10 Ways to Vacation With Family While Paying Off Debt

When you’re in the midst of paying off debt, going on a family vacation might feel not only irresponsible, but damn near impossible. This negative mindset can be very discouraging, especially if you have a large amount of debt. Are these two really mutually exclusive though? 

Absolutely not. In most cases, you can do both at the same time. The one caveat is when you have high interest credit card debt. In this case, I recommend paying off the credit cards before taking any vacations if possible.

Time goes by so fast, and you don’t want to miss out on making lasting memories with your family. Here are 10 of the best ways to take your next family vacation while still paying off debt: 

1. Start a Vacation Fund

This is probably the first and most important step you should take. Start setting aside a certain amount of money each month (or each paycheck) into a “vacation fund”.  For instance, if you get paid twice a month and save $50 each payday, you will have $1200 saved after a year. 

I would keep that money in a high yield savings account (HYSA) so you earn additional money through the magic of compound interest. For example, if your HYSA had a 4% interest rate, you would earn an additional $126.32. This brings your total amount saved for vacation to $1326.32 after only 1 year.

I do think it is a good idea to have your HYSA through a different bank than your main checking account. This makes the money a little less accessible which helps prevent you from using it for anything other than vacation. 

Use this compound interest calculator to see how much you can earn at various savings rates.

2. Avoid the Busy Season

Flights, resorts, and hotel stays are generally less expensive if you go during the “off season”. For example, booking a beach vacation during spring break will cost you a lot more than booking the same vacation in February.  While school schedules make it harder to be flexible when traveling with kids, it can definitely save you a lot of money . 

3. Make Travel Plans Early

October to just before Thanksgiving is one of the best times to purchase plane tickets because flight prices are typically at their lowest. This doesn’t mean you must travel during those times, you just want to purchase your tickets within that time period if possible. You have a better chance of getting a good deal on a busy flight for summer vacation if you purchase tickets well in advance.  

4. Use Google Flights

Google Flights is an easy to use tool to find the best deals on airfare at a large variety of different airlines. There are a lot of filters to sort through your search results to find exactly what you want.

Your results are shown over a 2 month span so you can easily see if there are cheaper travel dates. If a flight you’re interested in is too expensive, you can sign up for flight alerts to be notified if there is a drop in price. 

5. Use Credit Card Travel Rewards

If you want to go on vacation for hardly any money, “travel hacking” is a great way to do it. If you haven’t heard of travel hacking, basically it’s when you sign up for a new credit card with travel rewards. After signing up, you spend the specified amount of money over several months in order to get the “welcome bonus” which is a large number of points.

After you get the welcome bonus, you will on to a new travel rewards credit card and do the same thing. The idea is to rack up as many points and miles as possible through these bonuses. You can then redeem these points for plane tickets and hotels. 

It can feel intimidating at first, but there are a ton of resources out there to help get you successfully get started. Find some people to follow on social media and check out different blogs or podcast to be inspired and learn more.

Another perk of having these travel cards is they allow you to save money on various other travel-related expenses. For instance, using the Chase Sapphire Preferred card provides you with travel insurance up to $20,000 per trip, rental car insurance, baggage delay insurance, and trip delay reimbursement for expenses such as meals and lodging.  

However, I want to strongly emphasize that this is only a good option if you pay your credit card in full every month. The points are not worth it if you are going to be charged credit card interest.

6. Stay At a Rental Home Instead of Getting a Hotel Room

It is easy to rent a home to stay in while on vacation through websites such as Airbnb or VRBO. This a great option, especially if you have a large family. It is often cheaper and you get so much more room.

There are typically fees (i.e. for cleaning) on top of the nightly rate so be sure to take that into consideration when deciding if it makes financial sense for your family. Bonus perk: you will have access to a kitchen, which leads to the next tip below. 

7. Buy Easy Foods to Make for Meals and Stock Up on Snacks

Going out to eat and trying the local cuisine is a fun part of vacation, but it can be very expensive. All those meals out add up fast. Just eating a few meals at “home” during vacation will save you hundreds of dollars.

It does not need to be time consuming or require a lot of clean up. I like to buy frozen food that I can quickly and easily make in the oven or air fryer. Some of my family’s favorites are frozen pizzas, chicken nuggets, fries, mozzarella sticks, mini quesadillas, sandwiches, waffles, cereal, bagged salad mixes, etc. While it’s not the healthiest assortment of food, I don’t worry too much about it since we are on vacation.

And be sure to bring plenty of snacks for either the plane or car ride. Prices for snacks at gas stations, rest stops, and especially airports are all inflated compared to what you can get at the grocery store. 

8. Go Somewhere Within Driving Distance

Driving is generally cheaper than flying so this is a good way to make a vacation more budget friendly. And who doesn’t love a good road trip?

I have very fond memories of going on road trips as a kid. It is often the easiest way to travel with your whole family while sticking to a vacation budget. 

9. Look for Free Attractions

Some attractions such as museums or zoos have free admission on certain days or discounts if you are in the military or a first responder. Different beaches, playgrounds, farmer’s market, festivals, and other local events are all usually free. Certain national parks are also free or have a pretty inexpensive entry fee.  If you are staying at a hotel, be sure to ask the front desk if there are any discounts hotel patrons can get for local attractions.

10. Track Your Spending During Vacation

There is nothing worse than coming home from vacation and realizing how much you overspent. Keeping track of what you spend each day can help keep you from spending too much. You can use an app to track each purchase or write it down on paper.

At the end of the night (or in the morning), review your spending day. It should only take a few minutes, but this daily practice can save you a ton of money. The absolute worst thing to do is come from vacation in more debt than when you left. 

So go ahead and start planning your next vacation without feeling guilty. Just be sure to keep these tips and tricks in mind. If you have a great tip I haven’t listed, please let me know in the comments. Happy travels!

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