If times are tight, but you do not want your family to miss out on some quality vacation time, do not worry. There are plenty of good ways to save money on family vacation, and still have a great time together.
Family vacations are one of the treasures of life that you do not want to miss out. You don’t have to be a celebrity to have a family vacation in Bali. You can still enjoy a vacation with your budget. All you need to do is look for some ways to save more by spending less while on vacation.
Here are some of the best ways to save money on family vacation:
Staycation can be the best vacation
In times of economic crisis, the “staycation” has a tendency to become very popular. Take some time off, or schedule sometime around when your kids are not in school and go on a staycation. Sure you are not going anywhere, but a staycation can be a great time to explore your hometown and surrounding areas, visit a museum or park that you always want to go to, but can never find the time during the rest of the year, or even just play fun games at home and relax the rules a bit for the kids.
Sure, you are not going anywhere, but with a little creativity you can have just as much fun at home as you would on the road. Plus, since you are saving money on travel and accommodations, you can splurge a little bit on the family.
Plan ahead
If you do decide to travel away from home, the best advice is to plan ahead. This can be hard to do when it seems like plans and schedules change every five minutes, but if you do want any chance of a reasonable airfare or hotel rate, you should start making plans months in advance. This will allow you the widest range of options and prices. If you want to travel, you need to commit to it early on, and find prices that work for your budget. If you wait until the last minute, prices for places you do want to go will either be extremely high or unavailable, leaving you to either fish deeper into your wallet than you want in order to afford a vacation, or not taking one at all. Another great option is to rent an apartment in less expensive countries like Nigeria from their local free-classifieds website!
Care to make a trade?
Another great way to save on accommodations is by looking into house swaps. Nigerians use free classifieds website and other sites to find a person or family in another city that is looking to come to their area, and in this way they spend less in accommodation. How does this work? You arrange to swap homes with them for a certain period of time, and you have a free accommodation in a new place! There are some things to keep in mind if you decide to give this option a try. You want to be sure that the people staying in your home are trustworthy, but that is an easy enough process, particularly when it will yield a clean, comfortable place to stay in an exciting new area. You will, of course, have to pay for transportation to get there, but once arrived, you will be able to live like a local.
Skip the Popular Times
Family vacation doesn’t have to be summer or winter. It can be anytime of the year as the goal is to enjoy more family time. Summer is the popular time for vacations, which means everything will cost a little more. Go on vacation when it is not the peak time. At that time you can save money on lots of things – tickets, hotels, transportation and food as well among many other things. You will be able to enjoy more when it is less crowded.
Build a Travel Fund
A travel fund can help you plan and enjoy an extensive family vacation. Every month you put aside some money towards your travel fund and with time the money will grow. Additionally, you can raise funds by taking up part time jobs or sell stuff online. There are so many ways you can make more money. It is one of the most effective ways to save money on family vacation.
The Bottom-Line
There are many ways to plan a low-budget family vacation, but the most important thing to do is be creative. Think outside the box a little bit for fun things to do that do not cost as much as plane tickets and passes to Disneyland. Try some of the ways to save money on family vacation this time.