Enjoy Outer Banks, North Carolina on Just $30: The Beach, Taco Bell and More

On a full tank of gas, our 2006 Chevy Trailblazer cruised to the beach and back, allowing me to take my wife out of the house for the first time in weeks.

And we did it with only $30 in our pockets!

We couldn't pass up the opportunity a family friend gave us by watching our kids. Normally a babysitter costs us over $100 for a day out. So, having a friend offer to take care of our three children for free was a godsend.

Life has been pretty predictable from January to July in 2007. Taking a considerable pay cut made leaving the house difficult and leaving the kids for time alone with my wife of eight years impossible!

A trip to the beach was the perfect getaway!

My wife and I enjoyed a couple of hot dogs from a mom and pop diner along Highway 64 for only $2. At the end of Highway 64, a mere 140 miles from home, my wife and I stopped at our favorite stretch of beach on Pea Island on Outer Banks, North Carolina. Just driving along the highway on the Outer Banks is breath-taking. Along the side of the road at high tide, ocean water pools. The classic Atlantic coastal look of brown rickety picket fences line the sand dunes, which unfortunately block the view of the ocean, remind me of all the movies we watched while growing up. The sand on the shore, unlike the hot, grainy mixture on the Pacific shoreline, is smooth and still bears the resemblance of crushed sea shells. What a beautiful sight!

We were content to walk along a deserted shore on this Atlantic coastal sand bar, collecting bags of sea shells and sunning for a couple hours.

For the low-income travelers, a beach trip allows a couple time to themselves both in the car on the way and along the sea shore. It costs nothing to walk and sun on the beach. It costs nothing to gaze upon the Atlantic Ocean or to stroll across bridges crowded with happy fishermen.

When the hunger hit, we just drove through Taco Bell and ordered four crunchy taco supremes, stopped in the parking lot, and feasted together...alone, without the kids.