With all due respect to those of you who are wise enough to live prudently by saving, establishing goals, eliminating "unnecessaries", etc. ... I don't live my life that way, never have. And it's ok, it really is!

My husband & I have managed to make ourselves a nice little life, without asking anybody for anything, gave our kid the best education we could afford, even able to give away some; but we aren't willing to give up the little daily things (like morning lattes together at Peets) that make our lives feel special even when we aren't travelling. We don't drive new cars, we don't buy gadgets, we both dress simply & without regard to the latest Esquire or W ... but that's not because we're sacrificiing, it's because those things aren't important to us.

Maybe if we gave up some of our little luxuries, we'd be able to get on that plane more often. But as much as I love to travel, I don't live to travel.

Just another point of view, that's all!
:)

Lucie, nobody gives up every day life to be able to travel!

Some people make their own coffee, some have breakfasts out. I take my own lunch to work, but never care how much my dinner with friends is. I love theater, but try to get a 1/2 price ticket if possible, or get a cheaper seat in the back.

Some things we never give up. Just charge them to use the points ;)

I think the trick is to determine what you can give up without much suffering.

Oh, and one more thing: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP CHOCOLATES :))

Faina, my darling, you are preaching to the choir. Come over sometime and I'll let you in on some of my stash.

(Am currently high on Santander Espresso Coffee Bittersweet Chocolate.:) )

Hey, you come over, the SF GTG is on Saturday :)

(oh, and thanks for not making me feel bad about my being an incorrigible hedonist.)
;)

I'm sooooo tempted, Faina. DH's BIG bd is tomorrow, and I'm in the midst of planning a BIG surprise party for him the 9th, so I'm kindasorta a total mess/stress case. (Don't even mention the fact that if I spent less time here, I might not be more ready for the party, cuz if you do, I might not share any chocolate w/you ever.)

After the holidays ("the holidays"?!), I'm there. I'd love to meet you.
:)

and don't mention the fact that that sentence made no sense with all the double negatives. ohgod, I told you I'm a mess.

ladies ladies, what happened to our thread with tips on becoming a budget traveler????
;-)

Sorry, teach. I, for one, have that disease that Holden Caulfield had: Tendency to Digress.

If I stay in a room with coffeemaker, I bring herbal tea packets, make iced tea to fill the water bottles, saves money too! Try lemon tea if you are not into herbal teas.

(sorry, Suze ;) )

I have an extended family that is either frugal or cheap, depending how you look at it. I had some relatives that went to Europe, and had a fairly long trip where they stayed in three locations with friends/relatives. They told me that the cost of their trip was the airfare plus about three lunches eaten out - that was it. Of course, they did not have a long list of destination choices doing it this way.

Another: on our last trip, a lot of hotels in Italy that we stayed in allowed us to deduct the cost of the "included" breakfast. Since we're light eaters in the morning, this allowed us to do what we prefer doing anyway: walking to the nearest bar/cafe & ordering a cappuccino & pastry -- for half the cost of what our mostly-uneaten breakfast would have cost us. Even cheaper when we were willing to stand up and eat at the bar (though my husband is a news junkie, and he's gotta have his half hour sitting down w/the IHT or else!)

Well that's certainly true. If you are lucky enough to have friends or family who are willing to put you up (as I do in Switzerland) that definitely keeps overall costs down.

Although I buy wine for the house, water the garden, do the dishes, take out the garbage, recycle the wine bottles, and any other errands requested of me during my stay in return!!!

What a great thread...isn't it interesting how differently we think about budget travel!

Ira, I have to say that I have more often enjoyed the hours spent on the veranda at Cafe Marley than I ever have actually enjoyed inside the Lourve.

1jan1

I found myself spending easily six Euros each morning on breakfast, so I stopped going out. Bring some coffee with you and use the coffee maker in the room if possible. Also, sodas are very expensive in Europe. Wine is cheaper than sodas in most of Europe. Order the house wine by the crafe.

Pack really light so you can use the public transport system.

If you're staying in hotels that have coffeemakers in the room (in Europe), then you're paying too much for a hotel.

We must be budget travelers. Funny Travelnut - everytime someone posts something in past threads about coffeemakers and room safes as if they're a standard, I know we stay in a different level of place.

Good suggestions and ideas overall in this thread. Learning some things.

My main suggestions:

- Resist the "ah, what the heck I'm on vacation" syndrome. The urge to upgrade for the tiny balcony may be nice, but it is upping your budget.

- If you wouldn't buy it off the shelf at your local pier 1, don't buy it in Italy. For memories, if you must, buy something small enough to fit the bag you brought. And uh, inexpensive. Or better, just take pictures.

- If you do splurge, make up for it. A great, must-stay, hotel one place? The next stop, get less guesthouse than you thought you could afford.

Clifton, I vote yours as the best suggestions, because they would apply to any traveler, to any budget, and better yet, to any market.

Your post reminds us all that absolutes are the death of creative budget setting. For example, if one decrees that one should "never spend more than x euro on accomodation" one might just as well say, 'content yourself with picture postcards of Stockholm' since in that market, the availability of x euro or under accomodation, if it exists at all, is so heavily booked as to be virtually unavailable to the average person.

There's also the issue of value, including the value of one's time. I realize I'm stretching a point for the purpose of illustration, but if one has just sunk x into airfare, x into a hotel, etc., one's daylight time already costs one a certain amount per hour. So how one spends one's time seeking bargains must deliver enough savings to justify the effort (unless seeking bargains is seen as enjoyable in and of itself, but that's a whole 'nother issue.) In short, convenience isn't necessarily a luxury - it could save one money in real terms.

Example: I refuse to invest expensive time finding the ATM with the best possible currency exchange rates. My priorities are to find one that is both convenient and safe (read: if I have problems withdrawing, I have a live body from which to request assistance.) Thus, if our sightseeing time per hour is valued at oh, say, $25, we're not being smart to waste it looking to save $5 on an exchange transaction.

Of course, priorities change with both the person and circumstance. I quite enjoy the challenge of navigating public transit, but if I were coming down with a cold, you can bet I'd hop into a taxi toute de suite. Staving off a worse cold brought on by fatigue might pay larger dividends in the end.

I don't think this has been mentioned. Find another couple that you can travel with comfortably. We have friends that we have traveled with on several occasions.

By doing this, you cut auto rental/lease costs in half (also fuel, tolls, parking). And we share accomodations costs when we rent an apartment or gite or chalet. And we enjoy eating in more with someone to share the cooking and clean-up.

You can still have time alone by splitting off and going separate directions in a city, a museum, a flea market, etc.

This works well for us.

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover