It’s Summer and that means that many of us look forward to special memory-filled vacations with our families. Our family is planning a short vacation this Summer and we’ve been saving a little bit each month for the past six months in order to fund it. By the time August is here, we should have plenty saved up to be able to enjoy a simple and fun few days at a lake in Arkansas. We’re so excited about it!
Do you take a trip or two in the Summer? If so, what are your best money-saving vacation tips or great ideas for an inexpensive family vacation?
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My husband works for the state so we use his state discount when we can and combine it with other discounts when able. We pack our own food and check out the free museums and tours offered.
My husband and I went away on a little getaway for a night a few months ago. We rented a room with a little kitchenette in it and I brought food to make dinner. It was so nice to have a nice quiet dinner with no interruptions and I figured out that it was cheaper to pay a few extra dollars on the room than to go out to dinner.
For day trips, we also use the passes from the library to get into places free or cheap.
I found that restaurant.com has some amazing deals. I searched for restaurants within the zip code radius that we were staying, and got gift certificates for various restaurants. Right now, they have a promotion that you can get a $25 GC for $4, and you receive an additional $10 GC for a restaurant of your choice. In addition, use Ebates to order, and you receive some great bargains!
Well, my cheap travel advice is to stay close to home!! Become a tourist in your own town! Or a town close to yours..
We love to bring our tents and go to nearby state parks, exploring the many wonders there. Plus kids LOVE to see all the animals and nature. We love biking as well. Great outdoor ideas, and camping is fairly cheap!
Plus who really knows *(and has seen) everything in their town? I find there is always something new going on that is fun to go to!
We try and do several things. One of which is we have ONE credit card. WE are very faithful to pay this off at the end of every month. We chose the Chase Freedom where we can earn cash instead of points. We then take that cash and put it into a savings account and once a year we try and take a weeks vacation, We go with my husbands family and do not travel more than 6 hours away. We go to a river that is very family frendly and is in a resort and has a major water park right next to it. This is a vacationing town. The whole family shares the expenses and takes turns cooking and it is so much fun and really helps with money. It is really nice to float on an inner tube for an hour down the river slowly and enjoy the scenery!
Having a spending limit for each kid is a must for us. We are lucky to live close to Lake Michigan and we like to take advantage of that. Ther are so many reasonable things to do and it is just beautiful and peaceful. We usually take a couple mini vacations or weekends instead of a long trip. Plan on the go snacks and drinks to keep eating out costs down.
Buy an entertainment book for where you’re going- tons of coupons for attractions and food
We usually go to Orlando (Disney World) for family vacations. And it can be done for alot cheaper than most people think. We have a wonderful hotel we stay at with a full kitchen, full bedroom, and a living room. We pay with tax and hotel surcharges about $65.00/night. We eat our breakfasts and dinners at the hotel. We pick the dates we want to go, usually in November, less crowds and my youngest daughter, who has had a few health concerns , it is her birthday. Throughout the year we buy the Fl. Residents tickets one at a time. I buy little souveneirs from the Disney stor outlet, little by little. Not much mostly pins. I “buy” snacks on sale from CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, when I can get them close to free and put them away (Thanks Crystal). I put away anything we have bought, such as Mickey ears and pin lanyards in a special suitcase so we can reuse them each trip. When I make the hotel reservation and get the final cost, we use a reloadable Visa card and put that amount on there plus a gas money and a little extra. You can also take a cooler into Disney with snacks, sandwiches, drinks. Our family of 5 went to Disney last year on about 800.00 total.
Travel with friends/family to split the cost. Share a condo, cook in-room, and enjoy the amenities the condo offers.
A couple tips:
-Rent a house or condo with a kitchen so you can cook all your meals in. It saves you tons of money on going out to eat.
-Use Priceline.com to “name your own price” on hotels and airfare. I start extremely low in my offer, and work up in $5 increments to reach the lowest possible price they’ll except.
We always go up north to Upper Michigan to my in-laws house (five acres on lake michigan) the kids have their bikes up there and there is always good cooking!! Our kids earned their local trip this summer. Our local library summer reading program allowed them to earn free tickets to the National Railroad museum. They have always wanted to go but at 6.50 a child this will make it FREE!
