Budget Traveling to Aruba

[cpjones]

We just plain do not budget. We do make some financial decisions such as choosing days to fly with lower rates or a less pricy meal. We stay where we love even though there are lot of cheaper options. For the past couple of years we've treated each trip like it might be our last.... so we simply do what we want!

Of course, after doing some preliminary research for next summer.... and finding major increases.... I may do some re-thinking on this!

[WaltVB]

We don't budget much either. We splurge and fly first class and stay for 3 weeks or more. We make our own adult drinks for the beach or pool, we don't gamble and seldom hit any fine dining restaurants so that saves us a bunch of money.

[SusieLovesAruba]

Of course, after doing some preliminary research for next summer.... and finding major increases.... I may do some re-thinking on this!

The flight costs are what I find ridiculous anymore, living in the mid-west sucks too as there are no longer any direct flights. That's my biggest concern when setting up travel it seems is the flight costs.

[phrogg108]

The flight costs are what I find ridiculous anymore, living in the mid-west sucks too as there are no longer any direct flights. That's my biggest concern when setting up travel it seems is the flight costs.

THIS. 1000 times this. Flying out of Ohio to pretty much anywhere is so expensive. The biggest expense of our trip is always the flights. We have done first class by choice and I have gotten some great deals, but I am not sure we are going to be able to do that anymore. We also choose to stay at an Airbnb and the host gives us a heckuva deal on the place, so we are able to splurge a little (a lot) on the rest of the trip since we save so much on the accommodations. If it were not for the Airbnb and the deal she gives us, we would not be able to afford to go.

[cpjones]

THIS. 1000 times this. Flying out of Ohio to pretty much anywhere is so expensive. The biggest expense of our trip is always the flights. We have done first class by choice and I have gotten some great deals, but I am not sure we are going to be able to do that anymore. We also choose to stay at an Airbnb and the host gives us a heckuva deal on the place, so we are able to splurge a little (a lot) on the rest of the trip since we save so much on the accommodations. If it were not for the Airbnb and the deal she gives us, we would not be able to afford to go.

....and then there's the jewelry budget..... just sayin'.....

[Aruba4ever]

Haha-

....and then there's the jewelry budget..... just sayin'.....

[phrogg108]

....and then there's the jewelry budget..... just sayin'.....

Yeahhhh... that was an "unexpected expense" this year. Ugh...

[Laura in NH]

I'm probably not the one to answer this question. I have a separate bank account where a small portion of my paycheck is directly deposited. This account plus 11 months worth of daily coin dumps into my jar are my budget, but I can usually be very comfortable and even splurge a bit. My annual Aruba trip and my annual long weekend in NC to visit a friend are my fun each year so I work to enjoy them to the fullest.

Going 3 weeks this year instead of 2 made me reconsider or think hard about a couple of things. I am seriously thinking of removing 2 of the higher priced restaurants from my list going forward, though.

[Arawak]

Best way to save money when it comes to food is to skip fine dining and eat like the locals. Locals love takeout; call ahead and order and go eat along the beach or at home/place of stay. 8-15$ and you can get a full meal that may be even more in quantity than at any expensive restaurant. Could even be better than the restaurant food you end up paying 5x or more for. Arubans like eating out at restaurants too, but it gets old after a while. No need to spend thousands on food every month when you can have different local dishes for a whole week for the price of one night out at a medium priced restaurant.

A lot of it is takeout because many of these places are food trucks, small establishments with little capacity, family run, open only for lunch break etc. I can understand of course that when you are on vacation you want to sit down and eat somewhere, but if you don't mind eating on the beach or at your place of stay, there's a lot of money to be saved. Plus, many of those fine dining restaurants aren't even Aruban owned anymore, so you'd be contributing far more to locals directly while saving money and having a great meal.

[schexc]

Best way to save money when it comes to food is to skip fine dining and eat like the locals. Locals love takeout; call ahead and order and go eat along the beach or at home/place of stay. 8-15$ and you can get a full meal that may be even more in quantity than at any expensive restaurant. Could even be better than the restaurant food you end up paying 5x or more for. Arubans like eating out at restaurants too, but it gets old after a while. No need to spend thousands on food every month when you can have different local dishes for a whole week for the price of one night out at a medium priced restaurant.

A lot of it is takeout because many of these places are food trucks, small establishments with little capacity, family run, open only for lunch break etc. I can understand of course that when you are on vacation you want to sit down and eat somewhere, but if you don't mind eating on the beach or at your place of stay, there's a lot of money to be saved. Plus, many of those fine dining restaurants aren't even Aruban owned anymore, so you'd be contributing far more to locals directly while saving money and having a great meal.

This would be a great topic for a new Thread. I'm sure we'd all love to hear your recommendations.