But enough about that and on to the good stuff. I'm sure you're wondering how the heck we managed to take a 400-mile roundtrip mini-vacation including gas, food, lodging, parking and activities all for under $100. Don't worry, I'm willing to share! So what all did we accomplish for our budget of $100?
-A concert
-Fresh seafood dinner
-One night stay at a hotel
-Breakfast
-Lunch
-Attractions
-Parking for 2 days in downtown D.C
-Gas
-A bit of shopping
First off:
As I mentioned before, good things take a bit of planning. So if you're looking to save money, making the effort and taking the time to do so will really pay off. For a short trip like this, it took maybe an hour tops of getting everything together and printing out all necessary items. This is one of the biggest pieces of advice that I can offer and you simply can't afford to skip it! So plug in your laptop, hook up the printer, and get out a pen before leaving for a trip.
Our hotel:
Now before you ask, no we didn't sleep in the car, camp in a tent, or stay at a friend's. We legitimately stayed at a 4-star hotel with breakfast included for the price of FREE. That's right; free.
Now here's the secret of how- mystery shopping. I recently started doing consultant work on the side and boy has it paid off. Aside from earning some cash, you can get free meals, gym passes, or even a free night at a hotel. (I've been fortunate to earn all of the above so I highly recommend it)
You can get a position being a mystery shopper (sometimes referred to as a shadow shopper as well) and the best part, aside from the perks that come with it, is the fact that you can dictate your own schedule. I found out about companies in my area from job posting sites like monster.com but found that one of the best ways to get started is to contact a temp agency. You receive a list of available shops, pick the ones you'd like to do, visit the location and submit a report. It's THAT easy.
Our dining:
Well seeing as though our hotel came with breakfast included, that was another perk! As for dinner on Thursday and lunch on Friday we were obviously on our own, so that's where some creative planning came into play.
One of the best trip planning friends you can have is Groupon.com. Groupon.com now also has a subsection called "Deals Now!" and for a last minute trip, this is a must!
I was able to hop on, scan through available dining deals, narrow down the ones that sounded worthwhile and then I checked out the locations via Google Maps and the menus via their websites. $15 for $30 worth of food was more than enough to get us a great dinner at a great seafood restaurant in Georgetown. They also had available deals at chain restaurants like Moe's, a frozen yogurt place, etc. And with "Deals Now!" you have the option of finding great deals for today or tomorrow. So take advantage of it!
So for $33 total(we paid the difference which was just tax), we had Thursday night dinner and Friday lunch covered!
Parking:
Again, planning is an absolute must! Most people don't realize it, but you can pretty much find parking prices for just about any major city or metropolitan area that you could be planning on visiting. I personally like to use CentralParking.com and BestParking.com to find the best rates. The great thing about CentralParking.com is that they allow you to print out a coupon that GUARANTEES your price, regardless of what the posted signs at the garages say when you get there. If you've ever been to DC, I'm sure you're aware that parking can be quite expensive, so this truly saved us! For $9 we were able to park the first night in downtown DC for the 6 hours we were there and for $11, we were able to park all day Friday. The posted amounts would have totaled to $35, so we saved $15 JUST BY PLANNING!
Gas:
With prices rising as summer approaches, it can be difficult to save in this area. For us, our trip to DC and back was going to be about 400 miles total, so there would be no way around having to get gas at some point. But with sites like GasBuddy.com, you can at least look for the cheapest available options. Also if you gas up at any murphyusa (walmart/sams) and you use a Wal-Mart gift card, you get .03 off per gallon. So next time you're at walmart in the checkout line, grab a gift card and put some money on it so it's there when you need it. Also, try to gas up before you leave your city; chances are it's cheaper where you live than the tourist destination you're headed to. Which proved to be ridiculously true as gas prices in DC were as high as $5.39 a gallon. We started with 3/4 of a tank, ended up spending a measly $40 on gas and still have a 1/4 of a tank left over.
Last but not least, Attractions:
One great thing about DC is that there are SO many things to see for FREE! Of course we went and saw the National Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Vietnam Memorial, ect. but there are so many other great things that they offer as well! For instance, the National Zoo is completely free! And online they offer their daily schedule, including when you can do a meet and greet with some of the animals and even help to feed them. Also the Bureau of Engraving and Printing offers free tours where they actually show you how our money is printed!
And for our Thursday night entertainment, we partook in visiting the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts where the Millennium Stage holds free concerts at 6 pm 365 days a year! We we able to attend a concert for two fantastic songwriters/singers and who doesn't love live entertainment!?
For those of you planning on traveling to any other cities, I HIGHLY recommend taking advantage of About.com for free things to do as well as calling up the city's local visitor's center and inquiring about free or cheap attractions. Also, if there is a Theatre in the city you'll be visiting, it's a good idea to drop by before 5 pm to see if they have any last minute ticket deals or even people trying to sell their tickets for half off.
So all in all, here's how it totaled up:
Concert: $0.00
Dinner: $17.00
Hotel: $0.00
Breakfast: $0.00
Attractions: $0.00
Lunch: $16.00
Parking: $20.00 total ($9 and $11)
Gas: $40.00
Grand total: $93.00
Leaving us with $7.00 to spend on the way home at Ikea. :) Which worked out PERFECTLY seeing as though I bought a laundry drying rack for $4.99 and we had 2 hot dogs and 2 sodas for an extra $2.00. (So we went a tad over budget by having to cover the tax on those items, but hey, not bad!) FYI, On Fridays, Ikea offers a $1 special for 1 hot dog and 1 20 oz soda. Now that's a deal!
I hope that this has help to give you some tips on how to save money for a quick getaway, and if you have any ideas of your own to share with others, please do!
Stay tuned as my next post will be about how to get started with budgeting and how it can actually be fun! I'll tell about what's worked for Wes and I and how we are making the most of the money we have.
