TRAVELING WITH CHILDREN: BUDGET HELPS

It's finally here! The opportunity you've been waiting all year for. The family vacation! If you're like most of us, you are working off a specific budget. Probably saved for quite some time, too. Every dollar in that coffer is one that was squeezed out of a homeschool budget, using both sides of the paper all year long :-). So even though this is your vacation and you want to SPEND money, you still don't want to WASTE money. Here are some tips to help stretch those dollars.

* Water, water, water. Teach your children to love it! Skip the sugary drinks when you stop to eat. They don't need all the nasty stuff in sodas anyway. Water will keep them hydrated, their stomachs full longer, and their bodies functioning better. Bring each child his own clearly-marked, well-sealed water bottle. It will, of course, spill ;-) but it's only water.

* Pack food. I know. This is a no-brainer. Or it should be. Pack a cooler with snacks and easy meals already prepared and ready in a plastic zip bag. Label them "snack" or "meal" so your son doesn't reach in the back and eat a whole bag of deli meat claiming he thought it was a snack.

* Stop for breakfast at a restaurant. Really. Make breakfast your big meal of the day, and let the kids look forward to it. It's a nice way to begin their day (you, of course, will have already been up and driving ;-). Breakfast is a LOT less expensive than dinner, yet eating out will feel like you're splurging and on vacation. Eat what you've packed in your cooler the rest of the time.

* Choose places that will let you bring your own. Most amusement parks have restrictions on what food you can bring in. It can be worth it to pay for the premium parking if you have a carful. We pack our cooler and bring our wagon, and just smile at those people plunking down $5 for a soda and hot dog as we sip our frozen juice boxes and delicous sub sandwiches (.35 and $1.50, respectively, on sale.) Click here to read about our frugal amusement park vacation.

* Souvenirs. Take pictures instead of buying cheap souvenir trinkets that will just end up at the Thrift Shop. The photos will last longer, and give you more satisfaction in the long run. Or just buy your souvenir in advance. When we went to Tokyo Disneyland, we purchased Disney sweatshirts on sale for less than $5 at a local department store, packed them in our bag and presented them to the children when we got there. Similar items were going for $40 and up inside the park.

* Plan your rest stops. There is a myriad of different free places along most any route in the US. Use your favorite search engine to look these up in advance. Make certain that you choose places where the children can be active. Museums and other places requiring considerable restraint are better left for the destination rather than the drive.

* Sleeping. You could be el cheapo and sleep in the car, but that can be pretty miserable. Ditto for driving all night. You could use a discount service and book a hotel on the Internet, but you're still laying out a big expense. Less expensive possibilities include tent camping along the way (depending upon your children's ages), or my favorite -- imposing on friends or acquaintances. Most people are happy to open their homes to hospitality, even if that's the only time they ever see you. A cyber-friend of mine moved cross-country, staying at different people's houses each night, including ours. We had a wonderful time! They saved the cost of a hotel room and breakfast, we got to enjoy their company. I wouldn't recommend this for a woman alone, but her husband was with her and they stayed with people they'd been on an egroup with for awhile.

* Sleeping - Hotels. Okay, you've given in and decided that the smell from the child behind you is worth any amount you have to pay to get a room with a shower. Now what? You haven't booked in advance and may be at their mercy. Instead, stop at a local library, log on to the Net, and use a discounter. But first, visit Bidding For Travel first so you know how much to offer. I can't stress this point enough. BFT will show you HOW to bid and WHAT to bid for each area. If you can't find the library and really need to find a hotel quickly, look for an Embassy Suites. The initial cost is higher than getting a Motel 5, but you get two rooms (the living room couch folds out), a complimentary breakfast (a real one) for everyone, and there's usually a manager's reception the night before where the kids can snack. When you add it all up, it's comparable to or cheaper than a motel. And a lot more comfortable. If you do plan in advance to stay at a hotel for some nights, make them the weekend ones. Friday and Saturday can be less than half the regular price at a hotel like the Wyndham Garden, which caters to businessmen. See our hotels page for more information.

* Bring Traveler's Checks. Why is that frugal? Because you have to consciously spend every one of them. It's not like cash which has a habit of slipping through fingers. Additionally, you're protected in case of theft or other disaster. Like when Julie remembered everything on the trip to Osaka except the yen. There we were, a machine with instructions in Japanese that had just eaten our American Express card, stuck with no cash and no ticket back on the bullet train for Paul. Paul called AmEx, they connected him with a bilingual operator, and at 10pm at night, a tech was there within 30 minutes to retrieve the card and make certain he could withdraw as much yen as he wanted. The service is unsurpassed, and we won't travel without AmEx traveler's checks again (do I sound like a commercial?).

* Ask about discounts. At first it was a little embarrassing when my husband would ask for a discount at Carl's Jr.(they gave him 10%), but I quickly learned that you don't get what you don't ask for. There are all kinds of discounts -- school rates (which generally apply to homeschoolers as well -- you might need some paperwork), military rates, corporate rates, etc. Always ask. The worst that can happen is you pay what you were going to anyway. On our honeymoon, the guy checking in behind us was shelling out $140/night for the same room we were paying $60 military rate. Paul looked at his haircut and asked him if he was military. "19 years." "Don't forget to ask for your military rate." "???" Let's see... $80 x the week he was staying; half for him, half for us... not really *s*, but he was extremely grateful. Here's a list of some places in western Washington that offer discounts to homeschoolers.

* Check their website. Don't forget to check the website of the attraction you're going to. A lot of them have special deals that you might not otherwise know of. One year we went to Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo for 44cents each. It required the kids making a birthday card for George Washington, and allowing it to be displayed. Yes, it was crowded, but for a $25 discount, it was well worth it. Even if you don't find a great deal, buying your tickets in advance via the Net lets you skip the long ticket line.

* Budget some money for splurging. After all, you're creating memories. Don't budget to the penny, leave some for the unexpected -- the jet ski rental, or the extra admission fee, or a last night party. That sense of abandon can be a great lift, and if it's budgeted for in advance, you won't worry about it.