Camping.

This got topped by an ad, of all things! :-)

Camping, stay with friends or relatives. In fact we may end up in Oregon next month (we live in North CA), doing a little of both. We also have been doing home renovations, and have had some employment challenges in the past year. So I understand staying in a budget.

las vegas--mainly because southwest has a good airfare and hotel package deal.....both can be under 400 bucks for 3 or 4 days and the hotel is on the strip.

I don't know where you are, but for those on the East coast, Vegas isn't exactly the cheapest vacation destination, unless you go during the high heat of summer. My trip to Vegas in February was about as much as a trip to Paris. Yikes!

Since I live in NYC, I sometimes even take vacations in my own hometown, which I don't get to visit very often. The best part is low transportation costs and zero extra lodging expenses. Plus, I get to know my own hometown better.

That or we just pick a place along the NE seaboard. Sometimes we pack up and head towards Canada, where the American dollar is still strong.

What about taking advantage of those Eric Estrada commercials, if you know what I'm talking about. They're offering free trips to see their properties. ;)

Beverages and More aka: Bev Mo. ;-)

How strict is your budget? Is it $1,000 for two? Or less? Or more?

I don't necessarily pick a "cheap" place if I'm on a budget but I'm very creative instead. I've been to Australia and New Zealand 4 times in the past 5 years, never paid for my plane ticket, and also managed to tack on Tahiti and Fiji. This is how I did it-twice I used my own frequent flier miles (which allows for stop overs in Auckland, Papeete, and Fiji, and various Aussie locations) and twice I ripped my father off for his (travels all the time and has millions). I said I would either come home to see him or go in the other direction so he said take em! We get along, really! So then I started doing a house swap. I did this for the summers of 2004 and 2005. My friend married an Aussie girl and they wanted to come back to NYC for an extended period of time so they asked me to swap. When the time periods didn't work out they found through a friend of a friend of a friend (seriously!) this wonderful man who swapped. I ended up with a great 2 BR house 3 blocks from Bondi Beach, FOR FREE, and it was AWESOME!!!! He loved NYC so much that we swapped again the next year. No money is exchanged, it's all based on trust, but since he is 67 or so I knew he wouldn't be having any major parties in my apartment. He visits my parents, they have a lovefest over a boozy lunch, and all is great. I know I"m very lucky that it worked out so well but it's a great idea, it's free, and it drives people nuts when I tell them how crafty I have been!

If I were to stay in the States for a vacation then I try to visit my friends who live in places I"d want to visit. I used to live in Chicago and really enjoy going back and I can stay with friends. My good friend moved to Denver and we are big skiers, so we can drive to the mountains for the day and stay at her place or at least we split the cost of a hotel. We don't care about fancy and we try to go when it's not a holiday.

Look into house swapping-it's great!