As summer approaches, your thoughts may be starting to turn towards planning and saving for a family vacation. Though money seems to always be an issue, that doesn’t mean you can’t plan a fun family vacation on a budget! It just means you’ll have to use some smart thinking to pull it off.
Here are some ideas that I believe to be useful when planning a vacation on a budget:
Travel when others aren’t
Weekends, especially long weekends are popular travel times throughout the summer. Maybe plan your trip to start on a Tuesday (or Wednesday or Thursday) when there are likely to be less travelers. Hotel rates are usually higher on weekends too
Rethink the hotel stay
If staying in a hotel doesn’t have to be your only option, why not consider staying in a hostel, going camping, or renting a home? When we went to Florida a few weeks ago with family, we rented a beautiful home through AirBnB. It was much cheaper than if we were to pay for a hotel room for all three families! If you must stay in a hotel, be sure to look for deals. I’ve used Priceline and Expediawith great success as well as finding deals through travel emails I’m signed up for. Many deal sites like Grouponand WagJag have sections within their websites featuring only travel deals, you may find something there!
Plan your meals
Much like how you might plan your meals at home, planning for meals during vacation is important if you want to stay within your budget. You may like to eat out for every meal and if that’s the case, check for grouponsto local restaurants or search for coupons in local newspapers. If the budget won’t allow for you to eat out every meal, consider eating out for breakfast and dinner only. If you’re staying somewhere with a kitchen, use it, and cook some delicious meals! Another option that we like to do is stop by a grocery store to pick up staples for picnics. Our selection usually includes sandwich meat, buns, cheese, fruit, granola bars, juice boxes and maybe a bag of chips. We also like to take advantage of hotels with free breakfast. We’ll eat a lot, then we’re usually good until dinner with a snack in between.
Research budget activities
Fun activities are a must for any vacation, but they don’t have to cost a lot. Doing a bit of research beforehand can really help keep your budget in check. Look into local parks or historical sites that offer free admission or cheap rates. Beaches are also a great way to unwind and even horse around at no cost. When we’re on vacation, we always like to find hiking trails to explore, which are free unless we’re stopping in a national park. If you have a vehicle, you may also like to drive around to acquaint yourselves with some local neighborhoods. The Entertainment coupon books can also be a great place to look to coupons for local attractions.
Share costs with another family
As I mentioned previously, we rented a house with other family members on a trip to Florida. This not only saved us a bundle when it came to accommodations, we saved a bunch by sharing grocery costs! While this may not be ideal for some families, we really enjoyed it because we still had the freedom to do our own activities if we wanted to “escape” to do our own thing as a family.
Plan a staycation
If you’re really on a budget, or wanting to stay close to home, a staycation may just be the ticket you need to have some fun as a family. Plan your Staycation just as you would a regular vacation. Set a budget, research activities and find restaurant deals. Reacquaint yourselves with local attractions, camp grounds, and parks. Take advantage of free concerts or stay up late stargazing in your backyard. The options are endless!
Have a Plan B
In order to stay within your budget, it may be important to have a Plan B for some of the activities you want to do. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one (or more) of the activities you wanted to do may be closed or cancelled. Having a budget friendly backup plan in place will still ensure you’ll have a blast!
Taking a family vacation doesn’t have to be stressful or too hard on the budget when you keep these tips in mind!
What are your tips for planning a family vacation on a budget?
You may collect them, but never use them because you may think they’re only for travel. (And when you use it for travel, there are
administration fees.) There are all sorts of things you can get with Air Miles – including Dyson vacuums, laptops, cameras and much much more. It’s a great way to save money on items you need, and use up the otherwise wasted Air Miles!
Quite often, when we think about cutting back on spending, we also think that boredom is inevitable. That doesn't have to be the case at all! Here are 36 things to do instead of spending money and to help you have fun while you keep your budget in check!
36 Things to do instead of spending money:
Learn a new game
Read a book
Write an Encouraging Email, Text, or Letter
Try New Food Combinations (Pretend you're on a cooking show and see what kind of meals you can come up with while only using random items from your cupboards.
Make some Money (sell stuff you no longer need!)
Cross things off your To-Do List
Seek out free community activities
Try out a New Hairstyle (Pinterest is a great place to get hair style inspiration.)
I’m not going to lie. I really enjoy eating out. It’s so nice to not spend the energy cooking or cleaning up the dishes! Unfortunately eating out is not very frugal, even if you’re only eating a burger at a fast food joint! Below, I’ve compiled a list of ways to help you save money eating out.
How to Save Money Eating Out
Stick with Water
By sticking with water, you’ll save a bundle off your restaurant bill. Beverages available from restaurants are very expensive in terms of how much it costs to provide them! If I’m feeling like I don’t want water then I’ll order a lime water; water with lime juice and a lime wedge is delicious!
Use Coupons
Many restaurants offer coupon specials. Check your local newspapers. Search online. Or order a copy of your local Entertainment coupon book.
Skip Dessert and Appetizers
I typically can’t eat that much food at once so why would I order it? I’m a dessert or dinner kind of gal, myself!
