Monday, April 29, 2013

Planning a Budget Friendly Family Vacation

Family summer vacations have always been one of my favorite things to do since I was a kid. Now, as a parent it's something that I look forward to and enjoy doing with my family.

As a stay at home mother of two, it's always been my goal to do everything possible with my family and to save money at the same time. I have been able to do just that and so much more without much effort. Planning a Frugal Beach Vacation for our family summer vacation is easier than most people might think!


How to get started saving for your family summer vacation:


  • Save money by shopping sales and clearance. In addition, combine coupons with sales as often as possible.
  • Set aside and save your online earnings and wins. Find websites that really pay what they promise and be as active as possible.
  • Save your change! Simply put all your change in a jar and don't spend it throughout the year, it really adds up!


I've been fortunate enough to take my family on wonderful summer vacations the past two years in a row for FREE, How I took my family on vacation for FREE! That's right, simply by saving my online earnings and wins and setting them aside for a specific goal... family summer vacation!

The first and most important step to planning a family vacation is to SET A BUDGET! A family vacation is suppose to be fun and it you're concerned over how much money you're spending, it won't be as enjoyable and relaxing. A family vacation should be everything but stressful!

How to make your money go farther on your family summer vacation:

  • Always plan ahead. By planning ahead, you can watch for money saving opportunities.
  • Request visitor information for those places that you are going to be visiting. Often times they include great money saving coupons and discounts.
  • Be flexible. If you're able to be flexible with your dates, it can save you money.
  • Kids eat free! If you're able to find restaurants where kids eat free, this can easily save on your food budget and allow extra money for other activities.
  • Free breakfast. Look for motels that offer a free continental breakfast.
  • Do your research. The more you know about the area you're visiting the better. You can easily research the area you're going to visit online. Find out if there are any museums, historical sites or low cost attractions in the area.


It's rather simple and easy to have a frugal, budget friendly family vacation if you just put your mind to it. Plan, Research and Save!

Are you planning a summer vacation?

8 comments:

Angela said...

These are really great tips! I always spend the extra time planning vacations to make sure I get the best value.

Carrie with Children said...

These are such great tips! We always save our change throughout the year and put it towards our vacation.

Visitors bureaus are a great resource for planning and ways to save money too.

Becca @ My Crazy Good Life said...

You have great tips! We are trying to plan one, but failing miserably... I think you hav talked me into moving that along, though! Thanks!

Unknown said...

These are great tips! I love the kids eat free options and we always try to find hotels with continental breakfast too.

Tesa @ 2 Wired 2 Tired

Andrea Kruse said...

Good tips! No, nothing planned till early Fall. I am due to have baby #3 this Summer and we can't really get away anyway due to the Summer planting season and being a farming fam we travel in Winter and Fall... that usually saves us a ton, too!

Anonymous said...

Great tips! One of our biggest ones is staying in a hotel with free breakfast. Saves us $40 easily a day. I actually just bought some piggy banks for the girls, so we can start saving change in them for our yearly vacations.

Liz Mays said...

Saving the extra coins has made a huge difference for us. It's surprising how much that adds up to!

Kerri said...

Great advice! I love collecting change with a goal in mind. A trip sounds like a great idea!