In my second year at university in Hanoi, my two best friends and I planned a five-day trip to Hoi An and Hue with almost no money. We were students living on part-time wages, so the challenge was to keep the whole trip under what we'd normally spend on two weeks of food.
I was the planner of the group, mainly because I love spreadsheets. To save on transport, we took the overnight train instead of flying. It was slow, but it meant we didn't pay for a hotel that night. In Hoi An we stayed in a hostel dormitory, and I found one that included breakfast, so we only had to buy two meals a day. We ate at street stalls and local markets rather than restaurants on the tourist streets, where prices were almost double. Instead of paying for tours, we rented bicycles and found free things to do, like cycling out to the rice fields at sunrise and walking the old town at night when the lanterns are lit.
Honestly, I felt really proud of how it turned out. We came back slightly under budget, and I don't think we missed out on anything important. In some ways cheap travel was actually better, because we met far more local people, like the lady at the market stall who taught us how to eat cao lau properly. It also brought my friends and me closer, because we had to make decisions together and laugh about the uncomfortable train bunks. Now that I work in marketing and can afford nicer hotels, I sometimes miss that simplicity.