My Frugal Trip to New Orleans

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Later this afternoon, I’m hopping on a plane to New Orleans for the financial blogger’s conference known as FinCon.

I absolutely love New Orleans, so I can’t wait to get there.  Bourbon street- with its smooth jazz, hookers, and stench of puke and trash- has been calling my name for some time now.

Watch out bitches, here I come!

Of course, I am also excited to meet some of my amazing online friends for the very first time.  On the other hand, I’m also scared.  My social skills have pretty much gone down the drain since I quit my job and started working from home 16 months ago.  I mean, I barely know how to talk to anyone outside of email and text anymore.  Simply put, I’m awkward.

Fortunately, I am bringing my hunky husband along for moral support.  If we start feeling uncomfortable, our plan is to skip out on the whole thing and head to Fritzel’s European Jazz Club to drink Absinthe and watch the characters who come in and out of the gay strip club across the street.

While usually not interesting, that particular club is home to guys wearing ass-less chaps and furry boots who will occasionally come outside and scale the side of the building. Good times.

My Frugal Trip to New Orleans

The cool thing is, most of our trip was paid for with credit card rewards.  Thanks to Southwest Rapid Rewards points and our Southwest Companion Pass, our flights only cost 14,000 Rapid Rewards points and $11.50 total…for two people!

Our hotel, which costs a total of $139 per night, will also be paid for with cash-back I earned from my Capital One Spark Business card.  #Winning

With that in mind, I budgeted $400 total for the trip:

  • $80 round-trip for a cab to our hotel
  • $320 for food, drinks, and entertainment

Breakfast and lunch are included in the fee for the convention, but I was afraid they wouldn’t have many vegetarian options so I went ahead and budgeted money to purchase my own meals.  I sincerely hope I won’t need that much, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Frugal Things to Do in New Orleans

Fortunately, there are plenty of free things to do in New Orleans.  In fact, one of my favorite things to do is walk up and down Bourbon and Royal and watch all the crazy people walk by.  In case you have never been, there are a ton of freaks in New Orleans on any given day.

I feel right at home.

Saint Louis Cemetery
Saint Louis Cemetery

I also love their historic cemeteries.  The area around them is a little sketchy, but the way they make me feel is hard to explain.  Walking into the Saint Louis Cemetery is like stepping back into another time and place and breathing in the very culture that is New Orleans.

Beyond those gems, New Orleans is home to numerous art galleries and museums, as well as  historic sites like Jackson Square and the French Quarter.  And with Harrah’s casino right outside the French Quarter, New Orleans is also a great place to play poker or craps….or try your hand at the slot machines.

I hope we have a blast and will definitely report back with some of the highlights of my trip!  In the meantime, check out some of my favorite pictures from other trips we’ve taken to the area:

nola 1nola 2

nola 3nola 4nola 5nola 6Have you ever been to New Orleans?  What is your favorite things to do in the “Big Easy?”

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41 Comments

  1. Have a great time! Wish i was going 🙁 can’t wait to hear more!

  2. Hope you have a fabulous time! I’m so jealous that I’m not going to FinCon :(. Hopefully next year!

  3. Hi Holly! hope you hav lots of fun on your trip to New Orleans. Don’t worry about your social skills, mine are naturally down the drain regardless whether I have a job or not lol. I also think it is normal for us bloggers to be a bit anti-social verbally. We express our lives to the world through writing. I gotta check out the Southwest Rapid points card 🙂

    1. Yes, you do. It is a great way to fly for free around the U.S.

      However, I would wait until a 50K offer comes back around. Right now the signup bonus is only 25K. 50K offers come around every 3 or 4 months.

  4. So jealous!! That castle is absolutely beautiful. When our debt is gone, we are definitely going to kick it up on the travel front big time. Have a great time at FINCON! Hugs to you all there.

  5. Enjoy your trip! I have never been to New Orleans. I’ve seen the videos and heard the stories. Hope to get there some day.

  6. Just drink a lot and THEN head to FinCon. You will be the life of the party.

  7. Have fun…can’t wait to hear about it. I always pictured you as a social butterfly not a wallflower…I’m sure you’ll be fine!

  8. Cherie Gary says:

    “The Louisiana diet will kill a man as surely as the sword.” – Anonymous …

    This is my home turf … as all tourists know, a trip to NO isn’t complete without a visit to Café du Monde, a cup of chicory coffee and some beignets. But if you want some off the beaten path yummy joints, here is a quick list …

    Lunch
    • Mother’s – a total dive, but yum-yum – try the Ferdi special or the jambalaya … the line moves quickly. 401 Poydras Street.
    • Central Grocery – 923 Decatur Street – for one of their famous muffulettas – split with someone as they are huge.
    • Dante’s kitchen – for brunch or lunch – contemporary Louisiana cuisine at the end of St. Charles, Ave.
    • Acme Oyster House

    Dinner
    I save so I can enjoy the occasional fabulous night out … There are a number of “institutions” in terms of restaurants in NO – go to as many as possible!

