Family vacation on a budget

Dreaming of a family vacation? Is it the beach, mountains or just a favorite lake for boating and fishing? While family vacation can be very expensive you can do many things to budget for them and keep the cost down. This way you can have your vacation and enjoy it too!

When my family plans a trip we usually start deciding in January or February where we will be spending our summer vacation. This allows for approximately six months of budgeting and planning. One of the first things we do is decide on a location and what kind of vacation we truly want. There is a big difference in planning for a Disney vacation to one of just relaxation on a beach for a week.

After you establish what kind of vacation you want you can start searching for hotels/condos/beach or mountain rentals. A great way to keep costs down is to find a rental with a full kitchen. Okay, okay I hear you...no one wants to cook while on vacation, but it does reduce costs. If you can plan your breakfast and lunch meals in the rental then you can splurge on dinners at the different restaurants around the area. Dinner now becomes an adventure instead of a Happy Meal in a box.

Once you find the location you have dreamed up, and the facility in which you wish you stay, I would contact them to see if you can break up the weekly payment amount into two payments. Typically this will be done by credit card or pay pal. I find if you explain that you are budgeting this trip, most people are happy to make payment arrangements. We typically pay for our vacation with one payment in March and the remainder in April. Which is awesome since now the place your staying is paid for, and you can concentrate on food and spending money.

Food, it is best to start collecting items a few weeks before you leave on your trip. A recommendation would be to start collecting extra bags of chips, pop and candy. This way when you load up the vehicle for vacation you are already stocked with everything the family may want from the overpriced gas stations that you are forced to stop at on the way to your destination. Also don't forget to clean out the cooler. This is such a money saver! Just think each time a family of four stops for gas and gets a pop and candy bar each there went approximately $10.00 on top of the gas. This is money you can spend on getting family vacation pictures developed that you will treasure for a lifetime!

Planning out the trip, stocking up prior to leaving and paying off the rental prior to arrival are all ways to help you save money and feel less stress while on vacation.
Who wouldn't want a stress free family vacation?

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