Episode Summary
We share tips and advice for how to save money on vacation. Summer vacations are happening now or around the corner for many, so it’s the perfect time to think ahead on how to save money and not break the bank while you’re traveling this summer. We share advice on how to save money on booking your location whether it’s a hotel or rental property, and how to save on food, activities, and buying “stuff” while on vacation.
Episode Notes
We discuss our summer vacation plans, and jump right into how to save money on your next vacation.
Our top advice for saving money while on vacation:
(1) Saving money on airfare – Let’s be honest, most of you aren’t worried about this right now, so we’ll save this topic for a future episode.
(2) Saving money on accommodations –
- If it’s a hotel, look for deals and even consider signing up for a credit card to get a ton of hotel points and use them. You need to do this in advance though as they all require a few months of purchases before you earn your sign-up bonus.
- Do your research and explore various options.
- If you’ve found a rental property on VRBO or AirBNB go and google search to see if you can find the main site the house is rented from. Sometimes if you book it through this the rates are cheaper and fees are lower.
- Don’t just look at the nightly rate. Sometimes the fees can vary greatly from property to property, so look at the fully loaded cost of the property vs. just the nightly rate.
- Consider a less popular or in-demand location. Maggie share’s how she booked a house in Florida for 2 weeks for less than half the cost of other homes in other more popular beachfront destinations. The house has a pool, is on a canal for kayaking, and is 20 minutes to the beach. This is good enough, and the kids will have a blast!
- Look closely at the extra amenities offered. The house may come included with 2 bikes, 4 bikes, 2 kayaks, etc. Look for houses that have the amenities you would otherwise pay for, and prioritize those. Maggie just booked a house on a canal and her #1 priority was finding a house that included 2 kayaks as weekly kayak rental was going to cost $300-500 per kayak!
(3) Saving money on food – Think/plan ahead. Don’t get stuck in places hungry where you’re forced to buy overpriced food. Plan ahead and pack lots of snacks and water bottles.
- Ideally book a hotel or house with a kitchen or kitchenette. This will save you so much money and allow you to eat at “home.”
- Go grocery shopping and stock up on what everyone loves, including extra treats! This will inspire you to cook and eat at home. Consider going shopping before you leave your house if you have room in the car as sometimes it’s easier and cheaper to do grocery shopping in your hometown vs. in the vacation destination city you’re in.
- Pack a cooler and fill it with ice. This will let you transport your cold items from location to location, but it also could help you do a make-shift kitchen in hotels. Maggie’s family traveled with a cooler in Ireland for 2 weeks, and they would take it into hotels with cold milk and other items, and it provided enough to ensure they could eat breakfast and snacks at home and avoid eating all meals out.
- If you don’t have a kitchen, think about non-perishable items you can pack to cover basic meals and snacks. For example, you could have bananas and pop tarts for breakfast, apples and peanut butter for a snack, and so on.
(4) Save money on activities
- Plan and think ahead.
- Research for groupons, online coupons, or sales. See if they have certain days where kids are cheaper or there are discounts.
- Don’t overbook yourself. If you rented a house with a pool or by the beach, then that’s your activity so you don’t need much else! What’s the point in paying for a place with a pool or by the beach if you’re going to leave everyday to go on excursions? If you do book some activities or excursions, space then out to every 2-3 days so you have downtimes at your rental house in between to just relax and enjoy what you booked it for.
- Look up the location community calendar in the city/area you’re staying in. There are often free activities happening, from markets to kids plays to live music. Put these things on your calendar first, and then find things to do that cost money to add around this.
- You are there to relax and spend time with your family. Take a minimalist approach to vacation and enjoy the simple, and free, things.
- Bring what you can from home. If you’re able to take your bikes along, do it! If you’re able to bring some pool floats or beach toys from home vs. being tempted to buy them at a local store, bring them from home!
(5) Saving money on “stuff” – You will visit stores and your kids will ask you for things. Remember you’re the adult and you can say no.
- It’s OK to do some shopping while on vacation, especially if it’s for items that you’ll use and keep as a memory. Maggie loves to buy clothing she already needs while on vacation, as it serves as a nice memory and vacation is often when she has time to do a little shopping.
Key Takeaways:
- Don’t overspend on vacation. Align what you spend on vacation with what you have to spend right now. Sometimes you might be in a position to splurge, and other times you might want to be more cost conscious. Either way, you can go on vacation and enjoy yourself, and save money!
- Plan and think ahead. You can save so much just by putting some thoughts into your food and activities plan in advance.
- Try a new approach for your vacations and perhaps you’ll find some things you enjoy from it.
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Show References
Untamed book by Glennon Doyle