Order a large Entree
By ordering a large entree, you can either share your meal or take home the leftovers for lunch the next day! Pasta dishes are great for this.
Eat Early
Lunch menus are usually cheaper and I don’t find the portions much different. Also, many restaurants have happy hour specials (4pm-6pm or thereabouts). You can quite often get appetizers for half price or 2 for 1!
Order Appetizers Only
I only recommend doing this if you’ve caught the happy hour. Order a selection of different appetizers that your family can share.
While there are many things that are best to avoid purchasing from the dollar store, there are still quite a few items worth purchasing! It's so good for cheap seasonal items, craft supplies for when the DIY mood hits and even when a snack craving needs to be met. Here are 15 must buy dollar store items that I think will help you keep more of your cash in your pocket if they're purchased at a dollar store:
Party supplies - Napkins, paper plates, plastic cutlery and party decorations are all great things to buy from a dollar store. Especially since these items are meant to be used once.
Mailing supplies - The dollar store is where I always pick up our mailing envelopes. Can't beat the price and they even have the peel & seal envelopes to avoid the licking!
Pregnancy tests - Pregnancy tests can cost a small fortune if purchased from a drugstore, but if you get them at the dollar store, you'll be saving big money! I personally have had very "positive" (ha, get it?) experiences with these tests. Apparently they're the same as the ones that get used in the doctor's office.
Greeting cards - My husband says that if I have to get him a greeting card for a special occasion, he'd appreciate it if I got it from the dollar store. 🙂 The selection is usually pretty great too!
Craft supplies - Felt, beads, acrylic paint, embellishments and double sided tape for card making are all items I've purchased from the dollar store. Our a few of our local stores have a pretty good and unique selection of craft supplies and I'm sure yours do as well!
Wrapping paper - Why pay for expensive wrapping paper when it's just going to be ripped to pieces anyways?
Gift bags - Again, they have a great selection and you can't beat the price!
Organizing products - I've purchased numerous bins, containers, and buckets from the dollar store. My most recent purchase was some white plastic bins to organize the closet in the bathroom. They hold things just as well as fancy bins, I'd say!
Foil pans - Doing some freezer cooking? Pick up your foil pans from the dollar store.
Helium balloons - Although I have never purchased helium balloons before, I've heard that dollar stores are a great place to get them! I'll find out for sure at the end of the month when I get some for my daughter's birthday. 🙂
Double sided tape - Way cheaper to get this at the dollar store than at a store like Staples.
Kid Activities/Crafts - Once in a while I like to stock up on some new craft kits or colouring books for my daughter so I have something on hand when she gets board or we have to go for a longer car trip.
Batteries - I haven't done vigorous testing with this, but so far I must say that the dollar store batteries I have bought have lasted a long time!
Reading glasses - My mother in law always buys her reading glasses from the dollar store! That way she can have several pairs to go with any outfit or dispersed throughout different rooms of the house.
Cooking Utensils - I recently purchased a pair of great Betty Crocker tongs for $3 from Dollarama. This was by far the best price I found on a pair of heavy duty tongs!
As parents and caregivers, teaching our children about money is necessary. Quite often the subject is overlooked and kids are at risk of not knowing how to manage their finances as adults.
Here are 7 financial tips you should teach your children:
Money is Limited
It’s important to teach kids that money is limited, and that people have to live within a budget and not rely on credit. As the saying goes, “Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees!”
Budgeting Skills
How to set up a budget is not something we’re typically taught to do in school or at home. Yet, learning how to set up a budget is an important skill to pass on to your kids. It will be of great value to them once they’re in college or in the work force. Help them to learn about paying essential bills first, and how to budget for holidays, luxuries etc.
Prioritize
Another good financial habit to teach your children is to prioritize. Parents often pay for so many different activities and hobbies these days, which can cost a lot. Why not give them choices instead? Do they prefer soccer or swimming? Do they want to spend their Christmas money on many little things, or buy one big expensive toy?
Saving as a Habit
Financial education for children should definitely include the importance of saving money in a savings account. Encourage them to save some of their birthday money and earnings from jobs for the future.
Everything Costs
While young kids shouldn’t be worrying about the cost of living, it is important that they learn that everything has a price and a value. This way, they will be aware that it’s important to look after their things and spend their money wisely.
Work for wants
Kids should know the value of working for what they want. You don’t want your kids to take having money for granted and essentially wasting their lives with the sense that everything is entitled to them at no cost. This attitude can mean that they’ll keep coming to you for cash or they may go on spending frenzies with credit cards. Teach them while they’re young and they’ll be more likely to hold a sensible attitude towards money as adults.
Can’t have Everything
While it’s understandable that parents want their kids to have the best of everything, quite often it isn’t affordable. It certainly isn’t helpful to let them think that they can have whatever they want. Teaching them that they can’t have everything will help them learn what really matters in life, and think about needs rather than wants.
Financial education for children is essential – starting them off with good money habits and a sensible attitude towards finances will help ensure they’re financially smart later in life. It’s never too early or too late to start!
Do you have any financial tips for kids? Is there anything you wish your parents had taught you about money?