We take a trip to the Outer Banks, NC almost every summer. It is a trip with extended family of 12 people. We rent a home together which gives us access to a fully-equipped kitchen. Each night, one couple is responsible for purchasing the ingredients and cooking dinner and clean-up. We purchase and pack a lot of items from home (I have purchased many boxes of cereal, laundry supplies, etc. for free or almost free). Once we are close to our destination, we stop at a small Food Lion and purchase our perishables to stash in a cooler. Once we hit the Outer Banks, where the options for shopping are fewer and more expensive, we have stocked up and are ready to check into our home. Other than eating take-out pizza our first evening, we usually eat all meals at our rental, with the exception of one lunch at a restaurant. I also plan to take my coupons and research deals for that area’s grocery/drug stores the week prior to leaving.
We found that with kids it saves money AND stress by just staying in. We only ate out once the whole week.
Our local grocery store rewards points for every dollar spent. We redeemed our points for tickets to a water slide park 2 hours from home. We’re going to go up for the day. The back of the tickets have a Sizzler coupon on them too, so we’ve got dinner planned out. We may take a tent and camp over one night.
Seeing as we have NO budget for vacations, what we have done is go camping in a real tent at a state park. The state park fee is very minimal, and we use our regular grocery budget for the food, since we’d have to eat whether we are at home or at a campground. We go on the trails, fish at the lake, play in the woods, etc. There are 6 of us in the tent (including one pack&play!), but it’s lots of fun and great memories for the kids!
we always pack our own snacks for the car and try to take extras with us, so we aren’t impulse buying expensive snacks. Plus, we always try and take advantage of breakfasts and dinners that come with package deals.
I always try to call or register online for coupons and info from the area we are visiting, as well as printing off any online coupons for restaurants, etc. ahead of time. Also, take a cooler with sandwiches and snacks for the car ride.
Recently my husband took me to Galveston which is a resort town on the coast here in Texas. While we stayed at a nice hotel we saved money by buying groceries… muffins and fruit for breakfast, sandwich stuff for lunch. Another thing we do on vacation to save money is to always ask if a store/restaurant offers military discount. It never hurts, if they dont they dont but if they do your trip just became a little sweeter!
We are driving to a reunion in a couple of weeks and have been saving for a year. We are paying cash for everything. We also called the Chamber of Commerce for the cities we are staying in and got lots of coupons for the areas.
Two tips:
1) Get a timeshare. The initial expense is large (but doesn’t have to be – I think our timeshare was about $1,500), but you own it forever and from then on only pay $160-200 PER WEEK to go just about anywhere in the world. My family of four went to Disney in May and we paid $189 for an entire week at a beautiful resort about 3 miles from Disney. It had a full kitchen, private laundry, beautiful views and TONS of amenities. The annual dues for our timeshare are $400. So technically you could say we spent $589 ($400 + $189) for the week, but since we’re taking TWO timeshare vacations this year, it was only $389 ($200 + $189) for the week. A bargain compared to booking two hotel rooms and not having the ability to cook your own meals.
2) My other tip is to travel CASH ONLY. I saved up $1600 to use as spending money on our Disney vacation. Because I was only using cash, it made me a lot more responsible in my spending. I ended up spending just over $1,000 for the whole week – and that includes the cost for the week’s groceries and gas costs to and from Disney (which is 8 hours’ drive from where we live).
We like to rent a cabin in the mountains. We try to get the best deal by being flexible with our travel dates and letting the cabin owners tell us when they haven’t been able to book up. The cabin we like has a pool table and a hot tub, and it’s in the mountains. We can hike, drive on scenic highways, and do lots of other fun ‘free’ things in the area. We also take most of our own food and cook in the cabin. This saves us tons of money, gets us away from home and into the beautiful mountains, and we can enjoy the great outdoors!
Well I think the obvious, stay close to home and dont eat out much.
We saved up for 2 of our summer vacations buy signing up for 1 month free programs (like shoppers advantage) and getting gas rebates for signing up.
Since we homeschool we will be taking our vacation in the fall. I know this doesn’t fall under a summer vacaton, but since it will be off season we will be saving a great deal. (We will also miss the crowds.
)
We clean out the pantry and fridge before vacation. That gives us at least one weeks worth of grocery money to add to our vacation fund.
We also rent a place to stay with a kitchen so we do not sped our money eating out each meal.
