Frugal Vacationing.....or Buying Groceries for Fun!

We try to be frugal even on vacations. 

We go to places that we are within driving range of instead of flying.  If it's a very long drive(2 days or more), we will rent a car if we can find a deal.  I figure if the trip is going to pack on the mileage to the vehicle I'd rather do it on someone else's car, not mine.
We stay at campgrounds that have RVs to rent set up already on the property or that have cabin rentals.  It's much cheaper than hotel rooms(nice hotel rooms, not cesspool hotel rooms), especially if you have a larger crew that won't fit into 1 hotel room.  It's also more economical because these kinds of set-ups offer cooking facilities so you don't have to spend a fortune eating all your meals out....unless you want to do that. ;-)

The drawback to renting RVs or cabins in most places I've found require a week's stay.  That's fine if you want to stay put for the whole week.  But I grew up in a family where we didn't stay put on vacations, my father moved us every day or two no matter...I still have nightmares involving Kettletown Park in CT when I was 9 or so.  Having grown up with this routine I find I get itchy feet and want to move on every few days.  Hubs on the other hand wants to hunker down in one spot. 

Another drawback is that campgrounds, if they are full, are crowded with people and the spaces are generally close to one another.  So it can be noisy but most have quiet hours and the places I've been usually do enforce them. 
But if you like being around people, campgrounds are for you.  It's very easy to get to know your neighbors if you want(and good if you have kids since they can find someone to play with easily).  And if you don't want to, just close your RV door and hike up the A/C.lol

The last way we save money on lodgings is to stay with friends or family.  A free bed for a night or two can help the vacation budget go much further.  And sometimes you luck into free meals as well. ;-)  But don't overstay your welcome or impose on your hosts and try to help out or at least take them out for a meal or pay for groceries.

We also find things to do that are cheap or free of cost.  It's just as enjoyable to do a free thing as it is to pay to do something, unless they only thing you are interested in is amusement parks and shopping.
The bridge observatory wasn't free but combined with the entrance to the military fort and the "Paranormal Fair" that was being held that weekend at that state park, it was a great deal for the money.  Both museums we visited were free(though the Penobscot one took freewill donations), as was the sightseeing we did and walking around the farmer's market(which had free live musical entertainment).
The internet can be a boon for information on free and cheap things to do wherever you find yourself going on vacation.

And speaking of shopping,  one of the most popular things people do on vacation is shop.  This would be why outlet malls have sprung up everywhere considered a vacation destination in this country.  You can't go anywhere people summer without being near an outlet mall!  There is a stretch in southern Maine on Rte. 1(Kittery and north of there)that is just ridiculous with outlet stores.  Like Wiscasset, it's a nightmare of a stretch of road to navigate in the summer.  We avoid southern Maine because of it.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to go to the Tom's of Maine Outlet Store in nearby Kennebunk because of this non-stop traffic.

Buying souvenirs is a vacation tradition going way back.  When the kids were small we'd give them each some money that they could spend on whatever they wanted.  Sometimes this worked but usually they spent it the first day or two and then whined for the rest of the trip for more stuff.lol  So we tried giving them a portion of their vacation money each day to spend or save up for something nicer.  This worked out much better for them and my patience.lol
Souvenirs for me was usually buying a t-shirt for everyone.  I learned not to buy them at the souvenir shops though, but to find the local drug store or discount store or even grocery store as many would carry souvenir items and at a much lower price.  On a trip to Atlantic Canada once I bought souvenirs at the local Walmart....and they were on clearance to boot!lol  Souvenir shop shirt=$25US equivalent.....Walmart shirt=$4US equivalent.  And the quality the cheap shirt was on par with the pricey shop's shirt.

Though I've changed from a recreational shopper in the last 4 years to a "I only shop out of necessity" shopper, I do shop for pleasure on vacation.  I'm a discount/clearance shopping from waaaaay back and I enjoy checking out the local discount stores while on vacation. 
So one of my activities in Maine was shopping.
Ok, I did buy some postcards, a piece of fabric and some shirts(for the kids), but the main thing I shop for on vacation is food.
Yes, I travel 500 miles to buy groceries!LOLOL

But I seek out unusual foods at a cheap price that I can't get at home.
I'll buy locally, like the wild blueberries I carted home.

All 3 quarts ended up in the freezer, since I had that virus when we got home and didn't feel up to making jam.  I may still take some and make a jar of jam at some point this Fall.

Here is some of what else I brought home from Maine....

The suet was one of the Marden's finds. 

Two of the discount stores carried a large selection of Bob's Red Mill items, including the Pastry Flour I like.  I'd pay double at the local health food store here for Bob's line.

I found large bags of dried cranberries for $3 each.  The instant coffee was $2.99 at Marden's.  The maple syrup was on sale for $14.99 at Reny's...I got 3.  The coconut milk was under $1 a can.  The Daughter loves coconut rice so I stocked up on those.

Ocean State Job Lot had these dehydrated mushrooms for between $1.75-$2.25 a package.  Not just regular old button mushrooms but Shiitake, Enoki, Woodear, Porcinni, as well as a few other varieties that cost an arm and a leg in the grocery store.  My favorite was a mixed Medley of types in a package.  I heart mushrooms....
I also stocked up on my favorite native Maine yellow eyed beans.  They look like a black eyed pea but have a yellow eye(duh!lol)and are a bit smaller.  It's the traditional bean used for making baked beans in Maine.
While you can't get them here in PA, they sell them in the grocery up there! 
My last find was 1lb. bags of wild rice from Minnesota.  Not a wild rice mix but straight wild rice.  I can use this and make my own wild rice mix with brown rice.  These were $3 a bag.  I've never even seen it sold like this before anywhere I've lived.

In all I spent $133.48 on groceries to bring home(not counting the suet since we aren't eating that!lol).  If I could have figured out a way to freeze lobsters and cart them home I would have.lol

All totaled we spent right around $1,000 on this trip.  I can't be exact on the cost since Hubs doesn't always give me the gas receipts when he pays cash so I'll have to live with an estimated cost.  If we had eaten out less and used that food I brought to cook we could have shaved off $100 or so.  But I am good with what we spent for 7 days of peace and quiet and fun. 
Just the hotel bill alone could have been $1,200 if we had stayed at the Holiday Inn so I think we did this trip fairly frugally.

Do you have any tips for being frugal on vacation?  Please leave a comment and let us know your secrets!


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