In celebration of my eagerly awaited vacation, I’m giving away my two (used but good condition) copies of Amy Dacyczyn’s classic The Tightwad Gazette 1, and The Tightwad Gazette 2. These books really are a perfect resource, both for people who are just starting on the money-saving, debt-reduction, journey of frugality and those who have already been traveling the road for a while. I’ve loved these books for a long time, but now it’s time to share a little bit. After all, it’s nice to share, or at least that’s what I tell my children!
It’s easy! If you want a chance to win these books, just write a post (on your blog) on your favorite frugal or money saving vacation tip. Then leave a comment here with a link back to your post. If you don’t have a blog, then leave your tip in the comments.
The contest will end in two weeks, on March 31st. I’ll announce the winner, who will be chosen at random and by someone other than me, on April 2nd. The books will be shipped for free within the United States while I’m still in the US; if the winner is in Europe, well, you’ll have to wait for your free shipping until I get back.
Learning about frugality? Subscribe to my feed by RSS or by email to receive more frugal content, delivered every time I publish.
Subscribe by 
Get updates by
Follow me on 
Friend me on 
{ 1 trackback }
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
The best way to save money and see the world is to travel to a vacation spot in an exotic place where the dollar is stronger!
For example, I went to the Philippines and, among other places, stayed at a resort for three days, including food and drink for less that $300! A manicure or massage only cost a few dollars!
Asia and Africa are great places to stretch your dollar.
Have a great trip! My responding post is here: Frugal Vacation Tip
Hi there! I hope you have a lovely vacation. Here’s my submission:
61 Tips for Travel Eats on a Budget
My travel tip is to get private rooms at hostels – you get hotel-like privacy and often a private bathroom for far less than a 1-star hotel, and the facilities can be quite nice. I stayed in a lovely hostel in Beijing near the train station that even had daily maid service, a restaurant and a tour operator.
Enjoy your trip! My top tip is to pack a lunch, especially when you’re driving through CA! I’ve got a long post about tackling long drives. Tackling Long Drivesno
We make sure to take along any membership cards we have, i.e., our local zoo, children’s museum, etc. Most memberships come with reciprocal agreements with other like places, so you can get in for half-price or most likely free. You can check if your local membership comes with a reciprocal agreement by going to your attraction’s website and looking under membership benefits. Have fun on your trip!
Twinsmom
Here via I’ve Paid for the Twice Already…
My tip is, make sure that you know what your credit card/ATM card will charge you for foreign transactions.
It’s often cheaper to use a credit card or ATM card to exchange money than it is to use traveler’s checks or exchange money at a bank, even if your card assesses a fee for foreign transactions. (I didn’t know this until recently, but the buy and sell rates on currencies can be as much as 8 percentage points apart.) You might be able to get around fees entirely if you have a US card still active. Or maybe one of your bank cards has a better deal than another. It’s worth it to call customer service and ask, so that you know how to best convert your euros into dollars.
Here’s what I learned in a three-month tour to the outback of Canada and Alaska in the company of the Emperor of Cheap. The whole trip cost me just a few hundred dollars.
Take camping gear. Camp out every place you can, even in towns (yes; we actually camped in a couple of parking lots!). Never rent a room unless it’s raining. Use public facilities to bathe.
Eat in. Bring a camp stove, a couple of pans, camp dishes, and a small bottle of propane (can’t carry it on a plane but you can buy one once you get on the ground). Buy food in local stores, and cook it in the hotel room.
Carry clothing that can be washed by hand and that will dry quickly. For a trip to Australia & New Zealand (with a man who was open-handed enough to put us up in hotel rooms!) I took one, count it, one reasonably attractive wash-&-wear dress made of some synthetic stuff that washed beautifully and dried in a few hours. Since few people saw me twice, I didn’t feel at all bad wearing it every day for three weeks. We carried a single suitcase between the two of us.
My tips are at http://southernseven.blogspot.com/2008/03/travel-tips.html. It is too long to enter here.
This may seem silly but take old underwear and socks. Once you wear it- throw it away. It will spare up some space (and weight) for your trip back- especially if you are bringing back souvenirs. Just make sure you don’t run out (smile) before you throw them all away.
Another good way to save is mail back your extra weight (souvenirs etc). It sometimes can be cheaper than paying the extra cost on flights.
Keep souvenirs small and few. Though you may be tempted to buy everything you see- remember small and few. Not only will it save you in the pocketbook now (cost of the items, weight in bringing it back) but also when you get tired of it cluttering your home and have to get rid of it later.
Cheers!
If you have a long airplane ride, pack your own food. Airplane food is way overpriced! Same thing goes for snacks available for purchase in airports.
I don’t need a book because I have the Complete Tightwad Gazette.
