Thinking of where to go on vacation in 2009.......

When January rolls around, me and dh's thoughts turn to where should we go on vacation this year?

This will be the fourth year in a row we have been on vacation, prior to that we rarely went on vacation. I remember we took the kids to Myrtle Beach when they were in their mid teens. However other than that we never really went on vacation. It was never a priority and we couldn't really afford it.

When the kids left home, we decided to make it more of a priority and although we still don't have a lot of money, with doing a couple of things we make sure we get away.

Here are a few things that save us money when going on vacation.

1. We prefer to stay in a condo or a house, as that way we can come and go as we please. I tend to get up early, so like to go and read or go on the Internet, which is a lot easier to do in a condo/house than a hotel room.

2. With staying a house/condo we eat breakfast in the house, and we either eat lunch or dinner in the house. This saves us money and also saves our stomach's. We find that eating out both at lunch and at dinner kills our stomach. We also eat out a lot at lunch time, as it tends to be a little cheaper and we don't like having heavy meals late at night.

3. Once we know where we are staying I check out on the Internet what grocery stores are in the place where we are staying and go on the Internet to see what they have on sale. Also I check to see if they have loyalty cards, which give us better savings.

4. As we have no young children or school age children, we tend to go on vacation when the school children are in school and it's a bit cheaper.

5. I check on the Internet for the tourist information for the area where we are staying, and request brochures and coupons for the area.

6. I put money away each week, year round towards the vacation, that way we are not scrambling to come up with money for it. As an example if you decide to go away Labour Day weekend (September 5th), and you put $20 a week away every Friday starting January 9th, you will have $700 saved up before you go away.

7. We drive to our vacation destination as it gives us more flexibility and it means we don't have to hire a car at the other end.

8. If we have to stay overnight at a hotel on our way to our vacation destination, I cash in my air miles for a hotel gift cards, so again it doesn't cost us any money. There are other ways of getting cheap hotel stays.

9. I research the area where we are staying and what attractions we would like to see, then go on their websites to see if they offer discounts. We bought a multi-attraction pass this summer when we were in Charleston and it was so worth while, it saved us a lot of money.

10. Booking last minute can save you money, however we like to plan ahead. Mind you, I discovered that they had reduced the rental fee on our condo in Charleston when we were there, so I asked them about reducing our fee and giving us a refund, and guess what they gave it to us, so it pays to ask!!!

I am sure there are many more ways on saving money when going on vacation and would love to hear your tips.

So I am sure you are dying to know where we are going this year..............NO IDEA!!!! Dh is favouring Tennessee again, we love the Smoky Mountains. I am thinking Virginia, Ohio or Pennsylvania, that area, but the mountains are calling us!!!! We tend to stick to the eastern side of the States, as we live in Southern Ontario.

So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also where are you planning on going on vacation this year?

***Don't forget your 25 cents today, if you are participating in the Daily Savings Club***

***Coming Wednesday 50 + 1 Recipes on Fruits, and so far there are some yummy recipes there, this week it will be Apples***