3 Stress-Free and Money-Saving Tips for Vacation with Kids

Do you know that vacations can fuel your child’s development? Researchers have found that children who have more free time to enjoy with their families tend to be more self-sufficient, more imaginative, and more creative. Those are gifts that any parent would want to give to their children, but sometimes, worries about planning trips and sticking to budgets can keep parents from scheduling the vacation time that kids need. If this sounds like your current situation, don’t despair! You can use these family travel secrets to make vacations less stressful.

Save Money with Family Staycation

If an expensive vacation is not in your budget right now, you can still plan a family staycation to provide excitement and fun for everyone. Planning a family staycation can be far less stressful and expensive than planning a traditional vacation, plus you can really focus your efforts on planning some fun but carefree adventures for you and your little ones. While you don’t need a detailed itinerary, you can write out a general schedule to help guide your first staycation. If you decide to stick around San Diego, you can even consider budgeting for a local vacation rental as part of your staycation. Turnkey notes that you can find rentals near several popular San Diego attractions, including LaJolla Cove, Balboa Park, or the San Diego Zoo. An added bonus of renting a vacation home is that you can cook healthy meals, with access to a kitchen.

Reduce Stress with Vacation Rentals

Even if you decide to take your family fun on the road, opting for a vacation rental over hotel rooms can still be a simple way to save yourself stress and money. With access to a full kitchen, as mentioned above, you can prepare meals and snacks for your family without worrying about taking on added vacation expenses of restaurants and fast food. Eating out consistently, even during family vacations, can add up to thousands of extra costs for your family budget and extra pounds for your waistline. If you have little ones who may be prone to crying or just love to be loud, staying in a home can also help you worry less about being the noisy guests at hotels. If you’d rather stay in hotel rooms, there are some other tricks you can try to prevent your family from disturbing other guests and maybe even get better rest for yourself. Consider bringing a white noise machine or using an app to drown out the excess noise or keep kids calmer in the car.

Maintain Sanity with Helpful Travel Apps

As it turns out, your phone can be used for more than white noise when your baby is being fussy on long road trips. If you plan on flying, you can download games and apps that can also be useful for keeping kids of all ages occupied during long and boring flights. Honestly, vacations are one of the only times that parents should consider reducing screen time limits because using the screen to avoid meltdowns can be a real lifesaver. To avoid surprise charges on your credit card, try to look for apps that offer clear subscription terms or can be used for free without ads popping up. Just be sure to pick up some kid-friendly headphones to pack in your luggage as well. If your children have their own tablets or smartphones, you can also use your phone to save yourself some stress. Some essential travel apps that can keep you and your budget on track include navigation apps, flight trackers, and streaming services. The last one can come in handy for keeping family entertained on long road trips.

As you can see, planning some vacation fun for your family doesn’t have to be stressful. It also doesn’t have to coast a fortune, if you’re worried about your budget. You just need a few savvy tricks, like the ones above, to make planning family fun less of a hassle.

-Daniel Sherwin

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