Money Saving Tips for Family Trips

 

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #Tips4Trips #CollectiveBias

 

One of the nice things about having one child is we don’t have to worry about any sibling arguing.  Don’t get me wrong, she has a couple close friends that she has grown up with that after  playing together for awhile you will hear some type of bickering and nit-picking.  But traveling with her can be challenging in it’s own right because she looks to us to entertain her.  We are planning on taking a trip up the coast this coming fall break (our summer break ended this week) and I wanted to come up with some ideas on how to entertain her on a budget.  Last time we took a road trip she was on the iPad for most of the trip which is not really the way I want her to experience a family road trip.

Here are some low cost ideas I think you might enjoy doing with the kids!

Box of Surprises:

A few years back, I purchased these colorful boxes and filled them with presents for my daughter’s 5th birthday.  She loved opening them up one at a time and it was nice since I didn’t have to wrap them – they were all ready to go.  You can pick up boxes like these on Amazon (just type in colorful gift boxes) or head over to your local craft shop and just get plain stacking boxes.  It might be fun to decorate them before your trip!

 

Surprise!

I went through her toys and games and separated them into the following.  You know your children’s favorite toys and you can even have them help you out when selecting what toys and games they want to bring along.  You can always pick up a few new toys at the dollar store as well!

Hot Wheels:  Have them bring along their favorite cars and even a race track or two.

 

Pez Treats – you know the kids would love this surprise treat!

 

Minecraft Action Figures – Lately, my daughter has been using the LEGO app to make stop-action videos with her Minecraft figures.  It is a fun way for them to use technology and it something you could have them do while on your trip to showcase all that you are doing.

 

Storytelling Game:  I purchased this online and it is a really fun game to do at home or while traveling.  Each card has a different illustration and everyone takes turns filling in the story.  You’d be surprised what the kids will come up with!

 

Postcards and/or a Journal: They can write a note to their friends or grandparents about their trip so far.

 

 

LEGO’S are always a hit:  Be sure to bring along a tray so they can build to their hearts desire.  I have also seen people store the LEGO’s in a metal lunchbox and glue the green tray to the top and bottom.  Very clever!

 

Bring along their favorite Superhero Figures:  These could be used to tell a story as well.  I love toys that will encourage them to work on their storytelling skills.

 

There are a couple ways you could divvy them out to the kids.  For example, after a game of I Spy, the person who spy’s an Arizona license plate, gets to pick which box they want to open.  A fun list of games can be found on this post called Essentials for a Road Trip.

Or you could have each child pick a box every half hour or hour depending on how long the road trip is.  This is a great way to keep the kids busy while in the car.  You don’t need to spend much money as you can just use their favorite toys that don’t take up much room.

Saving Money:

We like to touch base with our extended family while on the road and I recently was introduced to the Alcatel One Touch Pop Astro phone and Walmart Family Mobile Service which offers a great way to save some money on your phone service.  I think our phone bill is probably one of the most expensive bills we have each month (minus our mortage and health insurance) so I was excited to learn about the Walmart Family Mobile Service that offers an inexpensive prepaid monthly plan. You don’t need to sign a long contract and they don’t even check your credit.  I just purchased the phone and  Walmart Family Mobile’s 4G LTE service plan with my driver’s license and the nice Walmart employee help me set it up the service right there in the store.  It took about 10 minutes to set up the service and it takes about an hour for the phone to be activated.

 

 

You can find the phone and Walmart Family Mobile service SIM in the electronics section of Walmart.The Walmart Family Mobile service is $29.88/month Unlimited Talk, Text & Data service plan which includes up to 1G of 4G LTE data. It was super easy to do and you can activate the kit right in the store or at home. And if you want to cancel it is a really easy process as well – no more penalties for cancelling a contract early.  That is my kind of phone service!

I have shared with you how I plan road trips with my family. Where are you traveling to this summer and how can Walmart Family Mobile help you with your trips? Leave a comment and let me know!

Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to https://cbi.as/frw8 or your local Walmart for current pricing.

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