My Thrifty Vacation and How You Can Do Better Part I

My family and I just got back from an incredible
vacation! We went to Myrtle Beach. We had a blast!


Our trip cost us roughly $1100 for 7 days. That's for
4 of us and includes all expenses. I was trying to make
it under a $1000...so close!

Here's what I did to save money:

Accommodations:

Through ShopAtHome I went to Hotels.com.
I searched for hotels in the Myrtle Beach area.
Currently there is a  rebate on Hotels.com . I will
receive a $30 rebate for booking a 5 day stay through
them. I will get $30 back from ShopAtHome also !
Not a ShopAtHome member? Sign up here .


*I charged my accommodations on a credit card and
  will get 1% rewards per dollar spent. Paid off already!

How you can do better:
I thought we'd make the drive in one day. We couldn't! We
needed to get some sleep. I didn't plan on this expense.
Next time I would plan a couple of hotel options in advance.
Because I didn't we had to pay full price and we ended up
at a hotel that was seriously scary! We moved the dresser
in front of the door !!!

Look for every way to save when booking your trip. AAA is
great and look in your entertainment book for hotel savings.
Bring your book with you in case you need to stay overnight
unexpectedly like we did.


Transportation:

It was ALOT cheaper to drive ! We took our most gas
efficient car (Focus). Go here to figure out the cost of
your trip. We turned in Speedway points to get a $50
gas card. We also purchased additional gas cards at
Speedway and earned more points. We bought
these using a credit card that gives us rewards for gas
purchases. This will help us recoup some of the money
spent on gas.

How you can do better:

We bought gascards for the trip. When we reached Myrtle Beach
there was not a Speedway in sight . I couldn't use the gascards there!
Next time I would research what gas stations are available along the way.

....on a good note gas was about .30 cheaper per gallon there !

Part II ......Food and entertainment....coming soon .