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This is a post by MPFJ staff writer, Jeff. Jeff writes about Sustainable living and finances at his website, Sustainable Life Blog. Jeff really enjoys traveling with his wife as much as he can, to wherever he can.
One of my favorite things to do (and my wife’s) is to travel because we get to check out new places and experience new things. There’s always something different to see in a new place, and I personally find it fascinating to see other cultures and other parts of the country – how they act, what they like to do, and what they eat. Over Christmas, we got the chance to head over to New York City for a few days, and had a lot of fun.
We were able to keep to a pretty strict budget though, and there were multiple ways that we were able to score some awesome deals:
Local Flavors –
When we are out traveling, we always look to see what the locals do and eat there. New York was no exception, but there were so many different places to eat, and lots of them are very good and very cheap.
There’s a lot of different ethnic neighborhoods in New York, and we were able to have some northeastern kosher vegetarian Indian food for dinner. The total cost to us was around $25, for 2 entrees and water to drink. The food was so good that I couldn’t believe it! The next night, we had Chinese food, and we spent around $27 for an 2 entrees and an appetizer (it was happy hour so the appetizer was half off). Not only do we get great, cheap food, but we also get to see how other people live!
Public Transit –
This one is pretty obvious, but should be repeated. We each got $29 subway passes that were good for 7 days when we were in New York. This is just a fraction of what you would pay getting taken all over the city by the taxi (which costs about $25 from LaGuardia airport to midtown). Each ride on the subway costs $2.25, and in two days, the pass had paid for itself.
Free Museum Days –
On the way back from New York, my wife and I got unexpectedly delayed for about 12 hours in Charlotte, NC. Instead of staying at the airport, we paid $10 to rent a car for the afternoon and drove into town (the bus stopped running at 2 pm since it was Sunday). We had some lunch and then found some museums nearby. One of them was free that day because it was the last day of one of the exhibits that they were showing. We were able to enjoy an awesome museum for free! Some museums have free days once a week, some vary, but its a great way to save a few bucks when traveling. If you are not in town when any are free, don’t worry, there are plenty of other ways to save.
Public Art/Street Festivals –
This is one of my personal favorites when I’m traveling. I love going to check out the public art around towns. My personal favorites is this giant blue bear in Denver, Colorado. No matter the size of the town, there is usually a public art display, or many. They make great stops on walking tours on nice days, and the best part about them is that they are free!
Schedule Around 1 Big Event –
In New York, we scheduled the trip around 1 big event – a play on Broadway. My wife really wanted to see one, so we made that the focus of our trip and did cheap stuff other than that. We were able to get student tickets for a discount, but they were still pretty expensive (you can also get discounted tickets to Broadway shows at a booth near Times Square if you’re in NYC ever!). We had a lot of fun and will remember it for a while, so it was a very good way to spend our money.
How about you all? What ways do you save money on vacation?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/chitrasudar/2778096382/
