On our recent trip I wanted to be able to save as much money as possible so we wouldn’t feel the strain of an expensive vacation when we got home. I knew the easiest way to do that was to cut out eating out on the trip. We managed to so this without feeling deprived of the fun of eating out.(Which, I’ll admit wasn’t hard since we stayed in a cabin in the woods and were not near a town to eat out in! Here was our eating schedule. I hope it gives you some ideas on how to cut out what an be an expensive part of a vacation.
Day One ~ We traveled to a big city and stayed in a motel. I had packed lunch meat for hubby and chicken salad for me. I made buns a few days before for sandwiches. We ate the sandwiches from lunch with some of the free cheese sticks I got at Safeway last week. For supper we were in the big city so we grabbed some Taco Bell quick before heading to the hotel to relax. We also stopped at Whole Foods and picked up a fancy dessert and a yummy breakfast thing for while we were at the cabin. Our hotel room had a fridge so we unpacked the coolers and kept everything in the fridge overnight.
Cost for Day 1 Lunch and Supper: 5.69 (sandwiches, Taco Bell, and 1/3 of the dessert)
Day Two ~ We traveled up the cabin this day. We started by eating breakfast at the hotel so that was free. We had sandwiches again for lunch while we were on the road and for supper I had brought along homemade chicken nuggets that I had made the day before the trip, plus fresh tomatoes and bbq sauce from home.
Cost for Day 2 Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper: 3.98(sandwiches, chicken, and 1/3 of the dessert)
Day Three ~ We spent the whole day at the cabin. I made some of our farm fresh eggs from breakfast. For lunch we had hot dogs that we bought at Whole Foods(yes this was the most expensive meal we had, we wanted to make hot dogs and I can’t have nitrates, pork, or certain spices so they were spendy!) Then for supper we were going to have hamburgers but we decided our meat smelled questionable so we had hot dogs again.
Cost for Day 3 Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper: 6.46(hot dogs, buns(which I don’t know why I didn’t make) and 1/3 of the dessert)
Day Four ~ Heading home this day so all we ate was breakfast and lunch. We had the yummy breakfast thing from Whole Foods and sandwiches on the road for lunch.
Cost for Day 4: 2.68
So our food on this trip cost us only 18.81 for 4 days. We didn’t feel deprived from eating out since we had Taco Bell and got the few gourmet items at Whole Foods to eat with meals. So it made it feel more special than just eating at home but I knew I wasn’t spending too much on food!
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Hi! I'm Tina from Savings Corner. I love your site and look forward to sharing deals with you. Come visit my site sometime. http://www.savingscorner.org
WOW this is amazing for sure!!! (did you mean you were going to make your own hdogs and didnt have the nitrates and pork, or you can not eat those?)
No we had to buy hot dogs. idk how to make them! And yes that's right, I can't eat pork or nitrates.
The way you choose to save on your trip is great! I feel so inspired by the fact that other folks are frugal and not just me.
Thanks! Yes it's always nice to know we aren't the only crazy ones out there right?:)
This would be true!! LOl
Oh that's great! I believe that you had an awesome picnic. Good for you guys! I would like to suggest that if ever you go next time, why don't you try bringing a stainless steel tiffin container? This container is very reusable, durable and eco-friendly so what ever you put in it will not be wasted because it's leakage free. You can even stack liquids in it or stack as many as you want. Perfect for this kind of activity. =)