I decided to split my frugal thoughts into two posts this week. Yesterday was all about using things up; today, I’m shifting gears to travel frugality.
TOILETRIES
I’m decidedly low-maintenance when it comes to toiletries. I’ll happily use whatever shampoo is at the hotel or Airbnb—or pick up something inexpensive at a local grocery store. My makeup routine is simple, too.
That said, I wanted a small bottle of lotion to bring along. I could have decanted some from the container I’ve been using for years (proof that I don’t go through much), but I didn’t feel like dealing with the mess or the confusion of unlabelled travel bottles. I was also trying to hit a minimum spend for a points deal at a local store, so I was thrilled to find a travel-sized bottle of Glysomed on clearance for $2.99 (regularly $5.79). Exactly what I wanted… at half the price.
I don’t want to buy hair products abroad, but little hair accessories can quickly turn into a jumbled mess. Enter these clear, zippered, firm plastic storage pouches. They are perfection! Thin but sturdy, nothing pokes through, and because they’re see-through, I can find what I need instantly. I’m using them to corral EVERYTHING. (This is what I’ll put my earrings in for transport, too.)
As I mentioned yesterday, I scraped out the final dregs of my e.l.f. Halo Glow and decanted it into a tiny container for the trip. Space-saving and satisfying.
MUSEUM DISCOUNTS
We almost always plan at least one activity around free or discounted museum entry every place we visit.
When we went Barcelona, the Picasso Museum was free on Thursdays. So, guess what day we went to the Picasso Museum! When John and I went to Rome, we discovered that the last Sunday of each month offers free entry to the Vatican Museums. We went on Sunday!
We went to Musee d’Orsay on Thursday evening when we visited Paris because that’s an evening with reduced admission prices.
For our time in Munich, I’ve reserved €1 Sunday tickets to the Alte Pinakothek. The grand total for a museum that houses works by van Gogh? €2!! (Kids are free.)
Regular weekday tickets are €9 per adult, so that’s a €14 savings—about $22.50 CAD. I wouldn’t walk past $22.50 lying on the ground, so I’m happy to adjust our schedule to save it.
Of course, sometimes the timing doesn’t work. But when it does, it’s such an easy win.
CLOTHES
There are always wardrobe gaps before a trip.
Indy is hard on clothes. He’s active, things get worn out, and he mostly lives in athletic gear. That’s fine for everyday life, but it’s nice to have a few more structured pieces when we travel.
The pants we bought him for last year’s Paris trip were suddenly ankle-length (how does that happen so fast?). John took him to a local consignment store between haircuts and found Levi’s for $8 a pair—a lightweight jean and khakis—plus a neutral, lightweight sweater for $3.85.
Last week it was a like-new pair of Nikes for under $25.
MISC
- When we travel I always look up “best free things to do” in each location. This is a great way to find out about free museums and experiences.
- We’ve booked multiple hotel stays on accumulated points.
- We reserved train tickets in advance for our fixed travel dates to and from Vienna to lock in better prices.
- I’ve also loaded up my Libby app with books on hold and ready to download to my e-reader. Borrowing digital books saves so much money!
- We bought travel medical insurance through CAA. Because we already have a CAA/AAA membership, the insurance quote was heavily discounted. And then, because we purchased it for a entire family, we got another layer of discounts! It’s not “cheap” but it ended up being much less expensive than other options I researched.
That’s all I’ve got for today. Moving forward, most of my frugal posts will have a bit of a travel theme to them. I’m curious to see what parts of living abroad end up being unexpectedly spendy… and what ones will be surprisingly inexpensive?!
That’s all I have for today.
- Tell me your best money-saving travel hacks!
- What’s the one item you would never, ever leave behind on a trip?
- Do you ever plan your itinerary around free or discounted admission days?
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Planning your days around discounted or free entries is genius! It doesn’t take much planning or adjusting – I’m always surprised that so few people take advantage of it.
Here in Cape Town, you can get a free cable car ride up Table Mountain if it’s your birthday. I haven’t done that yet, because we’ve always hiked up. But it’s good to know!
I always travel with tissues and Nivea cream. Odd, but I hate having dry skin and on planes I always have a runny nose.
I have a little package of tissues packed, too! It works for runny noses and sometimes public restrooms don’t have toilet paper – eeks. Portugal was the worst for this! So now I always carry a travel package of Kleenex every time we travel.
When the kids were younger, we always had a pass to a local kids or science museum that would get us in free or for a reduced price at other museums around the country.
As we drive, I always pack more snacks than I think we need. It saves money over convenience foods at gas stations, and it’s gotten us further on our drives so we don’t have to stop at an exit and find a place. The one time I didnt pack enough drinks, the gas station we pulled over at had no water, so no drink machine! They let us have free ice , but it was still a bit thirsty on the last leg of the journey.
Your frugal ideas are great!
And boys and pants- sigh. I feel your pain.
The knees in his pants get… destroyed! Thankfully, we manage to find enough second hand that are still intact. I’m loathe to buy them full-price because I know he will just immediately wear holes in the knees.
