Let’s face it: traveling with kids is downright expensive! It’s so easy to underestimate your expenses, overspend, and not be able to vacation again for many years because it was too hard of a hit to the family budget. When we vacation, we try to cut as many corners as possible so it can be both enjoyable and sustainable!
My husband and I recently decided to take our five kids to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida to take advantage of the inexpensive flights and tickets due to the pandemic. We had a blast while also saving a ton of money, so I thought I would pass along some of my tips on how to shave off as many expenses as possible when taking your family on vacation.
Flying inexpensively:
This was news to me, but now there are “budget carriers” that charge you a bare-bones price for your tickets, but they also nickel and dime you for many things such as check bags, carry-on bags, food, and water on the flight. The only bag they allow you to bring without a fee is a “personal item” which is any bag that fits under the seat in front of you such as a backpack or a satchel bag. Before you book your flight, make sure you know what is included in your ticket price and what is not. Do the math to figure out whether it’s worth it for your family to buy a more expensive ticket with more included or to pack light and have everyone bring a backpack instead (keep reading… tips on this below!) One thing I noticed is that there is usually plenty of room in the overhead bins, especially if you have a row to yourselves. Even though you’re technically supposed to put your bag under the seat in front of you, the flight attendants really don’t take notice of people putting their personal items in the overhead bin unless there’s overcrowding.
Hint: Always keep several sets of clothes in your carry-on for the baby. I’ll never forget the time that I took my first baby on a plane flight to visit my husband while he was on a 3 month long military training. When we landed, he was surprised to find that she didn’t have any pants on and asked if I had forgotten to pack a change of clothes in the baby bag. I moaned and told him that she had gotten airsick and had thrown up down her outfit, into her car seat, not just once, but twice! All I had left by the end of the trip was a t-shirt and her blankie! The poor baby!
How to pack light and still have what you need
When we took our trip to Florida, we went with a budget carrier. We figured we would save money overall this way, but that left us with a dilemma: if we’re not checking a bag, how do we pack the right amount of cosmetics to last us the whole week? What we ended up doing was buying a lot of reusable travel-sized bottles (3 oz. or less) and filled them up with personal care products. Anything that we couldn’t do this with, we simply purchased when we got to our destination. This method worked out great! We saved money on the plane tickets and avoided the $50 check bag fee that budget carriers charge both going out and coming home. It was definitely a bare-bones way to travel, but it worked!
I made something super special for my readers that I wanted to share with you. This was my daughter Holly’s idea, and it is brilliant! It’s a packing list for little kids who can’t read. Instead of words, it has pictures of what they should pack! This is going to make so many people’s lives easier! It’s my present to you, so I hope you feel blessed!
Hint: If traveling to a hotel with a pool, you may need to pack flotation devices for your littles. I purchased a cool product ahead of time that made quite a few women at the resort jealous! It was an inflatable puddle jumper! It packed light but kept my kids comfortable and safe in the pool. Click here for the link. I’m just telling you about this because it’s cool; there’s no commission for me on this one.
Pack an empty reusable water bottle
Buying drinks on your trip is a fast way to have your expenses stack up quickly. If you’re traveling with a budget carrier and are expecting free drinks and snacks on the plane, you will most likely be disappointed! They were charging $2.99 for just a bottle of water on our plane! Instead, bring a spill-proof water bottle that you can refill throughout the trip. You can’t bring liquids in your bottle through airport security, but there are always water bottle filling stations in the terminals. Make your drinks more exciting by packing drink flavor packets like Propel or Gatorade (chlorinated water tastes gross!) Packing snacks such as apples, oranges, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter filled pretzels, Greek yogurt, or protein bars can really help to tide everyone over in between meals and help you avoid hangry kid syndrome. You can expect to pay at least 2X-3X more in the airports than you usually would for any food items, so the better prepared you are, the happier your family and your wallet will be!
Hint: Keep gum, lolly pops, drinks, and Benadryl handy for plane flights. Nothing’s worse than a congested kiddo whose ears hurt on a plane because their ears can’t pop, and the pressure isn’t being relieved. Nursing the baby or giving a bottle helps during ascension and descension.
Don’t bother paying to choose your seat
If you see that your seats are separated from the kids ahead of time, plan to arrive at your gate a little early and ask the flight attendants to switch your seats so that you can be seated with your kids. They tend to be very accommodating about this. Trust me, they don’t want your kids unattended any more than you do!
What do I do about car seats?
If you’re renting a car, and plan to rent car seats as well, be sure to check the fine print. We came across a tricky situation when we booked our car rental through a travel site, not the actual rental agency. They said that the total was an estimate and that there might be a charge for car seats, but didn’t specify what the charge would be. When we went to check out, we found out that we were about to be charged over $200 for renting the car seats! Ridiculous!
