A way to save $ for travel
 

Hi, I already posted the msg below on the thread 'How do you do it??'....

But I thought I would repost it for others who did not want to read though the 60+ responses that thread has already received:

Hi,

I know many people can't do this (myself included) but I have a friend who NEVER spends a One $ bill.

If something costs $6.00, she pays with a $10 bill (not a 5 and a 1) and when she receives 4 $1 bills in change... well that is another $4 that she won't spend, and just puts it away. It is AMAZING the money she saves every year.

I do a varation of this, probably like many people, and dont spend my change. I honestly do not miss the nickle here, quarter there, but manage to save a few hundred $ a year

Anyone else do something similar?

Ruby

I find that by using a credit card affilitated with a frequent flyer program that awards 1 mile per dollar spent is a good way to save on travel.
$-)

To save money while travelling, I like to make lunch our biggest meal since in many restaurants the lunch menu has lower prices than the dinner menu. Then for dinner I like to go to a pub, have a beer or 2 and eat some appetizers or pub food.

JohnD,

We do the same thing with the credit card, however this year we decided to bite the bullet and go *Platinum* status, and now we get DOUBLE miles for everything (instead of just double miles for gas and home improvement stores).

We do have to pay an annual fee of about $100, however with this annual fee renewal comes a free companion airline tix

:)Ruby

Bank of America offers miles (1 mi per $2) on its debit (ATM) cards issued in conjunction with Alaska Airlines, in addition to the usual $1/mi for credit cards. Pretty good deal for west coasters.

I save money by having it directly taken out of my paycheck each and every month and put into my savings account. If I don't see it, I don't miss it. No hassels, no messing with change.

It's called paying yourself first.

Utahtea

Unless you have a 2 income household (married people), it is very hard unless you want your house to go down the toilet just so you can go on vacation. I have a suggestion, don't eat.

stephanie,
It doesn't have to be that difficult. Say you get paid every 2 weeks or twice per month. Put away $25 each pay period. That's $50 per month over a year is $600.00. That is a good chunk of change toward a BUDGET VACATION...not everyone travels first class and most people travel budget when they have young children, or are single and starting their careers, or any one of a number of situations where there is not much money floating around. It is possible to save for vacation; sometimes you just have to get savvy.

If you plan on just two or four paychecks a month depending on how you are paid, there are usually a couple of extra a year which you won't miss if you put towards travel.

Reply to Carib Ruby: Would you be so kind as to share with us which Platinum card is giving 2miles/dollar and which airline it is partnered with? #o

Bring your lunch to work everyday instead of eating out. It amazes me how many people I've worked with over the years who complained about a tight budget yet they would go out to eat (or eat in the cafeteria) every day.

The "average" American spends $2,000 each year on work-day lunches.I agree with Austin--brown bag it.If you get into the routine,just like working out,then you will see results quickly.You might even amaze yourself!!

Continental partners with Chase for Visa cards that offer 1 mile per dollar, or 2 miles per dollar at the platinum level (slightly higher annual fee but other perks, too.) The CO-Chase debit card also gives 1 mile per $2 used on the card.
I use both as much as possible and boy, do those miles pile up! And as a nice side benefit, I get a monthly record of how I'm spending and can make budget adjustments accordingly.

Austin
I agree! I work with those same people! Packing a lunch saves so much money.

Reply to Seamus: =D> Many thanks Seamus ! Your info. is most helpfull, I'll have to upgrade my Visa level.

Sounds like an awful lot of effort (and some reduction in daily quality) to save a realtiovely small amoutn of change daily. And if you live cheaply, what's the say you'll change your style and habit once on vacation? Sounds like the points route makes the most sense in all this. I know people who pay all their mortgages on AmEx, for example - can you imagine all their FF miles they rack up every month.

To save money I eat a power bar at my desk instead of going to a restaurant. Then I have my whole lunch hour to go to the mall.

For some reason it doesn't seem to be working...

To Stephanie,

I was a SAHM (stay at home Mom) and we were living on my DH's income and we were buying our own home and still managed to go on vacation EVERY year for at least 2 weeks and usually longer!

We did without going out to dinner and out to movies when I was a SAHM because VACATION was more important to us. My DH has taken a brown bag lunch to work almost EVERY day for 30 years. You got to believe that ADDS up!

We also went camping at a fraction of the cost of motels and hotels. We cook our own meals on vacation and that saved money too. We like our own cooking! Now that we can afford to do what we want we still prefer the camping (in an RV) route and we still do our own cooking! Boy have we had some really good meals in some really SCENIC locations!

Utahtea

Simply spend less than you earn and live within youe means. For some reason,this concept has been forgotten in america.

If you can, try and get to work out of your house. "Telecommute".

