Family Vacations on a Budget

One commonly overlooked option for saving money while taking a family vacation is camping. Even if you are not a big fan of sleeping on the ground for a week or catching your own food, there are plenty of luxury and resort campgrounds available that will still save you money over a traditional hotel room. Camping resorts offer amenities such as pools, hot tubs, playgrounds and even high-speed wireless Internet. Camping might cost as low as 25 percent of what you would pay per night for a hotel room.

If finding enough hotel rooms for the entire family is breaking your budget, you might want to look into renting a house, condo or cabin. This allows your whole family to stay together, many times for less than multiple hotel rooms. This is especially a good idea for destinations such as Hawaii. It will also make sure you can get your family together, as there is a chance with hotels that you might not get adjoining rooms.

If you have some close family friends, consider joining forces to split the costs of a vacation. Consider going in on a houseboat or a large rental home that can fit both families, then split the costs evenly between the two. You can even combine food costs because most rentals have kitchens or kitchenettes.

Before booking your vacation, spend time online shopping for a deal. Different deals become available all of the time. Keep an eye on discount-travel sites by signing up for their travel alerts. If you don't mind waiting until the last minute and are fine with taking a trip to just about anywhere, consider waiting for last-minute deals.

All-inclusive resorts are slowly coming down in price as the economy changes and the number of resorts increases. More recently, a group of budget all-inclusive resorts have become popular for families looking for an affordable way to vacation. With plenty of activities available for children and all of your food, drinks and activities included in the price, you can save a substantial amount by choosing an all-inclusive resort. Travel in the last month of the high season, and you will get even better deals and a less-crowded experience.