Airlines, however, don’t charge you to check your boosters or infant carriers whether it’s at the ticket counter when you first check-in or at the gate if you want to keep the baby in the infant carrier throughout the airport. Babies under 2 years old who can sit on a parent’s lap during the flight are free. However, if you want a guarantee that you can have the infant carrier on the plane, you will have to pay the cost of a plane ticket for the privilege. One loophole around this is to ask the flight attendant before they start boarding if you can be placed in a row where the seat next to you is empty. If they are able to do this, then they will let you bring the carrier on the plane without an extra fee. Again, this is another reason to arrive early so you can see if this option is available.
Strollers… are they a life saver or an unnecessary extra?
When traveling through airports and amusement parks, I would definitely recommend a stroller or even a double stroller for little ones. Even though our two youngest were 4 and 7, we decided to borrow a double stroller for our trip. They were happy little walkers in the airports, so we decided to use the stroller to pile all of our backpacks onto, and saved our shoulders from being sore by the end of the trip. Strollers are also free to check at the gate, although you do have to wait for them to unload it when you get off the plane. This can take several minutes, so if you have a tight layover time, you may want to skip this.
In the amusement parks, the stroller was a lifesaver! We tracked our distances, and on our longest day, it was over 6 miles of walking! Not only could we walk at a faster pace with the little ones riding along, but it also kept them out of the sun and gave us a place to store our lunches, water bottles, and backpacks. All of the rides had stroller parking outside of them, which was great. Some rides don’t allow any loose items, so people would have to get lockers for their purses, hats, sunglasses, etc. By the end of the trip, we got lazy when we went on rides, skipped the lockers altogether, and kept our stuff in the stroller. It was a little risky, but we never left anything valuable, and nothing was ever stolen.
Our secret to packing crazy light!
The #1 thing that we did to lighten our load, and avoid needing check bags was this: we did laundry throughout the trip and only packed a few outfits. We were able to get a suite with in-room laundry units, which made this easy peasy, but even on-site laundry would have worked just fine.
Hint: if there’s a washer and dryer in your unit, you can ask for laundry detergent, and they almost always have individual packets that they will provide for free. You can even call and ask if they offer them ahead of time! If not, there’s a handy product called a laundry sheet. They are light any easy to pack without the worry of a liquid that you have to get through security.
Saving money on food
If you are able, book a unit with a full kitchen. Again, you’ll pay more for the room, but overall you’ll save loads compared to how much you would pay if you have to eat out or order in for 3 meals a day! If you can’t get a full kitchen, you may be able to get by with a mini-fridge and a cooler bag that you refill with the hotel’s ice whenever it melts (just ask, and they’ll give it to you for free).
When you arrive at your destination, buy as much of your food from a grocery store as possible. If you have a rental car, then the easiest thing to do is simply look up where the grocery stores are around your unit, and pick one that’s not in a touristy area to buy your groceries from. On our Orlando trip, I went to a Super Wal-Mart and was able to get not just groceries, but shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, and replace the sandals that broke in the airport.
If you don’t have a rental car, then I recommend you order the supplies through Instacart. They can deliver to the front desk or sometimes even right to your door. If you’ve never used Instacart before, you can click here to get $10 off of your first order (and I’ll get $10 too!) This will cover your delivery fee and probably the tip too! You can even plan out your order before you leave for your trip and have it sitting in the cart so that as soon as you have your room number, you can place the order and have the food delivered quickly.
Be sure to get treats for yourself and the kids, otherwise, you’ll be tempted to buy treats when you’re out and about. For instance, we bought specialty ice cream, so when the kids asked us to buy ice cream in the parks (for 3X the price!) we reminded them about the fabulous ice cream back at the hotel, and they were happy to wait a little longer to get the good stuff.
Some other treats that we purchased were: Lucky Charms, Little Debbie’s snacks for desserts, a couple of tubes of uncooked cinnamon rolls for a special breakfast, and a bottle of Sangria for my husband and I to enjoy after a long day.
For lunches, I recommend getting sandwich makings such as cold cuts and the fixings. My little ones prefer peanut butter and Nutella, so I picked up those too. Even if you leave the extra ingredients behind at the end of the trip, you’ll still pay less than you would if you bought lunch out even once!
For suppers, I recommend buying burgers and hot dogs, or chicken breast and a marinade. It’s an easy meal and many hotels have grills in the common areas that are freely available for use. Just make sure to verify with the front desk that they actually have a grill and grilling utensils before planning your grocery list.
Be sure to get lots of fresh fruit and veggies with a dip like hummus or salad dressing to refresh your tired bodies after long days with a lot of walking. It’s really common to have your bowels get backed up on trips, so getting a package of dried prunes or apricots is a great way to help avoid having a miserable, constipated kid.
Hint: Hotel rooms almost always have coffee and sugar packets, and they’re used to guests asking for more whenever they run out. This is one less thing that you need to purchase at the store. Making your morning coffee in the room will save you tons compared to buying your coffee on the go.
I hope these tips are helpful for you, and that they help to prevent any travel frustrations and save you some money too. Comment below and tell us your favorite way to save money when traveling!