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Community Corner

Saving Money on Vacation

How to spend less cash while traveling

This summer, many of us will be hitting the roads or the skies for a summer vacation. When on vacation, it’s hard to find a balance between having fun and not spending too much money.
My family will do some local traveling this summer, and we are looking to save some cash. So, I’ve been looking for tips on how to spend less when vacationing with the family. This is some advice I’ve found:

1. Research before your go: Read up before your trip, and scour the Web for deals on flights, car rentals, restaurants, etc. To save money on eating out while you’re away, search for restaurants in the area where you will be staying, and check out restaurant websites for menus, prices and deals.

2. Save on hotels: If you are traveling to a city for your vacation, try booking hotels that are a little further from the center of town to get discount rates. If you plan to stay at a large hotel chain, sign up for that chain’s reward points system before booking your hotel to earn points and discounts toward future stays.

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3. Spend less on dining: To use less cash on meals while traveling, try skipping your hotel’s breakfast (unless it is included in your rate) and checking out a local café instead — you’ll probably pay less. And, instead of loading up at dinner, eat a bigger breakfast and lunch so you can go light at dinnertime, when meals are most expensive.

4. Bring your own snacks: You are bound to get hungry while out sightseeing, so pack some of your own bottled water and snacks so you won’t get charged tourist prices. You could make up your own bags of pretzels, dried fruit, etc., so you won’t be tempted to needlessly spend your hard-earned money at snack shops. If you are traveling with kids and want to offer them a treat at night when you are back at the hotel room, you could pack bottles of soda or juice and serve it in cups and with ice (from the ice machine that’s bound to be down the hall from your room at the hotel).

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5. Skip the beach, head into town: City dwellers like to head out of the city for summer, so consider touring a place like Washington, D.C. or Boston this summer instead of renting a pricey beach house. Hotel rates tend to be cheaper in the summer in big cities when the weather is hot, says today.msnbc.com. I’d suggest finding a hotel with a pool, so you can spend part of your time sightseeing and the rest getting some R&R by the pool.

6. Walk, or take public transportation: When you are in an unfamiliar city, it’s tempting to sign up for expensive tours of the city. But, if you study a city map, you will most likely find that you can walk or take public transportation to many of the city’s sites.

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