We like to try to do fun things around town…like go to the zoo or float the river.
When my family took vacations, we went CAMPING, had PICNICS, and went to places of historical significance–so much FUN!
Also, if in travel you need a motel, rest areas have coupon booklets for motels, so you can find some good deals.
My husband & I were just married in March, so we have not yet taken any vacations. However, we both have always wanted to go to NYC (we live in CT.) So this year, if the vacation days allow, we are going to go, but stay outside NYC at a nearby campground & tent camp. It is so expensive to stay IN NYC in any hotels & such. We plan on bringing our own food & taking sandwiches in, instead of eating at all the high in places. The only thing we will have to pay for that way is anything we want to go IN (Statue of Liberty, top of famous buildings. etc.)
We always pack our own snacks and drinks for the road so that we have a special treat and are not tempted to spend extra money at rest stops and gas stations.
My favorite free car entertainment is to pick up some Children’s Books on Cd for the local library.
Hmmm, this is hard, there are so many wonderful comments already, similar to what we would do. Vacation is supposed to be vacation – even for mom – so a break is nice especially for dinners. We would typically pack enough food for breakfast and lunch and store it in a small fridge or cooler. I do use the coupons books available in the lobby and hotel room. I have asked the clerk/employees/other people at the hotel for recommendations. It is especially helpful to find people that are very familiar with the area. They may have suggestions for places that are not as commercialized or heavy on the advertisement that are just as wonderful to visit. My husband and I found a great restaurant with great specials last year when we asked the lobby clerk for suggestions.
This year we tried something I always said I would never do! We went on a timeshare tour. We went to Gatlinburg. I had researched online to get great package deals on the things we wanted to do. I even got FREE tickets to the aquarium through the hotel. We did the timeshare after someone stopped us on the street to sign us up. We got paid $100. cash & because we weren’t sure they gave us FREE tickets to the timeshare indoor water park. It was pouring rain & the park was AWESOME!
since we’re trying to save money this summer, due to extremely high gas prices in CA, we’ll be doing picnics in the park instead of flying or driving anywhere too far.
A timeshare actually can be a money-saver in the long run, depending on how large your family is (in other words, how many hotel rooms you require!), how often you take vacations, what package/unit you buy, etc. If you consider the cost of staying at a hotel for five or six nights, and figure that many families do that at least once a year, and also figure in the extra amenities provided by timeshare resorts, plus the fact that you can easily cook your own meals (and save on eating out!) … an inexpensive timeshare can pay for itself over the first, I don’t know, maybe ten years or so? And it’s deeded real estate, so you can even pass it down to your kids!
We buy season passes for 6 Flags parks.. They are good at all 6 flag locations. So when we travel there is always a Theme park on the way or near by. This makes fun during our vacation as well as when we are home. 6 Flags is only 30 minutes from home.
We also will use HOTWIRE for our hotels if we need one. Usually when we drive to my mom’s (KY and 6Flags Louisville) We stop one night between her house and my dad’s in WVA. We also stop one night between our home in NJ and WVA. Hot wire usually can get our room for 54.00 to 58.00. So its really a good deal and we only take the hotels with breakfast and lots of free things along the way.
Another big savings is the Hands on Museums for the kids. We have 2 in NJ and 1 in Phila. If you buy a family pass it will get a family of 4 unlimited entries into all Hands on affiliates. There is one in NY (MY sister) and one in Lancaster (on the way to Pop’s) So the investing in worth it. They are all unique and fun to have the kids play in. The one in Lancaster has a large garden and fun outdoor things which is nice for some fresh air.
Question for Jenny:
I am wondering how much the FL Resident passes are and do they have your picture on them? Can they be used at all the disney parks or just one a day.
Also.. do you rent a car or drive there?
I was trying to budget disney but it is so expensive with the air fare.
We just returned from my husband’s sister’s ‘destination wedding’ at the beach. We did lots of little money saving things, like eating most meals in our efficiency kitchen-equipped hotel room or his grandmother’s beach house, bringing water bottles and buying one of those big spring water jugs from a grocery store instead of individual water bottles, and packing rather than buying snacks on most of our outings.
