The Dispatch
Budget travel posts that don't list actual numbers are useless. The posts here put a dollar figure on every trip: $180 weekend, $60-a-night state-park cabin, $14 lake-town lunch, $9 inflator that doesn't work and the $40 one that does. We cover the stuff that's actually free — public lake beaches, ranger-led talks, scenic byways with no entry fee — and the stuff that looks cheap until you do the math. None of it requires couponing. None of it pretends a "free" credit-card-points trip is really free. Just trips that come in under what you'd expect.
6 posts tagged Budget Travel. See all posts →
Gas is more expensive today than it has been in nearly 4 years. Filling up the tank each week takes a huge chunk out of your budget and every little penny you save helps. Here's a few smart ways to save.
Two stations a mile apart, same gas, almost $.75 difference in price. Why, you say?!?! Once you know, you can drive right past the expensive one.
Your right foot costs more than the station two exits up, and the federal numbers say so.
Did you know...that empty roof rack on your car is quietly costing you up to $220 a year? Yup, that's a ton of coin for unused car fashion accessory.
Five weekend escapes within 3 hours of Chicago, priced down to the gas tank, with the math to prove they're actually cheap.
Groceries are up, rent's up, and a "normal" family vacation now runs close to eight grand. Cheap road trips from Chicago are the workaround, especially since Illinois happens to be one of seven states where state park admission is free. Here's where to point the car.
