live not to far from the beaches,but also touristy areas such as Lancaster)
(obviously there is some sarcasism here...). We don't go on vacations because everyone is busy taking their vacation at our house!
someday we will learn to say "it doesn't work this year"...

Free rooms. Check.
Free meals. Check.
Free site-seeing tours. Check.
Nearby beaches. Check.

I know you don't know me well... or at all... but I wanna be your new best friend. What's your address and what months do you have open?

[NYMD67]

Originally Posted by WyoNewk

Free rooms. Check.
Free meals. Check.
Free site-seeing tours. Check.
Nearby beaches. Check.

I know you don't know me well... or at all... but I wanna be your new best friend. What's your address and what months do you have open?

That is funny well unfortunately, we are booked to capacity for the month of July and seems a lot of August at this point...
We may have some openings come the Fall,just in time for the beaches to be less crowded