Just back from California if anyone wants tips

[Jessie40]

We are a family of 5 (3 grown up children} and have just returned from a great road trip to California. I got lots of tips from people on this forum before we went.
This was our itinerary if anyone is interested, lots of driving but worth it.
San Fransisco 3 nights
Yosemite 2 nights
Monterey 1 night
Santa Barbara 1 night
LA 3 nights
Vegas 3 nights

Trader Joe's is significantly cheaper! Whole Foods is eye-wateringly expensive.

Whole Paycheck! But you must admit there's some exciting California eye candy in that place. Actually the shop that excited me the most was Target! They've got tiny little miniatures of all their tents, I wanted to buy the mini ones to play with.

I loved Target when we lived in the US. It's like Woolworth's used to be - only better! Cheap as chips and not bad stuff actually.

@PenguinsRabbits it is an expensive trip - there is no getting around it I don't think. I've started roughly planning a trip for summer 2021 and even doing it as cheaply as possible, using the hacks mentioned above to save on flights and car hire and using Airbnb or renting a condo rather than hotels, I still can't get the price down much below £10k and that's without adding in entry tickets. There is a really informative FB group called 'California Dreamers and West Coast Wanderers' and there is a wealth of info on there, including many money-saving tips.

I'm amazed though that travelling to Borneo is similar price to going to Europe!

Zaff- amazing tip about the Facebook page. It's amazing, loads of brilliant advice. I am getting so excited even though we aren't going until next July. Got our accommodation booked for Yosemite and Carmel from that page.

Yet to find anywhere to stay in Santa Cruz or pismo beach though. Either super expensive or too cheap. Had a quick look on air B and B but also super expensive. I don't know where to start really.