How many of you go into a vacation with a plan of cutting
costs so that you don’t run yourself broke while you and your family have some
fun? I know I sure do, but as usual,
things come up. I’ve heard it all when
it comes to things getting expensive: this
one needs a souvenir cup; that one wants a sweatshirt; it costs extra for this;
it costs extra for that. My favorite one of all: while walking into almost
anywhere anymore, I am asked to pay for a beautiful photo of me and my
family. I honestly want to say “dude, I
own a camera”, but I don’t and politely decline their offer. With all that, I still try to find some
creative ways of saving money when we take family vacations. I’ve come up with a few sure fire ways to save
a couple of bucks on vacation without breaking the bank. Here goes:
1. I drive everywhere. If where I’m going lies within the borders of North America, I can get there. However, with any long drive comes the issue of meals. During a typical 14 or 15 hour drive, we probably eat 3 or 4 times. We pack sandwiches and snacks. For my most recent vacation, it cost us $5.35 for a pound of lunch meat and a dollar for a loaf of bread. There were snacks that are bought that totaled between 5-10 dollars and we purchased a case of water for 4 dollars. That brings the total for our trip anywhere between 15-20 dollars, one way. If we were to stop and buy meals for everyone for each fuel fill up or bathroom break, we are looking at least 5 dollars per person per stop. For 4 people that adds up to $80 if you stop 4 times. By packing our own meals, we save a minimum of $60. That’s a tank of gas.
2. If you are amusement park goers like my family is, food can very expensive there as well. Therefore, we tend not to eat full meals at the park. During our most recent vacation, my family visited Universal Studios in Florida. They have a meal plan and numerous restaurants. The meal plan price is $29.99 per day for anyone in your party 10 yrs. old and over. For my party of 4 it would be $120 if we want to eat at the park for one day. The restaurants are nearly as expensive, as we would pay a minimum of $10 per meal per person, 2 meals during the day, which then adds up to $80 for eating during the day. Instead, we chose to stay at locations that offered a full kitchen. So yes, we are paying a little extra for our stay (only $14 per night) but it pays off with the ability to cook and snack where we are staying. We normally supply our kitchen with the same amount of food we would use at home, approx. $80-$100 per week. We then use this just like at home. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and beverages. For me, it sounds a lot better spending $100 dollars in groceries for the week instead of the $120 a day for the park’s meal plan. Also, buy the parks all you can drink refillable souvenir soda cup, 8 bucks initially but free to fill up with water the rest of the trip.
3. Last, but not least…I buy almost everything I can in advance. My wife and I start purchasing gift cards almost immediately after we return from one vacation to prepare for the next. Anything from Dollar Tree to Disney to Target to gas cards, we buy in advance. It is a lot easier to buy a gift card 6 or 8 months prior to a vacation than 2 days before you leave. If I pay for a McDonald’s gift card in March and my vacation is not until October, it is a lot less likely to impact my daily living. If that same gift card is purchased 2 days before leaving for vacation, you may need to use money that you would like to put elsewhere on your trip. This may sound funny but gift cards for vacation make awesome Christmas and birthday presents. My daughter receives a certain amount of gift cards that she is permitted to use towards vacation. This can both create more money in hand to use when vacation time arrives and also can teach a valuable lesson about budgeting to younger members of your family.
These are just a few tips for the vacationing family that I
use that may decrease the overall cost for you and your family while
traveling. Give them a try and see how
they work out!
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