The biggest money-saver for us, though, was letting extended family (all of whom are more well off than we are!), pay for our airfare, rental car, hotel room, and even some fun family activities as their Christmas and birthday gifts to us this year. Not only did we save TONS of money that we don’t have, but we won’t be cluttering up our house with more stuff come holiday time!!!
Also, with those major expenses paid for, we could use our small vacation savings for some meals out, a few ice cream cones on the boardwalk, and fun things like renting bikes for the week at the beach and joining the family on a dolphin watching cruise that we would never have been able to afford otherwise.
My biggest tip is to make use of the microwave that all hotels have! Bring popcorn for snacks. A few nights in your vacation buy some microwave meals and eat them in the hotel room. We did this on our last weekend get-a-way and it worked out great. After dinner we would go down to the hotel pool. With three small children going out to dinner every night would end up being stressful anyway!
Also if you are military you qualify for free tickets for the military member and dependents up to 4 people to Busch Gardens or Seaworld!
Lisa @ andbebemakesfour@yahoo.co.uk
It looks like a lot of us are on the same page, vacation-wise!
My primary tip would be that one should manage family members’ expectations. No one is entitled to a week of vacation or the big splash out at the beach or amusement park or whatever. The important thing should be rest and renewal of family ties – not meeting certain length or expenditure requirements, let alone providing non-stop entertainment for the duration. Vacationing is a privilege, not a right (goodness, don’t I sound like a scold!)
My secondary money saving tip is to try and be as spontaneous as possible and be willing to walk away or change plans entirely if the price isn’t right.
Just last night I booked a little last-minute getaway to Hershey, PA (about an hour and a half drive from home) and saved a bundle on the room using Hotwire for the hotel reservation. The price I got is less than half of the “rack rate” and about $50 less than the AAA rate. We were willing to not go at all unless the rate was good and thought of the whole exercise as “just checking out the options” until we found a number that satisfied us. If we’d waited longer we might well have saved even more but we’re happy so we went ahead and booked this “last minute” deal.
In smaller towns like Hershey a little internet research will likely reveal the hotel on offer (with Hotwire you don’t know where you’re booking until after you pay), which minimizes the risk. Our hotel doesn’t offer “free” breakfast (which isn’t really free but rather “included”, right?) but it does have indoor and outdoor pools which was more important to me.
We’re going away for one night only – and not once going to Hershey Park! Because it’s a holiday weekend the park is likely to be way too crowded for our enjoyment so instead we’re planning to visit a local horticultural garden (on an existing membership we hold), antique car museum (ditto), take the free chocolate factory tour, and have a swim. Total expenditure out of pocket for entertainment: $0.
Because the entertainment is “free” and the lodging reasonable, we’re planning to have a pizza delivered poolside for dinner (already confirmed the hotel allows this) and enjoy juice spritzers with supplies brought from home – I’ve even got a few of those little paper umbrellas to pop in to increase the festivity factor.
I am SO psyched! The kids are gonna love it!
When it comes to car trips and vacations, long or short trips, these three are a must for children and adults of all ages.
#1 Have water, juice and iced tea in a cooler. Every drink purchased on the road can cost $1.00 or more.
#2 Make ahead granola bars, cookies and other car friendly snacks. package them individually.
#3 Have a meal in a crock-pot or cooler to have at a rest area. Bring a festive table cloth. Have a bag to put dirty dishes in.
Both a time saver and money saver!
My tips are:
Surf the internet for lodging coupons before making reservations.
Reserve lodging that has a kitchenette so you can prepare some or all of your meals.
Stop at the local tourism center to pick up brochures that have coupons.
Pack snacks and soft drinks so you don’t have to pay marked up prices for them.
Look for grocery stores near lodging to save on fresh food items.
Bring a couple of gallons of drinking water.
Mine is travel in the car (you get family time together) and pack your own snacks and food. It saves so much $$ when you can do that!
We’ve been saving for our Disney trip by using the Disney Rewards credit card. We use it for all of our normal expenses (and a few unexpected expenses) and pay it off every month so we don’t pay any fees. We get $1 to spend at Disney or on a Disney related product or on their website for every $100 we have on our card each month. In just 3 yrs. time, we have over $1000 to spend on our Disney trip when we go next year. I also have friends that use it that are on a very strict budget — every time they make a purchase on it, they write it in their checkbook as if they were using a debit card and then match their checkbook up to the statement when it comes and that way they have the money in their account to pay the bill without any surprises. It’s extra work, but works great so you don’t overspend.
