I was thrilled when Stephanie Bates from Military Travel Mama reached out and asked me to contribute a tip to a post on her blog, Budgeting Tips for Families & Households on a Budget. Be sure to head over to her blog and check it out!
She was also kind enough to provide this great guest post for all of you here on Voluntown Housewife.
Traveling With Your Family On A Budget
Written by: Stephanie Bates from Military Travel Mama
Tight budgets don’t need to limit the potential for a fun family vacation. They can, but if you’re strategic, you’ll be able to “have your cake, and eat it, too”. Following are tips to help you maximize family vacations and your wallet.
Always consider budget traveling, but know what your budget is. First things first: what is the mileage your vehicle regularly gets? Are you able to pull 20 miles per gallon? That means twenty gallons gets you 400 miles.
Now you’re going to pay anywhere from $2.55 to $3.55 a gallon, on average. Certainly there are outliers under $2 and over $4, but for the most part, $2.55 to $3.55 is going to cover the “spread” of a country like America, at the present time.
That means 400 miles, before wear-and-tear, will cost you between $51 and $71. Now how far do you need to go? 1,200 miles, round trip? You’re looking at between $153 and $213 in gas—call it the high number to cover incidental driving once you’ve reached your destination.
Other Travel Options And Lodging Considerations
You can travel by air; but that’s going to generally cost more. Still, standby seats and last-minute bookings save you money, if you’re able to fudge your itinerary. All that being said, once you’ve got your travel figured out, now you’ve got to look at how long you’re going to be staying at a location, and what your daily living expenses will be.
Do you have friends or family you can stay with? If you figure a hotel room at $100 a day, on the medium-to-low end of luxury, that’s $700 a week. Meanwhile, if you’ve got friends or family who will put you up for a week, you can cut that cost out entirely; just be sure to keep an eye on the kids.
What does it cost to feed your family for a day while on vacation? Well, if you’ve got a family of five, you and the wife can probably eat fully for about $40 if you go grocery shopping and make full use of a continental breakfast, or the hospitality of friends/family. The same thrifty spending can keep the kids full for $5 a piece, per day. That’s $55 a day, or $385 a week.
Altogether, on the high end, you’re looking at $1,298 for a 1,200-mile trip over the course of a week, without any souvenirs or incidental costs. That’ll cover the family’s food, travel, and lodging. You can cut that down to $153 if you always get cheap gas and stay with friends or family that are hospitable enough to feed you.
Getting More For Less
Once you’ve figured out where you’re going and your budget spread, it’s time to find fun activities that don’t cost much. Still, you might want to give everybody a $100 spending budget for souvenirs and the like. AT $1,798, a family of five can travel to an exotic location for a week, buy souvenirs, eat well, and explore. For most, that’s less than a month’s pay!
If you couple free entertainment, discounts, coupons, or promotions with that budget, you can stretch it. But before you do any of these things, you’ll need to figure out spending thresholds. How far are you going, how long are you staying, what will you do when you get there, and how can you cut down on associated costs?
Answer these questions and you’ll know where you’ve got wiggle-room. If you don’t have relatives or family, but do have supplies at home and a tent, you could go camping for a week at next-to-nothing and still have a fun, memorable vacation.
