When you haven’t budgeted for a vacation, but really need one, try a staycation

Vacations are essential. But if you are tight on cash yet still want to get a little rest and relaxation, perhaps a good alternative is a what’s termed as a “staycation”. 

Some would define a “staycation” as staying at home and then exploring the area around you, such as going to a local museum or theater. Basically, it means being a tourist in your own town. There are many different ways you can have a staycation by staying at home. You can take pottery or painting classes, visit a local park, read a book or binge watch movies.

This way you have your own bed. You don’t have to pack or worry about peak travel times at the airport. You save lots of money by not buying plane tickets, renting a car or booking accommodations. 

The key, however, is convincing yourself to not do the typical chores around the house and just relax. That means putting a home renovation project on hold for a couple of days or waiting to mow the lawn. 

But if you’re the type who can’t simply stay at home and not do household projects, the alternative staycation is getting far enough away from the house to remove the temptation. Let’s say you live in a large metropolitan area and you’re 40 miles from the central big city’s downtown. 

What you could do is be a tourist in downtown. It will cost you a little more money and require a little more planning than simply working from home base. 

Because you’re in the area, you’ll be able to figure the best time to book a hotel room and avoid the peak season. Perhaps there’s a historic building that’s been converted into a boutique hotel that strikes your fancy. Or you could find an Airbnb. 

If a hotel is the choice, there are some tricks to getting the most for your money. For example, consider a weekend getaway at a hotel that caters to businesspeople. The reason: businesspeople stay during the week, which means empty hotel rooms on the weekends. Weekdays command higher prices but hotels want to fill those weekend nights and charge a lower rate for the casual traveler. 

But for hotels catering to the casual traveler, you may be better off going midweek to get a lower price. Sunday to Thursday are the best days. 

Another trick is finding a hotel room at the last minute. This may be a challenge for the planner type who likes to have it all figured out weeks and months in advance. 

But you could score a nice luxury accommodation at a fraction of the cost by waiting until the last minute. Hotels get cancellations at the last minute and want to fill those rooms. There are mobile apps that can help you find those hotel rooms. Once at the hotel to check-in, you may be able to convince the staff to upgrade you to an even better room at no charge. 

A lot of budget experts suggest paying for cash as much as possible. But if you have good discipline with credit cards, you can check on whether or not you get reward points for the hotel stay. 

If you do, build up enough of those and you get better deals in the future. Combine those rewards with rewards you can build up with hotel loyalty programs and that staycation begins to look a lot more attractive. 

Maybe a downtown adventure isn’t your cup of tea. Instead, you prefer the quiet of a small-town setting or just want to be out in the country. There may be nice bed and breakfasts or inns within an hour’s drive from where you live. 

Just as you would with vacation travel, it’s a good idea to establish a budget for these types of short trips. The difference is you won’t have to save as much money as you would for a big vacation. 

You can save money by stashing it in a separate bank account you create specifically for travel. This account also will cover the trips to see family or for weddings. As your income and savings grow, maybe the staycations turn into longer vacations in faraway places.