10 Ways We Save For Travel As A Family

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One of the most common comments I get when we return from a big family trip is “My family could never afford to do that.” We are a family of five – I work from home doing freelance writing and communications work part time and my husband works in IT for a local healthcare company. The only way we can afford family travel is by budgeting and saving!

Here are my 10 best tips for budgeting & saving for travel as a family:

 

1. Making Travel a Priority

I am a firm believer that if something is important to you, then you prioritize it! My husband Brad and I have always included travel as a priority in our lives. In fact, after we had kids, one evening we actually wrote down our family priorities – those things as a family where we want to invest our time and money – and travel was high on that list — along with retirement (I recommend you try this with your family, spouse or partner). We have made travel a priority for our family over new cars, non-essential home renovations, and various monthly expenses. While we occasionally dream of adding a master bath and some extra living space to our cute Nashville bungalow, we’ve ultimately realized that saving up for travel is simply more important to us!

 

Read more about how we prioritize travel at an interview I did with The Family Backpack!

2. Grocery Shopping

Nearly two years ago, we shifted about 90% of all our grocery shopping to Aldi and this has been a game changer for us (our family and friends frequently tease us about our obsession with Aldi). Grocery shopping primarily at Aldi has saved us literally hundreds of dollars a month on our grocery budget – we also shop occasionally at Costco, Trader Joes and at our local farmer’s market.

3. Credit Card Miles

We utilize Capital One credit cards exclusively to rack up airline miles to save up for airline tickets. We pay off our credit card every month and get new cards every 3-6 months to earn benefits for more miles. We also will build up miles to use the Southwest Airlines Companion Pass in the next few months.

*My husband Brad is currently working on a post about our credit card miles system that is very user-friendly — I will link to it here when it is live.

4. Start a Side Hustle…or 2

There are so many ways to find opportunities to earn extra money for travel (or other interests) through a side hustle – a side hustle is a way to make some extra cash that allows you the flexibility to pursue what you’re most interested in. Some of my favorites include:

• Rent baby & kid equipment through BabyQuip: Babyquip allows you to rent your baby equipment to traveling families visiting your city or town. Plus, they teach tons of entrepreneurial skills. I love that Babyquip can help you earn money for travel while also supporting family’s who travel.
• Utilize a skill or hobby: If you are strong at organizing, photography, writing, coding, etc., you can find paid projects or barter these skills to save money. For example, I write content for a local summer camp to get free sessions for my girls to attend, I offer freelance public relations projects to help local businesses – sometimes in exchange for other goods and services – as an amateur photographer, I’ve bartered with friends and neighbors to take family pictures, baby pictures, headshots and more.
• Rent out a room through Airbnb: Consider renting out your house when you travel or a room in your home. We have some friends (with 3 kids) who rent out their house through Airbnb whenever they take a family vacation, which pays for their trip, plus some! My mom also rents out a room in her condo from time to time through Airbnb – for both some company and conversation and to make extra cash. Another dear friend renovated a basement apartment in her home that makes a part-time salary through Airbnb.
• Drive for Uber or Lyft: These services provide a flexible schedule that could work for your family. I have several mom friends who have done this for periods of time to make extra money.
• Tutor or teach English over Skype: There are several programs available to teach and tutor online. Or consider tutoring in your neighborhood or through the local schools.
• Sell products on Etsy: If you have a talent for making art, crafts or other creative projects, consider selling them on Etsy. Most of my favorite gifts were bought on Etsy.
• Sell clothes and furniture: This is a great way to make extra money and recycle old clothes and furniture. You can do this through a yard sale, consignment sales or consignment or trade shops like Plato’s Closet.
• Buy and rent out income property: This is a bigger endeavor, but may be worth it if it works. My husband Brad and I first got into our beloved Nashville neighborhood only by purchasing a triplex and renting out 2 units while living in the third. (We have since moved and sold that property). We’ve also looked into buying smaller single-family homes to rent out – but it’s not in the cards for us right now.

