Traveling on a Budget

Last week, we took a 3 day road trip to Illinois from Dallas for a job interview for the hubby. Just to let you know this is a 10 hour trip with a toddler in the back seat! Anyway, our monthly budget wasn't quite able to handle this trip but, it was something that was really important for hubby if it works out. We were actually able to pull off the trip for a lot less than I thought. Here are some ways that we cut back on expenses.

1. We drove instead of flying...yes 10 hours in the car with a toddler isn't as much fun as you would like it to be but, we were able to bring everything we needed and didn't have to worry about renting a car when we got there

2. We packed three days worth of lunches and snacks and ate at rest areas... usually, hubby and I look at road trips as a great excuse to eat gross fast food and gas station snacks but, this time I took my happy coupon self to the grocery store and made sandwiches, cookies, and packed up some fruit and cheese as well as a massive pack of bottled water that I got on sale for 2.99

3. We stayed at a cheaper hotel... I was pretty spoiled growing up and staying in nice hotels but, this time we stayed at a Quality Inn, which was pretty okay. It was less than $80 a night which was great with me.

4. We made sure that our hotel had a free continental breakfast... This is great, you don't have to worry about getting breakfast some where because it's right in your hotel, and it's free!

5. Our room had a refrigerator and a microwave... so, we could save our sandwiches for the road and any leftovers we had could be reheated if need be.

6. I didn't go out and buy new toys for C, instead I dug through his toys to find ones he hadn't used in a while... He was really excited to see some of his old toys, I did bring a few favorites though.

7. No souvenirs... since this was technically a business trip, we didn't buy and souvenirs.

8. Cruise Control, learn, love it, use it... the last car I had didn't have cruise control. It still got pretty good gas mileage and when I started driving this car I had a hard time getting used to using it. Well, I realized on this trip, cruise control really does help with your gas mileage.

We did end up eating out for both of our dinners but, we had planned that. You have to get out a little bit! What sorts of things do you do to save money when traveling??