Saving Money for Summer Vacations!

I am all about summer vacations, but I am also all about saving money for summer vacations, and not just using our credit cards. This last year we have been teaching our kids to save money along with us. A couple of years ago I made a cute jar {mason jar} with stickers on it that said “Disneyland Jar”. My kids really want to go there, but it isn’t in the budget quite yet. We have since upgraded the jar to this coconut oil container {I should probably get some vinyl made that says “Vacation Money” or something cute to put on it!

Dave Ramsey talks a lot about how people think they deserve a vacation even if they don’t have the money, so they go on these big ginormous vacations and put it on their credit card in hopes to pay it off when they get their tax return or when they win the lottery :). I know I feel like that sometimes, like my husband has been working his booty off and we all need to get away and go on a fun expensive vacation. What Dave recommends is saving up for your big trips, and if you need a vacation but don’t have enough money, do something more like a Staycation. What is a Stay-Cation you might ask? It’s exactly that. I just learned last year when that is what we had to do for our family vacation. You find fun things to do close by you and stay at home! We went to Utah Valley for a week to be with family, and during that time we went up to Salt Lake for a day and just did a few fun things around town. It didn’t cost a ton of money, we didn’t have to pay for a hotel and we packed our own lunch and then ate out for dinner.

We still are saving our pennies to go on a fun big vacation. The kids are amazed to see how much we already have put in the bucket. My son, whenever he finds a penny on the road says, “I’m going to put this in the Disneyland jar”, and saves it in his pocket until we get home! The kids are really learning a lot about saving money. They understand that until the bucket is full we won’t go, and they are fine with it!

Now if you have saved enough to go on a fun summer vacation, why not still be frugal.  A while back I wrote about a book I have been reading called Live your Life for Half the Price.  It is a great book!  In it there is a chapter all about saving money on vacations.  Here are a few things they suggest if you go on a vacation mixed in with my own opinion!

• The first thing they suggest if you are going on a big vacation is to make a Plan.  That sounds easy, but not just any plan like where you are going and what you are going to do, but also how much you are going to spend at each place you visit. What you might want to buy there and if you our kids get to spend money there or not
• Second, make a budget.  I know, for those that hate budgets I am sorry, but I think you will enjoy the trip more if you planned out lodging, food, activities. They also suggest that since you might spend more than you anticipated add 10% to what you think it might cost.
• Third, look for deals.  There are a ton of discounted deals online all the time for where ever you want to go.  Check out Hotels.com, Tripadvisor.com, Expedia.com,  and one that I recently heard of that is one of the best is Kayak.com {they do a broad search of all the sites}.
• Forth, Negotiate, Haggle and Barter.  I didn’t realize this is something you can do anywhere you go, but you can.  If something is not being used and you ask for a discount most of the time they will accept.  It never hurts to ask for a discount.  They might say no, but at least you tried.
• Fifth, Borrow or Rent.   If you need any sort of equipment to go on your trip, consider borrowing or most likely renting it.  RV’s, Boats, Four Wheelers can get quite expensive, but renting them isn’t to bad.
• Last, Prepare.  Check the weather, have first aid kits, sunblock, umbrellas, jumper cables, water, and food.

Happy Vacationing.