Holidays are an important part of life. They are a great way to recharge and return home with a renewed and refreshed attitude.
A priest friend of ours insists that families should go on holidays at least once every year and that those working, must use their annual leave as a matter of priority.
But although holidays, quality family holidays, are important they can also be a very expensive experience and sometimes, when money’s tight, we just don’t get there.
Here are some helpful family holiday hacks to help you get away this year:
- Start saving now: add into your weekly/monthly domestic budget an amount you can set aside for holidays. $20/month is $240, $50/month is $600.
- Go at off peak times: this one is a no brainer if you’re not tied to the school holidays because you’re children aren’t school aged or you’re home schooling. If you have the flexibility to do this, plan your holidays for the cheaper and quieter times of year.
- Choose self-contained accommodation: this way you can do your own grocery shopping and stay within your regular shopping budget. You can take food with you out of the cupboard and fridge that may have otherwise gone off. It also means that you can plan ahead and have some freezer meals packed in an esky when you leave. When you’re away resist the temptation to eat out.
- Pack your own lunches and car snacks: this one’s common sense, but it saves a lot of money at fast food joints on your trip.
- Pack a tea time toolbox: I’d love to take credit for this but it was hubby’s idea. If you’re like my hubby, when you stay in a motel you take the excess complementary tea bags, coffee and sugar satchets and the little milk ones too. Armed with these, he purchased a cheap plastic toolbox from Bunnings, organised and filled it with these, and some more of our own. The day we left we filled up two thermos of boiling water and we were all set for hot beverages on our holiday trip.
Do you have other ideas for making holidays work on a shoestring budget? Please share below!
Originally posted 2016-02-24 02:58:55.