When you think “spring break,” what do you see? Perhaps colossal crowds of scantily clad college kids blindly dancing across the beach? Maybe a blur of bikinis and tanned six-packs with bottles of Corona and shots of tequila carelessly ornamenting lounge chairs and floating in the pool? How about crystal blue ocean water, palm trees and white sand? With spring break rapidly approaching for many, most expect the weeklong respite to take a toll not only on their livers, but their wallets as well. What can you do to avoid the potentially bottomless money pit during your spring break? A few veteran spring breakers gave me the inside scoop on the issues of spending and splurging:
“At my school, everyone in Greek life planned one big trip to Acapulco through a travel group called Bianchi-Rossi. Except for the cabs to and from the clubs at night, everything was all-inclusive. That means food, drinks, and most other things at the resort. We were even let into the off-site clubs for free. By doing an all-inclusive deal, we didn’t need to continuously dish out a week’s worth of 20 dollar bills for every dinner and night of partying.”
- Sarah C., Senior, University of Michigan
“Although it’s not the most fun way to spend spring break, I’m going home for mine. Since I need to save up money for things I want to do at school (going out to dinner with friends, buying drinks at the bar, plus paying for textbooks and other school-related things), I figured it would probably be in my best interest to go back to Pennsylvania for the week and mooch off the parents!”
- Leah R., Sophomore, Ithaca College
“I think that when you go on a spring break vacation somewhere, you should plan something that is all-inclusive so you don’t have to worry about overspending on every occasion. Instead, you can eat and drink for free, and you’ll probably only need to spend money on things like postcards, souvenir shot glasses and other inexpensive things that you might want to buy to remember the trip.”
- Jessica L., University of Wisconsin
“If it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip to somewhere really cool, I don’t see the problem with dropping a little extra cash if it means I’m going to have an even better time. For example, if it’s an extra $30 for a booze cruise or an extra $25 for a nice meal, I’m okay with spending it because it’s an experience I’m not going to get once I’m back home.”
- Ryan M., Cornell University
Photo: at http://brokestudentguide.blogspot.com/2012/03/save-money-on-spring-break-tips-and.html
