Making Memories Without Breaking the Bank
By Alison Stoner
Last spring we realized that we are in a sweet spot in our family for traveling. No one is breastfeeding. Everyone can use the bathroom on his/her own. The kids are still small enough to share beds if need be. We all share an interest in people and places, and have a deep desire to explore them. No one thinks family vacations are lame. As we hiked the trails through Hocking Hills, Ohio, realizing we were having to carry Lola a lot less than we expected, we knew that vacationing and exploring was now going to be how we chose to spend our free time.
After that trip through the waterfalls and caves, we started planning more and more adventures. It was really two fold, I suppose. While we realized how much easier it was to travel now, we also realized how priceless our time with each other is and how no matter what happened in our family, we wanted to make memories. We realized that we couldn’t wait for a cushiony savings account to appear with our names on it.
So we hopped in the car and went north, south, east, and west.
Often the biggest hindrance to family vacations is the cost. We are a family of six so we know all too well how quickly things can add up- making the bank account fall apart. As we have made traveling more of a priority, however, I have learned that you don’t have to spend $10,000 on a Disney World vacation for the trip to still be magical.
While I’m refining the way I budget and plan for trips with each vacation we go on, I wanted to share with you some things that have been key for not breaking the bank, but still having an amazing time. I’m thinking this blog post will be a two part series - 1. Money saving tips, and 2. Family vacation spots that we have loved!
Get your suitcases ready… It's time to go!
Tips for an Affordable Family Vacation
Car v. Plane. I’ve heard so many stories about people landing $50 plane tickets to Florida (or wherever), but that’s never happened to me. With six people, airfare has never been affordable for us so we always drive our family car. Yes, this means 16 hours in a car opposed to 3 hours in the air, but in my opinion, road-tripping is a huge part of the experience. Without driving, my kids would have never experienced a Buccee’s, would have missed the majesty of the fog in the curvy Smoky Mountains, and wouldn’t know what a rough gas station bathroom looks like.
Food. Feeding my crew is our biggest expense in general, home or away, and has been an area I’ve tried to make more affordable for a long time. The biggest way we cut costs while on vacation is by cooking our own meals. We can’t get out of a restaurant for less than $70, even if we go to McDonald’s, so I ensure that whatever our accommodations look like, there’s an option to prepare our own food. I pack lunches and hearty snacks for the trip to our destination, hit up the grocery store (with a prepared meal plan in hand) as soon as we get there, and we head back home with the cooler packed a second time. While we’re at our destination exploring, I pack picnic lunches/dinners that we eat at local parks or tailgate style in a parking lot if need be. My family, in particular my husband, are big foodies, however, so I do plan for a couple meals out so that we can have that experience too. I’ve actually found that eating out less not only saves us money, but also saves our energy and our physical comfort - we aren’t used to eating a ton of greasy, heavy food, and by us preparing our own meals, we’re able to stick to our regular diet and feel like our best selves while we’re exploring and having fun.
Free Activities. Some of you may think that our family vacations are a little boring because they aren’t super action packed, but you can definitely save yourself a lot of money if you do things other than amusement parks! There are a ton of free things to do any and everywhere you travel to. My family loves exploring outside, and with that, our activities are endless. We can spend hours catching frogs and searching for rocks in a river. We love “rock climbing” and hiking on new trails. My kids are little fish and could spend all day every day in a swimmable body of water. We’ve also spent time exploring libraries, free museums, and local festivals. I also highly recommend looking into the Every Kid Outdoors (https://www.nps.gov/kids/every-kid-outdoors.htm) program which provides fourth grade students (and their entire family!) free access into our nation’s national parks. We have taken advantage of this free pass and have planned our destinations around it! Depending on what our budget allows for, we often will plan one day of events that have admissions costs, but I won’t lie, I try to get our money’s worth when we do that (spend all day there) or ensure it’s a very memorable event (like a cave tour, for example).
Accommodations. Another big piece of the vacation budget puzzle is the cost of lodging. I will be very transparent in saying that we are owners with Bluegreen Vacations (https://www.bluegreenvacations.com/) which allows us to travel in luxury (I’m not a camper). What this looks like for us in a very generalized explanation is that we pay roughly $130/month for points that we can convert into vacations at any Bluegreen resort across the country. For us, this usually equates to one vacation a year, but that is because we have a very small amount of points and typically need their largest suite. We eke out a few more vacations by cashing in on a couple of their “promos” that they call us about (usually a three night stay at a resort of your choice for $350). However, not all of the trips we take are through Bluegreen. We have also saved a great deal of money on accommodations by splitting the cost of a rental with friends, and by accepting the invitation to stay with friends/family at their homes. I’ve also discovered that we save a ton of money by choosing a rental house (Airbnb/Vrbo) rather than staying in a hotel. Often hotel rooms are just as much money as a short-term rental property, and don’t provide us with the spaciousness or the ability to cook (see point #2). Also… if you’re more outdoorsy than I am, camping is a super cost effective way to travel!
Are we spending money when we travel? Yes, we definitely are. But the last couple of years exploring our country with my family has been some of the most special times for me. I love that we get to learn, explore, and make memories together. I love that this is what their childhood looks like. It makes me so happy to hear them say, “I am going to bring my kids here some day!” On a recent trip to the ocean (for their first time), Lola ran up to Matt and I as we were sitting on the beach watching them splash in the waves and said, “This is the best day ever! Thank you for driving us here, dad!” And to me, that makes every dollar we’ve spent worth it.