With just a few simple calculations, you will find out that having a vacation can be quite expensive. Airplane fares, hotel rates, food and others will cost a lot of money. If your budget is very tight, here are things you should do:

  1. Postpone for one year and save: This should be very straightforward. If you have barely enough money for the airplane fares and hotel rooms, then you should wait a little longer. The easiest way to save is to put some money each day into your “vacation jar”, even if it’s a few dollars each time you go to bed. Find ways to save a couple of dollars here and there during your daily routines. After a little more than one year, you may save a few thousand dollars, which allow for a decent trip to some locations.
  2. Pack food and drinks: If you plan to drive or take a train ride, then you may pack your own foods and drinks. During a trip, you don’t need to go to restaurants. You may bring healthy snacks, such as apple and peanut butter, which is good for breakfast and lunch. If you drive, it is a good idea to bring a portable stove with a few propane cans as the fuel. With ingredients from local stores, you can make healthy sandwich each day and other simple meals. When restocking supplies, avoid going to convenience stores and gas stations, because the cost of each item can be somewhat higher.
  3. Find an affordable room with small kitchen: Food costs can be quite high, so you should cook on your own with local ingredient. Just a small stove is enough, you may not even need refrigerator and oven. Go to local market each morning to find ingredients and this could be part of the experience too. Cook all ingredients immediately, so you can eat it for breakfast and pack for lunch. Make sure that there’s some left for dinner. Pf course, part of the experience is to try the local cuisine. In this case, you should go to places where locals go, instead to restaurants aimed for tourists. This way, you can try the authentic local taste, usually also at a local price. If a food is good for locals, then it’s something that you should try as well.
  4. Find free activities: Research the Internet for free activities that you can try in the area. Tripadvisor should be able to give you a few tips. Beaches and state parks are usually free to visit. Some museums are subsidized by local governments, so you can pay very low entry fees. It may not be free, but the costs can be negligible.

For this to work, you need to make sure that everyone family agrees to certain adjustments. To save money, you will need to do something extra and get less convenience. Such as having to go to grocery stores and cook on your own. But, the most important thing is that you can finally go to popular destination areas.