Everyone wants to have a vacation with sunshine, salty wind and sand between their toes (well, don’t they?). These vacations can be pricey, especially when you start adding kids to the vacation budget equation. We have visited many places that are “dream vacations” and paid very little to get there. How do we do it? Here’s a few tips:One good credit card that collects points for travel (I know, we all hate credit cards but the points add up and if you pay it off as soon as you spend it you won’t be digging a financial debt hole.) We use a credit card that is tied to our favorite hotel chain so the points add up with purchases and hotel stays. Brand loyalty. We always try to fly the same airlines and stay at the same hotel chains to keep our mileage and points with one brand. If you travel for business, try to stay with the brands you are loyal to for extra “freebie miles and points.” Look online for local coupon books – I found the one we took to Hawaii on an online auction site and then sold it after the trip on the same site. We used coupons for sight seeing activities, eating out, island adventures and more. Sign up with local business newsletters several months in advance. (I created a junk email account for all these to funnel to instead of using my day-to-day email.) Some of them will send you special offers, discounts, coupons, etc. that you may be able to use while on vacation. Find a super store or wholesale club to buy your drinks and snacks from. We found a place that rented a cooler to us that we kept in the trunk during our 10-day stay in Hawaii. We would pack it each morning from our hotel room with ice, drinks, fruit, sandwiches, etc. to snack on throughout the day. Our only meal that we paid for was dinner and we used coupons from our local discount book to keep the cost low.
Offer to “animal swap” with friends – when you go vacation they watch yours and you return the favor when they go vacation. This will help keep down the cost of kennel care.
Going on vacation doesn’t have to break the bank and with a little planning, you can have a great getaway at a fraction of the price people around you paid.
What’s the best vacation you went on that you paid very little for and how did you do it?