I booked three nights of hotel stays for our mini vacation get away. Total cost $172.48!

Here's how it is going down:

First two nights will be at a Marriott Residence Inn. We will get the government rate of $77 a night for a two room suite. We will get a King bed and the girls will take a pull out couch. They serve free breakfast and have a manager's reception in the evenings we are there. There is a kitchenette, if we decide to eat in for a meal or two. We do like to eat out on vacations, but at least it is an option. With tax the total stay will be $172.48.

The third night is in another town. We will stay at a Hampton Inn. We used Hilton Honors points we accumulated last year during out long extended stay in a hotel during our move to make this hotel stay FREE! We get free breakfast at this hotel as well.

An average of $57.50 a night is not bad in my opinion. And considering we should get three breakfasts and two dinners for four people included makes the deal even more valuable.

Our other costs will be fuel for the van, additional food and snacks, and admission to some attractions. We hope to have a nice mix of free activities in there as well. I think it will turn out to be just enough time away and low on the vacation expenditure scale as well.

Do you like to stay at hotels that include a meal? Do you save up points for free hotel stays? And don't you think it takes forever to rack these stays up? I do!!

I finally had to verify my account with Swagbucks today. I had redeemed $25 PayPal this weekend and it was refunded. I reordered and was prompted to verify my account. I did this by text message. The other option was snail mail. And now my PayPal money has been reordered!