I remember when I was younger and we went on vacations my parents always bought food from a grocery store. We brought a cooler in the van and everything. It saved on food instead of stopping at a restuarant three meals a day.
I can’t stand to be nickle and dimed with souvenirs, so I make my kids (age 3 & 5) “treat bags” prior to the trips. Simple dollar store toys, snacks and candies wrapped in brown paper lunch sacks. Every time they get back into the car without a fuss, they know they get a treat bag. Sometimes they are simple like smarties or individual chips, other times hotwheels, silly putty, books or color books. I usually make 10 per child and they usually don’t run out until the way home. They do get money to spend in their wallets, but we tend to guide them with what they can buy. They love these bags and even ask before the trip “do we get treat bags?”
We love eating out, especially on vacation, so that can make the cost of vacations go up. But, we hit the grocery store the first day and stock up on breakfast foods and lunch foods and we eat breakfast before we head out for the day and we make sandwiches to take with us for the day and then we just eat out for dinner. And, when we do eat out, we mix it up between just cheap places and some a little pricier (like Red Robin.)
We just got back from a 8 day trip to Denver, Colorado (800 miles from our home) for less than $1000. First, we have a family of 6 and when we originally starting looking at what this trip was going to cost, we figured it would be over $3500. That was a jaw-dropper (not to mention a deal-breaker) but that was before I got creative. Here’s what we did to knock over $2500 off the cost of our trip and we didn’t skimp on fun!
Check out my blog for all the fun money saving tips at http://www.waymore4wayless.blogspot.com
When my husband and I went to Hawaii for our honeymoon, we discovered the best way to save money – be a local. Instead of staying in a tourist town, in a big hotel, we stayed in a set of time-share condos that were also rented online as hotel rooms. Since we weren’t in a tourist part of town, we found that the prices for meals were MUCH better. We just went to the small pizza and sandwich shops near our condos where the locals ate, and left the big hotel and chain restaurants to the other tourists. We had everything we needed within walking distance. To visit other areas, we even took the bus instead of renting a car. Renting a car costs hundreds of dollars…the bus was fifty cents a trip!
We will take a trip to our local park and zoo with a free family admission ticket we got in January when our son was born. He will be big enough to enjoy it this summer. We will also be enjoying time with our families when we go to visit. We will enjoy fireworks, grilling out, and swimming.
This summer, we’ll be saving a ton of cash on gas by vacationing locally. Our city has a family waterpark hotel so we’re booking a room during the week to avoid the “peak” weekend rates. I’m packing tons of snacks & drinks for our room (that I used my precious coupons to pay for) and we’ve got some buy one get one free coupons for local restaurants. We’re going to try out some exciting new family dining places. My kids are really excited because we’ve saved this water park as a special something! (This is our first visit!) Best of all, no fighting kids in the car on a long car trip! YaHoo!
My best tip is to book a hotel room that has a mini fridge. Having snacks and drinks available can save you a ton of money!
We always make some cookies or special travel snacks. This year we will be taking granola bars and fruit roll-ups we scored during the last big Kroger$10/10 sale( we had coupons, of course!)
I always make sure I have enough sun screen I bought at home on sale instead of getting stuck buying in a beach town – where all the prices seem inflated!
We family has been doing lots of camping which saves on the hotel bills and since we have a fridge in the camper I stock it well before we leave on our trip so the amount of groceries we pick up on our trip is very minimal:)
This last weekend, some of my siblings and I went to my parents, who are out of state. I encouraged a “pot luck” sort of meal where everyone was responsible to bring something to avoid eating out. It worked and was delicious!
We are taking a vacation in August to PA and Niagara Falls. I have reserved all our hotels, airfare, and rental cars on line at low prices, but I keep going back once a week or so to see if they have lowered any of the rates and have had no qualms about cancelling and reserving at the lower rate.
2.My 11 year old son also knows that whatever money he saves from his allowance and summer jobs can be matched out of his savings account but that is all the spending money he gets for the trip.
We are planning a short trip to Branson this year and we always look at VRBO.com for the best prices in lodging.
