Waking up late, long naps, flip-flops, and no chores. That’s my idea of a great vacation. Of course, I’d also love 3 meals a day out at a restaurant. Not fast food, mind you. I want to be waited on. There is only one problem: money.
With the increase of gas prices, the cost of a simple family vacation is skyrocketing and many families find themselves unable to get away. My family, feeling the squeeze as well, tried an experiment this week. We wanted to see how much money we could save in one week. Here’s how it went:
1. We rented a condo. We have done this before & recommend www.vacationrentals.com or www.vrbo.com. This week we chose a 3 bedroom/2 bath condo at $100/night + tax. The local hotel is $139/night + tax. Many hotels now require our family of 5 to rent two rooms, making it $278/night + tax. Honestly, with two teens bigger than me, we wouldn’t fit in a standard hotel room anyway. Savings: $178/night X 5 nights = 890 (not including tax, but let’s keep it simple)
2. The hotel came with breakfast, so I purchased breakfast foods from Publix (on sale & with coupons) for the week. Our condo comes with a full kitchen, so we can store and cook food. Savings: -$30 (Includes cinnamon rolls, turkey sausage, eggs, milk, and bananas)
3. Our vacation included a visit to a theme park. We bought the annual passes on sale before the park opened for less than it would have cost our family of five for one week. One of the big-ticket items once you get in the park is FOOD. Afterall, you have to eat, right? The cost of lunch at the park runs $25 – $51 (Using $38 X 3 days = 114). Instead, we purchased a turkey breast and ham the week before Easter and cooked them before vacation. We were able to eat fresh turkey and ham sandwiches all week ($35). Savings: $79
4. Dinner is yet another expensive part of vacation. Just imagine how cheap vacation would be if we didn’t eat!! When we arrived to our destination, I already had my Publix list with the sales and coupons matched up for maximum savings. This was the hardest thing for me, because I love to be waited on, but I enjoyed the dinner conversation and didn’t worry that we might be laughing too loud for another table. Grocery cost at Publix $50 (included 3 meals) VS. average cost at a restaurant $60/meal. Savings: $130
5. Gas. We purchased two gas cards from Publix with our $10 off coupon, so we received $100 worth of gas for $80. Savings: $20
We did break down on our last day and have lunch out at Five Guys ($45) and we used a gift card to treat our family to Outback Steakhouse for the last night ($35, after the gift card).
Total savings: $1,009
That’s a lot of money we don’t have. :0) Happy Saving!!
Ali Bragdon 