The family vacation is synonymous with summer. It’s such a standard within American society that an endless array of movies have been made depicting trips to the beach, national parks and Europe, to name a few. It’s something adults and kids alike look forward to each year as a way to unwind and spend quality time together.
There’s only one problem. Vacations are getting close to being unaffordable.
My family and I have been visiting Fripp Island for years. Understanding Fripp is considered a resort, I was always willing to spend a little more in order to stay on a private and secluded island. The trouble is, the “little more” I had been spending has grown into a lot more. Ownership of the resort changed hands in 2023 and ever since, prices have skyrocketed. What was once a $3-4K all in trip for the week has doubled. Private island or not, it shouldn’t cost $8-9K to stay at the beach, especially in my own state.
Rather than pay the exorbitant price for the beach, my family and I headed down to Universal Studios in Florida. Although this wasn’t exactly cheap either, we did find ways to cut our spending without taking away from the overall experience. The great part is, much of what we were able to do can be applied to any vacation, regardless of where you’re going or what you’re doing.
Here are the 3 ways we were able to save and still have an incredible time away:
Avoid Costly Beverages
This one is especially true at theme parks, but could be true elsewhere as well. Rather than purchase the souvenir container that could be refilled with any number of sugary drinks that wouldn’t quench our thirst anyway, we brought a reusable container and filled it with water.
Although it’s hard to quantify exactly how much we saved, I can tell you that one Powerade cost $6.50. This isn’t to say we never drank anything other than water. Rather than spending throughout the day, we savored the experience at dinner with mocktails for the kids and alcoholic beverages for the adults.
Utilize the 60/40 Rule
This is a tough one. You don’t want to stay somewhere that’s going to take away from the overall experience but you also don’t want to annihilate your budget staying in a hotel you can’t afford.
A good rule of thumb is the 60/40 rule. Your accommodations should cost you around 60% of your overall budget, leaving you with 40% for spending money. For instance, if your overall budget is $6K, your hotel/house should cost you no more than $3,500. This leaves with $2,500 to spend on food, gifts, etc. Anything additional you’d save on accommodations provides you with more spending money for the things you actually want to do.
Family Road Trip
Cars these days are incredibly comfortable. They’re also insanely expensive. Why not use the car you’re already paying for to get you to where you want to go?
Instead of flying, we hopped in the car and drove down to Florida. The trip took around 8 hours and required two tanks of gas. The total cost to get us there was around $160. If we had flown down we would’ve saved a ton of time not being in the car, but the cost would’ve been astronomical in comparison. Buy a couple of new DVDs for the kids and head on down the road.
It definitely took awhile to get there, but it’s all part of the experience. After all, if it’s good enough for Chevy Chase, it should be good enough for you.
Just make sure Aunt Edna is tied down. We don’t need her falling off the roof again.
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