Two of my friends met for the first time on the October Las Vegas girls trip, and they are both hikers. I worked with one in Seattle, and one in the bay area & they are both incredibly women. We started talking about a future hiking trip together, and finally coordinated some dates for the end of March. I've been very excited about this trip, but knowing it was coming in between two expensive international trips (New Zealand & Greece), I needed to do it on a budget.
Here's how I minimized cost, and how much I spent, for a trip that went from Wednesday-Sunday.
Lodging: - $0
- I booked a free night (with a small hotel credit + $50 of free gambling money) through my hotel rewards. One of my friends flew in a night early to hang out in Las Vegas, so she shared the room with me, making it free for both of us.
- Same friend who met me in Las Vegas has a vacation condo in St. George, and we stayed with her for the rest of the trip.
Flights: - $0
- I booked a round trip Southwest flight for just under the $500 credit I received from my Chase credit card. I think I have about $60 left on the credit that I can use for a future purchase.
Transportation - $57 for shuttle
- My friend with the condo rented a car to get us from Las Vegas to St. George & Zion, and she is staying in St. George for a week longer than we are. I bought groceries & parking (below) & offered to pay for part of the car rental, but she was happy with the free night in Las Vegas our first night.
- My second friend & I took a shuttle from St. George to the Las Vegas airport on Sunday, as my condo owning friend was planning to stay longer.
- M dropped me off on Wednesday on the way to the airport, and picked me up on the way home.
Food: - $299.41
- I used hotel credits & my loyalty offer to pay for dinner on Wednesday night for me + my condo friend + breakfast & coffee on Thursday morning.
- The rest of the food totaled $299.41, and third friend & I shared the cost of groceries, coffee supplies, meals, etc for our friend with the condo, as a thank you for her sharing her place with us.
- Packed a sandwich & protein bar for the flight home (as did my friend flying back with me), to avoid airport food.
Activities:
- My friend & I gambled a bit & I used my "big" $50 of free gambling money that came with my room, and I also brought money from my January winning. ($500, which I've not included, as it comes from a previous slot win & I set aside in cash for this trip.)
- The rest of the time included free activities - plenty of hiking, laughing & hanging out by the pool, drinking free wine (picked up in the casino as part of my friend's comps) on the patio.
Other stuff: - $21.60
- I bought no gear for the trip, as I had all of the hiking stuff needed for our day trips. I used my Osprey day hiking bag that I got for free a few years ago as a work giveaway. It's fantastic for these trips. I also used my water bladder that I bought for Moab a few years ago.
- I brought a few snacks & electrolytes from home.
- I did, however, need to buy a hat at the park, when mine went missing. Turned out it was buried under another bag in the car. The good news is that a receipt from the gift shop covers parking at Zion, so all was well. I spent $21.60 on the hat.
Overall, I came in at $378.01 against my total budget I set of $800. Would love to hear about any fun budget trips you've planned!
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