HOW TO AFFORD A FAMILY VACATION ON A TIGHT BUDGET

“Our family needs a vacation, but how can we possibly afford it? The budget’s so tight we barely make it from month to month.” If this is you, I’ve been there, too. And I can tell you—a vacation is possible, even on a tight budget!

Let me explain.

I was a stay-at-home mom for much of the time our kids were growing up, and my husband was a pastor, so our budget left little for vacations. Despite this, with a little determination and a lot of creativity, we still managed to get away as a family.

Here are some tips for vacationing on the cheap, most of which we’ve done.

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Set Aside Money Ahead of Time

Whether it’s a special bank account or an envelope of cash hidden away in your home, set aside money for vacation throughout the year. You may be able to earmark a little of each paycheck. If not, there are other creative ways to save.

I know a family who ordered tap water instead of drinks whenever they went to a restaurant. The money they would have spent on drinks went into their savings for vacation. (Dare I suggest it–what if you brewed coffee at home and by-passed Starbucks each morning on the way to work? If you’re like a lot of couples I know, you could save a LOT of money for vacation!)

Another way to save would be to make lunches for work and school instead of buying them. Put the money you would have spent for noontime meals in your vacation account.

Or earn income on the side. As my husband and I earn extra money from sources outside our regular salaries (like speaking), we often add it to our vacation account.

When our kids were little I earned extra income teaching piano part-time, which helped fund our trips. My daughter and her friend sold lemonade over the summer, which funded an overnight parent-supervised trip for them to Cedar Point, a major amusement park in our area.

One summer my daughter and I bought bottled water, put it on ice in a cooler on our kids’ wagon, and offered it for sale to parents who were watching their children play summer sports at the local parks. This was short-lived, as we were both too timid for “cold” sales. But you may be a natural at it!

Try earning extra money by having a garage sale. Or sell some items online.

Keep in Mind: If you do something like selling bottled water during sporting events, check with the appropriate authorities to make sure it’s allowed.

Get a Credit Card that Offers Travel Rewards

A few years ago our friends informed us they were flying round-trip to Paris for free. How did they do it? They had a credit card that allowed them to earn airline miles. We quickly changed our card to one that offers travel rewards with no annual fee. We now have enough rewards to fly to Europe at no cost. (Admittedly, it took a few years for it to happen.)

Use a website like bankrate.com to determine the best deal.

It takes time and patience to build rewards points. We pared our credit cards down to one that we use regularly so we could build points on it.

Keep in Mind: Studies show that people using credit cards tend to spend up to 100% more than when they use cash. Because the payment is so far off, emotion is separated from purchases.

To counter this, set a budget and determine to stick to it. Avoid impulse buying.

Decide what budget items you’ll use your credit cards for. We only use ours for gas and pre-budgeted large purchases.

Furthermore, I try to pay off our credit card in full once a week. Knowing I have to “pay the piper” every week reins me in from impulse purchases.

DISCLAIMER: If you carry a balance on your credit card, your priority should be paying it off completely and carrying a $0 balance from month to month. To help accomplish this, a card with a low interest rate should be your priority rather than a rewards card.

Go Camping

This is a great way to save money, but also to slow down and experience Creation close at hand. When I was growing up, I tent-camped with my parents across the United States twice.

Every night we unloaded our compact car, set up a pop-up tent, and cooked dinner on a propane stove. Not only did we save money, but we came away with many memorable experiences—like camping on a plateau in Colorado surrounded by majestic snow-capped mountains or stopping at a roadside in Kansas to grill steak and corn from local farms and waking up outside Yellowstone National Park to find frost on our tent. Every day was a new adventure.

When our daughter was little I was ready for a camping upgrade. I asked God to provide a travel trailer for us. It was so out of reach for us financially, I knew only God could provide one. Shortly after that we “happened upon” an old travel trailer for sale on the side of the road for a very low price and snapped it up.

This enabled us to spend a number of summers in a wooded campground near the Jersey Shore. From there we made frequent trips to the boardwalk and beach. It was the best of both worlds and saved on lodging and food.

Keep in Mind: I won’t lie. Camping—especially tent camping—is not for the faint of heart. Dare I mention rain, bugs, and deflated air mattresses? But we still managed to have a good time. Can anything beat the satisfaction of toasting marshmallows around a crackling campfire? And even our misadventures grew into character-growing life lessons, which I still apply today.

