On road trips, do you pack lunches? What are some other ways to save?

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Our vacations only consist of two day trips around where we live-there is tons of stuff to see. So what I do is pack a cooler full of water bottles, capri suns and lots of snacks-granola bars, cheese sticks, fruit, microwave popcorn, etc. We usually stay at a hotel and if we do we make sure that it has a continenal breakfast and that is where we eat our first meal of the day. Plus if they have any packaged muffins or more fruit, we will each pick out one for a snack later in the day. Usually we will just snack on all the stuff in the cooler for lunch. We do most of the time eat dinner out, but I always do some research first to see what places have kids eat free deals.

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When we're driving/traveling to/from, I sometimes pack stuff because we don't like fast food. Otherwise we often eat out because we like to find fun local places to eat and get the 'flavor' of an area - no pun intended. LOL

It really depends on where we're going and what we're doing...sometimes we're in a hotel and sometimes we've rented a condo, where we can do more cooking on our own. For us, it's not about saving so much money as it is just eating better/healthier food since we're pretty picky - we don't eat at chains or fast food resturants.

We pack juice boxes, granola bars, fruit snacks, fresh fruit, muffins, and snack items like Goldfish crackers. We usually are in a hotel that has a continental breakfast and we eat there. I also try and bring coupons for different fast food restaurants that I might have.

usually we eat breakfast very late, because we like to sleep in, so, we don't really eat lunch, maybe just something quick like a fruit or something.
dinner, we try to use coupons,
if you are going to hawaii, everytime i've been, there's always coupon booklets everwhere! and you better believe we use them.
other couple of times we went on a cruise, which seems expensive, but really,
once there, i must of spend only about $100 for the whole time, bc everything is included!
(not included only some alcohol and nightly daycare) but childrens club during the day, 100% free of charge.
(my son, omg, you couldn't get him out of there! )
which means more "me" time!

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If we're staying at a hotel, we usually get one that serves a continental breakfast. Since that's pretty much all we eat for breakfast anyway, that meal is virtually free. Then, while we're out and touring around, we stop for a nice lunch. That is our biggest meal of the day. That means dinner is no big deal. We have something light, usually from the grocery store and whatever snacks we have on hand in the car or kept at the hotel room.

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I like to plan ahead, sometimes too much if you ask my DH.

With one of the boys still napping we are almost always in for lunch. However, I always make it a point to eat out for dinner. Afterall - it is a vacation!


Have a trip planned to Myrtle Beach in 3 weeks and already have the dinner sites picked out!

If we'll be in the car for more than three hours, we pack a small meal and snacks.
We typically go to the beach for a few days each summer. We pack lunch for the trip there. We bring our own breakfasts -- usually just cereal or cereal bars -- and lunches. We plan to eat half of our dinners "in" and half "out." Last year I made a big pot of meat sauce. We had pasta the first night. I added some seasonings to part of the leftover sauce for sloppy joes. The remaining meat sauce became chili with the addition of beans and different seasonings.

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When we go on family ski trips we go with my entire family plus my sister's in-laws and sometimes friends. We have anywhere from 20-28 people on these trips. We always rent a house. We plan out our meals and buy groceries. We generally eat all 3 meals at the house (or take a sandwhich to the slopes). I think in the past it has come out to about $30 per person for the entire week of food! Our meals are pretty big - VERY good meals too. Turkey one night, Tacos, spaghetti. Plus always big breakfasts - egg casseroles, breakfast burritos. We probably eat better on the ski trips than we do at home!

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WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

We save the most by:
Staying in a hotel that includes a free breakfast with your stay.
Pack healthy snacks (keeps everyone's energy up too!)
case of bottled water
I bring coupons for Subway and Pizza Hut to use for lunch, and for dinner we always like to try something local.