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Economize where you can?

July 6th, 2016 at 03:02 pm

When we travel we tend to spend more. To be expected right? We just can't afford to be quite so frugal because of circumstances. But this trip there were things that made me laugh and blink because we paid a premium for but still saved us money.

For instance I bought DH a pack of instant starbucks coffee and gasped to find out it was $12.95 for the box of 10. OMG. But then logically it was like well it's cheaper than a $2 cup of coffee that would only last 6 days instead of 10. Or paying full price for a small pack of cheese sticks because we'd finish the 12 pack instead of the family size. Or the luncheon meat/cheese/bread not on sale but buying the cheapest because we had no flexibility of store or time. Instead it's still a sandwich instead of eating out. Or full price for a 12 pack of soda instead of waiting until it was on sale. Or buying boxes of milk so we don't waste it and it's easily portable. Anyway I realized yes we shopped and spent probably $200 on groceries for the weekend but when one meal out for 6 cost $100 it's really not a bad deal.

Have you had those moments? Where you have to in your head justify how expensive some stuff is, but when you put it into perspective it makes sense?

Posted in Frugal | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Economize where you can?”

  1. snafu Says:
    July 6th, 2016 at 06:39 pm 1467830341
    1467830341

    Without economy in mind, we tend to have breakfast at hotel muffin + coffee room in room to facilitate an early start on activities. We're happiest choosing a featured/special restaurant for lunch as our biggest meal, mostly because it's easier, doesn't require reservations, portions slightly smaller and we're walking it off visiting sites that drew us to that location. We try to get back to hotel no later than 4:30 PM to avoid traffic issues, with time to either visit touristy shops within a 4 block walking zone, visit gym or a swim/whirlpool and nap. We make it a point to have either an early, simple [restaurant] dinner or some type of meal-on-a-bun, yogurt and fruit in our room for evening meal mostly to facilitate evening entertainment. So often we're in an unfamiliar city, huge potential to overshoot venue in spite of GPS followed by dumb dumb tourists seeking parking.

    Do you keep a small lunch bag in the car packed to facilitate an impromptu picnic?

  2. VS_ozgirl Says:
    July 6th, 2016 at 10:12 pm 1467843176
    1467843176

    I was lucky while away that my friends I was staying with weren't officially on holiday, they part worked/ part had a staycation, so couldn't really afford to go nuts. We tried to focus on visiting free entry places, cooked mostly at their house, ate out occasionally, but our biggest expense was alcohol - buying wine to eat with our meals. Even with gifts bought, I only went over by $100 so am pretty happy with that - if I wasn't careful I could have spent plenty of coin Smile

  3. ThriftoRama Says:
    July 6th, 2016 at 11:34 pm 1467848085
    1467848085

    Yep. It happened to us on our vacation. I was upset about how much I was spending on food at grocery stores, but when you figure the convenience of not relying on restaurants plus how much you're actually spending per person per meal vs restaurants, it makes perfect sense.

  4. Livingalmostlarge Says:
    July 8th, 2016 at 03:30 am 1467948625
    1467948625

    We usually plan on lunches when we go out if it's a museum or event or place that allows it. This time great America said no outside foods so we ended up buying but I saw people sneaking in snacks so next time.

    Vs it does get pricey when meals out for 6 were $299 a pop.

    Thrift that's it it's still expensive shopping and eating out more so.

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