Stay with Family or Friends

This was a lifesaver when my hubby was pastoring and we were a one-income family. Every summer we’d make our way from Ohio to my parents’ home in upstate New York for a week. We loved visiting them, and they loved the concentrated time with their grandchildren. From there we made forays into New England and local points of interest.

We also stayed with my sister and her family near Amish country in Pennsylvania, as well as with cousins and friends in various parts of the country.

This assumes, of course, that you’re willing to reciprocate. We treasure our memories of families and friends who have passed through our town and stayed with us.

When you stay in someone’s home, be sure and show your gratitude by bringing a host/hostess gift, such as a gift card to a nice restaurant–or offer to take them out to eat. (I like to take my sister out to a tea room for lunch.)

Keep in Mind: It goes without saying, don’t overstay your welcome. Two to three days should be the maximum, unless you’re staying with close family members (like parents) that you know won’t mind. Just a reminder: You’re not staying in a hotel with room service. Offer to help with meals and dishes. Look for needs that you can meet.

Finally, make sure you talk about expectations—like how much time you’ll spend visiting and how much time touring. Be sensitive to your host’s occasional need for space. Don’t expect them to entertain you every minute. Just sayin’.

Also, lovingly insist your children show respect toward your hosts and their possessions. I’ll never forget the time my parents’ guests watched in silence as their kids grabbed my mom’s brand new expensive seat cushions and rode them as horses, ripping them open. My mother was too polite to say anything, but it was just. so. wrong!

Exchange Homes or House-sit

Exchanging Homes

This can be done formally or informally.

Do you have a friend or family member in another town or state who needs a vacation but can’t afford to stay in a hotel? Offer to switch homes with them for a week.

Or you can contact a home exchange company and arrange to switch homes with people all over the world. I haven’t tried this, so can’t recommend any companies.

Keep in Mind: When exchanging with family or friends, make sure you sit down and talk about expectations–maybe get it in writing. Also, take the time to write a list of helpful details for them regarding where keys are, quirks about your home or neighborhood, deliveries coming, interesting sights to see, etc.

Regarding home exchange companies, make sure you do your research and read recent reviews of the company on and off the site. Not all have the best reputation, and some that did in past years have changed their policies resulting in negative reviews.

House-sitting

When our daughter was little we had the privilege of house-sitting for friends who just happened to live in an ocean resort. We had a delightful week, saved money by fixing our own food, and paid nothing for housing.

Another time we flew across the country for a conference and stayed in the home of friends who generously offered us their home while they were away on vacation. When they returned we stayed a few extra days and had a lovely time together.

Keep in Mind: It goes without saying, when staying in someone else’s home you should take special care of their things and leave the house clean, neat, and in perfect order. Once again, parents, keep a watchful eye on you children!

Share Accommodations with Others

When my parents celebrated their 50th anniversary, our extended family shared the cost of a house rental along the Maine coast. Each family was responsible for different meals for the rest of us. This saved a lot of money on meals and lodging.

We’ve done similarly over the years with our adult children, renting a condo together in Myrtle Beach and sharing the fees for a timeshare owned by a family member, which allowed us to have low-cost stays in Hilton Head, Tennessee, and England.

Sharing accommodations also enabled us to tour California with my daughter and her family. We shared hotel rooms and a rental car, which greatly reduced the cost.

We’ve even shared a hotel room, on occasion, with another couple. You have to be really good friends for this—and really desperate to save money—but it can be done!

Keep in Mind: When you share accommodations, make sure you sit down and talk about expectations first. Who will pay for what? How much will you do together and how much independently? Who will be responsible for making which meal and when?

Find Non-Hotel Accommodations

Try Airbnb, Couchsurfing, Bed and Breakfasts or hostels. We’ve used Airbnb and stayed in Bed and Breakfasts with good results.

Keep in Mind: Don’t assume the price of these will be cheaper than a hotel. Do your homework, as sometimes you can get equal or better deals with hotels.

Also, if traveling with children, make sure these places can accommodate them and are kid-friendly.

When staying in homes of strangers (like Airbnb), only stay at places with multiple recent high ratings. With Couchsurfing, avoid abusing the system (i.e., creating an account just long enough to get free accommodations but closing it down afterward so you don’t have to reciprocate). That’s just wrong!

Save on Meals

As mentioned above, staying at a place with a kitchen enables you to save money by fixing your own meals. But sometimes that’s not possible.

