Budget Tips – Travelling With Kids

You’ve probably been planning your holiday for a long time. Countless websites have been looked at. You’ve written lists, compared prices and finally settled on a holiday, content in the knowledge that you’ve got the best possible deal.

But as we all know it’s very easy to end up spending way more that you want to when the kids are in tow. No matter where you’re planning to getaway to, these tips will help keep your spending in check.

Set the Pocket Money Budget

Before you go sit the children down and tell them that they have a budget. You can either let them have their money in a lump sum and explain that this amount is to do them the whole holiday or you can give them a daily spending allowance. Either way the kids know from the off that they only have a set amount of money. Once it’s gone it’s gone. This teaches them a good life lesson and will mean they’ll think carefully about what they spend their money on.

Snacks, Snacks, Snacks!

Children seem to have a bottomless craving for snacks. Even when they’re too full to finish dinner, you can guarantee within 15 minutes they’ll be looking for a little snack! Half the fun of being away is trying new foods. So why not go to a local supermarket (preferably the one local people do their weekly shop in as that’s a sure sign you won’t be paying over the odds ) and stock on some snacks.

Don’t Waste Your Money?

How many of us have bought the kids a gift only to find they’re more interested in the wrapping paper or balloons or a bag of sweets? The same is true of holidays. Are the kids really going to enjoy an expensive gourmet meal (that they will probably moan through anyway) or would they appreciate a basic meal a lot more?

The same goes for expensive theatre/ballet tickets where they have to sit still for a couple of hours. Or a “must see” site that you queue for hours only to find it’s over and done within minutes. Would they rather that or a free day at a local park, museum, beach, etc. You know your child best so save you spending for things they really will appreciate rather than doing things because you have to just because you are on holiday.