The deals in the stores this week aren't that fantastic, I will be posting some; however, I wanted to do a 'traveling on a budget' series this week since the holidays are approaching. As if the holidays aren't tight enough for most of us with gift-giving, big dinners, etc. we all have to travel a lot, whether to a a few different houses in the neighborhood, or if you're like us - different states! Were military and currently stationed in Fort Knox, KY, but we make several trips a year to see my family in Wisconsin (an 8 hour drive) and to New Jersey to see my in-laws (about 14 hours).
Tip #1- Gas: We normally earn points with our Kroger card to save $0.10 off a gallon with fill-ups, but it's not feasible to thinkg we'll find Kroger fill stations all the way to New Jersey! I posted earlier about some giftcards I had received for free- and I'm so glad we planned ahead and held onto them! I got $50 in gas cards for $1! Check out my post FREE MONEY to find out how! The offer also came with $40 in rebates on Gas, they won't come into effect until after January- but we'll have them when the time comes! Anyways, We will save $50 on gas by using those cards, which is about 25% off of what we would normally spend in the round trip. (We also had my in-laws sign up for the deal, and paid them the $1, told them we could take care of cancelling so we could get another $50 in free gas!)
Another option would be to get a credit card that gives you rewards, X amount off per gallon, or cash back on gas, but ONLY use it for gas and make sure to budget so you can pay it off as soon as you get home, or it will defeat the purpose! Don't forget to take the most fuel efficient vehicle you have as well!
Tip #2- Vehicle: We have an almost 5 month old baby girl, and traveling with a baby, as I'm sure many of you know, is not great for vehicles that lack cargo space. So if you're like us - you'll rent a minivan or other larger vehicle to travel. We both have SUVs, but we just can't fit us all and the baby's things in one car. It's easier to travel to WI because my sister has young children and my grandmother has a daycare, so we can travel with less baby gear. Anyways, the Entertainment Books have excellent coupons for car rental services, such as free days, free weekends, up to gas cards with your purchase! We get a military discount which saves us about $50, but I know there's a coupon in the book that is comparable.
Ask the employees for their expertise. We really need the space of a minivan, but we both own SUVs so we didn't consider there was something in-between. The woman I spoke with offered up the idea of making a reservation for an 8 passenger SUV, like a Chevy Traverse- not only would it have the cargo space we need, but it would save us $250 and we would get UNLIMITED miles, which you cannot get with the Minivan. She also said they are so busy with the holidays, that if they happened to have that unavailable the evening we come for our vehicle, we would get a minivan for the same price! I definitely suggest calling, rather than making reservations online as well. Online they can't apply discounts as well, or talk you and help you get the best deal. Consider fuel efficiency as well, our cars are 6 and 3 years old, where as the models the car rental place has are much newer and better serviced, we got excellent gas mileage on a minivan rental we had last year- better than my SUV and I have one of the best fuel efficiency rated SUVs!
Tip #3- Lodging: It's common sense to stay with a relative for most people. I have some severe allergies to my in-law's house, and we have a hard time fitting the four of us into the small bedroom that was once my husband's, but we make it work. When you think about the comfort vs. savings it makes sense in the end. When you're visiting, you're rarely spending time in your hotel, especially around the holidays- there are always plenty of things to do and see, so you're paying for a few extra square feet, definitely take the room offered, no matter your relationship or space constrictions, I promise, once you realize how much $$ you're saving, it'll be worth it!
If you HAVE to stay at a hotel, check out the Entertainment book for coupons for specific hotels, or extra discounts at websites such as Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia, etc. Fortunately we have our miltiary discount when and if we need to stop and stay on the road, but sometimes the coupons in the book are better.
Tip #4- Food: This is by far the biggest expense when traveling, and so many people TRY to cut costs, but we're going to DO IT this time. Traveling and eating is never incredibly healthy, but we're going to try our best! I think the biggest thing is planning ahead, just as you would with meals during the week, it's even more important with traveling.
Here's an overview of what we'll be taking in the car:
Chex Mix (we got about 10 free bags over the recent weeks, but we'll only be packing a few)
Cheez-it cracker- small boxes ($0.50 each @ Wags last week)
Sandies cookies ($0.50 each @ Wags last week)
I'll be making my Breakfast Cookies - only a little easier version- with packages of oatmeal cookie mix I got for $0.40 each, I'll add in some flax seed and dried fruit - each pacakges makes about 2 dozen cookies that's less than 2 cents a cookie!
We'll be taking a cooler with carrot sticks, string cheese, sandwiches, and yogurt and fruit.
and the Entertainment Book will come in handy yet again- IF decide to stop for some fast food we have coupons in the books for Free burgers and B1G1 meals at some places.
Hopefully these tips will help you when traveling over the holidays!
I'll be posting more abou the budget we set, and how the trip goes this week as we'll leaving tomorrow night. I'll also be posting how well we stick to our strict budget for the trip!
happy hugging!
-danielle
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