5. DIY – When it Makes Sense

Thankfully, my husband and I are pretty handy and work together on projects in our yard and house! We have saved tons of money through DIY projects — plus we always have fun working on them together and feel quite accomplished even if the finished product isn’t perfect! Here are some favorites:

• Together, we transformed an old playhouse we got for free on our neighborhood listserve into a chicken coop.
• In the above-mentioned triplex, together we researched how and then laid hardwood floors, built cabinets, painted, laid tile and many more home renovation projects! We learned a ton of new skills and had a blast working together.
• I’ve painted most of the interior rooms in our house.
• Brad built a table for our back porch out of reclaimed wood we found.
• One of my dear friends recently got an estimate to paint a couple of rooms in her house and she was floored at the high price estimate. We decided we’d help each other out and designate a couple painting days – one at her house and one at mine.
• Another friend is a gifted sewer and makes her girls dresses, aprons, pillows and more.

6. Re-evaluate your budget to see where you can cut costs

At least yearly, we do an audit on our monthly expenses to see where we can cut costs. A few places we’ve found extra money:

• We stopped our monthly house cleaning service. We have a cleaning schedule for our family to make sure everything is getting cleaned regularly (Admittedly, I’m still tweaking it).
• We canceled our cable and now utilize Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime for TV and movies.
• We utilize free books, cookbooks, and programming at our local library (or trade books at our local used bookstore).
• We canceled our gym membership years ago and now I utilize a much cheaper pay-per-class at our local community center and Brad uses the free gym at his office.
• We canceled our home phone and then a few years later, researched a cheaper phone service for my cell phone.
• We bought a hybrid low-fuel car (to balance out my minivan, ha) and save on gas.
• While my husband was in grad school we hired a lawn care service to maintain the lawn and after he graduated, we canceled the service and bought a rotary mower to cut on cost (& provide a much more relaxing lawn-mowing experience).
• Brad changes the oil in our two cars himself to save money and learn a new skill.

7. Create a community with friends & neighbors

We have cultivated a community of friends and neighbors whom we adore and have helped us save money too! Since we don’t have family here in Nashville, we consider them a community of “framily.” Some friends we trade childcare hours with, others we trade meals. Some pet-sit for us while we travel, others drop off clothes that my girls can use and wear seasonally — and we pass on our clothes, toys and craft supplies too. I love this community of people. From time to time, we find books or baked goods, fresh vegetables or small gifts on our front porch from thoughtful and generous friends too.

8. Cook at Home

We LOVE to eat at the many amazing restaurants in Nashville – but we’ve learned to appreciate it more when it’s a special treat rather than a regular occurrence! 95% of our meals, we cook and eat at home or with friends. We grow a garden every year, we raise chickens in our backyard – we try new recipes and creations often. We visit our local farmer’s markets; we explore other cultures through our food. We invite friends over and we get the girls involved in our cooking too. This way, we eat healthier and happier PLUS we save a ton of money.

9. Budget Clothing

I go through phases where I need a clothing re-fresh, but for the most part, I like to stick with classics. While I don’t follow the on-trend “capsule wardrobe,” I do try to stay minimal in my clothing purchases and only buy what I love and will wear over and over. I enjoy shopping at thrift stores when I can and I splurge on quality pieces when it makes sense. I also often borrow clothes from friends for special events or trade items from time to time. And when I need a refresh, lately I love to use Stitchfix where I can set a budget and have a stylist pick out things for me within my profile.

*My Stitchfix link will give you a $25 credit on your first order and give me $25 toward my next order too.

I mostly follow these same philosophies for the girls too. We get a lot of hand-me-downs from friends and family. Sometimes we shop at Goodwill or Plato’s Closet for good deals on recycled clothing. I enjoy finding deals and discounts for all of us at our favorite stores. And from time to time, I’ll splurge on something for them that I know will last.

10. Be Creative

We’re always looking for new and fun ways to save for family travel. Sometimes, it’s encouraging the girls to save up their own money for shopping during a trip. (Here are some great money-saving tips where you can get the kids involved.) Sometimes it’s focusing on experiences over gifts as we did during our Holiday travels in 2017. Whatever it is, be creative…because the value is truly priceless!

In the end, we believe that you should focus your time, energy and money on the things you are passionate about — no matter what those things are! And for our family, it is travel.

How do you budget for family travel? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments or on Social Media – follow and tag us @TheWanderingRumpus on Instagram & Facebook!