How to Save Money During Your Beach Vacation

Saving money while on your family vacation can be difficult for most people. Once you get to your beach vacation location you get into the mood for fun and, ultimately, to spend money. Here are a few tips on how to save money during your beach vacation.

Make a Budget- Many people are probably thinking, "Oh goodness. I don't want to make a budget for my beach vacation." But everyone needs a budget for vacation, no matter what type of vacation it is. Well, if you're a millionaire I guess you wouldn't need a budget, but us normal folk do need budgets. By taking the time to create a vacation budget you will be able to see what expenses you want to pay for an which expenses you would rather not spend too much money on. For example, would you prefer to have $200 for gifts and souvenirs while only having $100 left over for eating out or vice versa? I'm not a shopping kind of person when I'm at the beach but my husband and I do enjoy eating out on vacation so we always prefer having more money in our eating out budget than in the shopping budget.

Where to Stay- When going to any beach you will have several options for lodging. There will be hotels, both on and off the beach, condos, again both on and off the beach, and even houses that you can rent, on and off the beach. There are pros and cons to all three types of rentals. I've found that, in general, prices between these three types of lodgings will be close in price when they are in the same location. If you look at the prices between a hotel room, a condo and a house, all on the same beach, you will run close to the same prices. Houses do seem to run a little higher than a condo and hotel room but not by much. You will definitely want to check out the price differences on the beach that you want to stay. Also consider the money you will save if the lodging you choose has a kitchen. If you have children, a condo or a house will also provide extra space for the kids to play. This definitely helps when you have more than one child, like I do.

Food- Food can be a big budget buster if you don't keep an eye on your spending. When you want to save money during your beach vacation you will need to look closely at how much money you want to spend on food. The best way to save money on food is to simply bring your own foods from home and cook for yourselves, if you are saving somewhere with a kitchen. Keep in mind though that you will be better off shopping at home or several miles outside of the beach are you will be staying. The restaurants aren't the only food places that are overpriced. Even the grocery stores at your beach location will be overpriced. I like to bring as much as I can from home when going on vacation. Also consider bringing along an ice cooler, even if you are staying in a hotel room. Most hotels will happily allow you to bring a cooler into the room. If you do this you can pack things like sandwich supplies, milk, juice boxes and bottled water. These items make for a great picnic on the beach when no one can be bothered with leaving the beach to eat.

Beach Rentals- Another way to save money during your beach vacation is look at the cost of beach rentals like umbrellas, lounge chairs and bicycles. If you are going to be spending lots of time on the beach you may be tempted to spend money on rentals like umbrellas and lounge chairs and while these can be useful sometimes it ends up being cheaper to purchase these items than to rent them. For example, if you are spending seven days at the beach and you rent a beach umbrella for six of those seven days, at $5 per day, you will spend $30 on rental of an umbrella. Where as if you were to purchase a beach umbrella you will spend approximately $20 and you will be able to use it in the years to come; which saves you even more money in the long run.

Transportation- Everyone in this country knows exactly how high in price gas is right now. Another way to save money during your beach vacation is to reduce the amount of gas you use. If you are staying on the beach then there's really no reason to drive very much during your vacation. Just walk. Walking is healthy for everyone and will definitely save you money on gas and could possibly get you to your destination faster if the area has a high population. If you don't want to walk, or you aren't staying close enough to walk to the beach, check into the area's public transportation. You may be pleasantly surprised to find out that the public bus runs right to where you want to go.

Finding a Good Deal- We all like to find a good deal. When you are on vacation it's no different. One of the best ways to find a good deal is to use coupons for the area attractions, restaurants, shops, etc. If you are staying in a hotel check out the lobby. In many hotels there will be some sort of shelving unit that holds various fliers, coupons, advertisement materials for the local businesses. These can be some of the most valuable items to use when looking for a good deal and they can save you a lot of money during your beach vacation. If you aren't staying in a hotel, ask the person you are renting from if they know of any good deals. If they can't help you then head over to one of the nearby hotels and simply walk into their lobby to find the information that you are looking for. Keep an eye out for those coupons.

Check-In Time- Many people will suggest that you arrive early for check-in, but not I. I've found, from experience, that if you arrive before check-in (and can't get into your room early) you will be more inclined to head out and do some shopping, eat a meal, drive around wasting gas, etc. Arriving before check-in is just an invitation to spend more money during your beach vacation.

Free Activities- When you want to save money during your beach vacation it is a good idea to find out what types of free, or nearly free, activities are available in the location you will be staying. Of course, spending the day at the beach is free. Spending the day enjoying the sand and surf is a great way to save money during your vacation but most people don't want to be on the beach everyday, all day. Maybe your location has nature walks, bike trails, light houses, fishing locations, etc. that are all free or very cheap for you to spend your time on. If you are unfamiliar with the location you should check out the city's chamber of commerce website to find out what is offered.

These are just a few tips that can help tremendously to save you some money during your beach vacation. Many seem like common sense, but you may not think about some of them until you have already spent money on them. When you take the time to think these things over before it's time to leave on vacation you will be more likely to save money in the long run. You don't have to spend a small fortune to have a great beach vacation. After all, you're there for the beach and it's free to enjoy!