If you are traveling on a budget and don’t want to be spending an obscene amount of your travel money on where you stay, it is possible to find cheap accommodations. The trick is to avoid paying standard hotel rates or even in avoiding hotels altogether. If you are willing to look, cheap accommodations are out there.

If you are spending a week or two in a traditional resort, it is worth your time to look into packaged flight and hotel deals. Also, if you are booking your hotel, it is possible to pay a lot less for the same room. Don’t expect prices for a hotel room to be standard. A price on one site can be totally different on a different site. So always check the hotel’s site first for any deals, and then check hotel comparison sites. This will ensure that you get the cheapest price available for that room.

If you are traveling to more than one place, or are just looking for a comfortable place to sleep at night, you can save even more money. Hostels are not just for students anymore, and they are incredibly cheap alternatives to hotels. They are in virtually every city in the world, and many are clean, friendly, and include amenities like laundry and food.

Other options are camping, or doing a home-stay, house swap or couchsurf. For doing a home-stay, you can ask the tourist center for any families that have registered. A couchsurf can be found by going to couchsurfing.com. These are both great ways of meeting people and learning more about the local culture. A house swap lets you trade houses with someone in another country. As long as you’re willing to take on the risk of having a stranger in your house, you can’t beat the price …at free. You can register through Craigslist or through an agency.