Family Travel Hacks and Tips for Any Budget is focused on creating family memories through travel experiences. Did I mention that the book is ONLY $.99! Quite a deal! Here's the link - http://amzn.to/2DCfhAp.
Chapter one, “Why Travel with Kids” focuses on the importance of traveling with children. This chapter includes multiple resources, book suggestions, and sample questions that you can ask your children before your family trip.
Chapter two, “Traveling with Kids on a Budget”, presents tips for frugal family travelers and luxury family travelers. This chapter features recipes, meal suggestions, packing lists, and additional resources.
Chapter three, “Flying, Cruising, and Riding the Rails with Children” features several tips and checklists for each type of travel. These tips and checklists are timeline-based and highlight items to consider when booking your trip, 24 hours before your trip, and when you arrive to the airport/terminal/depot.
Chapter four, “Hotels with Kids”, focused on items to consider when booking your hotel, when you arrive to your hotel, and when checking out of your hotel.
Chapter five, “Day Trips to Local Attractions”, includes the “Top 10 Things to Pack for a Sea World Adventure (or Other Theme Park)”, a sample day trip itinerary for families, and suggestions for family reflections after a day trip.
Chapter six, “Innovative Ways to Pack for Family Travel Experiences”, highlights innovative ways to integrate binder clips and zipper bags on your trip. These everyday items can be lifesavers for families on-the-go!
About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!
Here's a guest post on frugal weekends from our pal Josh at Family Faith Finance:
One reason we work hard throughout the week is to relax and have money to enjoy the weekend. What you don’t want to do is spend all your hard-earned cash on a single weekend. These tips can help you enjoy your weekends frugally.
Have a Plan
With anything in life, your odds of accomplishing goals will be significantly higher when you plan. Taking a few minutes to scout out the best deals on sites like Groupon. If you plan on only going to a restaurant only once over the weekend, choosing which meal will prevent the possibility of going out two or three times because you didn’t pack a lunch or go grocery shopping yet.
Only Shop for Items on Your List
You might wait until the weekend to go shopping because you don’t have the time after work. Instead of window shopping, be intentional about the items you want to purchase by making a shopping list. In other words, make a list according to a budget and stick to it!
Only visiting stores and shopping for items on your list can keep you within budget. Sticking to your list will not only help you enjoy a frugal weekend, but it will also limit the amount of clutter in your house. After all, stores are constantly putting items on sale or clearance and it can be easy to buy items you don’t need if you don’t make a list.
Use a Separate Bank Account
One budgeting tactic you can try out is creating a separate bank account that is used only for the weekends. Set the amount of money you want to spend each weekend or month by transferring that amount from your regular bank account. Once the money is spent, you stay home or look for free activities until your weekend account is replenished.
If you don’t spend all the money this weekend, you can save it up to spend more on upcoming weekends. This can be a great way to save for a weekend getaway when you don’t want to pull from your savings. Choosing an account with its own debit card can also ensure you don’t accidentally use money from your primary bank account. It makes sense to use an online bank account which can be opened separately from your traditional bank. In general, most online bank accounts come with very low to zero fees, making them a feasible option as a secondary bank account.
Don’t Use a Credit Card
In addition to using a second bank account, keep your credit card out of the equation on the weekends. Unless you can immediately pay the balance with your second account, a credit card can encourage you to spend more than your weekend budget allows. Instead, pay with cash or a debit card, preferably from your weekend bank account. *The Weekends Count Family actually utilizes credit cards for almost every purchase. However, we use coupons and online deals for every single purchase we make.
Invite Friends Over
If you typically go to the bar or restaurant to watch a sports game or converse with your friends, invite them to your house instead. By having everybody bring a dish of food and beverages, you can save money on food and still watch the game or movie on TV. The atmosphere might not be as energetic, but you can still make the best of it.
Limit How Many Times You Go Out
Even if you can afford to go out every weekend, you might decide to save money by only going out one night a week or only once or twice a month. Going to the club or a live concert can be fun, but it can also get expensive very quickly.
Reducing your nights out can be an easy way to curb your entertainment spending. You can use your free time to start new, frugal hobbies like Netflix binges, hosting game nights, or looking for free or cheap events to attend instead. If you live in a big city, you will be surprised at how many different activities are constantly going on.
Visit a Park
Depending on your hobbies, local parks often offer many of the same opportunities as private locations. Parks can be a free option to go hiking, have a picnic, and enjoy time outdoors.
To attract visitors, some parks have also contracted with vendors to provide experiences like ziplining, boat rentals, and other activities like Frisbee golf courses. These alternatives can be cheaper than visiting an amusement park that offers similar experiences for more money.
Switch to Cheaper Hobbies
Some hobbies like golf, going to the movies, or attending a theater show can get expensive in a hurry. Instead look for cheaper hobbies like Frisbee golf instead real golf or visiting an amateur theater production instead of the traveling production. You can still participate in your existing hobbies, but you might consider reducing the frequency to save money.
Summary
Having a frugal weekend doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. It just means you use your money more efficiently so you can still accomplish your other money goals. Doing so means you don’t have to stress about money on the weekends or work extra hard during the week just to afford your weekend plans.
Josh recently got into the personal finance game when he decided to start up Family Faith Finance. His goal is to introduce a unique perspective while offering solid, unbiased advice. Thanks for the guest post Josh!
At Marriott Hotels and Resorts (and most Hilton, Sheraton, Omni, and other hotels), there is a hidden feature that most individuals have no idea about. These are the lounges located on the top floors and bottom floors of most full service hotels. These lounges usually provide patrons with complimentary breakfast, lunchtime snacks, nightlight snacks (or actual dinner), desserts, and drinks!
Also, if you are attending a blogging (or other) conference or working from your hotel, you can print for free, have free coffee without standing in line downstairs without the other coffee drinkers who are paying $6 per cup downstairs, and. It is a great networking opportunity for millennials, moms, professionals, and others who want to exchange business information with others!
Usually, the conference speakers are present in the lounges, the CEO and planners are in the lounges, and other busy professionals who just want to relax away from the busy nature of downstairs.
The Marriott M Club Lounge at the New Orleans Marriott is a hidden gem. I discovered it by mistake when I attempted to travel to my regular lounge upstairs in my favorite hotel in New Orieans and I was informed that there was a M Club Lounge downstairs. This was my first time visiting an M Club Lounge and it was amazing! You can order lunch and dinner, there is a sparking water machine, amazing spaces to work on....WORK, and the dinner is AMAZING!
This video focuses on breakfast time in the M Club Lounge in New Orleans. The hotel had great vegetarian options, amazing gluten free options, fresh fruit, bread pudding (yum), made to order omelets, and you actual get to select items from the actual New Orleans Marriott breakfast buffet! Yes, this includes beignets! Also, anyone can have made to order beignets in the lobby! Plus, there is a bonus video at the end of this video focused on "How Make Beignets" from a baker or chef at the New Orleans Marriott.
This is one of my favorite Marriott Hotels in the United States for Millennials!
Have a great week and plan for the weekend!
About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!
During our recent holiday weekend trip to Los Angeles, we visited Universal Studios Hollywood!
