First, we just started saving money in an envelope for this trip. Then I started doing some research once we had our destination narrowed down. I began to figure out how much each place was going to cost us. I made a ziplock baggie for gas money, restaurants, admission fees (including parking & souvenirs) and our hotel.
For the hotel in Hannibal, we saved $ by using a Farm Bureau Discount code. For our St.Louis hotel, we saved $ by using a family discount code I'd gotten online. In St.Louis, our hotel had free breakfast (which is almost a given where ever you go), free snacks and free pop.
I had found a list online of all the restaurants in St.Louis and on which nights kids eat free. This would be useful to us for a couple of nights!
We also packed our own food to eat. You can save a ton this way, especially with a family of 6. And sometimes, the kids don't want to eat much or they'd rather have peanut butter and jelly anyway. I packed Pella Bologna (bought on sale early this summer), buns, bread, juice boxes, M&Ms, crackers, Pringles (don't normally buy them but they would be less likely to get crushed), pudding cups, etc. With two medium sized coolers and a grocery bag, we were able to get a lot of value with our food. Since it was so hot, we were more likely to eat our own food and not some greasy food from a fast food joint.
I budgeted for $4 gas, but thankfully it went down some. Also, our hotel was very close to most of our destinations. That makes a difference when you don't have to drive 30 -40 minutes to get somewhere.
We saved money at the zoo by parking on the street and getting there early to enjoy some of the activities that are not always free. It pays to do a bit of research before hand to find out about this.
We saved money at other destinations by using coupons. They were in the tourism guide, online, emailed from our hotel once we made reservations, etc. We got two kids in free to the Arch and Magic House. We were able to park for free at Union Station. We got a discount for touring two caves in Hannibal. I may be missing a few others, but you get the point. I never did total up how much we saved, but is probably significant. And several of our destinations were free: the Lock & Dam, Union Station, Anheuser Busch.
And we had enough money to purchase a few souvenirs. We got a couple of puzzles, decks of cards and a spoon for my spoon collection. And the kids got to pick out a few trinkets, too. There was a DVD or two that I wanted of the Arch and Lewis & Clark. But we didn't buy them from the gift shop. We came home and I bought them from Amazon.com for almost half price! The History Channel's DVD of the Gateway Arch is very interesting.
I guess that's all for my advice on Vacationing with 6 on a Budget. I can be done. And there's a sense of relief in knowing that you paid cash and didn't swipe your credit card everywhere. Hmmm. Now where should we go next year? We're still thinking someplace one state away. Not quite ready for a multi-state trip yet.
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