If you have to stay in a hotel, look for one that offers a free breakfast. If the room has a refrigerator and a microwave it’s a plus. We fix a simple lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and fruit. A microwave could cook frozen dinners if you’re really strapped, although we usually eat out for the dinner meal.

If the hotel doesn’t have a free breakfast, we’ve been known to grab individual boxes of dry cereal, small milk containers, and bananas at a convenience store. Or grab a bagel and cream cheese at a bagel store.

Sometimes we pick up lunch at a grocery store instead of going to a restaurant. Grab a loaf of bread, some cold cuts, a prepared salad, fruit, chips, and cookies, find a place to picnic, and you’re good to go! (We often bring plastic-ware and paper goods from home in anticipation of such meals.)

Instead of a sit-down restaurant, try a food truck or take-out. When we were in London we saved money by grabbing delicious Indian “take-away” or a Cornish pasty at a stand.

Another consideration is fixing your own main meals but going out for lighter fare. In England we came to love sitting down to a “cream tea” in the afternoon–tea with a scone, clotted cream, and jam. Other times we’ve gone out for donuts and coffee, to independent coffee roasters, patisseries, and ice cream parlors.

You still receive the joy of “going out” without the cost of a full meal and tips.

Keep in Mind: It’s not that you can never eat out. But fixing some meals yourself saves money so you don’t break the bank when you do go out.

Also, avoid “saving money” by being stingy with tips. When our son got a job as a waiter, we discovered that American waiters/waitresses are not paid a livable wage. They depend on tips to help them make ends meet. So tip well. We always try for 20%, but 15% should be the minimum in the United States.

If traveling abroad, research what’s expected in each country. For example, in France, a service fee is built into the check by law. So tipping there, while nice, is unnecessary.

Save on Transportation

Try walking or biking. It’s good for you! On our honeymoon in Bermuda we rented bikes instead of mopeds, which helped our tight budget.

If it’s too far to walk or bike, use the bus or subway. If you need a driver, try Lyft or Uber instead of a taxi.

Try booking car rentals away from the airport (“off-airport”). It’s often cheaper.

Do the math: sometimes it’s cheaper to get a multi-day pass for the subway, for example, or a Hopper Pass for city buses that visit a loop of multiple tourist sites. In England we invested in a Brit-Rail Pass, which was much cheaper with all the touring we were doing than individual fares.

With airfare, research the best days and times to buy tickets. Buy in advance. Look for sales and deals. Use sites like Airfare Watchdog, which keep an eye out for a drop in airline ticket prices to the destinations you specify. Or try Scott’s Cheap Flights . Sometimes you can save money with package deals that include flight, hotel, and car rental.

Keep in Mind: When looking for cheap airplane tickets, keep in mind that not ALL airlines are included in booking websites’ search engines (such as Orbitz and Expedia). In the case of airlines such as Southwest, you need to book directly with them. We’ve gotten some pretty good deals with them–and prices include baggage!

Also, remember that the initial price you get from many airlines does not include baggage (many even charge for carry-ons now!), fees, and taxes. Similarly, some airlines now charge for drinks and snacks.

Find Free or Discounted Things To Do

You don’t have to splurge for an expensive vacation at Disney World or visit amusement parks with hefty entrance fees to enjoy your vacation.

Visit a coastal town that offers free beaches. Or find a place offering free hiking trails. Go window shopping (it’s free!) at the many quaint gift shops in resort towns. Or budget a set amount for “mad money” for each family member for your vacation.

Years ago when my family vacationed at Cape Cod, we enjoyed swimming off the free beaches and biking around trails on the nice, flat terrain.

We also used to fish off the coast of Maine, courtesy of a friend of ours who lived there and invited us. The only cost was for the bait. We were rewarded for our effort with free dinners of pollock, mackerel, and flounder. (If only we kids had liked fish! Poor Dad ended up eating most of it.)

Look for discounted tickets. Cities often have websites or walk-up windows for same-day discounted tickets for their theater district. When Hubby and I were in London, we found last-minute discounted tickets for “Legally Blonde” at the Savoy Theatre. One of our best dates ever!

Keep in Mind: I’ve only mentioned a few things here. The Internet is full of suggestions for free and discounted activities for families.

Have a Staycation

If you’re really low on funds, stay home and take day trips to the sites around you.

Our first year of marriage we were determined to go on vacation—which, on our shoestring budget, meant tent camping. We planned our trip, made reservations at the campground, and packed the car. I was sitting in the car ready to go when Hubby decided to check the mail one last time.

