NUTRITION LOW-CAL

No matter how much you’ve saved up, you can make memories without spending thousands. Some things to consider:

What is the true cost?

You can plan for airfare and hotel, but miscellaneous expenses will get you. Spend some time thinking about every possible expense you could have on this vacation— transportation to and from theme parks, souvenirs, snacks while you’re out—and make sure you’re fully prepared to pay for all of it!

You’ve already made a good choice by staying in a condo. You’ll save by cooking most meals there and being selective about eating out. Now do some research: Look online at the restaurants nearby and see what the average cost of a meal would be. That will help you budget. Do the same thing with

attractions. A little digging will go a long way toward determining what the true cost will be.

Help the kids set budgets, too.

Your teens are old enough to understand that a vacation doesn’t mean you stop being smart with money. Give your kids a heads-up about when you’re going so they can begin saving their earnings for extras. And set some rules: Maybe you’ll pay for one souvenir each, but the rest is up to them, or they have a certain amount for snacks at theme parks, and once they’ve blown through it, that’s it. Believe me, they won’t starve to death if they need to wait until dinner.

Is there somewhere closer?

Orlando may be a dream trip, but if you can’t pay cash, you’ll need to look a little closer to home. Cutting plane tickets will help. Is there a beach nearby? A mountain resort you can drive to? A lake cabin? RACHEL Hopefully you’ve saved enough for Florida, but if not, it’s OK if you decide it’s out of reach right now. A lot of families have gotten turned around on what a vacation really is. I talked to a struggling single mom the other day who works two jobs to keep her kids fed and clothed, but she felt guilty about not being able to take them away! WHAT? Listen, I love roller coasters, but choosing food and clothes (and staying out of debt) over cotton candy is definitely not child abuse! The whole point of a vacation is to relax and spend time with your family. You don’t have to travel far to make that happen.

DAVE

Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze are coauthors of the bestselling book Smart Money Smart Kids. They recently launched EveryDollar.com, an online tool and companion app that makes budgeting easy and fun.

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