Creative Ways to Save For a Family Summer Vacation

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Finding quality time to spend relaxing with your family is important. For some people, a summer vacation may seem impossible, but here are some creative ways to start saving for a summer vacation.

Mix travel with charity. Going on a typical vacation to relax on a resort and eat all day, may not be your idea of fun. Some people mix their travel plans with mission trips to help various communities. These trips for charity are often organized by church groups, fraternities, sororities, or other types of community organizations. Your trip may qualify for a travel grant or you may be able to raise the money by getting sponsors to help you fund the expenses of your trip. (If you decide to use this option, you need to be careful to keep your receipts, budget the cost accurately, and be able to account for all of the money spent that was provided.)

There are also companies like Royal Carribean International that give money to non-profit organizations (501(c)3 organizations only), which focus on supporting their communities. There are deadlines for when applications must be submitted for consideration. Trips are awarded to organization that meet the following main areas of focus:

• Children and families for underserved communities
• Education (large student groups)
• Marine conservation (organizations that promote environment education)

If a charitable vacation is not right for you or your family, consider the following savings options to put aside enough money to go on a summer vacation.

1. Save a buck, by not buying junk. We save for our family vacation by not purchasing junk food. It’s really surprising how much junk food can really add up. We don’t buy cookies, sodas, chips, or desserts with a lot of sugar. With the money we would normally spend on these snacks we add it to our vacation savings account instead. In less than a year, we were able to save $2,000 just by adding the money to savings rather than eating it away. The best part about not buying junk food is we eat healthier and have more energy to do other things. By eating healthy we also don’t get sick as much either. As a result, we reduce our doctor’s and prescription expenses or co-payments by staying in shape.

2. Coupon. I am one of the first people to admit that couponing takes time and a lot of effort, but even if you aren’t good at couponing on groceries, you can coupon on other things like retail items, toiletries, and household items as well.

• I like using the Geo Qpons app to help me save at the stores I like the most. Geo Qpons is a savings app for Android or iPhones, which has the largest database of savings coupons and mobile deals within an app. It even has a bar scanner that allows you to scan products and find coupons for them.
• He is a link to other savings apps that may be useful as well.

How does couponing transfer into vacation savings? Now, many companies often print the amount you saved on you receipt, if you take that amount and add it to your vacations savings account you will accrue a substantial amount. I shop for my children’s clothes once every season and save about $70 dollars are more from each store I shop in, by purchasing merchandise on clearance and also using coupons in conjunction with already marked-down prices. By couponing we  save an average of about $1-2,ooo a year.

3. Start early and pay monthly. If you decide that you want to go on a vacation. Find your desired vacation many months in advance and start a payment plan. Budget your monthly expenses to include the cost of your vacation. If you are using a travel agency, many of them will allow their customers to pay monthly until the trip is paid off.

READER RESPONSE: Do you have any creative ways you and your family save for summer vacations?