I used to travel about 40-50 miles a day to/from work AND go out to lunch every day.
I figure I'm saving a minimum $6000 per year by not having to drive that Gawdawful route to work...no freeway...all surface streets with about 42 stop lights between me and the office front door!
I've saved money on blood pressure pills too.
Not to mention I've only put about 35,000 miles on my car over the past 4yrs! And since it was paid off about 3yrs. ago, it will last me, hopefully another 5 yrs.
As doc_sez, "spend less".
Alooohaaa,
Kal

John D

Hi!

Our card is the American Express Platinum. We get 2 miles for every dollar spent. It does cost a little over a hundred dollars annual fee (when I first heard this I was adament against getting this card) (or $80 if you pay it off every month)But we have found it very worth it... also, after you renew you get a free companion ticket!!

The only thing is that Am EX is not accepted everywhere, MOST places, yes, but not everywhere(our local vet takes only Visa/MC) ( We pay all of our Bills with it and these miles really add up!! We *almost* have enough for 2 tickets to Hawaii next year!(Delta)

If you choose to go Visa, or another card please make sure you check into all the fine print, we did carefeul research, and for us we found AmEx the best deal.

At first we started with AmEx gold, paid a very nominal fee and got mile per dollar, or double miles at any gas station, grocerey store, or home improvement store(no companion tix)

We have earned many more miles with our new card... I hope this helps, let me know if you have anyother questions :)

Vetee4Paris, thanks for the mortgage idea, my husband is going to look into it.

Ruby

Priceline, priceline, priceline. I have saved thousands just this last year from using priceline exclusively for business and weekend getaways. I never even would have considered it had I not learned so much from this board. Last year I paid $169/nt for a business meeting in Chicago. Three monts later I pricelined it and got the same hotel (Sheraton) for $70 per night same meeting! All that money saved on travel expenses is going to help fund an early retirement and hopefully other travel to new exotic places.

I don't get that change idea. Wouldn't it be more prudent to use all your change up instead of breaking bigger bills? Sounds more like a way to trick yourself than actual savings. CoinStar charges 8.9% for transactions, and if you have $100 in change, that's quite a bit you lose off the top.

Angeleno,
Hi, I would never use CoinStar, my credit union will count it for free.
Ruby

Just about anyone's bank will count the change for free.

That stuff adds up! Last time I brought (very heavy) change to the bank - $156!

My husband and I never used to order beverages at restaurants, just water. We'd have good quality liquor at home, and still save money. It was nice to drink wine after coming home from the restaurant. We're instituting this again for the whole family as we save for a Hawaii trip.

Great idea travellyn....

I just sent my husband an email asking if he would be willing to do this

How much would you say you save this way... does this count coke machines?

Ruby

No coke machines allowed! I guess it all depends on how much you go out to eat, but for our family of four, I'm expecting to save about $80-100 a month, if my husband can stand forgoing beer and coffee.

Agree with doc, live within your means. We also have a special savings account just for travel.

I agree with the sack-lunch idea. I bring lunch and snacks to work almost every day, and it not only saves money -- it saves CALORIES.

Another idea for those of us who get paid every two weeks (instead of twice per month): two months a year, you'll end up getting THREE checks. Since most of us handle household accounting using the two-checks-per-month method, take the extra check and put it in your travel fund. That means you'll have two paychecks per year for travel.

we have the HILTON Amex Card 3pts per $1 and 5 pts for $1 on Hilton stays.

We paid for 2 wedding nights and 4 nights of our honeymoon and 8 nights of our vacation this past week in Germany.

We easily saved $300/night in Munich! I think in total for our 8 nights we saved $2000. Other than parking or phone calls we paid NOTHING. Stayed in lovely hotels, had AC in all but the Scandic, ensuite bathrooms, king sized beds, non smoking rooms!!! We had all the amenities of an american hotel that we have grown to appreciate and expect in our travels....all for using our Amex card.

Granted without out our wedding this past year we wouldn't have accumulated as many points as we did and we are now down to 10k points after last week's trip.

BUT we will continue to put every possible bill and everyday living expenses on the Amex and we pay it off every month. IT has no annual fee.

My husband has accumulated several hundred thousand frequent flier miles on US Air...and for the items we can't put on the Amex we use the Bank of America Visa US Air Miles card. I know it has an annual fee of around $90.

We may in the future switch to a Marriott Amex card because my husband's job has him staying at Marriott's for work in Germany for 2 weeks at a time. So for the next year or 2 we may try to gather Marriott points. Whichever gives us the most bang for the buck and which ever one we can get the most points the fastest is the way we will go.

Just make sure you find an airline/hotel chain that is convenient for you to use and goes to the places you want to go.

OH and we empty out our change in our wallets and try not to spend it--we had almost $100 in the jar before Xmas last year. We used it to buy the Pet's Xmas toys/treats/supplies.

Worked out great! I worked with a waitress that saved up all of her quarters/misc change on the job and have several hundred $ saved up to use for Xmas presents at the end of the year.

It is just another way to save.

Might as well get FREE items from doing your every day living!