Five people, international travel, and one very important rule: we spend the money we actually have.
It’s no secret that traveling with my family is one of my favorite things in the world.
Life is hard. When you’re juggling three kids, sports, work, bills and all of the other day-to-day obligations that come with life, sometimes you just need a break.
But my kids are teenagers now, and pulling off a really great family vacation takes planning. We can’t just jump on a plane whenever we feel like it. We have to work around school, sports, activities, work schedules, and, perhaps most importantly, our finances.
It’s that dreaded “B” word:
BUDGET.
We’ve traveled internationally with our three kids without spending a fortune, but that doesn’t happen by accident. I do a ridiculous amount of research, make a plan, and keep a very close eye on our spending.
Here are the 10 rules I follow to keep our family from going broke on vacation.
1. I Only Spend Money We Actually Have
This is the most important rule.
I am not taking out a loan for vacation. I’m not maxing out a credit card. I’m not spending money that needs to go toward something else. I start by figuring out how much actual cash we have available to spend and how much of it I’m comfortable putting toward a trip.
That is our vacation budget.
Once I know that number, I work backwards.
It might mean we can’t take the trip we originally imagined. That’s okay. There are plenty of incredible places to go.
The goal isn’t to take the most expensive vacation; the goal is to travel more and spend less.
Here’s what our budget actually looked like in Taiwan.
2. We Choose the Destination Based on the Budget
This is where the research begins.
A place can look absolutely incredible and still not be the right destination for our family right now.
Take Switzerland.
Gorgeous? Absolutely.
Affordable for a family of five? That’s a different question.
If I start researching and realize that a few days in Switzerland are going to blow our entire vacation budget, I don’t force it. I start asking:
What destinations can give us the kind of experience we want while staying within our budget?
Instead of deciding where we want to go and then trying to figure out how to afford it, I start with what we can spend and find the best destination options within that number. You might be surprised at what’s out there.
3. I Shop for Flights Based on Price
Once we’ve chosen a destination, flights are next.
And if there’s any flexibility at all in our schedule, I use it.
Flying a couple of days earlier or later can sometimes make a huge difference when you’re buying five tickets. Even a $100 difference per ticket means $500 back in your vacation budget.
I’ll look at different dates, different departure times and sometimes even different airports if it makes sense.
And once the flights are booked, I know exactly how much of our budget is gone and how much is left.
4. I Give Every Part of the Trip Its Own Budget
Now I know what we’re working with.
Let’s say we have $2,000 left for five days in Paris.
Instead of thinking, “We have $2,000 to spend!” I break it down.
Maybe we’re looking at:
- $150 per night for the hotel
- $100 per day for activities
- $125 per day for food
- $25 per day for transportation
The numbers will obviously change depending on the destination, but the idea is the same.
Every dollar has a job.
That makes it much harder to accidentally spend $1000 on the first two days of the trip and then wonder where all the money went.
Curious what 17 days in Japan cost our family of five? Read this.
5. I Stick to the Hotel Budget
This one is HARD.
Because once you start looking at hotels, suddenly that $150-per-night budget seems very unreasonable.
Look at that gorgeous boutique hotel! Look at that rooftop! LOOK AT THAT VIEW OF THE EIFFEL TOWER!
No.
If our budget is $150 a night, I’m looking for a hotel that costs $150 a night.
But we also have another complication: there are five of us.
Hotel rooms in other countries can be surprisingly small, and many rooms only accommodate two or three people. So I specifically look for family rooms or accommodations that can sleep all five of us.
Sometimes that means an apartment or vacation rental makes more sense. Sometimes two hotel rooms can fit into the budget, but if getting two rooms makes the hotel portion of the trip too expensive, we keep looking.
The hotel doesn’t need to be fancy.
It needs to be clean, safe, affordable and able to fit our family.
When I start looking at hotels, I start with Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia to compare options that fit our family’s budget.
