Coupon Queen: Vacation on a budget

My family recently returned from a relaxing vacation in the Outer Banks in Duck, North Carolina, and it was our fifth time visiting this laid back beachside community. Whether traveling to the Outer Banks or another beach town, you can have a great beach vacation without breaking the bank. Here are a few things we did to save a few bucks without sacrificing an ounce of fun. Go early We try to book our summer vacation as soon as our boys start summer break. Vacation home rentals for the summer are at their lowest at the end of May and the beginning of June, but they start to skyrocket just a few weeks later. Some double and even triple in price during July. Start looking for next year's rates this fall as they can book up fast. Rent with friends Luxury vacation homes and condos can be expensive, but it can be more affordable if you can split them with family or a group of friends. Our luxury home would have been entirely out of our family budget. But split between our group, it was around $25 per night per person. Our three-story, seven-bedroom house had 10 bathrooms, two kitchens, a large in-ground pool, hot tub, pool table, media room, basketball court and sand volleyball court. It even had an elevator! Best of all, it was a quick walk to the beach. Enjoy free activities Our family is usually on the go, so we enjoy a little downtime on vacation. When we do venture out, we look for as many free things to do as possible. Most of our days were at the beach, where I brought along a packed picnic lunch. We also visited the Bodie Lighthouse grounds and learned its history from a park ranger. On another day, we visited the Fort Raleigh National Historic site, where we learned about England's first settlement on Roanoke Island. All of these activities were free. If you are looking for more activities, seek out the social media pages for the town you visit. You may be able to find festivals, movie nights and community day events for free. The earlier you can research, the better. Cook Food can be the biggest budget buster on vacation. To save, our group brought a lot of food and drinks that we found on sale here in Ohio. In addition, each family picked a night to cook dinner for the group. When visiting the grocery stores in town, we looked for sale items and stuck to a shopping list. Our family of five ate out for two lunches and one dinner. Doing this allowed us to savor local specialties while staying on budget. If you choose to eat out more often, check for daily specials at area restaurants as soon as you arrive or, even better, before leaving for vacation. Coupons While we didn't need any this trip, I'm always looking for coupon books. These books will often show you the entertainment options in your vacation town and will offer some money-saving coupons. Last year we used coupons for the personal watercraft that we rented and on a game of miniature golf the teens on the trip played. Our beach vacation was just what we needed to start our summer. I'm excited that we were able to do it and save money, but the memories we made are priceless. This week's deal Here's a deal to grab this week at CVS. Buy 2 L'Oreal Elvive hair care products — $4.99 each Total = $9.98 Use the $3/2 L'Oreal Elvive hair care products digital manufacturer's coupon (found at CVS online or its app) Pay $6.98 Get back $5 ExtraBucks (these can be spent like cash in the store) Final cost: $1.98 total — 99 cents each! Rachel Krych is passionate about helping others spend less and save more. In addition to her weekly column, she has a blog, Couponing With Rachel, which earns her compensation from Google for ads it places there, and from entertainment marketers whose promotional codes she touts. She doesn't write about entertainment in her column. Email her at couponingwithrachel@hotmail.com.