However, my tip is about food. Rather than eating at restaurants all the time, stop at a supermarket (or farmer’s market) and pick up a few supplies for a picnic lunch. For example, a few buns, some fruit, some deli meat or cheese, maybe a container of juice or another drink. If you are travelling by car you can keep equipment in the truck (bread knife, cups, tablecloth or blanket, etc.); but otherwise, just choose food items that need no prep. Buns can be torn open rather than sliced. Apples can be washed in a water fountain. I do this all the time (learned it from my parents growing up). Cheap, healthy meal.
Thanks for doing this. I love to share ideas. Check out mine at blog.totallyready.com
Peanut butter and jelly can make an excellent meal out. It doesn’t require refrigeration.
Miss_cas@hotmail.com
I would love to win the Tightwad Gazette, I have a friend who would really benefit from having this book and I cannot afford to buy it for her.
There are 7 of us when we travel, sometimes more, so my tips are as follows:
1) I pack a frozen water bottle for everyone. These stay frozen for hours, and I don’t need ice in my cooler…two birds, one stone. I also pack an unfrozen water bottle for everyone. These bottles are washed and reused everyday, and then recycled.
2) Everyone gets a sandwich and 2 snacks for long trips.
3) I always bring my electric fry pan and smallest crock-pot, and one plate, bowl, and set of silverware for everyone. I also bring a platter, serving bowl, and a couple of cooking/serving utensils, and the grill top from my roasting pan. This makes a great grill in a pinch…even a griddle. We use rocks to hold it up, use foil if needed, and we can grill right on the beach if we catch anything while fishing.
4) I pack staples like salt, pepper, sugar, flour, coffee, filters, dish detergent, clorox cleanup, dish cloth and dish towel into a very small dish drain. I also bring sandwich baggies, a sharpie pen, clothes pins for bag clipping, aluminum foil and a few plastic containers to keep stuff dry on ice in the cooler.
5)While the kids and I unpack, hubby heads out for cereal, milk, bread, and sandwich stuff. If we’re at the beach, he may go to the local fish market, sometimes the farmers market.
We always go out to eat for 1 supper while we are gone to give us a break from cooking. Even with that one nice meal (where the locals go), we can still feed the 7 of us 3 meals and 2 snacks a day for less than $100 for the week. If we didn’t go out to eat, we would spend less than $50.
Be sure to pack your own over-the-counter medications such as pain relievers, anti-diarrheal, etc, which can be expensive and/or inconvenient to buy there. Also, bring a backup memory card (or two)for your digital camera instead of having to purchase one overseas. Photographs make the best souvenirs.
best travel tip is to bring your own goodies especially for amusement parks
1. Travel with a few slide lock bags, when eating breakfast at the hotel take some bread and meat cheese and make a sandwich for the day. Grab a few apples as well
2. Find out if the airport your flying into has a grocery store (hint Munich and Frankfurt both have one) and stop there and pick up water milk etc)
3. When traveling in Germany the cheapest place to grab lunch is the backerei, sandwichs are generally cheap and filling.
4. A light bag or napsack is a great way to take water and a sandwich.
5. Pack some nuts (they can be brutally expensive at the airport but they are a godsend in the middle of the day when you get the munchies.
My tips is to take in to a hotel with a breakfast buffet and have the breakfast half an hour before they close (usually at 10 or 11). Get stuffed and you will save a ton of money on food all day. My husband and I did this when we were in Malaysia and could go until dinner, 6 or seven, but then again, we had so much breakfsat that it almost hurt haha. If the hotel/hostel has a gym or pool, use it, it will make you feel great all day. And get to know the staff, we ended up getting free water bottles and stuff because we asked the gym staff for it and were nice to them.
/sundayline@gmail.com
Also here from Paid Twice.
Since my entire blog deals with traveling on minimal funds, I’m going to limit my suggestions to ones appropriate for your intended destinations.
Start here for an overview of how everyday budgeting skills can be tweaked for on-the-road adventures.
Next, save money on accommodation. For nearly four years now, I have avoided ALL HOTEL/HOSTEL COSTS by staying with locals who welcome me into their home. I find them using the free website Hospitality Club. You can read my take on it here.
Camping (as someone else mentioned) is a good alternative, if you can borrow equipment from and return it to your family before you leave (since I assume you won’t want to pack a tent from France).
Visiting and staying with relatives is another way to save — make sure you’ll be welcomed back with open arms by following these suggestions for guests.
If you’re not one for staying with strangers or sleeping on the ground, make sure you don’t spend more than you have to on a hotel. Here are my tips based on Consumer Reports’ recent guide to hotel chains and excess hotel fees.
The other posters give a lot of great advice about packing snacks along; here’s a post about which foods travel well and what items are essential for a travel picnic kit.
Finally, your vacation post doesn’t make clear exactly how you’ll be getting from family member to family member. If you’ll be driving, check out my tips for decreasing fuel costs and for killing time on the road. Also, don’t pay for road maps when you can get them for free!
To save costs further, consider the new low-cost bus services for getting around in CA.
Tomorrow I’ll have a post on a fun, free family activity in Seattle that you might enjoy.
If you click around my site, you should find plenty of advice to help you save while traveling in Europe as well.
Safe travels and enjoy your trip!