I’m overdue for a post about frugality. (You can take the family out of Canada, but you can’t take our frugal nature away!)
Some of these are repeats, but I’m just getting everything down stream-of-consciousness so I don’t forget anything.
Public Transit Passes
Public transit has been one of our biggest savings.
For example, getting an Uber from the Munich airport to our hotel (one way) would have cost more than an entire week of unlimited public transit FOR OUR WHOLE FAMILY.
Munich also has a great system where you can buy a group pass for up to five adults (and kids under 15 only count as half an adult), which makes it even more affordable.
Discounted ticket rates
First, kids are free for most museums in Europe which is amazing!
Adults aren’t; one good workaround is looking for discounted rates (typically on Sunday; Thursday evening is another common discounted time).
One recent win was the Alte Pinakothek, where we saved a total of €16 ($25 CAD) by going on Sunday.
Reduced Produce
Old habits die hard…
It’s been exciting to find lots of reduced produce at grocery stores here in Vienna. It’s such an easy way to save a bit every time we shop.
Eating at home
Buying food on the go adds up incredibly fast.
There’s no way around it in some situations (it was tough in Munich since we were in a hotel without even a mini fridge), but now that we’re settled in Vienna, we’re buying most of our food at the grocery store and cooking in our apartment.
Shopping sales
Along those same lines, we’re always looking for sales at the grocery store.
For example, we picked up a watermelon for about $2 CAD (it was delicious). We also compare prices and tend to choose the cheapest option per unit (like these vine tomatoes). And note yet another reduced price item!
Packing lunches
Even in Munich, we made simple PB & banana sandwiches to take with us.
Now, if we know we’ll be out over lunch, we try to bring sandwiches and snacks. It saves a surprising amount of time and money.
Reusing packaging
Our Airbnb came with a few storage containers, but we’ve also been reusing things like yogurt containers for leftovers and clamshell containers from fruit to transport sandwiches so they don’t get crushed.
We also bought two silicone resealable bags that we’ll keep using for the rest of the trip.
Accommodations
Staying slightly outside the city centre can save a lot of money.
We always look for places near public transit, and for longer stays, we make sure there’s a grocery store nearby.
In Munich, we stayed at the Premier Inn München City Ost for 5 nights for €332.10 (including taxes), which worked out to just over $100 CAD per night. The room was spacious, the beds were comfortable, and we’d absolutely stay there again.
For our Airbnb in Vienna, we set a price limit, then carefully went through reviews. We didn’t choose the absolute cheapest option, but we prioritized value.
The total is $2,965.11 CAD, or $98.84 per night. For that, we get two bedrooms, a balcony, a full kitchen, and laundry—which makes a huge difference for a longer stay.
Fongo + eSim
We always use an eSIM for data (Airalo is our go-to, though we’re considering other options because you can’t roll over remaining data at the end of the month which feels like a bit of a waste).
This time, I’ve also been using a free Canadian phone number through Fongo for calls back to Canada, and it’s worked really well!
Bringing water
Someone is always thirsty, and drink stops can add up fast.
We still buy coffee or drinks occasionally, but as much as possible we bring water from our apartment. We packed two insulated bottles, but for shorter outings I often reuse a plastic bottle since it’s lighter.
Visit free museums and sites
It cost $0 to visit Sweet Brown Snail and Westpark and the kids loved both places.
Motorworld and the BMW Welt were also completely free of charge!
Take a free walking tour
We did one in Vienna last week and it was excellent. You are expected to tip your tour guide, but it’s a great way to see the city on a budget.
Stretching paid toilets
Sometimes when you gotta go… you gotta go. And sometimes the only options are paid toilets. Sometimes you’re paying to get into a stalled bathroom and in that case, we tend to have multiple people go in on the same entry fee…
Ordering tickets early
Especially for rail commutes, booking early can HALVE the price. We booked our Westbahn tickets (the cheapest rail provider option) about a month before our trip which saved us quite a bit of money!
Free entertainment
I’ve been loving Libby and my Kobo so far. Aside from the plane ride, I haven’t had much spare time to read, but it’s how I spend the last few minutes before bedtime. I really like the $0 price tag!
That’s all I’ve got for now!
None of this is revolutionary, but intentional choices add up over time. We’re not saying no to everything (there’s still coffee and the occasional treat; yesterday I treated Indy to a €7.90 hot chocolate at Lindt but, WAIT FOR IT, we had a 25% off coupon), but being mindful about the everyday stuff has made a big difference in how far our budget stretches. And it feels satisfying to make it work!
Your turn:
- What’s one thing you always do to save money while traveling?
- Are you more of a “eat out for the experience” or “cook at home to save” person?
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I psck snacks when we travel. Probably too many! But I want to stave off hunger and keep everyone in a good mood. And when we travel, sometimes snacks are enough for a meal ( eat in car or rest area- save time and money). Occassional treats purchased to break up the day, reward good behavior, or so we can use bathrooms guilt-free.
I’m a picky eater and my husband is cheap – -thrifty!- so cooking preferred. I can’t remember the last time we took kids to a restaurant. Fast food – yes- on their recent trip, they grabbed a brisket sandwich at Buc-ees ( I guess it’s the thing to get there?) but even their biggest fans can’t say Buc-ees is fine dining.
