A Frugal Mini Vacation
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This weekend, Mr. Money and I took a mini vacation to meet our best friends in Indianapolis, Indiana. We haven’t had a vacation since last year, and I couldn’t wait! I set aside some money in my “secret account” so that we’d be able to pay cash for everything. Here’s what we spent:
Hotel & Travel
$45- Hotel (we stayed at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Indianapolis and this was an employee rate-score!)
~$30- Gas
$20- Parking at hotel
$12- Parking at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch
Food
$26- Saturday lunch at Hard Rock Cafe
$44- Saturday dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery
$20- Drinks with my BFF at Champps bar
$0- Free breakfast buffet at hotel
$0- Didn’t eat lunch
$23- Sunday Lunch/Dinner at Olive Garden
$4- Walgreens for water (us) and snacks for my nephew.
Total: $224. Not bad!
Here are the positives and negatives:
+ Saved money by visiting the Indianapolis Children’s Museum on free day
+ Enjoyed the pool for free entertainment
+ Got an employee rate on an amazing room
- Parking! We spent $32 on parking alone, ugh.
- Couldn’t find anyone to watch the dogs so we had to board them ($52 for two nights)
I will say that the Sunday dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery was really fun. I only ordered an appetizer for dinner so I would save money and calories, but I also had a beer and I usually don’t do that. It was definitely worth the money! I told Mr. Money that we should save our money instead of going out to lunch or dinner at cheap places and go out for a nice dinner once a month and spend $50. Much more enjoyable!
We also visited the Children’s Museum on Sunday and it was free. We had four adults and three kids, so I’m sure we saved a good chunk of change! If you live in or near Indianapolis, I believe they do a free day at the museum once a month, and it is definitely fun! We had a blast.
Having my cash envelope was so freeing. I knew how much money we had left to spend and didn’t have to worry about going over budget. I also didn’t have to worry about writing things down in our checkbook, which drives me nuts sometimes!
It was money well spent. Vacations are a great investment in your mental health! What are your favorite frugal mini-vacations?
