Travelling is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. It teaches you a lot about the world and it can be a great way to switch your mind off from the troubles in your life. Travelling is something young and old should do to enjoy life.
While you definitely want to take your kids travelling, you don’t want it to break your budget. The good news is you don’t have to!
Here are six interesting ways to save more while planning for a family trip.
#1: Create a special vacation savings account
You can save a lot more money if you have a dedicated savings account. Not only does it ensure you don’t touch the money before your trip, it can also help your money grow while you’re planning for the trip.
There are bank accounts that offer a decent interest on accounts that don’t have running withdrawals. This means you can only withdraw the required amount, as your trip gets closer. In the meantime, you can start placing 1% of your income each month on the account and save towards the next trip.
#2: Sell your extra things
You can earn a decent amount of money by selling stuff your family doesn’t even need. You might have old children’s toys, books, movies and even electronics you don’t use any more and which would go for a nice amount of money. You can sell items online – Facebook has a number of garage style groups to join.
Not only are you going to earn a bit of money for your travels, you can also get the spring cleaning done. Get the family involved by making everyone clean a closet or a box everyday and put aside things they don’t need any more. You will end up with a clutter-free home and a bigger travel budget!
#3: Get the right credit card
It’s probably that you use your credit cards quite a bit throughout the year. If you pick the right card, you can actually benefit from all this shopping. These are credit cards that allow you to accumulate airline miles while shopping – when the family vacation is closer, you can use these points to cut down the cost of flights.
Certain credit cards have other benefits, such as cash-back offers. These are another great option for earning slightly while spending money and all the little bonuses can accumulate to a bit of extra holiday money quickly. Just check the terms and conditions before you get started to ensure you’ll actually end up saving money.
#4:Shop smarter
When it comes to shopping, you definitely want to be smarter with how you spend your pennies. Everyone with a family knows that feeding and clothing children doesn’t come cheap. However, you can cut the costs buy taking a few simple steps.
You should consider using online voucher codes from VoucherBin, and compare different retailers to find the cheapest offers. Opt for bulk-buy options and share your shopping costs with friends and people from the neighbourhood. Plan your grocery and clothing shopping in advance to ensure you don’t make decisions on the go – these can end up costing you a lot more money.
#5:Put your stuff to use when you’re away
When you are on the holiday, it doesn’t mean you can’t stop earning money. You could rent your home to a fellow traveller on Airbnb. This can help you make some of the costs you’d accumulate on the trip. Another great option is to rent your car while you’re not using it – it will prevent you from wasting money on the expensive airport car park.
Now, you can even earn a little while on your holiday. You could sell your holiday pictures online and even propose to write a short article on your local newspaper! These can add a bit of pocket money to your wallet and allow you to treat the family to a fancy dinner on the final night.
#6: Travel slightly outside of the box
Travelling outside of the box? What does it mean? It’s essentially picking either your location or the timing slightly outside of the busiest tourist season. This means not going where everyone else is going or booking your holiday at a time when others might not be travelling.
Now, the latter option is slightly harder for families. You often have to plan the holidays around the kids’ holidays so you can’t travel outside the busiest seasons. But it doesn’t mean you couldn’t pick the location outside the box! Instead of spending summer in places where everyone else is, try thinking a destination that’s little different. Travel blogs are great for finding ideas like that!
These six tips are great for saving more while planning for your next family trip. They won’t force you to live differently and you won’t need to eat noodles for weeks. They’ll also help you accumulate enough money to ensure you can have a lovely holiday with the family!