We like to go camping… you can still make good memories with your family, but for lots cheaper. We go hiking, or swimming, or exploring, and make sure to pack some good snacks that we don’t usually have at home to make it a little more special. And cooking around the campfire always tastes great!
Our vacations are short 3 or 4 day affairs and I try to research food options before we go so we can use our usual grocery budget on vacation. Most often, I pack snacks and breakfasts (unless the hotel has free breakfast) and bottled water/juice and bring it with us.
This might sound unbelievable. My money-saving vacation tip is to take a cruise. Everything: food; drinks of juice, tea, coffee and water; unlimited activities and entertainment for kids and adults is included for less than just a hotel for a regular vacation would cost. you don’t have to drive and get lost everywhere you go, no worries! They do everything for you, and you even get to see another country or a few depending on the itinerary. Granted, we live in Florida near several ports so we have to pay parking instead of airfare. There are other coastal cities with cruise ports now.
It works for us.
The best way to save money on vacation:
Don’t eat out.
Packing a few coolers and hitting the local grocery store will save a HUGE amount of money- and you’ll get much better food. We went this route on our honeymoon and only spent $100 total for 10 days. That was with having a nice dinner out one night and eating breakfast out twice. Even though that’s quite a bit more than we normally spend on our weekly groceries it was a great deal for a vacation!
The best way to save money on vacation:
Don’t eat out.
Packing a few coolers and hitting the local grocery store will save a HUGE amount of money- and you’ll get much better food. We went this route on our honeymoon and only spent $100 total for 10 days. That was with having a nice dinner out one night and eating breakfast out twice. Even though that’s quite a bit more than we normally spend on our weekly groceries it was a great deal for a vacation!
The best way to save money on vacation:
Don’t eat out.
Packing a few coolers and hitting the local grocery store will save a HUGE amount of money- and you’ll get much better food. We went this route on our honeymoon and only spent $100 total for 10 days. That was with having a nice dinner out one night and eating breakfast out twice. Even though that’s quite a bit more than we normally spend on our weekly groceries it was a great deal for a vacation!
The best way to save money on vacation:
Don’t eat out.
Packing a few coolers and hitting the local grocery store will save a HUGE amount of money- and you’ll get much better food. We went this route on our honeymoon and only spent $100 total for 10 days. That was with having a nice dinner out one night and eating breakfast out twice. Even though that’s quite a bit more than we normally spend on our weekly groceries it was a great deal for a vacation!
Growing up in NJ, we would take at least one trip down to Florida or up to Niagra Falls every year…
My parents always brought a rice cooker & rice because you can always find the water nearby to make it fresh whenever you need it. Add eggs while the rice cooks to make them hard boiled or buy a bucket of chicken for a quick fix.
Don’t buy the food in parks, freeze water bottles to keep food fresh and buy bulk at home to divide up in baggies before you go.
We aren’t “big” vacation takers, but we do take a few long weekends throughout the summer. To save money we:
1) Go with another family or two and share a cabin/condo *this of course only works with SOME other families. We have become regulars at a cabin big enough for 18 of us in the Smoky Mountains so the owner gives us an extra discount. We stayed for 4 nights this year for only $300/family.
2) We have a camper that we have more than gotten our money out of by staying at $25-$40/night campsites rather than hotels.
3) We search online for discounts and coupons beforehand for the attractions we are interested in.
4) We ask the locals for fun things to do – not the “tourist-y” stuff which tends to be higher.
5) We don’t eat out – with cabin rentals and our camper, we make every meal – usually:)
This summer we are taking short close to home trips and hopefully saving money that way! Thanks!
My tip is check your local tv and radio stations most have some great summer family giveaways. We have scored family packs to water parks, amusement parks, movies, and sporting events.
I only order for the adults my child eats off my plate, coupons and anything toddlers can do for free, and I take travel size commodities to keep from purchasing anything once I get there.
We did a destination wedding in Mexico last year, which in itself, saved us a lot of money. My husband and I signed up to be travel agents with this multi-level marketing business so we could get the travel agent discount. We used the discount to book hotel rooms for our families, which saved them a lot of money. This is probably only a good deal if you travel a lot, or plan on traveling with a large group.
Take advantage of Wyndham hotels best rate guarentee and possibly get your rooms for free. Also stay at hotels with pools and free hot breakfast. So when you get bored you dont spend extra money on things to do, you can just jump in the pool or you dont have to buy breakfast for the family in the morning, just eat at the hotel!
