Last November, I went on my first “grownup” vacation, as I like to call it. In other words, I traveled somewhere without my parents, which meant that I paid for everything — transportation, food, entertainment, you name it. While it initially hurt to spend so much money, as I’m notoriously cheap, it ended up being one of the best experiences of my life. Even better, thanks to my frugality, the trip wasn’t nearly as expensive as it could have been. All in all, I think spent around $1,150 and saved around $1,075 on a week-long trip. Here’s how I did it.
Transportation
This will probably hurt my credibility a bit, but I figure it’s best to be honest so you can learn from my mistake. My vacation actually got off to an expensive start. While my two friends and I started talking about the trip eight months in advance, we had a hard time committing and missed out on the cheapest tickets. However, booking a couple months in advance was better than waiting until the very last minute, since I was able to get my ticket to Juneau, then Anchorage, then back home to San Jose, California, for $675, saving more than if I had waited longer or went for only direct flights.
In my experience, all of those articles that tell you to plan ahead (but not too far in advance) are true. We checked prices constantly, found the cheapest tickets about three months before our departure date, then watched them rise again.
The car situation was smoother. While we were in Juneau, we stayed with my friend who’s currently working there and could use her car. In Anchorage, instead of paying for a pricey rental car that would have come with a bunch of fees, we decided to go through a company that allows people to rent their cars to others. We ended up paying around $150, or $50 each, which was cheaper than any rental car option we could find.
Transportation total: ~$725 What I could have paid: ~$875 ($800 for flights, $75 for my share of the rental car)
Amount saved: ~$150
Housing
Housing was definitely an area where our budget shined. Since we had a friend living in Alaska, we got to stay at her place while we were in Juneau. We then rented an Airbnb for our stay in Anchorage. The Airbnb was a huge, ridiculously cheap guest house — only $59 a night for the entire place — that was much cheaper than any of the hotels we looked at. And our friend was so happy we came to visit that she generously paid for our stay!
Housing total: $59 (but technically $0) What I could have paid: ~$50/night at $300
Amount saved: ~$241
Souvenirs
We visited Alaska in November, which didn’t fall into the typical tourist season. Since demand was low, many souvenir shops had great sales, with many items marked down by 50 percent or more. Even better, the places we visited weren’t swimming with tourists, so we got some great pictures, which might have been the greatest souvenir of all.
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One note of caution: Since visiting Alaska in the winter isn’t a super popular decision, a lot of souvenir shops were closed. Still, we were able to leave with everything we wanted.
Souvenirs total: ~$100 What I could have paid: ~$200
Amount saved: ~$100
Food
As far as we could tell from our research, Alaska isn’t really known for food the way other cities like Paris or San Francisco are, so we decided to cook the majority of our meals. Buying groceries and cooking ended up saving a ton of money. Since restaurant prices in Alaska were pretty steep, I could have seen us easily spending $50 a day on food. Instead, we spent $72 (or $24 per person) for the entire week, plus around $20 for miscellaneous meals eaten out.
Food total: ~$50 What I could have paid: ~$350 at $50/day
Amount saved: ~$300
Entertainment
Many people visit Alaska for its beautiful landscapes, and we were no exception. Luckily for our wallets, hiking is free, and we took advantage of that by immersing ourselves in nature for our entire time in Juneau.
However, we knew we couldn’t go to Alaska without doing a truly Alaskan activity, so we spent $250 for a day of glacier walking in Anchorage. While this may seem steep, the price included transportation, snacks, equipment, a guided tour of the glacier, a restaurant meal and a souvenir — well worth the money in my opinion. I mean, look at that glacier! We also paid about $25 for other miscellaneous activities, like visiting the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to see some cool native animals.
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If we had done other popular activities such as dog sledding, a helicopter tour or kayaking, we could have easily added several hundred dollars to the final bill. The key to saving money in our case was practicing moderation — balancing our huge splurge with a bunch of other cheap, but highly satisfying activities.
Entertainment total: ~$275 What I could have paid: ~$500
Amount saved: ~$225
The Bottom Line
Vacations can be expensive, but they’re meant to be enjoyed. In my opinion, the best way to save money while traveling is to cut back in areas that you don’t really care about (in my case, food and housing) and instead put more money toward other aspects that you really want to enjoy. Using this strategy helped me save a bunch of money, so I hope it can help you, too. Happy saving and happy travels!
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How I Saved Over $1,000 on a Trip to Alaska originally appeared on usnews.com