You travel so sensibly. The balance between eating out and shopping is amazing.
Snacks really help keep spirits bright! (We definitely have “snack” meals lots while we’re out and about.)
Great tips! We always aim for $100 Cdn a night, too. Puerto Vallarta was great as our 2 BR 2 bath condo was under 3K for two weeks, and we split the cost with our friends. Stay healthy!
That’s a great deal and even better when you can split it with friends. Hope the time in the sunshine was delightful <3
Little things definitely do add up! And when you’re saving in all sorts of small ways, you can feel good about splurging every once in a while.
Since I’m vegan, the thought of showing up ANYWHERE, much less a foreign country, and expecting to eat out for every meal is ludicrous. I’ve made many, many sandwiches from grocery store provisions to bring along on adventures. It saves time too- much quicker to just plopdown wherever you are and eat a sandwich than to go to a restaurant.
I can’t imagine navigating here as a vegan (though I’m sure in a city this size there are LOTS of options), but my goodness… this part of the world LOVES meat. Eeks. It’s everywhere.
Packing lunch DEFINITELY saves time, and I really enjoy the act of eating while in an unusual place (outside a palace! in front of a water fountain)! So I feel like having food along can open up new opportunities, too. That said, the kids DO get tired of sandwiches eventually 🙂
This is exactly it – being smart about the everyday stuff is where the real savings happen, and that public transport vs. Uber comparison proves it perfectly!
I should probably warn you about Zurich though….it’s not exactly budget-friendly (as you probably already know!) 😄
Even the excellent public transport comes at a price (around CAD 15 for a 24-hour pass per person). We’ll need a proper strategy – but don’t worry, we’ll figure out the best option together!
I’m also firmly in the “mostly eat at home, then enjoy the occasional treat properly” camp. It really does make those coffees and hot chocolates feel so much more worth it!
Yes, I’m prepared for sticker shock in Zurich!!! It costs what it costs, right?!
We always take water and pack a lunch even when going to Big Town down the hill. It’s just automatic no matter where we go.
Question: What did the bird say when he flew over jana’s house?
Answer: cheap-cheap-cheap)
Ha! Good joke. The same bird flies over my father’s house 🙂
I’ve grown up always packing a lunch wherever I go; I’ll admit it’s nice to not be quite as rigid about it these days, but as much as possible we pack lunch and/or snacks and I know it saves A LOT of money in the long run.
I always pack snacks so we can choose when/what to eat and not have to FIND SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. I also pack water (or empty water bottle) because I hate paying for water! Ha! I did a 10 day trip to Ireland with my sisters and we had several early mornings of meeting trains/buses so almost everyday we had bagel thins with peanut butter! We’d make them up the night before, put them back in the bag and hand them round when we were safely on our bus/train. One of the hard parts of traveling is that meals are usually more food than you would normally eat so our basic breakfast allowed us to be hungry for lunch whenever it presented itself! Our annual sister strip this year is US based with free breakfast, so I’m sure we will enjoy that and then enjoy a local pastry, ice cream or treat for lunch and have a full dinner. I love traveling this way and sisters trips are an annual highlight. My husband is not a confident or frugal traveler (I think being out of his comfort zone encourages him to spend money on comfort, including food) but I do my best when we travel as a family.
Yes to having things available ON DEMAND. It really helps keep spirits higher while out and about. I also HATE paying for water. It can be SO expensive.
Enjoy your upcoming trip; it sounds like a lot of fun.
I do alllll of the above and love it. I do splurge sometimes on restaurants like Le Train Bleu in Paris. This year we are only renting a car for Dolomites and doing trains for the rest of our north Italy trip so that is definitely huge savings.
I am so excited to read along on your Italian adventure!
I like to save in a lot of places and then splurge (like Disney last year). It balances out the experiences AND the bank account nicely.
We always stay at Airbnb’s so we can eat 2/3 meals at home and only eat out once. One meal/day out with kids is as much as I can handle and even without kids, I’d prefer to only eat out once!
It is definitely a lot of work to eat out with kids! And I find the waiting can be especially hard to manage.
You are amazing, Elisabeth. All great money saving choices 🙂
Aww, thanks Jean <3
I am definitely an eat out for the experience person, but not for three meals. A lot of the time in Wales, we bought those pre-made sandwiches you can get in the supermarket or chain cafes which are not very expensive. We always use public transport, and I book our longer-distance train travel in Europe early so we get the cheapest tickets.
Argh… speaking of which, we NEED to book some more train tickets for Europe!!! Thanks for the reminder. I know the prices are only going to go up with time and the conflict in the Middle East and I keep putting it off. I think I’ve felt a bit burned out by planning so many things, but I’m making it a goal to tackle this over the weekend!
Depending on how much travel (or travel days) you do in a single or multiple countries, maybe you can also look into passes such as interrail/eurail or similar offers from the national train companies.
Great idea. Mostly we’ll be driving between each, I think, since we have a rental car, but things like Monaco to Nice, for example, we would almost certainly do by rail.