I can’t tell you how excited I am to go home to Montreal today. I was there in November, so it’s been awhile. I woke up this morning so relaxed and happy! My flight isn’t till this evening so I am able to take the whole day to pack, though it only really takes me about 15 minutes to do that.

As you know, money is tight right now but I was able to cash in some of my Groupon type coupons for several services. I tend to buy those when I have a little more money in my pocket so when things are a bit tight I can use them which saves me money.

FRUGAL HAIR AND NAILS

Ok, so I needed a hair cut (it had been two months!) and a few extra highlights to get rid of the last of the red in my hair.  I paid $59 for this coupon several weeks ago. It included 10 highlights, deep treatment hair mask, hair cut & styling. It also included 2 manicures which I haven’t cashed in yet. The salon uses ALL organic products on my hair, which I fell in love with. Here is the company: Eufora. I am definitely going to be picking up the treatment mask which makes your head tingle and feel alive! The serum also doesn’t weigh your hair down and tends to work better on fine hair than the Moroccan Oil. None of their products have waxes or silicone in them, amazing line.

I also realized that I hadn’t had a pedicure in awhile and hadn’t gotten around to doing it myself either. Yep, I was being lazy. The only coupons I had for pedicures were for a salon that is too far for me to walk to and unfortunately the buses are still on strike. I had to cancel an existing appointment because of this strike. So what now? I found a gift certificate I had bought at a discount awhile back for a body scrub at a local spa downtown. I emailed them and asked if I could use it for a pedicure instead (which was cheaper anyway). They agreed, so I got a deluxe pedicure and was able to tip the esthetician with the remaining cash from that gift certificate. No money spent!

I tackled my own finger nails and used Chanel Graphite on them as this polish lasts a long time and I won’t have to redo them while in Montreal. I also find that polishes with some glitter in it lasts a really long time. To make basic polish last, I use two top coats and with less expensive polishes I sometimes use 3 coats. This colour is great for day and night!

EMERGENCY TRAVEL COFFEE

I also picked up a package of Starbucks VIA Coffee, this is my go-to travel coffee in case of emergency. I’ve used them at airports and just gone to a Starbucks to ask them to give me hot water. I usually have a thermal mug with me as well. It’s great in a pinch, for the coffee fanatic. Although I am not a real fan of Starbucks coffee, this is hand’s down the best instant coffee around. And if you found something better, please let me know!

Thanks to my monthly Glymm & LuxeBoxes, I was able to bring tons of luxury travel size beauty items for my trip. If you haven’t signed up for Glymm or LuxeBox, check them out. The $10-12 a month I pay (incl. shipping!) has saved me a LOT of money over time. You always get quality luxury products to try. What I do, is bring travel size wrinkle cream, eye cream, hair oil, shampoo…usually all of it from these boxes. So I can travel with awesome products and leave my full sized ones at home. They will be coming out with a men’s box soon too which my partner is really looking forward to. Really, these boxes are like getting presents in the mail every month. Amazing. I wrote an article about them here: LUXEBOX & GLYMMBOX

GROUP BUYING COUPONS CAN SAVE YOU CASH WHEN YOU TRAVEL
Roughly 2-3 weeks before I am about to board a plane to go somewhere, I check out group buying websites to find coupons for that area. I managed to pick up two of them: One for 2 boxes of luxury truffles from a fancy chocolate shop and one for a box of 24 macarons! These are things I purchase anyway when I go home, so having the discount is great. I usually pick up restaurant coupons as well but I have one leftover from the last time I was there, which is still valid.

WANT A FREE $25?

I also transferred money from my ING travel account. I put money in this account weekly. Over time it really ads up so when a trip comes up, my spending money is already saved up. If you are Canadian and want a FREE $25 open up an ING account online, just sign up HERE use this key #15832503S1 which will give you a FREE $25 in your account. How cool is this? I get $25 too, so it’s a win-win situation.

PACKING

Since I’ve become this nutty fashionista, I had to learn how to pack like a minimalist again. I discovered awhile ago that rolling your clothes is the best way to pack! I usually bring one pair of jeans, sweater, a few dresses for day/night and some jewelry to accessorize. I am gone for 4 days/nights and brought a small suitcase. I also bring my LO & SONS O.G BAG which works as a carry on AND a purse. I bought it for half price. It’s amazing and I’ve used it every time I travel. It’s been a life saver. It’s designed for people who travel a lot, and I can tell.

So now I’m ready to celebrate my birthday weekend in style AND frugally.

How do you prepare for traveling!?