On one of our most recent family trips we put a lot of effort into saving some serious $$! Our motivation behind saving money… the cheaper we can be the more often we can travel. And my friend, we LOVE to travel. I wanted to share a few of the ways we save so that you can also put more travel in your family budget.
CARRY WATER
When my kids and I travel we carry two water bottles with us. When we get through security we fill them up at a water fountain. Remember you can’t carry the water through security, but you can carry the empty container. Most water fountains in airports now have fountains specifically for filling water bottles with filtered water. We will refill our bottles several times over the course of a trip. (If you are carrying a water bottle, I recommend one with a twist top lid. I find it much easier to put my bottle inside out backpack, and you don’t want it coming open!) Savings for us on this trip… ($2 water x at least 10 fill-ups a day = at least $20 a day x 2 days = $40!)
PACK SNACKS
When we leave for a trip I carry granola bars, snacks,dried fruits are a huge favorite.. y’all remember how much we love Crispy Greens. I also pack a sandwich for each of us. We usually avoid paying for several meals by doing this! (We saved at least 2 meals doing this… feeding 4 of us in the airport would be at least $30! 2×30= $60)
TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Often when we stay at hotels they have free transportation. This last time that was not the case. If we chose to get a cab it would have been $60. (Did you know cabs companies often charge a surcharge for pickup or drop off at airports?) We spend $40 on public transportation in NYC ($20 savings x round trip =$40 and we had the fun experience)
SEARCH FOR CHEAP DINING OPTIONS
On our morning in NYC we wanted to do a quick breakfast, but the hotel restaurant prices were HIGH! Instead of spending $40 we opted to walk down the block to a Dunkin. If you are there more days this adds up quickly! ($15 VS 40 = $25 savings… not counting time and that my kids had rather have a doughnut anyway).
AVOID CHECKED BAGS
With two kids that can’t quite carry full-size carry-ons through the airport it is a struggle to avoid checking a bag. (The smaller kid sized bag really helps us with this!) We have to pack very wisely to avoid checking a bag. A checked bag on our last trip would have cost us $25 there and back! Leaving behind things we wanted to take and NOT shopping for souvenirs while we were gone… Savings $50
FIND CHEAPER PARKING
Shop around for airport parking before you go! This can be a significant expense depending on how long you are gone. My husband and I used to spend over $200 a month on parking when we were both traveling. Using Airport Parking Reservations can save you some money! Did you know there are some airport hotels that offer cheaper parking and it is available to guest AND non-guests. For the month of Feb 2018, save 70% using this link!
As you can see from this post and one of my recent posts on saving money... I am really thinking about saving some cash! That is because I am working on another book!! It will release on March 1! I am a pretty frugal person and feel like I have done it all to save some money. And I want to pass all of my information on to you! I will be giving the book away to all of my subscribers, so if you haven’t already then sign up below. Make sure you sign up so that you don’t miss out when I release it!!
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