6. We Walk or Use Public Transportation Whenever We Can
Transportation costs can up quickly.
Even subway or train tickets that seem inexpensive can become a significant expense when you’re buying five of them.
So if a city is walkable, we walk.
And honestly, that’s often one of my favorite ways to experience a new place anyway. You see things you would never notice from inside a car or train.
If we can’t walk, we look at public transportation, and if it’s clean, safe and reasonably convenient, that’s usually our next choice.
Rental cars are my last resort. We live in a city where having a car is basically unavoidable, so when I’m on vacation, I actually enjoy not driving. And not renting a car can save a significant chunk of money.
7. We Don’t Pay for Every Attraction
I absolutely want my kids to experience the places we visit.
But we don’t need to do every single thing.
Attraction tickets can get expensive very quickly, so we decide what is actually important to us.
For example: Do we want to see the Eiffel Tower? Absolutely. Do we need to pay to go inside it? Nope.
See? Money saved.
The same thing applies to observation decks. Lots of cities have towers or viewing platforms that can cost $100 or more for a family of five. But sometimes there’s a less expensive—or even free—way to get an amazing view.
And if a city has a sightseeing pass, I’ll research it. If we’re genuinely going to use enough of the included attractions to make it worthwhile, perfect.
The key is deciding which experiences matter most to your family and spending your money on those.
You don’t have to do everything.
When we’re looking for things to do, I compare family-friendly tours and attractions before deciding what makes the cut.
8. We Don’t Eat Every Meal at a Restaurant
Food is another place where a family of five can blow through a vacation budget without even realizing it.
We don’t eat every meal at a restaurant, and we don’t start every morning at a coffee shop.
If a hotel offers free breakfast, I’m interested.
If our accommodation has a coffee maker, great.
Sometimes we’ll make coffee in the room and grab a quick pastry. That’s a lot cheaper than buying five breakfasts every morning.
For lunch, we might grab pizza, sandwiches or something else quick and inexpensive.
And when we’re somewhere with a good street market? We’re going.
Street markets are one of our favorite ways to feed our family while traveling because everyone can find something they like, and we usually spend less than we would at a sit-down restaurant.
We absolutely splurge sometimes; we’re on vacation!
But we don’t splurge at every meal.
A few $20 treats for five people can turn into a very expensive vacation surprisingly quickly.
9. The Kids Get Their Own Souvenir Budget
This one has saved my sanity.
At the beginning of the trip, each kid gets a souvenir budget.
It’s generally not a huge amount, especially because we travel with backpacks and have limited space.
But the kids know exactly how much they have. And if they see something they love, they have to decide: Do I love this enough to spend my money on it?
And suddenly I’m not saying “no” every 15 minutes. They get to make their own choices.
Everybody wins.
And yes, we really do travel internationally with just backpacks.
10. I Track Every Dollar We Spend
I know- this doesn’t sound very vacation-y.
But trust me… When you’re traveling with five people, every little purchase adds up.
I keep track of what we’re spending while we’re on the trip so I know whether we’re staying on budget.
And if we overspend one day, that’s okay. Maybe we spent more than expected on an activity. The next day we might have a beach day or visit a free attraction. The goal isn’t to spend exactly the same amount every single day.
The goal is to stay within the overall budget.
And that’s why tracking our spending matters.
You Don’t Have to Spend a Fortune to Travel as a Family
Family travel can be expensive. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
Five flights cost more than two. Five people need more food. Five attraction tickets cost more than one.
But that doesn’t mean family travel has to be out of reach.
For us, it’s about making choices.
We choose the destination based on what we can afford. We watch flight prices. We stick to our hotel budget. We walk when we can. We use public transportation. We choose the attractions that actually matter to us. We eat some inexpensive meals. And we keep track of what we’re spending.
None of this means we don’t have amazing vacations. In fact, it’s exactly how we’re able to have them.
Five people. One budget. A whole lot of research.
And somehow, it works.
That’s how we travel more and spend less.
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