Keeping it Frugal on Vacation

We are headed out for a mini vacation to celebrate our anniversary, and of course I like to keep it frugal even when we are out of the house and on vacation! One major cost that adds up when we are on vacation is dining out. So to limit our costs, we did the following things:

• We only considered places of lodging that included breakfast. Even if you can only find a place with continental breakfast, it's still free!
  
• We made homemade snacks to bring along with us. Boo and I spent the day yesterday making all sorts of baked goodies to bring with us on the trip. That way if we are hungry between meals, we won't have to purchase anything.
  

The first thing we made was Granola Bars. A fellow mommy shared this recipe, and they are truly delicious! The best thing about the recipe is that you can customize it to what your family likes or doesn't like. In this batch we added chocolate chips, almonds, and coconut

The next thing we made was Pumpkin Muffins. I stumbled across this recipe years ago and it is so easy and one of the kids favorite treats. I had to hide them on top of the fridge or they would have been demolished! With only 3 ingredients, you can't get must easier! The link above is for Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins, but we much prefer substituting the chocolate cake mix for spice cake mix.

And just for fun, here's a picture of my cute little helper!

• We went to our local Farmer's Market and stocked up on fresh fruit for dirt cheap. I spent a good bit of time today cutting up strawberries and grapes for the kids to enjoy. I put them in big tupperware containers and also packed small bowls with lids, so we can easily dish out servings to the kids. We also stocked up on bananas and apples.
  
• We went to the distributor and liquor store and got all of the necessary beverages for our trip. Yes it's a family vacation, but Hubby and I do enjoy a cold beer at the end of the day. And seeing as how it's our anniversary, some wine is in order. In buying the beer/wine ahead of time to drink at our cabin, we won't feel the need to purchase any drinks with dinner, where the price is WAY marked up.

I'm hope those tips were helpful! We are blessed that we are able to take little family vacations a few times a year, and I really think the way that we are able to do so is because we continue to be frugal in choosing our location, lodging, and cutting back where we can along the way =)

I hope you all have a great weekend. I'll begin posting again mid-week after my much needed vacation!