Take a Train

With gas prices nearing $4 a gallon, and air travel prices rising along with it, maybe you should consider taking your vacation by train. You can find some great deals on traveling by rail and it is also a pretty neat way to see the country side. The only bad thing about it is time of travel. If your vacation time is limited, it might be best to consider another mode of travel.

Book a Little Farther Away

Want to spend time at the beach? Beach front rentals usually go for up to four to five times what they go for a bit farther inland. Check prices on hotels farther inshore but still within easy driving distance of the beach. You can sometimes get much better deals and still enjoy time in the sun. This applies to anywhere you wish to go, not just the beach.

Share and Share Alike

A good idea for vacationing on a budget is to share a place. You can sometimes find good deals on split level condos (especially looking for cancellations). Find a family you enjoy vacationing with and you take the top floor while they take the bottom, while splitting the cost. You can even agree to cook one day while they cook the next!

Set a Limit

Vacation areas are usually chock full of souvenir shops with horribly priced items. It's okay to buy souvenirs but don't break the bank doing it. The wife and I usually find a good place that has discount t-shirts to pick up some items to remember our vacation by. On our recent trip we managed to find a place selling them 3 for ten dollars. These were the same type of shirts being sold a half mile away for fifteen dollars each.

Rent it with a Kitchen

If you are going to be out of town for a while see if you can swing a room that has a kitchen area. Even if it's a little more you can cook in your room and save the price of eating out every day. When the wife and I took the family to Gulf Shores this year we shopped around for a cancellation and got a great deal on a condo with a kitchen! We cooked ourselves and probably saved ourselves a hundred dollars a day doing so.

Cancellation Deals

If you decide to take a last minute fun in the sun get-a-way (or any other get-a-way to a popular vacation spot), be sure to check on cancellation specials, in area condo's and resorts.

You can often find deals at only a fraction of the regular cost, and usually even cheaper than getting a hotel.

After all, when someone cancels a vacation rental, the company who manages the rentals would much rather give a deal to someone else, vs. have the unit empty.

Build your Vacation Spot

This idea requires an initial investment but since I've done it I KNOW it saves money. Find a spot in your area to build a cabin on. I found a cheap piece of land on a nearby bayou that connects to the lake in our area. For about $5000 total I built a 24 foot by 24 foot cabin that has a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

Our cabin can be hooked to a generator (when it's extremely hot here in the summers) or used just like it is (in the winters). Now, anytime we want we can pack the family up, drive to our cabin and spend as long as we like there for very little cost.

Some good ideas to Build Your Own Cabin: A Practical Guide for Turning Your Cabin Dreams Into Reality.

Vacation Nearby

You don't have to travel 1000 miles to have a vacation. The wife and I live about 100 miles from a beach (lucky us). We drive to the beach once a year and make a vacation of it. We sometimes bring a tent and sleep out on the beach, combining some camping with a beach experience.

Look around you where you live. Live close to a historical spot? Take a trip there with the wife and kids. Live close to museums? Go there. Be creative and vacation in your own home state or even home city!