Travel, Resort, Living

These are not good times for the economy. The price of everything, especially gas, seems to be rising every single day and salaries aren’t going anywhere.

Here are 5 tips for planning a a fun, but cheap family vacation.

1. Eat in
The cost of the vacation isn’t simply doing things, seeing things, and staying overnight places. Often the majority of the money you spend is spent at restaurants. So you can dramatically cut your costs by making your own food. It can be as simple as buying a loaf of bread along with peanut butter and jelly and a bag of chips. Every meal you make yourself will save you a lot of money.

2. Go to built-in fun

Another great tip for planning a cheap family vacation is to go to places where you don’t have to pay to have fun. Go to the mountains where you can hike, camp, and swim. Go to the ocean where you can spend your days on the beach and swimming. This will save you lots of money.

3. Explore close to home

With the price of gas, this is a really great tip. Before you drive or fly across the country, explore the great things that are closer to home. If you do a little research on the Internet you’ll be surprised by the great things you find. Try to keep your travel to under 250 miles if at all possible.

4. Go during non-peak times

Everything is more expensive at peak times. So places that are built for tourists will jack their prices up when they know they’ll be packed with guests. But that doesn’t mean the places aren’t fun at non-peak times. In fact, they can be even more fun. So try to plan your trip when it’s cheapest.

5. Look into rentals

Instead of spending a lot of money to stay at a hotel or motel look into renting a place for a week. You may be able to find a nice little cabin. Or you could rent a huge house and take a vacation with friends and family members. You will save a lot of money in the long run.

The family that plays together stays together. Therefore, it’s important to take a family vacation. However, it can be very expensive. 5 tips for planning a cheap family vacation are to eat in, go to built-in fun, explore close to home, go at non-peak, and look into rentals.