One of my friends and I have never seen the ocean, so that is a definite must while we are on our trip.  It will take a little over a day to drive there and then we plan on staying for about three days.  In order to make the most of our money we plan on packing lots of food and only buying three meals at restaurant prices while we are there.  Most of our money will be sent on entertainment, which we plan on saving on as well, and gas money, as well as lodging if we are not able to make arrangement with our friend.  We figure it will cost no more than $400 per person when we left a large amount for emergencies and unforeseen expenditures.  This is a lot of money for three college students to fork up, but we have about eight months to save (so $50 a month) and we have come up with a couple ways to raise some money:

-Hold a garage sale.  I have always wanted to do this anyway, but because I live in the middle of nowhere while I am at my parents house, we would have to rent out a space to hold the sale if just selling our family’s items.  With two friends and their families to join in (one living in town) we already have a house and garage to hold the sale at as well as many more items which means more people will stop by.  This will be the perfect opportunity to clean out my old toys, books, magazines, videos, and other miscellaneous items as well raise money for our trip.

-Donate plasma.  I have never given blood because I am very afraid of having a needle sitting in my arm.  I have wanted to do it since I became old enough, but the fright-factor has always kept me away.  It might sound horrible that I am considering it now and wasn’t before, but I think what I have needed this whole time was more reason to do it than just because it is a good cause because that doesn’t make me get it in a certain time frame which led me to putting it off.  Now that I want to get some money by August, I am willing to look past my fear not only because I want money, but because I have wanted to do this for quite some time because it’s a good thing to do.

-Sell crafts.  I have been lacking ambition of sewing things for money, but now I have a reason to really start.  Now that I have my new sewing machine I need more projects to try on it, so making aprons or children’s stuffed toys to sell will be much easier.  If you haven’t noticed, it is hard for me to start something new when I don’t absolutely need to.  This trip may help me find a part time job while I am saving up at the same time.

I can’t wait to start planning all the details of the short trip.  I’d love any money-raising or vacation-planning tips you could give me.  What was your last trip and how did you save money?