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You are here: Home / Family Living / How To Vacation Inexpensively!

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How To Vacation Inexpensively!

in Family Living, Travel on 05/27/11

How To Vacation Inexpensively!How to Vacation Inexpensively!

We’ve talked about Staycationing before.  A lot of people are choosing to do that and it’s  great idea, we rarely get to see the things in the areas we live in!

I also know that I always thought it was too expensive to travel and go on vacation with the family.  But, I recently found out how inexpensive traveling can be.  A couple of years ago we took a trip from Dallas thru Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania!  Here’s how we did it:

I told you about our trip to the Pocono Mountains.  We left Dallas on a Thursday and my goal was to do it as inexpensively as possible.

So, I found a website called My Gas Buddy and I entered my destination and what kind of car I would be driving in the Trip Cost Calculator and it gave me a turn by turn printable map with which gas stations to fill up at along the way and how much the gas was at those stations, as well as how much to put in at each one and how much we would save using those directions!  I loved it!

So, we set out with that map in hand, my entertainment book, a portable printer I got on Amazon with my Swagbucks, and $250 in Restaurant certificates ( I paid $20 total for those)!  (Restaurant.com now has an app for my phone, so I don’t even have to carry my portable printer anymore!)

We were able to find restaurants along the way and use out Restaurant gift certificates and get great deals!  We found a great little place in Little Rock, Arkansas where we got barbecue and for the 3 of us with drinks and full meals, we paid $6 total!!

How To Vacation Inexpensively!

We used the hotel discounts in the Entertainment Book to get great deals.  We found a Days Inn in Nashville, TN and called the number in the book and they got us the room for $50 and we signed up for a 1 month trial in a program they offered and it cost $1, but we get $40 back in rebates!

We stopped for gas at a Shell station and my husband noticed a sign reminding him to use our gas discount thru our Kroger fuel rewards!  So, on top of the deal the Gas Buddy found for us, we got an additional $0.10 off per gallon!

The night before we left, I realized looking at the map that we were passing by two friend’s homes – perfectly spaced for our trip!  On the way to the Reviewer’s Retreat we stayed at one friends home and she provided dinner for us and on the way back we again stayed with her and she fed us dinner and breakfast!  Then, we stayed with another friend!

How To Vacation Inexpensively!

We saved so much money that we were able to stop off an extra day and spend time in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, TN – beautiful!!  If you ever get a chance to go, do it!  I love it there – my Dad took me as a kid and it is so much fun!

So, don’t feel like you can’t take a vacation, just plan it out and take advantage of all of the resources available to you!  Don’t forget Groupon, too, they are great when planning a trip!

How To Vacation Inexpensively!

Dian1

8 Comments

« Reviewer’s Retreat–Great Wolf Lodge!
New Design – Yay! »

Comments

  1. Maria says

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    Great tips! Everyone needs a vacation and they are so much better when you find ways of saving money too.

    Reply
    • Dian says

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      Maria » Thanks! I was thrilled to have been able to save the money we did!
      Thanks!
      Dian

      Reply
  2. Jaya says

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    Diane, your site has been very helpful, especially the vacation blog, we are planning a trip to Texas from Kansas , it was very interesting the idea of a portable printer, I have been trying to buy one .do you have any suggestions, I have an IPad 2

    Reply
    • Dian says

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      Jaya » I bought a portable printer for FREE on Amazon with my Swag Bucks! Here’s the one I got: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FHP-CB770A-B1H-Deskjet-D1660-Printer%2Fdp%2FB002FB64Z2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1307220626%26sr%3D8-16&tag=grshfofr-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

      That was nice. It is small so we kept it in the back window and used it when we needed it! I didn’t print from my ipad, since I was working I had my laptop with me in the car the whole trip so i used it.

      But, I found this info on printing from an ipad2 – http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110417111250AA2ucnB
      It was very nice to be able to search on the road for a restaurant nearby and for what we were hungry for at the time!

      Let me know if I can help with anything else!
      Have a great and safe trip!
      Dian

      Reply
      • Jaya says

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        Thank you Diane for your prompt reply, it was very helpful, we are currently researching on it,any travel tips to Texas is greatly appreciated.thank you again.

        Reply
        • Dian says

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          Jaya » I’ve ;ived here many years, but, I am originally from Florida and could tell you more about that.. What area of Texas were you headed to?

          Reply

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Welcome to GSFF! I’m Dian, a wife of over 20 years, Mom to 4 grown kids… Read more about Dian, Shopping, Finance, & Family

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Dian is a mom of four grown children, Nana to 5 beautiful grands, wife to an amazing husband, social influencer, and blogger. I love all things gardening, saving money, tips & tricks to make life easier, ANY cool new gadget, and feeding my Reality TV addiction (it's real y'all, you have no idea!) Dian has been featured in person, in print, and on sites like Huff Post, CBSNews, Blog Talk Radio, NBC DFW, Babble, Woman's Day, All You Magazine, Super Market News, Clark, & Pinner's Conferences. Want to know more? Check out the full bio here!

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