Browsing Tag

vacation tips

Inexpensive Options For Your Next Family Vacation

This may not be the ideal time to plan your next family vacation, with the massive spending of the holiday season still burning holes through your credit cards. But taking time away from the hustle and bustle of life to reconnect with the people you care about is one of the most important things you can do. It’s why you work so hard the rest of the year, and a great family vacation is worth more than all of the presents and elaborate meals money can buy. Luckily, even when your finances are at their tightest it is possible to enjoy a relaxing trip with the family. Here are just a couple of inexpensive options to help you plan your next family vacation.

First of all, consider alternate forms of transportation. You’ll never tire of first class airfare, but if that’s what stands in the way of affording the trip it’s time to get creative. Consider a closer destination you can drive to. With a full car of family members the car ride will always be cheaper than the flight, and significantly greener as well. You can cut costs further by taking a bus or a train to your vacation destination. They may not be glamorous forms of transportation, but they’ll save you the stress of driving in traffic and navigating through unknown territory. And you’ll have plenty left over in your budget to enjoy the trip itself.

January 11, 2013

Travel & Entertainment

How We Spent Too Much On Our Vacation

Recently my husband and I went on another road trip. We drove about 5000 kilometers over the course of 8 days, spending time with friends and camping. We are usually really good about sticking within a tight vacation budget,, however, on this trip we were more careless with how we spent our money. And, as a result, our vacation ended up costing more than we anticipated.

October 14, 2010

Travel & Entertainment

5 Ways To Save Money At National Parks

During our travels this summer, my husband and I stayed at various national parks throughout the U.S. We have also stayed at many national parks in Canada over the past couple of years. We have found that you don’t have to spend a lot of money while staying within these parks. Here are a few ways we have saved money:

1. Some national parks provide free shuttle bus service. We took advantage of this service whenever possible. It was much easier to see what the park had to offer without having to drive around in our car, and it was cheaper because we didn’t have to pay for the gas.

2. If you are able to time it right, you can sometimes get into national parks for free. During our most recent vacation, one of the parks we stayed at was promoting their park by allowing free entrance for one weekend. We just happened to be there at the right time. If you are thinking of taking a vacation at a nearby national park, check out the park website to see if any free entrance weekends are being offered and book your vacation around that time. The neat thing is that entrance fees are usually very reasonable and are often valid for 7 days. In all the U.S. national parks we visited the entrance fee was just $25.

June 29, 2010

Travel & Entertainment

Our Frugal Summer Vacation

In response to the Summer Road Trip Challenge I posted earlier this month, I wanted to fill you in on how it turned out.

We had a fantastic time visiting several national parks throughout the southwestern U.S. As planned, we camped along the way, and because we spent most of our time in the desert, we didn’t have to deal with a lot of rain. Instead of rain, we experienced extreme heat with temperatures up to 43 degrees Celsius.

We brought along $2200 and we ended up spending $1030 for our trip. We also did a bit of shopping and spent $263 on shoes and a few other items. We were happy to discover that gasoline is quite a bit cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada, and when you are driving more than 8000 kilometers, it makes a huge difference.

June 27, 2010