This is part 1 in my new series on budget vacations.
Traveling is hard enough. And when you add your family into the mix, it’s down right exhausting. Sometimes enough to make you want to stay home even before you even get the car to the park and ride.
If you haven’t already guessed, I really don’t like to fly, but do it a lot of it in my line of work. When I start getting that whiny little voice in my head about flying I think; If I was my grandma it would have taken me 6 days in a horse drawn carriage to get here. That seems to put my whiner to a rest.
So we are going to go down the list and make this experience as wonderful as possible; for both you and your pocket book. First we need set a budget of what you can afford to pay, in CASH, for this vacation and then add 20% for unforeseen adventures. Then we need to book your trip. Sometimes to get the best deal you need to be spontaneous. I know it is hard for some of you but I find it fun to see where I can go with the least amount of moola.
Do a little digging
When you start looking, remember that it will take you time. You will need to dedicate a night or two in front of the computer to get the great deals. Look around and don’t just jump on the first thing you see. Educate yourself on what is a good deal. You can have some amazing vacations while still staying on a budget. Remember that last-minute packages are rewarding procrastinators with big savings. Arriving and departing mid-week will also cost you less.
- Compare dates for hotels and airfare online at such sites like Yahoo’s Farechase.com is a great site that keeps cost down.
- Priceline.com: Price Line is one of my favorite sites, if I know what city I want to be in, but don’t need to be at a certain hotel. I have gotten a 4 star hotel in downtown Seattle for $80 before.
- Expedia.com : I use Expedia a lot. When I need to stay at a hotel that is holding a convention that I am attending. Or if I want to connect flights with hotel and rental car. They give deep discounts when you do that.
- Vayama.com : if you are going Abroad, Yayma is a booking engine that pulls prices from all international flights originating in the United States, including those of low-fare carriers.
- Yapta.com: Tracks airfares after you book your flight. They will send an e-mail about a significant price drop, along with info about how to use little-known loopholes for a refund. This sounds like a great service.
- Travelistic.com : A compilation of on-the-ground travel videos (there were more than 4,100 at press time) from real people around the world. This way you can see what it is like where you are going. And what real people think you should see when you get there.
- Airtreks.com : Helps you plan complicated multi-leg itineraries without the hassle and expense of one-off tickets. This could save you ton’s of cash.
- TheBathroomDiaries.com : This resource might seem weird to us in the good old USA. But if you have ever traveled to 3rd world countries this is invaluable. This site reviewing 12,000 public bathrooms in 120 countries.
A beautiful beach.
Stop the madness of having to buy everyone something when you return. Who can afford that these days. If you want to get your neighbor something for bringing your mail in, ask them what they want before you leave, that way you are buying them something they want. If they say they don’t want anything, just buy then a box of chocolates. Everyone loves chocolate and if they don’t you need to move away from those strange people. 
This way you don’t have to lug this thing that they don’t even want all the way home.
Think about putting a price limit on the souvenir’s that your family gets. This limits all the asking for the things EVERYWHERE you go and also teaches your kids how to manage there money. If they spend it on the first day and then see something else , oh well, lesson learned.
Use the pictures of the places you visit as ways to remember your trip. I can keep my boys busy for hours by just giving them my digital camera. I could care less how many pictures they take because I can just erase the ones we don’t want to keep. You should see how proud they are when they show me there pictures. They really are getting good. Besides I am getting pictures of me now because I am not the only one taking them.
I’d love to hear to what you do to save money when you go traveling with your family. So please let me know by leaving a comment!
Image via drivebysh00ter
This is part 2 in my new series about budget vacations.
