Vacation, the time of the year is upon us and most of us are wishing we were anywhere but at our desks or surrounded by our everyday lives.  We long for a few lazy days, whether you prefer relaxing on the beach, hiking in the mountains or enjoying an adventurous amusement park with the kids.

However, in today’s tight economy many of us are wondering if we can even afford that vacation of our dreams, or if we can afford a vacation at all.  We need to make our pennies stretch as far as possible in order to be able to take a few days away.

The following are a few tips for cutting vacation costs:

1. Rent a townhouse, cabin or condo rather than a hotel room. Though it may sound like a larger investment in actuality this will cut your overall costs significantly.  Not only will you be able to save some  money on the costs of lodging itself, but you can also save money by preparing your own food for some of your meals while away rather than eating every meal out.

2. Find low cost or no cost activities. Exploring a National Park or sightseeing at many location is free or inexpensive, much more so than a fancy amusement park’s fees or other attractions that have high ticket costs.

3.  Pack snacks for your trip. Pack snacks that you purchase at home before your trip for the actual drive and even fro when you arrive at your location because the costs of everything in a tourist location is higher than back home, even snacks.

Photo credit : Jason_B