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[quote][?? We are crazy for spending a few hours online to save money?/QUOTE]
1) I'm a research junkie anyway. About almost everything, even when it's not about saving money. Could be just choosing which appliance to buy.
a) I'm naturally curious about so many things.....b) the info is right at your fingertips online......so what's not to look it up
2) Now....when it comes to how much TIME that takes. Well, each person values his or her time differently. Some people spend an hour looking up ways to save $5.00. Others won't spend five minutes looking up how to save $1,000.
Just like the frugality posts about making your own laundry detergent or baking your own bread, or doing your own home improvement, or your own car maintenance -- or ANY actions that could save a person money.....some people are willing to do that...others aren't. For years I paid someone to cut my lawn.....others would never dream of doing that.
I don't think so but they would view the time spent as painful and taking away from the idea of a vacation is suppose to be joyful and stress-free. They think as long as you are worrying about money, the joy of the vacation is gone.
But you're not 'worrying' ON your vacation, right? The bargain hunting is over, and you are relaxing with more money in the bank?
I don't want to be uber-frugal the whole time I'm ON the vacation. I spend more freely for what I want after getting there. I do think it's weird when people have the same frugal rules on vacation. If I want to eat AT the hotel and it's more expensive that driving somewhere, so be it. Things like that being frugal would take the fun out for me.
Where I live if the soda machines at the pool were $4 I would never buy one, but I have paid that in a hotel. I also like room service and will get that at LEAST once on a trip if offered. I wanted beer once and God knows what I paid for two to come via room service in a beautiful thing of ice with pretty glasses. I could have left the hotel and gotten 18 for that price, but, not as fun.
I think it's all a personal decision. I don't have to worry about what I spend on things, so I don't. Especially when on vacation, I want a nice experience. That usually means a limo to/from the airport, limo to/from the hotel and always a suite if it's available. I like room service for breakfast too.
When most of my friends travel, they simply go online and book a hotel at the going rate. Most of them insist on staying at traditional hotels like Marriott, Hilton or Sheraton. These types of places usually cost them about $250 a night. When they eat out when traveling they spend about $30 a meal on average and get an appetizer, main course and desert and a few beers. They rent the car at the airport and just pay the going rate.
My wife and I, on the other hand, use every available technique we can utilize to stay at the same quality hotels but save money. We use Priceline, or Hotwire, Groupon or coupons for meals out, and rent the car at an in-town location so we don't have to pay airport taxes. We spend lots of time online investigating bargains so we can save money.
My friends think we are crazy. They say: "When I am on vacation we want to have a good time so we don't worry about money."
Do you agree?
No because it doesn't take that long to save alot on travel. Maybe 10 minutes tops. Your friends have the right to do what they want but imho, they aren't being savvy. Which is fine. Leave it to the rest of us to save a buck or two
I have a self imposed limit as to what I want to spend on a hotel, rental car or flight. So, I'll look until I find those possibilities. If it's a hotel, I'll spend more time because I'll read reviews and look at maps to make sure it's where I want to be.
Agree with bold statement above. I spend more time researching hotels for good reviews and a central location than cost but I try to book early before rates go up and use a company discount. My research on restaurants is geared towards good reviews although I avoid the $$$$ restaurants as these are generally too formal for my tastes. For rental cars, I just use Costco but compare it to the rental car website cost first.
I am a perfectionist and enjoy researching vacations and large purchases but spend too much time on it and can see why others who have family commitments or more active lives might not do this. Recently I spent hours and hours researching a purchase of a new laptop but my final decision was based on reviews, not price. I wanted to spend less but the results of the reviews finally convinced me to just pay the extra money.
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Absolutely.