    • Commander’s Palace – 1403 Washington Ave. The symbol of the NO dining scene. Paul Prudhomme and Emeril trained here. The Brennan Family also owns Café Adelaide and a number of other famous restaurants in the area.
    • Galatoire’s – 209 Bourbon Street. A New Orleans tradition – enough said.
    • Emeril’s Delmonico – 1300 St. Charles. Reservations a must.
    • Arnaud’s – has the lowest profile of all the classic old NO restaurants , but makes up for it with great food.
    • Bayona – the chef, Susan Spicer, is considered a local treasure – superior food and one of the prettiest courtyards in the city

    Quirky but oh-so-worth it …
    • Elizabeth’s – superb eating and not expensive. 601 Gallier Street.
    • Willie Mae’s Scotch House – 2401 St. Ann Street – decimated by Hurricane Katrina and now restored the “secret recipe fried chicken” was named an American classic by the James Beard Association. No menu – the waiter recites it.
    • Dookey Chase – family owned, this institution has served prominent African Americans like Ray Charles … His song “Early in the morning” is about Dookey’s

    Drinking

    • Be sure to have a Sazerac, the New Orleans version of a Cognac
    • Abita Beer is the famous local brewery – made in the little town of Abita Springs on the opposite side of Lake Pontchartrain

    And depending on how long you will be there with free time … some fun things to do …
    • For live music: Tipitina’s is probably New Orleans’ most storied mecca of live music – the who’s who of soul, blue and jazz have graced its stages. If Jazz isn’t your thing, head uptown to the Maple Leaf to mix it up with funk, zydeco, blues and brass bands for live music 7 nights a week. On Frenchman’s Street The Spotted Cat and d.b.a show class musical acts.
    • Food biking tour – more food! Depending on the weather … http://confederacyofcruisers.com/ and http://confederacyofcruisers.com/new-orleans-culinary-bike-tour. If more food makes your stomach groan, they also do a cocktail tour.
    • Walking tour of the Garden District – IMHO the prettiest area of New Orleans with stately mansions, front porches for idling away long summer days. Best tour company IMHO – Historic New Orleans Tours – http://www.tourneworleans.com. Be sure not to miss Lafayette Cemetery.
    • For a more expansive tour, and I like this group as it employs people greatly impacted by Hurricane Katrina, there is also Tours by Isaballe – http://www.toursbyisabelle.com that does small group tours in passenger vans – she will take you not only to the French Quarter but also City Park, but also Longue Vue House and Gardens which is on the national register of historic places; St. John’s bayou, etc. They do a great half day plantation tour that if you have time is wonderful way to see the “Old South” …
    • Don’t skip the cemeteries – at the risk of sounding creepy, NO cemeteries are some of the prettiest in the world – St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 which is the most iconic, St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 (not in a great neighborhood so don’t go unless with a tour), Lafayette No. 1 (across the street from Commander’s Palace).
    • If you are into “legend” and want to try a cemetery and Vodoo tour, go with Historic New Orleans tours 504-947-2120. The rest are really hokey and tourist traps, this group is probably the one that is the most fact-based but still entertaining.
    • Walking tour of the French Quarter including the back garden at the St. Louis Cathedral
    • Music – Preservation Jazz Hall – it’s inexpensive and the real deal …

    Can’t wait!!!

  9. I’m jealous. I went to Mardi Gras when I was in my early 20’s. While that would not be my idea of fun now, it rocked way back when. I love New Orleans and hope to make it back as a functioning adult someday.

  10. Been there with the boyfriend for his birthday early this year. He was a bit apprehensive about mardi gras but he absolutely enjoyed it!

    It was such a quaint town and we ended up going home with a lot more goodies than we thought – good thing our bags managed to accomodate them 🙂

  11. New Orleans was at the top of my travel wish list pre-Katrina. I still haven’t made it down there yet. I would just love to see the buildings and architecture in person- there’s so much character.

  12. Have fun and I know the conference will be a blast, as past bloggers who attended can’t seem to get enough of the experience. I will probably attend in 2015.

  13. You really had a great time and fun during your frugal trip to New Orleans. I hope I can experience this also. Thanks for sharing this article. I had fun reading this.

  14. I’m really getting jealous with all these NOLA posts! I’ll see you there next year though. 🙂

  15. LOL you’re so funny! Sounds like you did fine @ FinCon! Congrats on the Plutus Award! Well deserved!

  16. Very cool. Have fun at FinCon. I’m new to blogging, so it was premature to go this year, but I think I’d like to check it out next year.

  17. I’m glad you came! You have some fierce dance skillz. Although the Hurricanes were a terrible idea. Terrible.

    1. Fierce dance skillz, lol. Oh boy. I was in rare form!!!

  18. I LOVED New Orleans and had a great time when I was there last fall. I wish I could be at FINCON this year but am on my honeymoon instead :). NOLA is far cheaper in everything than what I am used to so it’s all frugal!

  19. I wish I had gone to the FinCon. I envy you for having attended not only the conference but also explored New Orleans! 🙁 wont miss the next FinCon.

    1. Funny, I feel the same way about NYC. Went once and couldn’t wait to come home! I just don’t think it’s my thing!

  20. I went to the French Quarter once, maybe 14 or 15 years ago. I had such a blast just walking around and people watching. And getting way too drunk. Back then, I was weirded out by the strip clubs. Now I’d just have a blast. 🙂

  21. Nebraskan here. Love the shirt!

    1. That was a garage sale find from many years ago!

  22. I met you Saturday night, which is what brought me to your site. 🙂 Hope you had a blast the whole con!

  23. Enjoyed meeting you, Holly. My favorite thing to do in New Orleans is just walk around the French Quarter and take in all the architecture. New Orleans just looks different than any other American city, and I think it is fascinating. The cost of doing that is free, or $5, if you walk around while sipping on a hurricane, which I did at least a couple times.

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