Trifter

The essence of living on a budget is choosing the most economical path to getting the vacation you need.  The world is in the grasp of an insidious recession and trimming budgets are, or should be, on everyone’s mind. While we may be preoccupied with cutting costs, it doesn’t have to take the fun out of a family vacation. Here are some tips to help maximize your vacation experience while saving money.

Start by putting together a carefully drawn up plan. The plan should include your destination, what you could afford to spend on travel, accommodation, food, and entertainment.

Choose a location that you can drive to, as opposed to one you must fly to. Select a couple of free, interesting, points of interest, activities or attractions along the way. This way you can incorporate your travel time with your vacation, and make the most of each day you are away from home.

If you must fly, plan your vacation for the off season. Another option is to pack your bags and wait for last minute deals on air fare and hotels. Scour the internet for cheap air fares and cheap hotels. However, read the fine print carefully. Many great sounding deals may not list mandatory taxes and other fees, which can sometimes, add up to more than the cost of the airfare.

Do you have friends or family close to your vacation destination? If so consider bunking with them for the duration of your time away from home. By doing so, you will  eliminated hotel costs. You may need to commute to your vacation spot, but it will be well worth    the money save.

If you have no family or friends to stay with consider plan B; rent  a house or condo instead of a hotel. This is a great option especially when you are travelling with children. You have more space so you are not tripping over each other. You will find that the weekly rental of a house is far more reasonable than the hotel room rate.

Look for free family attractions and make these the bulk of your vacation activities. Choose paid attractions carefully and select only a few affordable ones or one higher priced one.

Find the local tourist booth and ask for information on free attractions, giveaways and coupons. Many tourist information booths have free giveaways and valuable coupons that you can use for anything from accommodation to shopping.

Cook your own food. I know, you must be thinking that you would rather not cook while you are on vacation. However, eating out with the whole family for the duration of the vacation could prove to be quite expensive. If you must eat out, limit it to once per day and prepare the rest of your meals.

Place a cap on the purchase of souvenirs that you may never use. Where do all the souvenirs from our vacations normally end up?   They end up collecting dust, or at the local garage sale. If you must purchase souvenirs, make sure it is something that you can and will use for some time to come.

Off season deals are plentiful. Plan to have your family vacation during the off season. While you may not have as many attractions to choose from, you will find that most things are cheaper and the family will have the same enjoyable experience.

Yes you can have a great family vacation on a budget. All that is required is a little planning and the will and desire to save money. Your family vacation experience will be all the better when you are calculating how much you were able to save on your dream family vacation.