BIG MISTAKE! In the mail was a bill that needed to be paid—for about the same amount we’d saved for our vacation. What a let-down! We sighed BIG sighs, slowly unpacked the car, and decided on a staycation. Despite our initial disappointment, we had a great time that week touring nearby Boston and the coastal town of Rockport, MA, seeing them for the first time through the eyes of tourists.

Keep in Mind:

You have to be disciplined to reap the benefits of a vacation at home. Determine NOT to work on the house, not to make yourself available for work calls and texts, NOT to slip into your everyday routine–and that every family member will participate.

Remember, it’s all about bonding as a family and building memories. See WHY YOU NEED TO TAKE A FAMILY VACATION

Determine to survey your area with the eyes of tourists, not residents. Discover new things, play games, cook out—and do it together!

Consider a Family Mission Trip

I recently learned of a family of four that raised money to fund a mission trip for all of them. They flew to Mexico and ministered together to children in an orphanage. It was a truly memorable trip.

I can’t think of a better way to “go cheap” on a vacation than working together as a family and teaching your children the joy of ministering to others. Such trips can offer a life-changing vision for those who go on them—not to mention the bonding families can experience with each other.

Keep in Mind:

Of course, we don’t go on mission trips to get a cheap family vacation. But we shouldn’t let cost prevent us from going on these monumental journeys. We can raise money and trust God to provide. I’ve heard of so many miraculous stories along this line!

Before you go on such a trip, especially to developing-world countries, it’s important to go with someone who has done this before and knows what they’re doing. Knowing how to raise money, be culturally sensitive, and stay safe are key. It’s also important to determine what vaccinations you might need for certain countries.

Pray!

So many of our vacations have been answers to prayer!

When our kids were little, I wanted them to have the experience of going to Disney World, but the cost seemed out of reach on our modest salary. So I began to pray, “God, if you want us to go, please open the door and provide for us.”

I was expecting to wait, perhaps years, for the answer. But, in a surprisingly short time, everything came together. A woman in our church offered us a week in their timeshare, which they weren’t using that year—anywhere we wanted to go. We chose Orlando, FL.

Then we just “happened” to find a deal for BOGO plane tickets to Orlando. Someone else found out we were going to Disney World and insisted on paying the entrance fee tickets. Suddenly, our vacation became very affordable!

Another time, God heard my prayers to visit the UK—something I never thought possible on our budget. Once again, He came through. My daughter and her husband surprised us with plane tickets to the UK for our 30th anniversary. Another family member made available their timeshare points for our stays in that country. All that remained was for us to buy BritRail passes, share a car rental fee, and buy food (much of which we fixed ourselves at the timeshare).

Before we knew it, seven members of our family were off to the UK for a trip that would yield many years of precious memories.

Keep in Mind:

God is not Santa Claus, but I think he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts. He knows we need times of refreshing. We see our vacations as gifts from Him. Thank Him for the gift of vacations!

Get Creative—I Mean, REALLY Creative!

After returning from our dream trip to the UK, a desire began grow in me. We’d seen many sights, which we loved, but I never got to know any people from across the pond. In particular, I found myself longing to get to know and fellowship with believers from the UK. Yet, once again, expense was a factor–in particular, lodging.

Gradually, a crazy idea began to form in my mind. What if I contacted churches in the UK that had similar DNA to our church? What if I suggested an exchange? A family would host Hubby and me for a few days, and, in exchange, we would be happy to host them any time they came to the U.S.

It was scary, because I’d never heard of someone doing something like that cold. But I pushed through my fears, wrote an e-mail to two separate churches, hovered over the keyboard hesitantly, and then pushed send. Thus began one of the best vacations we ever had.

We stayed with a lovely, vibrant Christian family in London, fellowshipped with a wonderful host and her friends in Bath, and even made it to another country—Ireland, where we stayed with a wonderful, warm couple on the Irish Sea.

In addition to touring those places, we made some new friends and even got to do some ministry, which we greatly enjoyed. So far, none of our hosts have taken us up on our offer of housing them for a visit to the U.S. I hope they do, as we’d love to reciprocate the gracious opening of their homes and hearts.

Keep in Mind: It’s important that we enter as guests in people’s homes to give, not just get. Pray for your hosts, offer to help with tasks around the house, be sensitive to their need for space, clean up after yourself, be there to serve. Also, make sure you talk about expectations before you get there.