A kitchen pays off

If you're into gourmet meals three times a day, traveling adds up. Airfare is the top expense, followed by accommodations, travel once you're at your destination and food you eat. It doesn't need to be that way.

Look for hostels, hotel rooms or airbnbs that include kitchens, where you cook your own meals.

You'll still get local flavor, because you'll be able to buy only local ingredients (see Be brave; buy groceries). But you'll save a lot of money by cooking your own meals.

We were warned that Rome was an expensive place, so we made sure that our little apartment was close to the sites we wanted to see and included a small kitchen. Breakfast was coffee, tea, hot chocolate or a cappuccino (the Italian belief is that you consume milk-based products only in the morning) with a couple slices of toast. Lunch and supper were pasta with local tomato sauce on top. Between meals, and occasionally substituting for meals, we enjoyed street food - many flavors of gelato, many cups of coffee and an occasional pizza. Zero guilt. The money was minimal, the learning was huge and we returned with a new appreciation of the culture.

It didn't "ruin us" for American-Italian food. Cheap pasta, pizza and gelato still tasted good to us. But it did teach us some things about the culture, the food and budgeting. These are lessons you can learn, too - and save money while you're at it.