Maybe less so in Europe since he won’t be in gym class, playing outside with friends in the same way. We’ll be very active, but it will be a bit less… messy.
Ooh, I can’t wait to read about “living abroad” frugal tips!
Museums can be expensive, so it totally makes sense to search out the free days. And- I always just use whatever shampoo is in the hotel when I travel! It’s way too much of a hassle to bring shampoo, and it doesn’t make that much of a difference to me.
i LOVE those little clear pouches for hair accessories! They are perfect.
I am using those clear pouches for EVERYTHING!
On a somewhat related topic, I’ve had 2 Tresemme bottles I’ve travelled with for YEARS – couldn’t find them so I went in search of empty bottles I could refill. Since they were more expensive than the Tresemme sample bottles, I bought two of those instead – expect to use them for years, as I did the previous ones:) Bon voyage! We leave for Toronto tomorrow, Puerto Vallarta on Saturday – fingers crossed…
Have the BEST time! Hope the weather holds okay for you getting out without delay 🙂
Our goal is always to visit sites during the week when places are less crowded. We are finally at the age to get senior discounts at most places like museums, which is nice. And I have my America the Beautiful lifetime pass now, which is good for everyone who is traveling with me! I do not leave home without my Skechers!
I prefer to visit museums during the week, too… unless I can save a lot of money by going on the weekend 😉
Oooh those little zippered pouches are perfect for hair accessories!
They are the best. And so cute, too! They’re just so little and I love being able to see through them.
My toiletry hack is pretty predictable. I don’t care what kind of soap I use, but I am particular about shampoo and conditioner. My travel shampoo and conditioner bottles were originally drug store sample bottles for totally different products, and I keep refilling them from my preferred brand.
Can never leave home without – face and skin moisturizer, and eye drops:-( Fortunately these do not take up much luggage space.
When I’m in a super organized mood, I like to watch Youtube videos on the places that I’m going, but more often than not I’m just googling those top 10 lists. I don’t mind paying for activities (example: a tour of a FLW house), but a surprising amount of stuff that I do is free. On top of that, I have a membership with a museum at home that is part of a museum network that gives me free admission to a ton of museums.
I want to watch some YouTube videos about our destinations… haven’t gotten around to that yet. Maybe while we wait for our flights?? Could be a fun activity to put us all in the travel mood.
The library system in NB often has free passes for various museums so we tend to use those for going to museums. Some of them are very high dollar value too – like $20+ per adult! Might as well plan around free, as you said!
Got a frugal win to thank you for. Sent in a pair of darn tough socks with a hole in them back before Christmas and got the free replacement pair yesterday! Hadn’t known about the warranty until you’d posted about it, so thank you!
I have never done a museum pass from the library; I feel like they used to offer something like that here but don’t any more? But I really should look into it!
Hooray for Darn Tough. We are HUGE fans of that company.
I have so many “must have” items when traveling. I can’t pick just one! But I am also not worried about getting everything to fit in a bag when traveling since my trips are quite short. I would say I would be miserable without my kindle. I could use the kindle ap on my phone but it is not very pleasing to exclusively read on a tiny screen!
I hate reading books on my phone! I am charging my Kobo this very minute in prep for the trip…
I need to be better about planning around discounted/free times at museums — a lot of those tix have gotten super expensive so that can make a big difference!!
I think my biggest money saving travel “hack” is taking public transit instead of Ubers, cabs, etc. Last summer my partner and I were in Minneapolis and each spent less than $30 on transportation for a 5 day trip bc we walked or took public transit everywhere. Their system allows two hours for transfers so sometimes we even took a bus somewhere, did an activity and took a bus back all with one fare. Taking public transit also helps in really *experiencing* a new place, IMO. Oh, and to connect with my statement above, we happened to be there during the one day per month that their (amazing) art museum is free so all in all weew able to have quite the frugal trip. 🙂
Public transport for the win (and taking a bit of time to compare the different options). We use public transport A LOT when we visit places. Between that and walking, you really get a feel for the city. I also love getting to know the system; I find a few days into a trip, we start to recognize stops and feel pretty comfortable navigating.
Yes to reading about frugal traveling! I think my most frugal travel habit is not eating at restaurants very often. It’s mainly because I have unreasonable issues about eating out…but it does save a lot of money! I like to get stuff at a grocery store and have picnics.
Eating at home (away) is a HUGE money-saving hack. And it’s very fun to shop at foreign grocery stores and try new things! It can be a real adventure, too, since I can’t usually understand the labels 😉
I love free walking tour and did a few with the girls when we went to Europe. I should keep doing that!
our saving tip when traveling is eat breakfast/dinner at airbnb/hotel because we don’t care much what to eat and less waiting time. instead we’d pay more for shorter flight and good location for stay.
I never travel without my mate straw, mate, and earplug. with earplug I can sleep anywhere and with anyone.
Yes, I need to plan to some free walking tours in both Germany and Austria!!!