It is no secret that we like to travel. Our budget doesn’t always allow for the kind of all-out vacation that we would like to take. Vacations, even the smallest ones, are good for the soul. Amirite?!? People are always asking how we manage to go on vacation all the time. Answer: We research for the best lodging and we take our own food from home or get our food from the grocery store when we get to our destination. We eat sandwiches and meals that are easy to fix in a hotel room and this brings our food budget to almost $0 while on vacation. The money you save by eating at the hotel can give you more money to spend on experiences, tours, or entertainment. It could potentially mean the difference between going on vacation or staying home.
Hotel options!!
This topic will be explored more in depth in a future blog because the options are so vast. Some of the options that we use for budget lodging include staying in complementary rooms at casinos (this brings the lodging budget to $0), using Expedia for discounted rooms, and using rewards accumulated by staying in the same hotel chain each time we travel. Each of these options will help you stay on budget when you travel.
Plan your food!!
For a few weeks prior to vacation, we pack dinner leftovers in microwave safe containers, label, and freeze it. This gives us home-cooked instant meals that can be popped into the microwave at the hotel. Sandwiches are one of our favorite things because of all the variations. A few of the food and snacks items that we pack include muffins, cereal, granola bars, bread, peanut butter, lunch meat, cheese, crackers, chips, beef jerky, fruit, veggies, popcorn, and chocolate. We also pack our reusable, filtered water bottles, a jug of tea, and a small container milk. The length of the trip determines how much food we pack!!
These containers are perfect for holding leftovers or pre-cut fruits and veggies. And they stack nicely in a cooler or fridge.
A weekend trip doesn’t require a lot of food so our snack bag and cooler don’t have to be huge. We move everything into the fridge in the hotel room if they have one. If not, we replace the ice in the cooler every morning with the ice machine at the hotel.
Obviously we pack food for the dogs so there is no extra dog vacation budget to account for. But we also pack dog treats and water for the car ride. We stop at rest areas or parks along the way to walk around, stretch our legs, and explore the area because no vacation is complete unless you enjoy the journey to get there. We all get a “snack” and a drink before we get back on the road. I bought this DogLoo Pet Galley about 20 years ago. It holds a large amount water and a small amount of food or treats in the top. It’s also great for taking to outdoor, pet friendly restaurants and coffee shops. Kai and Auggie have some fresh water and a few treats so they don’t feel left out!
Cheap thrills
We enjoy exploring the city and finding cheap and free things to do. We check the city’s calendar of events to find out what will be happening while we are there. We also plan more activities than we have time for…..in case we have to resort to plan B!! If we plan to go on a boat tour but it is raining, we want to have another activity option that can be done inside. There are tons of things that can be done without blowing the entire vacation budget!!! Our entertainment depends on if we take Kai and Auggie with us. Lots of boat tours, ghost tours, parks, stores, and restaurants are pet friendly, you just have to do a little research. I like to check doggoes.com, bringfido.com, and gopetfriendly.com but I also call ahead to ask about pet policies on places I want to go. Our dogs like going to Bass Pro Shops and they LOVE all the attention they get while they are “shopping” there. It’s a great indoor activity for the dogs if it is too hot or raining outside. Kai wasn’t too sure about the large fish in the tank! She barked at this fish so loud that I jumped!
After the shopping trip to Bass Pro and walking around outside, they were both so tired!! They slept for hours while I enjoyed reading and drinking some coffee at the hotel.
I would love to hear about any of your travel tips!!!
Do you have specific places you like to take your dogs?
How do you save money on vacation?
