Tips for Saving Money on Your Timeshare Vacation

If you’re feeling a pinch in your pocketbook, and would like to stretch your dollars on your next timeshare vacation, consider these hints:
Remember to pack toiletries and first-aid items

It’s a hassle, and it’s expensive, to pick up sunscreen, make-up and other toiletries once you’re on vacation. Make a check-list of all your personal items, medicines, band-aids and ointments that you don’t want to forget to pack before you leave home. Also, be sure to pack anything that might be confiscated at the airport in your luggage rather than your carry-on bag. It can be expensive to replace these items after you’ve reached your destination.
Use your timeshare’s kitchen

Stock your timeshare’s refrigerator to store milk and juice for cereal breakfasts. Same goes for sandwich fixings for lunch, beer for happy hour, and fruit for late-night snacks.

Eat like a local

In Europe, pack a picnic lunch of a baguette, cheese and ham. In the Caribbean, eat fresh fruit from roadside markets. Find neighborhood restaurants or pack lunches made from items picked up from local grocery stores, and you’ll save a bundle of money that you can then spend at a more upscale restaurant once or twice during your vacation.

Don’t use the phone in your timeshare unit

Buy a local phone card or purchase an international calling card before you leave home.

Explore on your own

In touristy locales like Mexico, there are plenty of outfitters offering snorkeling, ruins and other sightseeing tours–for a lot of money. Oftentimes, it’s cheaper just to rent a car or take a taxi to the sightseeing location or beach and enjoy it at your own pace. Ask the front desk or the concierge at your timeshare resort how to rent a car, take public transportation or otherwise get to where you want to go. Be sure to ask if the public transportation or the area you’d like to visit is safe for foreigners to check out on their own.

Bargain for souvenirs

Again, going off the beaten path will help you save money while you’re on vacation. Hit a touristy shopping area and you’ll spend much more than if you seek out less-traveled markets. In places like Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean don’t be afraid to bargain if you’re shopping at an open-air market. Bargaining for items it typically expected. Just don’t come down too low if you’ve found an item you really want to bring home!

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