I was the same. Wanting the very best deal in every part of life and what I learned about the vacation savings venture is that I spent more time looking thru the web in search of deals on hotels, rental cars and the like. The time spent didn't match the value I sought, IMO.

I found a deal in my vacation search and it was to buy a timeshare from an owner selling theirs. I saved a ton and now I pay only the yearly resort dues[about $700]. It's a big one bedroom suite and much better that a price-comparable hotel room. There are smaller timeshare trading companies that work out better for me than RCI to trade my timeshare week and some are free or very cheap!

I did the math and spent the time and all things considered timeshares if done right are the best value.