Over the years, family vacations have been hit and miss. Since my four children are all heavily involved in sports, vacations were often piggybacked on out-of-town tournaments. I basically left planning up to the athletic directors of the organizations and did what I could to extend the trips into mini-holidays. While this has worked well for us, school cutbacks this year leave us without any major trips on the calendar, so we are planning one of our own.
Winter camping
After taking a vote, the family vacation everyone has decided upon is winter camping. In the past, we have taken camping trips that coincided with all the winter birthdays in the family and the winter sporting events. January, February and March are actually great months for camping and we leave feeling much more connected as a family than we do when staying in a hotel.
There are a few stipulations on the location of our winter camping trips. First of all it is not a primitive camping trip, no tents necessary on this excursion. The cabin must have a fireplace and a outdoor fire pit. Those are fairly standard and not hard to find a campground that complies. Since money is tight, and roads are unpredictable in the winter, the destination should also be within four hours or so from home.
We are looking into a couple of mid-Ohio and PA campgrounds, but have yet to nail down the location. Right now though it is important to start saving up for the trip. Instead of a brief two or three-day vacation which has been the norm due to work schedules and commitments, we are planning for an actual week-long break from reality.
Saving for vacation
Saving for this upcoming trip requires a little creativity. I decided to use my kids natural competitiveness and came up with challenges to keep everyone motivated. Since we already do a lot of the basic things to save money such as using the library and not eating out, we tried some new things.
No-spend days
We have no-spend days, meaning on certain days of the week, no one in the family can buy anything. This may not sound like much, but it forces everyone to really think ahead and change direction. This alone helps us conserve funds. It is funny to hear the kids explain to their friends, “No, I can’t go up to the store today, it’s a no-spend day.” Five-dollar bills
We also do not spend five dollar bills, they are immediately put in the camping fund. Take on side work
It takes a lot of creativity and initiative to find work these days, but it can be done. My boys landscape for neighbors, which includes cutting lawns, weeding, leaf removal and snowplowing in the winter. My daughters baby sit for both kids and neighbors pets. Encouraging them to make their own money saves money that I might spend in entertainment, and it gives them a good idea of the value of a dollar.
The number one key to saving for a family vacation is setting goals. We created a wish list of things we all want to do on our vacation and each one has a monetary value. One way or another we will get to the cabin, hike in the woods, and sit by the fire, but if they want to do anything else, everyone needs to pitch in. This gives them a concrete vision of why they are saving, helping make it a reality!