The 5 Day 4 Night $200 Vacation

I finally had to return to work today after 11 glorious days off. The first half of my time off was spent with family celebrating the holidays, and the second half was spent with family on vacation in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. We stayed in a 7 bedroom cabin complete with hot tub, big TV, pool table, 3 floors, 7 bedrooms, and a view of the Sacandaga Lake. The trip was filled with lots of snow, hikes up mountains, great food, fun people, movies, wiiing, and more! I had a great time and feel rested.

How did we enjoy such a great vacation on such small budget? Let’s break down the expenses to see exactly how it happened.

• $100 for gas and tolls. 280 miles and 5 hours one way to Hadley, New York.
• $75 for food. Since we went with 7 other people, we were only responsible for two meals and our own snacks. Every meal that was prepared was really delicious, and we even ate healthy for a vacation!
• $25 for miscellaneous. Rest stops, etc.
• $0 for entertainment. The snow, hiking, wii, movies, hot tub, pool table, friends, professional masseuse(sister-in-law), food, jigsaw puzzles, and children gave us more than enough to do. Everything, especially the 20 inches of snow were awesome.
• $0 for the house. The house was courtesy of my mom, The Happy Rock(er). Here boss provided free use of the house as a perk for being an employee.

You can say we got lucky with the use of the house, and we did, but those sorts of opportunities do arise when you network and help others. Some tips to help cut the other costs of vacation are to invite other people, so a lot fo the common costs are divided up. Also, plan to relax and go with the flow so that you can take full advantage of the ‘natural’ beauty atomsphere of the area. Finally, provide your own entertainment.

Can’t beat $40 a day for a wonderful snow filled retreat!