This past weekend my husband and I took a romantic anniversary trip to Santa Barbara. We were staying at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel in Montecito, it was absolutely amazing, but as I began to set up our travel plans (meals, activities, workouts etc…) l began to realize with the beauty came the upscale pricing as well.
I am an avid saver, always looking to find a way to save money. It is a fun game for me, and my clients really enjoy this, as my research has led to them saving as well! I knew we could have the best of both worlds… the upscale ambience without putting a huge hole in the pocket-book. I spoke with my husband and asked if he would mind if I played this little game and he was of course right on board with my ideas.
So here is what my weekend looked liked:
We left Saturday am with a big cooler packed of goodies i.e… Raw trail mix, bananas, pre-made salads for our beach lunch, wine from Trader Joes, cold-cuts, almond butter, jelly, waters, and some Lara bars.
We arrived had a great lunch overlooking the beautiful ocean. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything.
Another great tip is to always eat off sight. Hotels can and will charge more especially when you have that resort/ocean front appeal. If you take a little drive (and I do mean little it took us 5 minutes), you can still get the great views, but pay 1/2 the price.
We called our hotel in advance and told them it was our 5 year anniversary ( usually when you do this they will provide something nice for you in your room). It worked; as they provided us with a bottle of champagne and some strawberries.
So now we had lunch and a couple of drinks and didn’t spend a dime.
We then went to an amazing fish company in downtown Santa Barbara and had a fabulous and very reasonable dinner $60.00 to be exact.
The next morning we grabbed complimentary coffee and found a very quaint breakfast place a mile from our hotel. It had wonderful ambience and was right in downtown Montecito. It was also delicious and unlike our $72 per person brunch at our hotel it left us more than satisfied but still able to do other activities that day.
We then went to the local Vons and got salads and more deli slices for lunch. Our lunch cost us 8.62 and we had another little beach picnic!
We grabbed our suits and headed to the pool, we received coupons for a free glass of wine at the pool so we enjoyed those while overlooking the beautiful ocean on the deck. Once again all “Free” of charge.
I then went to a website called Restaurants.com. It is a great site much like a groupon for restaurants. You look up the city you are in and it shows you the restaurant deals in your area.
You pay say $10 and get a $25 gift certificate. So we purchased one for a great BBQ place in downtown SB which got great ratings on yelp.
We then did a little wine tasting. What really helps to cut costs is to share the tasting. This way if you want to get a glass after you don’t have two tastings and full glass costs. You can also look online for 2-1 tasting coupons.
Once we got back from wine tasting and dinner we hopped in the jacuzzi for a night-cap. This is another “free” activity that is very relaxing and fun.
We took a long walk on the beach the following am; grabbed some more complimentary coffee and headed to whole foods for breakfast; then home…..
So you see we did not miss out on anything! We had drinks, fun activities, good food, and a beautiful resort to stay in, and we didn’t have to take a loan out to enjoy it!
The whole weekend with-out the cost of our room came to a grand total of: $259.20 that includes the groceries we arrived with!
If we would have not pre-planned we would have spent quadruple that if not more!
Here’s a recap on how to maintain a fun vacation budget:
1. Bring Snacks and lunch if possible. Also find your local grocery stores in the area so you can go there when you arrive to your destination.
2. Find coupons like restaurant.com, ask your hotel concierge for coupons, and google online.
3. Utilize the “free” activities in your area or at your hotel. The pool, jacuzzi, beach, etc…
4. Eat at restaurants off-sight or eat when your restaurant is having happy hour or specials.
Now you don’t have to worry about your vacation becoming a set-back to your financial gains!
Now let the vacation planning begin!
Fit Chic