Saving some cash!

So Spencer and I just bought our flights home for Christmas. Yes, we got them months in advance. We actually should have gotten them a lot sooner, man prices are going crazy right now. Anyway, it made me think of getting flights and travel for Spencer for interviews. I thought I would share a few pointers that we used for saving money while Spence was traveling for interviews.

Spencer went to 9 interviews. 8 of which were outside of Utah (where we lived). That meant a lot of travel. We quickly learned a few tricks to save money where we could. BYU has a list of those attending med schools that offered to have interviewing students stay with them. Other schools offer this same type of thing. We thought about doing this but Spence decided he needed his own place to relax and prep before his interviews. So we booked a lot of hotels.

Name your own price on priceline became our best friend. I was able to find some 4 star hotels for 1 star prices (score!). I got really good of knowing how much we could bid and when to wait etc. Test it out a bit. You can pick the area and star levels you are interested in.

Food. Now a boy has got to eat. Especially before an interview. But we found that spending money at the airport was a place we could save. I made lunches for Spence before he left. Though it wasn't much it was a meal he could eat on the plane or when he got to his hotel. We also packed him treats for those nights after the interviews.Also ask for specials and discounts. A lot of places will give discounts (hotels included) to those coming for interviews.

Double up on interviews. This saved us big amounts of money. When we could schedule his interviews we scheduled them days apart. It was nice for him to hit up two schools out east in one trip. Always ask if you can reschedule if you find out about another interview close by. Schools want to help you out as much as possible too.

Airlines do great deals in the fall. Sign up for watch lists so you know when a sale is happening. We're still on a lot of lists...hopefully that means we can fly home sometimes!

So there you go! My biggest point of advice...always ask for deals. Ask the school before you go and interview if they have a contract with a hotel or a restaurant. More times than not they will have some cheaper options for you.

Good luck during the interview season!