How To Take a Frugal Family Vacation

A couple days ago we got back from a week long family vacation. When I say “we”, I mean my wife and I, and our three young kids (9,6,3 years old). 7 days, 1400 miles in the minivan, and 28 more gray hairs on my noggin. But we had a great time visiting family and we did it fairly frugally. Here are a few tips I used to save money:

1- With gas at $4.20 in my neck of the woods, we took the car that got the best gas mileage. Yes, it would have been so much easier to throw all our stuff in the back of my truck but it would have cost about $200 more in gas costs. So we opted for the mini-van which meant we were a little more cramped and felt a bit like sardines, but it was not terrible.

2- Frugal Lodging. – Try to stay with family or friends. If this is not possible, a fun and frugal alternative is camping. You can usually camp for $20 a night or less. If that is not possible, use Trip Advisor.com to find a clean and affordable motel where you will be staying. We actually did all 3 of these things on our trip and they all worked out great.

3- Be Flexible. Perhaps the best way to travel frugally is by being flexible to airlines, hotels, and rental car companies. This will allow you to use sites like Hotwire and Priceline where you can name your own price and bid on the lowest travel deals.

Any other suggestions other than tying your kids to the roof of your sedan?

2 Responses to “How To Take a Frugal Family Vacation”

1. Patty on May 3rd, 2011 10:54 am

   I LOVE the picture of the Station Wagon!

   [Reply]

2. Kyle on May 3rd, 2011 11:14 am

   Brings Clark Griswald to mine, doesn’t it!

   [Reply]

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email Address(required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Click to cancel reply