Check websites for free things to do in the city you are visiting. There is a website that shows things to do in a lot of cities across the country and they will save lots of money
We are going camping at a lake within 50 miles of our house. We’ll pack all of our food and beverages, and use tents for shelter, we’re really going to rough it. Since my teen kids have never been camping, it will be a memorable event (good or bad) that they can look back on forever.
We may also take a 2 day trip from VA to PA to visit a farmer we know, and tour his farm. That will be a bit more expensive with the price of gas…its still up in the air for that reason.
Ways to save money on vacations:
These are things we do every year…
We stay in a condo with a full kitchen, so that we can buy groceries & make breakfast, lunch and dinner. We usually only eat out 1-2 times while on vacation, and never anything super expensive.
We also make sure the condo has a washer & dryer. You can pack less clothes (less weight= less spent on gas on the trip there & back!!) and wash them there, saving you from having to pack as much and worrying about having to do laundry in the event of some sort of accident.
We pack snacks & drinks when we go somewhere with the kids, so we dont have to buy the overpriced items at places we visit.
We travel with my parents when we bring all the kids (we have 4). It cuts down on the cost of the condo, AND we get some extra hands.
We bring DVD’s and a few toys with us when we travel. This can save you having to rent movies on rainy days, or can even give the kids something to do (have a “game day” instead of going to something like a video game/go kart place), which costs LOTS of $$, if you are running low on cash.
Also, we only bring cash on vacations…we used cards one year & overspent our budget. Its much easier not to overspend when you only bring cash.
I buy sunscreen on sale all yr long so we have enough for vacation. I also buy beach toys, etc before we leave home…nothing like having to shell out $50 on beach toys/umbrella/boogie boards/sunscreen/hats, etc that you couldve bought for MUCH cheaper at home!
Our best tip this year is to have a family member work for the airline! My hubby works for a major carrier and we’re all able to fly for free. We’ve saved thousands of dollars.
I really cheat! Since we home school we are able to go on vacation off season! We go early fall (September early October) that saves a bundle!! One thing we do that you could do any season is to pick up local news papers, they will often give the kind of non-touristy things you wouldn’t often find out about, like local festivals, craft fairs and community fairs. These tend to be cheaper, and have local artists and crafters selling their wears. FYI sometimes it’s fun to visit garage sales in other towns too!
This is my tip, but it says that a “Jami” posted it.
Posted by: Jami | June 26, 2008 at 10:08 PM
We stayed at a hotel which primarily caters business clientèle, which means Mon – Fri business. We stayed Fri – Sun in a really nice hotel for the cost of a “cheaper” hotel that caters to tourists. The only ‘drawback’ was the location. Our view was of the airport, but since we weren’t there for a view, it didn’t really matter.
In addition, when we said it was our anniversary, they tossed in a free upgrade, passes to the free cocktail hour at the bar, and $150 gift certificate to the hotel restaurant.
So my tips are determine what’s really important to you instead of what others say is important and don’t be afraid to mention special occasions to solicit freebies.
We stayed at Grandfather Mountain campground in North Carolina (near Boone/Blowing Rock) last summer for our first anniversary. Rustic and inexpensive for sure! We rented a small cabin, but you could also really rough it and bring a tent! Nothing better than s’mores over a fire at night, and getting to splurge a little bit more on attractions and/or food during the day because we saved on lodging. We also went fishing in the river and packed bag lunches for a picnic, another inexpensive, fun, and RELAXING activity.
Our favorite vacation tip: dining out for LUNCH instead of dinner. Sometimes that alone can cut the bill in half. Also, the restaurant is less crowded so you get a better chance of a good seat (like waterfront at Pusser’s in Annapolis!!!). The best part about dining out for lunch is that you have the rest of the day to burn off your calories! That means you might evens splurge for dessert!
For the 4th of July weekend this year, we are driving up to D.C. (about 1.5 hour drive north of us), and riding the trails in the city! We’re just hoping for minimal humidity! We are planning this outing for the day BEFORE the 4th, though, because you absolutely DON’T want to be in D.C. on the actual holiday. Unless you love crazy traffic (as if it’s not normally!) and horrendous crowds.
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